Community Supported Agriculture, USA, 2009.
Organic Farming as Everyday Heroism
Steve Smith runs Hollow Pumpkin CSA (community supported agriculture) from his farm in Anna, Illinois in the USA. The CSA will be an organized group of concerned eaters who value the finest organic produce that he grows every year. He plans to make his produce available to members from June through November this year (2009), although, like every year, it is possible that he may distribute earlier and/or later due to potential shortfalls and/or surpluses.
The 2009 Harvest for Community Supported Agriculture in Anna, Illinois
His produce consists of a wide variety of herbs and vegetables, which come to fruition at various stages in the season.
They include: basil, green beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, gourds (ornamentals), greens, arugula, cilantro, dill, parsley, kohlrabi, leeks, melons, okra, onions, parsnips, sweet and hot peppers, Irish potatoes, radishes, salad mix, summer and winter squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips (roots).
Sometimes there is also fruit, such as apples in the fall and one type of pear (Asian pear) in late summer and another type of pear in fall.
Cost of Joining Community Supported Agriculture
Members who wish to join this 2009 CSA group will invest 600 dollars for a full share and 325 dollars for a half share for the current season. By investing the entire amount by March 15 of 2009, members receive a discount of $25 off of the regular price for the half share and $50 off of the regular price for the full share.
An installment plan for payments is also available, where full share members would pay 300 dollars by March 15, 2009, and 100 dollars by the 15th of the next three months after that. For half share members, they would invest 175 dollars by March 15, 2009 and 50 by the 15th of the next three subsequent months.
As he has experienced for several seasons now, it is still most important for him to sustain some type of a budget in the early spring months in order to make sure that fencing gets done to protect the crops when they start to come in. Fencing supplies become a major expense since the lean winter months make income scarce.
In exchange for their investments as outlined above, full share 2009 members receive about 25 dollars worth per week, while half share 2009 members receive half that, of the finest seasonal organic produce locally available.
What Makes Steve Smith and Hollow Pumpkin Heroic
Steve works extremely hard during growing season, with minimal but highly prized volunteer labor contributions and even less of a budget. The produce is top-notch both in flavor and nutrition. While many farmers use pesticides to protect their crops, thus residually pouring harmful chemicals into our ecosystem, Steve resists the temptation to do so.
Hollow Pumpkin CSA is therefore not only a heroic enterprise to run, it is also heroic to join it, because of the health benefits of the nutritional produce it provides to members, the support it provides for a local farmer and therefore the local economy, as well as the support it provides for the environment.
In future years, the Hollow Pumpkin CSA will increase membership and therefore support greater yields from and more teamwork on Smith's farm. At this point, the group is just beginning, in order to make sure Smith has the bare necessities with which to continue operating.
To contact the Hollow Pumpkin CSA, call Steve Smith at (618) 614-2233.
Steve Smith on his truck
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