Roots Farm CSA
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Details:
September Extension: 4 weeks of late summer's bounty
-Full Share $100 (~$25/week)
-Half Share $48 (~$12/week)
October CSA: 4 weeks of late summer AND fall veggies!
-Full Share $124 (~$31/week)
-Half Share $68 (~$17/week)
Give Me Both!: 8 weeks of awesome veggie delight
-Full Share $224
-Half Share $116
We're excited about our first attempt to extend our CSA into the Fall and
we hope you'll join us on this adventure. We're only offering about 20
memberships total, so sign up today to guarantee your share! Check
below for our fall projected harvest . . .
September Extension: 4 weeks of late summer's bounty
-Full Share $100 (~$25/week)
-Half Share $48 (~$12/week)
October CSA: 4 weeks of late summer AND fall veggies!
-Full Share $124 (~$31/week)
-Half Share $68 (~$17/week)
Give Me Both!: 8 weeks of awesome veggie delight
-Full Share $224
-Half Share $116
We're excited about our first attempt to extend our CSA into the Fall and
we hope you'll join us on this adventure. We're only offering about 20
memberships total, so sign up today to guarantee your share! Check
below for our fall projected harvest . . .
Now in our fourth year!
Pricewise. Your share costs $31/week or $17/week. This doesn’t mean that you will always get $31 or $17 worth of
veggies at each pickup. In the beginning—late April—the baskets will probably seem less full. That’s because late April is
early in the growing season and we have a more limited number of vegetables we can successfully grow and distribute then.
By the time June kicks in, though, abundance will have arrived on the farm and we hope to fill your baskets with more than
their worth. Our goal is to provide an average of $31 or $17 worth of veggies to you each week; in reality that means early
baskets worth less and later baskets worth more. It also means that there are times when extra produce will go to the
Farmers’ Market for sale. Rest assured we are not shorting you what you paid for. We will do our best to provide your
money’s worth. For the sake of farm finance, though, extras will sell at market, and the money will be reinvested in the farm.
Please remember that your share in the Roots Farm CSA is first and foremost an investment in local, sustainable
agriculture. As we have been reminded time and again out here, there are no sure things in the farming world. While we
will do everything in our power to bring you the produce we have planned to provide, you should be aware that things do not
always work out as planned. Your investment in our CSA is an acknowledgement that both the farmers and the community
that relies on that farm must share both the risks and rewards of farming.
Pickup. Pickup is on-farm. Directions: take 78 East from downtown Athens. Pass the loop and keep going. Take a LEFT
onto Cherokee Rd at the intersection with a Lowe’s and a Piggly Wiggly on your left. Go to the first stoplight and take a
RIGHT onto Beaverdam Rd. Follow Beaverdam to a stop sign. Take a RIGHT onto Robert Hardeman. Take an
IMMEDIATE LEFT back onto Beaverdam Rd. Continue down Beaverdam Rd and take a RIGHT onto Beaver Trail. We
are the SECOND DRIVE on the RIGHT, #46.
When you get to the farm, park along the end of the driveway. Grab your sacks/baskets from your car (we suggest bringing
your own, though if you forget we will have some available) and come on over towards our distribution site (the garage).
This year, we’re planning to run distribution more like the market, with bins of veggies you can choose your produce from.
We will have quantities for you to take posted, and perhaps other features as yet undecided. Hopefully, this will help
expedite your pickup experience and provide you with more choice. One of our farmers will be on hand, eager to describe
the lovely veggies you’re about to take home or to answer questions or provide advice on storage and cooking. We’ll also
have an online newsletter detailing your veggies for the week and suggesting recipes, preparation tips, fun facts, and
community events. You’ll load up your produce into your bags, chat a minute or two, and head on out.
What if I miss pickup? If you know you are going to miss pickup, please let us know ahead of time so we can arrange for
you to pick up your share later. You can email us at rootsfarm@hotmail.com or call the office at 706-742-0010. As long as
you call before the end of pickup hours, 7 pm, we can make other arrangements. If you both miss pickup and forget to call,
you forfeit your share for the week and we will redistribute it as we see fit. Bagging up forgotten shares turned into a
storage issue for us this past year, not to mention the time and effort involved, which is why we are making this decision.
