CSA at Broadturn Farm
CSA membership for 2008 is full... if you want to be on the waiting list or recieve our newsletter emails, contact Stacy.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and is a marketing approach which allows a farm and a community to develop relationships. Also known as a farm co-op, CSA is a national movement that is connecting people with fresh, seasonal, often organic produce at a reduced cost. It is much more, however, than being just about vegetables. At Broadturn Farm we want to involve the community in the process of raising food. Our methods are certified organic, but we rely more on the face-to-face relationships with our CSA members to ensure transparency. We strive to involve the community in such a way that consumers become co-producers. After all, our common goals are broad: healthy, sustainable and humanely raised food; a strong local economy; and a supportive community. For more information about the many incarnations of CSA programs nationwide, see http://www.sare.org/csa/.
Vegetable CSA
In the 2008 season we will have 100 members in our vegetable CSA program. The cost is $500 if paid in 3 installments, or $475 if paid in full. The first harvest should be mid to late June with greens, and perennial herbs. Every week from spring until fall, we harvest what the season provides: Spring arrives with lettuce, Asian greens, spring onions, radishes, peas and carrots. Mid summer brings us tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, corn, and melon. Fall comes on with squashes, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and potatoes. We plant for diversity, and everyone learns something about some of the less popular vegetables like turnips, brussel sprouts, or patty pan squash. Usually the freshness factor wins over those who try “new” things out, but we do our best anyway to pile on the favorites: carrots, strawberries, lettuce, cukes, peas, and those little orange cherry tomatoes- Sungolds!
Send us an email if you would like to be added to our member list. sbrenner@maine.rr.com Usually by February we send out order forms. You may choose to pay all at once (for a discount) or over three installments, March 1 st, May 1 st, June 1 st. Although we love to see everyone out at the farm as often as possible, we can help to co-ordinate a pick-up group for your neighborhood. You pick up your weekly harvest on either Tuesday or Friday, between 1:00 and dusk. Items are set out on our long harvest table, and a chalkboard indicates how much of any item you are allowed to take. There is an “extras” table where you can leave something behind, or take whatever is surplus. This is not like shopping at the grocery store! This is second only to having your own backyard garden.
There is an 8 hour per season work requirement in the CSA. We have work parties on occasion, but you don't have to help out only then. On the Tuesday morning and Friday morning harvests, we always look forward to extra hands. If you can not fit weeding or harvesting into your schedule, there are many other ways to serve this time. Write a newsletter; work on fundraising; prepare a meal for the farm crew and drop it off for lunch! Be creative about it... this is how we come together as a community. Talk to John about fulfilling this commitment.
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Organic Eggs
Our Rhode Island Red and Buff Orphington hens are producers of our famous "Lovingly Laid Eggs." All of our chickens are fed organic grains and help themselves to plenty of foraged tidbits: grass, clover, worms, and bugs (they have developed a special appetite for Potato Bugs and Horn Worms which farm camp kids gather for them!) Our mobile chicken coop is moved weekly to fresh green grass. In their wake, our hens leave behind valuable manure, and a few less grubs. This kind of sustainability is virtually impossible on a large scale, and you will never see or taste eggs like these coming from anywhere but local farms.
Availability of eggs follows the season; call for details. We know of no better chicken soup than what our older hens graciously produce. Call in the early winter for details.
Organic Turkey
Turkeys are raised on grass and clover. Turkeys will eat lots of grass, making for a very healthy protein product, high in omega-6 fatty acids. We have raised both heritage breed turkeys as well as the standard broad-breasted bronze breed. A $30 deposit on a turkey is encouraged as Thanksgiving often creeps up on us and we always sell out of turkeys.
Pork
We keep a small number of pigs each year. The pigs are not certified organic because we like to feed them food scraps which are not all certified as organic...the complexities… The pigs are not fed hormones or antibiotics and they live a life of swinely leisure.They turn over and fertilize new ground, work for vegetable scraps, and give us pork for the winter. We pre-sell half-pigs unless other arrangements are made, and the meat is smoked (nitrate-free) or “fresh”, to be picked up in late fall. It comes to you in a variety of popular cuts, frozen, anywhere from 90 to 110 pounds. More about pork click HERE.
Grass Fed Lamb
We are in the process of building a small flock of sheep so that we have a steady supply of lamb. Our lambs are raised strictly on pasture only, and rotate daily onto fresh grass. This ensures a great tasting and very healthy product. Not to mention a happy animal living and eating the way nature intended. For some information about the specific health benefits of eating grass-fed meat, see http://www.eatwild.com/.
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