We are no Longer accepting Work shares!!!
Glen Eco Farm CSA
We are glad to welcome you as prospective new members of our Community Supported Agriculture program for the upcoming 2011 growing season. We are passionate believers in the value of CSA for both farmers and consumers. This rapidly growing movement offers lots of hope for farmers to gain better marketing options for their products and for consumers to gain access to healthier locally grown food. Perhaps one of the greater values of CSA is its potential to strengthen local communities by encouraging farmers to relate more closely to their customers and for their customers and their children to make stronger connections to the source of their food.
Community Supported Agriculture, in it’s simplest form, works much like any subscription service which most of us already use regularly, for example a newspaper or magazine. The CSA customer pays the farmer an agreed upon amount of money (the subscription price) before the yearly growing season begins, and gets a box or bag of the farmers products at regular intervals for a specified period of time (the duration of the subscription) which usually is delivered to a central pickup location and expires at the end of the growing season. Just as the contents of a newspaper or magazine can vary from week to week, so also can the contents of a CSA subscription vary as crops are planted, grown, and matured during the growing season. Though any CSA membership works much like a subscription and is sometimes called that, it can be much more.
CSA membership provides a unique way for a consumer to support a local farmer. The money paid for CSA membership goes directly to the farmer instead of to a string of wholesalers, shippers, processors, and retailers (middlemen) who usually capture most of the food buyer’s dollar, leaving little for the farmer. The farmer benefits by getting paid early in the growing season and getting more for his product than he would if he sold his product as a commodity through conventional marketing channels. The consumer benefits by getting fresher food and usually at a better price than what he (she) could find at health food stores carrying organically grown produce. CSA farmers and consumers can benefit mutually from the social contact and positive relationships that often develop as they work together. CSA farmers usually encourage their customers to visit the farm (and bring children along) at least occasionally in order to see first hand how the farmer grows their food.
Glen Eco Farm is a small diversified farm where we strive to follow sound ecological principles based on the concept of “sustainability” as we cultivate market gardens and care for poultry and livestock. For the upcoming 2011 growing season we plan to have approximately 3 acres in diversified vegetable and small fruit production, 20 acres in mixed hay production, 20 head of beef cattle, and 100-150 egg laying and broiler producing chickens. We practice crop rotation, mulching, and the application of manures and composts to maintain soil fertility. We rely primarily on beneficial predatory insects, biologically produced pesticides, and wintertime pasturing of chickens on garden areas to control (but not eradicate) insect pests and plant diseases. We may use an antibiotic to treat the occasional acutely sick animal or a small amount of chemical herbicide as spot treatment for the most persistent perennial weeds (usually in fencerows or along field borders), but we use these things sparingly, carefully, and only as a last resort.
We believe in God as the creator and sustainer of everything in the natural realm and see ourselves as the caretakers and stewards of that small part of that natural realm (our farm) entrusted to us, a sacred responsibility. We regularly seek God’s guidance and grace as we go about the task of attending conferences and other educational events in order to broaden our knowledge about sustainable agriculture, managing and working our farm, and relating to those people with whom we associate and who are nourished by our farm’s products. We are long time members of Virginia Association for Biological Farming.
Following is a summary of the inherent benefits and risks of CSA membership at Glen Eco Farm:
Benefits:
1) Fresh locally produced and nutritious foods free from pesticide residues.
2) Some foods not generally available in grocery stores.
3) Learn new food preparation habits (hopefully better).
4) Opportunity to cultivate positive social relationships with local farmer(s).
5) Opportunity to teach your children where food really comes from.
6) Improved physical and emotional health.
7) Help to preserve family farms and “earth friendly” agriculture.
Risks:
1) Natural disasters (droughts, storms, or unexpected freezes) may cause reduced yields or crop failures.
2) Livestock, wild animals, or other pests may damage some crops.
3) You may find occasional items in your share that you don’t like.
4) You may at times find too little or too much of a specific item in your box.
5) You may occasionally encounter an unexpected “creepy crawly” in your box.
(Remember, we seek to maintain a peaceful co-existence with bugs, not necessarily to eradicate them.)
6) Some highly perishable items may have started to deteriorate by the time you get your box.
(Usually a problem if the box is picked up late.)
7) You may lack knowledge of how to use or handle more unfamiliar items.
Generally we seek to provide as high a quality, as wide a variety, and as clean a product as is reasonably possible considering the fact that weather conditions, our work load, and other circumstances can have a considerable impact on the amount, variety, and condition of food in your boxes. Though we can’t claim to do a perfect job, which suits every body every time, we do try our best to come as close to that perfection as we can. We often purchase some produce from our neighbors Ric and Joy Gullman to help us provide you with variety and a full box.
During the CSA season we email members weekly letting you know what you can expect to find in your box that week. In addition to emailing food handling tips and giving descriptions of unfamiliar food items Elizabeth Scott sends recipes weekly. CSA members may post any questions or comments via email as well. In the event that any of these communication tools fail, there is always the phone--540-833-8802. Our email address is burkholders@glenecofarm.com .
Marlin & Christine & Hans Burkholder