Please remember to pick up your share or to send someone else to pick up for you during pickup hours, or call us to make
other arrangements. Thank you.
Working. We really like for our members to come work with us. And we’ve got a lot of reasons why. We like the labor.
Farming is labor-intensive business. Four hands is twice as many as two. Twelve hands can get a week’s worth of work
done in a day. The more you come help, the more we can do and get done. And for you, that translates into better veggies,
better land stewardship, more extras like informational handouts and web updates, and time for us to organize community
gatherings and parties to celebrate together. And speaking of together, we like the company. When you’ve got 300 feet of
carrots to weed, it’s nice to have someone to chat with over the row work. It’s a good time for us to get to know you—our
CSA shareholders—and for you to get to know us—your local farmers. We like that connection. Connection of us to the
folks who support our venture, who eat the veggies we nurture from seedhood. Connection of eaters to the veggies they
eat, the land that feeds them. We believe that understanding the interconnectedness of living land, living plant, and living
person is vital and irreplaceable. When you work on the farm, you make that connection in a very real way.
Workday details. Please come prepared to stay and work a minimum of 2 hours. That gives us time to instruct you on the
task at hand and for you to get it done. Less than 2 hours isn’t as helpful. More than 2 hours is very welcome. If you’re here
for a workday, come prepared. Please bring a water bottle, sun protection (hat, sunblock, perhaps a long-sleeved shirt), ant
protection (socks and shoes/boots), and hand protection (i.e. gloves). We can provide some of these things, but it’s best to
come prepared. I also suggest having a snack on hand—farming burns lots of calories. When you arrive, wander on up the
hill towards the fields and keep an eye out for farmers hard at work—we tend to start early and stay late. If you’re here on a
harvest day, we’ll be picking veggies, so PLEASE WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE HARVESTING!! This is important for
food safety! Harvest day tasks may include bending and lifting, washing, sorting and bagging, and usually some tasting
(you know—for quality control). Non-harvest workdays may include anything from making soil blocks and seeding them to
row preparation to weeding to pruning to trellising to mulching to pulling out old plants to a wide variety of necessary farm
tasks. We’ll try to pre-announce the tasks our monthly weekend workdays will include so you can know in advance what you
might be doing.
Parties. We like to gather and celebrate, so expect at least a couple of these during the season. We host them at the farm
and are fond of potlucks, so bring yourself, your friends, your dish, and your drinks. Please do not bring your dog. I know
farms are great places for dogs, but we already have a few in-house and dog conflict tends to be inevitable when new dogs
arrive on the scene. So give Rover a bone and leave him at home when we throw a party. Thanks, folks. Otherwise,
parties are casual affairs. Bring a Frisbee, bring your guitar. We like live music and good company. Sometimes we like a
bonfire. Come hang out with us and extend the community. Good food is guaranteed.
veggies at each pickup. In the beginning—late April—the baskets will probably seem less full. That’s because late April is
early in the growing season and we have a more limited number of vegetables we can successfully grow and distribute then.
By the time June kicks in, though, abundance will have arrived on the farm and we hope to fill your baskets with more than
their worth. Our goal is to provide an average of $31 or $17 worth of veggies to you each week; in reality that means early
baskets worth less and later baskets worth more. It also means that there are times when extra produce will go to the
Farmers’ Market for sale. Rest assured we are not shorting you what you paid for. We will do our best to provide your
money’s worth. For the sake of farm finance, though, extras will sell at market, and the money will be reinvested in the farm.
Please remember that your share in the Roots Farm CSA is first and foremost an investment in local, sustainable
agriculture. As we have been reminded time and again out here, there are no sure things in the farming world. While we
will do everything in our power to bring you the produce we have planned to provide, you should be aware that things do not
always work out as planned. Your investment in our CSA is an acknowledgement that both the farmers and the community
that relies on that farm must share both the risks and rewards of farming.
