Produce Direct from Producer

There’s a surprise in each box. But it’s perhaps the opposite of the cheap plastic toy we used to find at the bottom of a box of sugar-laden cereal.

As a member of a CSA, each week, it’s fun to open your box and peer inside at the selection of healthy, locally grown produce your farmers have provided for you.

The farmers take pride in their produce and enjoy knowing who they are growing for. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Members buy shares of produce grown by local farms. Members get to know the people growing their food. You get to know the face behind your food. Typically, CSA farms grow sustainably.

We are lucky to have several great CSA’s in Central PA. But they are filling up fast. Beth Weaver-Kreider of Goldfinch Farm near Wrightsville in York County, PA, said they’ve had more first time inquiries about the CSA this year and they have sold out of shares faster this year than any time in their years of farming.

Seeing the pleased reaction of their shareholders each week is a great joy for Beth and for Amy Leber of Shared Earth Farm in Mechanicsburg, PA.

Shared Earth Farm CSA started small. Like a seedling, really. Amy Leber started growing vegetables “part-time” on her farm while remodeling her home and raising a newborn. Her first year, she served 7 shares. In her fourth season, she’s offering 120.

Amy and her mom provide most of the labor on the farm. They’ve found the growth of their farm to be a natural evolution. Its hard work and they love it. Similarly, when they’ve needed something they’ve found it.

When they needed two doors for the new greenhouse, they found exactly two doors stored on the property. When they started running out of refrigeration room, a member offered a refrigerator. They recently asked their members for help in covering their greenhouse. Thirty members turned out to help.

Shared Earth Farm members pick up the produce at the farm and can pick from a choice table of goods in addition to their shares. At the table, they offer interesting veggies like yard long beans or a miniature cucumber that a member nick named, “cuca melon” because they resemble tiny watermelons. Members can pick their own flowers and herbs as they are available. Other locally produced food can also be picked up at the farm.

Amy’s committed to sustainable agriculture and to the importance of locally grown food. This she shares with Jon and Beth Weaver-Kreider of Goldfinch Farm.

Beth Weaver-Kreider remembers it was a rainy Monday morning when her husband Jon purchased the land at auction for Goldfinch farm. When they initially looked at the rolling York County acreage, they weren’t sure it would work for their CSA. Looking closely, they saw the hills offered plenty of level space for planting. In their 9th season now, their beautiful farm will provide 180 shares to their customers.

Jon Weaver-Kreider studied agriculture in several forms, including an internship on an organic farm, before he and Beth started their first farm on rented Lancaster County land in 1999. They follow strict organic farming guidelines.

They also feel it’s important to be in contact with their customers. As often as possible, Jon and Beth personally greet shareholders at their pick-up locations at the Farm and in Lancaster County.

Along with more than 30 vegetables, Goldfinch farm offers strawberries and raspberries in their shares. Members can pick their own variety of berries along the fence rows at the farm and flowers later in the season. The produce is picked less than a day before pickup.

Some other local CSA are:

• Dickinson College Farm: Serving only the Dickinson College Community based near Carlisle, PA. Organic Farming practices used.
• Garden of Edenbo: A salad CSA.
• Joshua Farm: Harrisburg, PA. Supporting at-risk youth in Harrisburg.
• Prescott’s Patch: Fruit and Veggies with pick-ups in Bainbridge and Hellam.
• Spiral Path Farm: One of the largest and oldest. Perry County.
• Spoutwood Farm: Southern York County.