Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Subscription

For the 2012 season Appalachia Star Farm will continue working collectively with Firsthand Farmers Cooperative to provide CSA shares in Charlottesville.  (Possible pick-ups in Nelson County and Lexington are also in the works.)  CSA share options are listed below and more details can be found on the Firsthand Farmers website.  We are in the process now of updating the website for the 2012 season, but while we do that you can sign up for our mailing list on the left-hand side of the page and we will notify you when CSA sales are open.  Thank you!

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative CSA

Pick-up Location: 1110 East Market Street, Suite 10-K (in Market Square) Charlottesvile, VA.

CSA information: firsthandfarmers@gmail.com

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative is a collective of area farms working together to provide a diverse offering of local products through Community Supported Agriculture or CSA.  CSA is a method of purchasing farm goods directly from local farmers.  CSA members pay for their shares at the beginning of the season, thereby helping farmers with their spring production costs, then pick-up a weekly box of fresh, delicious local food - straight from our hands to yours!

How Firsthand Farmers CSA works:  CSA members pay a subscription fee to join.  This helps cover the costs of administration and management.  Members then choose whatever share types they wish to purchase from the list below and sign-up through the Firsthand Farmers Cooperative website at www.firsthandfarmerscooperative.com.  Members may pay in full or pay a deposit followed by monthly payments with the balance paid by April 30th.  After that, just come to the pick-up location once a week and enjoy your fresh farm products!  Weekly ordering of extras will also be available on our website if you wish to purchase items on an as needed basis.

Pick-up Days - Mondays or Thursday from 4pm - 6pm

For the 2012 season, Firsthand Farmers Cooperative CSA will run for 30 weeks from April 30th to November 19th (Thanksgiving week).

SUBSCRIPTION FEES

CSA subscription fee is $20.00

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative Vegetable Share: Vegetables and some fruit.  A share is about enough produce for 2-3 people.  Each box will contain between 5 and 8 different items each week.  Fruit will be offered on an occasional basis in the share and will also be available as an extra to purchase separately.

Vegetable Share: $660.00 for 30 weeks.

Herb Share Add-on: $30.00 for 20 of the 30 weeks. Although the regular vegetable share will include some basic culinary herbs (like basil and parsley), an Herb Share add-on will give you a culinary herb bunch 20 of the 30 weeks.  This allows you to receive a larger variety of fresh herbs - sage, rosemary, mint, garlic chives, etc. - than is available in the regular share.

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative Egg Share - $128.00: 1 dozen eggs per week for 30 weeks.

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative Mushroom Share: Farmer’s choice of mushroom each week in half-pound or 1 pound bags.  Mushroom varieties include shiitake, oyster, and lion’s mane

Half-pound Share - (half-pound per week: Price TBA

Pound Share - (1 pound per week): Price TBA

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative Dairy Shares:

Cheese share - Price TBA (1/2 lb. piece per week, farmer’s choice)  Raw-milk aged cheeses in a variety of styles and flavors.

Meow Milk share - Price TBA (1/2-gallon of milk per week) Pasteurized, whole milk.  Milk is labeled as a dairy treat for pets as you need a special license and bottling facility to sell milk for human consumption.

Butter Share - Price TBA (1/2 lb. tub per week) Available in Salted and Unsalted.

Ricotta Share - Price TBA (1/2 lb. tub per week)

Extras Ordering: Extras ordering can be done through the website where you can order products from our Cooperative producers in addition to other locally produced products when available.  We also stock many items in the Cooperative for purchase when you pick up your CSA share.  So you don’t have to order online, but doing so will guarantee that we have what you want.  Extras items include eggs, duck eggs, cheese, butter, jams and jellies, honey, and meats including ground beef, pork products, and chickens.

Sign - up: To sign up please visit the Firsthand Farmers Cooperative website or email firsthandfarmers@gmail.com with any questions.  Go to Member Sign-up and follow the steps.

Pick-up day choice will be first come, first serve until a day fills up, in which case that pick-up will be closed.  In order to minimize confusion, we ask that day switching be kept to an absolute minimum.  If you sign up for Monday, please be sure to come on that day and pick up your share.  If you need to switch days for any reason, make sure to contact us ahead of time.

We are also offering a limited number of work trade shares.  Contact firsthandfarmers@gmail.com for more information.

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative Farms:

Appalachia Star Farm - ecologically grown produce in Nelson County, VA
www.appalachiastar.com

Mountain View Farm Products, LLC - dairy products from Fairfield, VA in Rockbridge County
www.mountainviewfarmproducts.com

Paradox Farm - ecologically grown produce from Rockbridge County, VA.

Sharondale Farm - mushrooms and useful plants from Keswick, VA in Albemarle County
www.sharondalefarm.com

Stone House Farm - ecologically grown produce from Goshen, VA in Rockbridge County

Twin Springs Farm - ecologically grown produce from Nelson County, VA
www.twinspringsfarmva.com

Firsthand Farmers Cooperative CSA members will also receive our e-newletter for information about what is in the box, farm events, news, etc.  Specific information about the vegetables we grow plus recipes are located in the “Vegetables” section of our website.  In addition, we will host events and volunteer days during the season for members to come out to the farm for potluck and fun!  One of these events is our annual Tomato Tasting, where we sample and rate up to 20 varieties of heirloom, hybrid, and cherry tomatoes!

WHAT WE GROW

Below is a sampling of the vegetables we grow and approximately how much of each item you can expect to receive.  Spring and early summer boxes will have things like greens, lettuce, scallions, cabbage, broccoli, and asparagus.  Summer boxes include items like garlic, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, squash, and cucumbers.  In the fall, there will be peppers, beans, greens, turnips, winter squash, and many summer vegetables (depending on frost conditions).

What you will get a lot of:	What you will get some of:	What you will get occasionally:
Beets, Cooking Greens (Chard, Collards, Kale, Mustard), Cucumbers, Garlic, Lettuce, Onions, Peppers, Potatoes, Salad Greens (arugula, mizuna, tatsoi) Summer Squash, Tomatoes	Basil, Beans, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cherry tomatoes, Fennel,Parsley, Eggplant, Radish, Scallions, Winter Squash	Asparagus, Berries, Hot Peppers, Kohlrabi, Melons, Peas, Spinach, Turnip, Sunchokes.