Pickup. Pickup is on-farm. Directions: take 78 East from downtown Athens. Pass the loop and keep going. Take a LEFT
onto Cherokee Rd at the intersection with a Lowe’s and a Piggly Wiggly on your left. Go to the first stoplight and take a
RIGHT onto Beaverdam Rd. Follow Beaverdam to a stop sign. Take a RIGHT onto Robert Hardeman. Take an
IMMEDIATE LEFT back onto Beaverdam Rd. Continue down Beaverdam Rd and take a RIGHT onto Beaver Trail. We
are the SECOND DRIVE on the RIGHT, #46.
When you get to the farm, park along the end of the driveway. Grab your sacks/baskets from your car (we suggest bringing
your own, though if you forget we will have some available) and come on over towards our distribution site (the garage).
This year, we’re planning to run distribution more like the market, with bins of veggies you can choose your produce from.
We will have quantities for you to take posted, and perhaps other features as yet undecided. Hopefully, this will help
expedite your pickup experience and provide you with more choice. One of our farmers will be on hand, eager to describe
the lovely veggies you’re about to take home or to answer questions or provide advice on storage and cooking. We’ll also
have an online newsletter detailing your veggies for the week and suggesting recipes, preparation tips, fun facts, and
community events. You’ll load up your produce into your bags, chat a minute or two, and head on out.
What if I miss pickup? If you know you are going to miss pickup, please let us know ahead of time so we can arrange for
you to pick up your share later. You can email us at rootsfarm@hotmail.com or call the office at 706-742-0010. As long as
you call before the end of pickup hours, 7 pm, we can make other arrangements. If you both miss pickup and forget to call,
you forfeit your share for the week and we will redistribute it as we see fit. Bagging up forgotten shares turned into a
storage issue for us this past year, not to mention the time and effort involved, which is why we are making this decision.
Please remember to pick up your share or to send someone else to pick up for you during pickup hours, or call us to make
other arrangements. Thank you.
Working. We really like for our members to come work with us. And we’ve got a lot of reasons why. We like the labor.
Farming is labor-intensive business. Four hands is twice as many as two. Twelve hands can get a week’s worth of work
done in a day. The more you come help, the more we can do and get done. And for you, that translates into better veggies,
better land stewardship, more extras like informational handouts and web updates, and time for us to organize community
gatherings and parties to celebrate together. And speaking of together, we like the company. When you’ve got 300 feet of
carrots to weed, it’s nice to have someone to chat with over the row work. It’s a good time for us to get to know you—our
CSA shareholders—and for you to get to know us—your local farmers. We like that connection. Connection of us to the
folks who support our venture, who eat the veggies we nurture from seedhood. Connection of eaters to the veggies they
eat, the land that feeds them. We believe that understanding the interconnectedness of living land, living plant, and living
person is vital and irreplaceable. When you work on the farm, you make that connection in a very real way.
Workday details. Please come prepared to stay and work a minimum of 2 hours. That gives us time to instruct you on the
task at hand and for you to get it done. Less than 2 hours isn’t as helpful. More than 2 hours is very welcome. If you’re here
for a workday, come prepared. Please bring a water bottle, sun protection (hat, sunblock, perhaps a long-sleeved shirt), ant
protection (socks and shoes/boots), and hand protection (i.e. gloves). We can provide some of these things, but it’s best to
come prepared. I also suggest having a snack on hand—farming burns lots of calories. When you arrive, wander on up the
hill towards the fields and keep an eye out for farmers hard at work—we tend to start early and stay late. If you’re here on a
harvest day, we’ll be picking veggies, so PLEASE WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE HARVESTING!! This is important for
food safety! Harvest day tasks may include bending and lifting, washing, sorting and bagging, and usually some tasting
(you know—for quality control). Non-harvest workdays may include anything from making soil blocks and seeding them to
row preparation to weeding to pruning to trellising to mulching to pulling out old plants to a wide variety of necessary farm
tasks. We’ll try to pre-announce the tasks our monthly weekend workdays will include so you can know in advance what you
might be doing.
Parties. We like to gather and celebrate, so expect at least a couple of these during the season. We host them at the farm
and are fond of potlucks, so bring yourself, your friends, your dish, and your drinks. Please do not bring your dog. I know
farms are great places for dogs, but we already have a few in-house and dog conflict tends to be inevitable when new dogs
arrive on the scene. So give Rover a bone and leave him at home when we throw a party. Thanks, folks. Otherwise,
parties are casual affairs. Bring a Frisbee, bring your guitar. We like live music and good company. Sometimes we like a
bonfire. Come hang out with us and extend the community. Good food is guaranteed.
