Down on the Farm
Kelly and I are members of a CSA farm in North Haven, CT called Mill River Valley Gardens. For those not familiar, in a CSA, you buy shares of the farm’s harvest in advance, guaranteeing a market for a farmer’s produce. A share usually consists of seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs that you receive each week during the harvest season (in CT, June–October). Our farm offers three options for joining, with the possibility of reducing your cost by working a certain number of hours on the farm.
When we joined three seasons ago, we joined under what they call the “Intensive Workshare,” which amounts to 60 hours of farm work, spread over the growing season. Being that Kelly owns her own business and has most mornings relatively free, she ended up doing pretty much all of the work. This year, we’ve reduced the number of working hours we’ve committed to on the farm to 9 and I decided to tag along for a Sunday morning potato harvest.
I had worked on the farm once time before, when we first joined, harvesting cucumbers and New Zealand spinich, which was somewhat miserable. Potato harvesting, however, was really fun. It was like a hunt for buried treasure, especially since I have a major love affair with potatos (especially the red variety we were hunting for). All told, we probably brought in about 100lbs of red skins.
I really enjoyed the experience. Though it is exhausting, working on a farm is very peaceful and rewarding too… especially when Thursday rolls around and we get our share of those yummy little spuds.
Pam Says:
Hi - I was thinking of buying a non-working share at Mill River Valley Gardens (I’m also self-employed). How was the variety and quality of produce at this farm? Do recall what the smallest share cost?
For those of us that want to eat organic foods, a CSA sounds like a cost-effective way to go.
Thanks.
April 28th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Aaron Says:
As far as I know, the shares are already sold out for this year.
All shares are the same size, they only differ in cost and amount of work you’re willing to contribute. The cheapest is the “Intensive Workshare” which costs between $75 and 100 and requires something like 40 hours of work (mostly weeding and harvesting). The regular workshare is around $200 and requires around 6-12 hours of work. If you don’t want to work at all, a share somewhere around $400.
These are just ballpark figures as my memory is a little hazy and Kel handles the financials. For more info, contact Walter directly.
April 28th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
Pam Says:
Thanks. I’ve emailed Walter.
Pam
April 28th, 2006 at 10:42 pm