Happy Returns
Helping yourself to fresh vegetables could be a way of helping Butler County farmers stay profitable.
It's a way to buy fresh produce that doesn't involve a trip to the supermarket.
Called community supported agriculture, its proponents say it can bring locally grown food to consumers and create new markets for farmers.
It's a “way of marketing for diversified small-scale farming that allows the community to take part in the risks and bounties of the harvest,” said Leah Smith, member services manager for the western office of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, a group founded by farmers in 1992 to provide education and networking.
In a CSA, clients pay the farmer a fee at the start of the growing season and in return receive a weekly assortment of fresh farm products.
“You as an individual are buying a share of the farm crops. You don't do the plowing, cultivating, disking or harvesting, we do that for you,” said Barry Leicher of the Leicher Family Farm in Donegal Township, who has been running a CSA for six years. He and his wife, Dorothy, grow 30 to 40 acres of vegetables for sale.
“You pay up front, either a full subscription or a half-subscription,” said Leicher. “It's a 20-week program. For $420, you get back $440 worth of food.”“Beginning May 15, you come into our store and grocery shop for meat, fresh produce, honey and eggs,” Leicher said, adding his 30 to 35 CSA subscribers get $20 worth of prepaid food a week until the season ends in October.The season starts a little later and runs a little longer at the CSA at Ken Metrick's Harvest View Farm and Market in Connoquenessing Township.“It's 24 weeks starting on June 12, and it runs through Nov. 20,” said Metrick. “It's $489. Basically $20 a week is what it works out to. We do offer a half share at $240, and that is every other week. ... Pickup is Wednesday between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.”“We have baskets. They get a basket. They return their basket and get a full one. They just keep rotating baskets,” said Metrick, who said he has under a hundred clients this year.“We farm close to 50 acres, and a little over 30 is produce,” said Metrick. “We do some general crops just so we can rotate our crops.”James and Christine Crighton of Crighton's Farm, Florist and Greenhouses in Prospect, limit their CSA clients to 30.
“We're not at 30 people yet, but it's getting close,” said Christine Crighton. “We are not trying to get 50 more for example.”“We sell to restaurants in Pittsburgh, and with just the two of us this is all we can handle,” she said.Under a CSA arrangement, its clients are assured a steady stream of fresh farm products during the growing season.“The selections are whatever we have available,” said Leicher. “We try to have everything available as much as we possibly can.”“We have asparagus, all the garden vegetables,” said Leicher. “Blueberries, raspberries, corn, melons, a wide variety of things.”“We offer such a variety of vegetables, that's part of the problem,” said Crighton. “If a row is taken up with unusual greens, you can't put in tomatoes. It takes a season to grow these things.”“We have potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, eggplant, kohlrabi and kale,” she said.“We have microgreens, specialty tiny baby plants that are next up from a sprout. There are no roots, but they are highly nutritious. Bok choy, Italian dandelions for salads and soups, mustard,” Crichton said.If the CSAs give the farmers' clients fresh from the field food, it gives the farmers a little stability and peace of mind.
A subscription “helps the farmer at the beginning of the year when he's buying his seeds and buying his equipment,” said Smith.“First of all, one of the pluses for the customer is he is guaranteed fresh fruit and vegetables when it comes into season,” said Leicher. “We can sell our products at a more reasonable rate because we don't have to take out a loan for the fertilizer.”And some CSAs are trying to expand both their offerings and their time frame.“These days there are a lot of CSAs in the summer and farmers are trying to expand the season. They are offering other products like meat, cheeses and mushrooms,” said Smith.Leicher's CSA offers honey and eggs, and he said his clients have the option of buying a piglet.“Most people will buy a piglet and we will grow it for them,” said Leicher. “You can buy half a pig for between $40 and $100, and when it is time to go to market, you pay for how you want it cut up.”
Metrick said in addition to his clients receiving vegetables and fruits, “Occasionally we will throw in some brown eggs or honey and in the fall, we have our own cider mill here, so once in a while we will give them some apple cider.”“CSAs have been growing over the last few decades,” said Smith. “Farmers are using this model to help sustain their farms, and it brings consumers closer to where the food comes from. People pick up food at the farm and sometimes even help at the farm.”Smith said many CSAs offer their clients a regular newsletter and recipes on how to prepare various fruits and vegetables.Metrick said he tries to have an annual get-together for all his CSA members. “It's a way to get to know one another and a thank-you for supporting us,” he said.“We've had a farm market here for 22 years and we just decided to do this CSA five years ago,” said Metrick. “It's a nice way to market produce. People can came out to the farm once a week. They can see things growing, and they get an education.”
“It's good for repeat customers. Throughout the year, it's increased our customer base,” he said.“It's putting fresh food on the table. Customers know where it comes from and they know the farmer that grew it. You know it is safe and local, and it keeps dollars here in the area,” Metrick said.
