Exciting News - Radical Roots Farm will be offering a small number of CSA shares this coming season! We are thrilled to offer this new way of sharing our bounty and developing even closer relationships with members of our community.As you know, there are many models of CSAs (also known as Farm Shares) and we are in the process of deciding what would work best for our farm and our community. WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU - please tell us if you might be interested in a farm share from Radical Roots, and if so, what kind would work best for you. There is no obligation implied in your response - we are just looking for feedback to help us make our plans.
Some of the more common models of CSAs are:
• The traditional basket CSA - where the shareholder gets a pre-packaged box each week filled with the bounty of the harvest. (In other words, you get what the farmer harvests that week and so the variety changes weekly.)
• The market-choice CSA - where the shareholder gets a smaller pre-packaged box of veggies and then gets to chose what else he/she wants from the farmer's harvest. (In other words, you are provided with some veggies but can make choices as to what else you want from the week's harvest.)
• The pre-pay CSA - where the shareholder gets a "credit" for the season (generally 5-20% more than what he/she paid in), and can pick and chose what he/she wants each week from the farmer's harvest. (For example, if you pre-pay $200, you get a "credit" for $220 to spend at the Farmers Market booth or the farm stand all season long.)
Radical Roots has not yet decided which one of these models we will be offering and that is where we would love your feedback.
There is also variety in pick-up/delivery locations for CSAs. Since we are only a two-person operation, we are not in a position to deliver shares to different locales throughout the week. Therefore, we see most of our shares being available either at Saturday's Rutland Farmers Market or at our farmstand on Creek Road in Rutland. However, if there was a location where many shareholders gathered each week (for example, a church or a workplace), we would be happy to talk about the possibility of delivering to that location. 
You can see the decision to offer Farm Shares is wrought with many questions and options!!SO PLEASE GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK! Use the comment feature and let us know what you are thinking. Or if you prefer, email us at radicalrootsfarm@gmail.com. You are not committing yourselves to anything - but your ideas will help us decide what kind of shares Radical Roots Farm will be offering this year!
THANKS.
Carol and Dennis
Winter Vacation 2010
Hi Carol & Dennis. Welcome back to the Great White North ;)
ReplyDeleteI like your CSA options in the order you list them (the third being the least). The idea of the traditional basket appeals to me because it forces me to be creative with meals and the preserving of all that is in the basket. And if it yields more veggies that way...all the better :)
I wouldn't be opposed to the market-choice option, either, but would not be interested at all in the pre-pay.
As far as pickup goes, I would prefer to pick up at the farm stand one weekday per week as I'm rarely able to get to town on Saturdays.
Thanks for asking for input. I was SO pleased with your produce last year. I'm seriously considering the CSA for this year.
Cheers,
~Janet~
I would appreciate pre-pay the most, but could get behind a market choice option if it were offered. :)
ReplyDeleteThe pre-pay CSA would be really nice. Since you have 2 convenient locations (Farm and Downtown Farmers Market) it would be easy to show up and pick up what we need. We have participated in the traditional basket, and we do our best to eat it all, but some stuff just doesn't get consumed quick enough and we compost. That is neither in the best interest of the farmer (who can sell/donate it to someone who wants/needs it) or the consumer (who feels bad about literally watching their money rot). Finally, summer is vacation time and the pre-pay model is more conducive to folks on the road. We are looking forward to your any Radical Roots offerings.
ReplyDeleteWow - great comments - thanks you all! We are excited to hear people's thoughts and right off the bat it makes us wonder if perhaps we should (and could) offer more than one kind of shares this season??
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear what others have to say!
Carol and Dennis