What to Expect: As a CSA member, what should you expect your experience to be like?
Produce. What you’ll find in your basket varies with the season and what we have growing. In the springtime, you’ll get
things like broccoli, kale, lettuce, radishes, and beets. Summer brings tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, and corn
among others. Late summer heralds the arrival of peppers, eggplant, and watermelons. Check our “projected harvest” list
for a full rundown of what we expect to have when.
If what we provide is different than what you’d usually purchase in the grocery store, never fear—it’s an opportunity to
expand your veggie horizons. You may find that fresh-picked items win over your taste buds where their long-stored
brothers and sisters failed. (Turnips, anyone?) Or perhaps we’ll have a variety that outshines its grocery store counterpart
in every way. (Not every tomato is a Brandywine.) Even things you might not like can be made palatable. (Chocolate Beet
Cake was a winner this year.) So put your hesitation on hold and dive into what’s in season—we’ll help you along the way.
Produce. What you’ll find in your basket varies with the season and what we have growing. In the springtime, you’ll get
things like broccoli, kale, lettuce, radishes, and beets. Summer brings tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, and corn
among others. Late summer heralds the arrival of peppers, eggplant, and watermelons. Check our “projected harvest” list
for a full rundown of what we expect to have when.
If what we provide is different than what you’d usually purchase in the grocery store, never fear—it’s an opportunity to
expand your veggie horizons. You may find that fresh-picked items win over your taste buds where their long-stored
brothers and sisters failed. (Turnips, anyone?) Or perhaps we’ll have a variety that outshines its grocery store counterpart
in every way. (Not every tomato is a Brandywine.) Even things you might not like can be made palatable. (Chocolate Beet
Cake was a winner this year.) So put your hesitation on hold and dive into what’s in season—we’ll help you along the way.
What is a CSA?
Community Supported Agriculture is a way for consumers and farmers to share the benefits and risks of sustainable
agriculture. Each growing season members pay a pre-determined price up front to support the farm. This price is based
on the running costs of the farm, divided by the number of households the farm can feed, without over-taxing the resources
of the farm. In return for their investment, members receive a weekly supply of fresh, organic produce. Shareholders and
farmers thus become partners in the stewardship of the Earth’s fertility and in the production, distribution, and consumption
of locally-grown food.
Several factors help ensure that CSA farmers are able to utilize sustainable farming practices:
Community Supported Agriculture is a way for consumers and farmers to share the benefits and risks of sustainable
agriculture. Each growing season members pay a pre-determined price up front to support the farm. This price is based
on the running costs of the farm, divided by the number of households the farm can feed, without over-taxing the resources
of the farm. In return for their investment, members receive a weekly supply of fresh, organic produce. Shareholders and
farmers thus become partners in the stewardship of the Earth’s fertility and in the production, distribution, and consumption
of locally-grown food.
Several factors help ensure that CSA farmers are able to utilize sustainable farming practices:
- Share price reflects the cost of an environmentally sound production
- Receiving payment up front, the farmers avoid the extra cost of borrowing operating capital
- If weather or other factors result in more of less than the expected output, members share in the abundance or loss.
Our new Fall CSA is now FULL! Yay!
NEWSLETTERS: Our newsletters are now available online via our blog as well as through a Google Docs folder! Yippee!
We're hoping that will give you even more access and connection to us and to each other. Recipes are included, as well
as featured veggie facts, tips on storage and preparation, and farm news. We've got a backlog of our recipes from
previous years now available through our "recipes" page and hope that you'll try them out and give us feedback, as well as
share some of your own. We're encouraging comments, so let us know what you think.
We're hoping that will give you even more access and connection to us and to each other. Recipes are included, as well
as featured veggie facts, tips on storage and preparation, and farm news. We've got a backlog of our recipes from
previous years now available through our "recipes" page and hope that you'll try them out and give us feedback, as well as
share some of your own. We're encouraging comments, so let us know what you think.
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