Restoring a sense of place to your food...
What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)? It's essentially owning a share of the farm's produce and having a more intimate relationship with the land on which it is grown.
How does a CSA work? We grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs that we distribute on a weekly basis to families that become members of the farm. A set number of memberships are offered in the winter prior to the growing season. Members pay in advance for the food they will receive throughout the CSA season. This advance payment allows us to buy seed and other materials needed to produce the food, and allows the members to become partners in the farming process.
Our 2012 CSA brochure
Our 2012 sign-up and payment form
Pinehold Garden's CSA Shares: For 2012, our CSA share begins during the height of summer in mid-July and ends late in October, with deliveries on Wednesdays. This 16 week CSA share is offered at $420. A weekly newsletter keeps you up to date on the farm as well as providing recipes and food preservation ideas for that week's produce. Archives of the newsletters from the 2010 and 2011 seasons can be found under the News and Muse tab. And since our CSA season starts after the sugar snap pea and strawberry season, we offer CSA members a chance to U-Pick a certain amount of these items for free. The CSA share also includes the U-Pick of 10 pounds of tomatoes. In addition, CSA members are offered a 10% discount on "Market Dollars." The use of Market Dollars is an opportunity to supplement the CSA box with fresh produce of your choice any week during the 2012 market season at the South Shore Farmer's Market, at our farm stand and at the Milwaukee County Winter Farmers Market. Our produce features heirlooms and time-tested hybrids, but the good taste and high quality is what you will notice. See the brochure and sign-up form for more information and pricing. Lastly, we encourage CSA members and those interested from the community to join our annual open house celebration, the End of Summer Harvest Festival, held on August 26, 2012.
Delivery locations and times: Besides the option to pick up at the farm, we offer delivery sites in Racine, Cudahy, Bay View, Greenfield, Shorewood and in Milwaukee at 59th and Garfield. The locations of our delivery sites as well as the specific pick-up times can be found on our sign-up form. Pick-up times generally span late afternoon and early evening. Delivery is always on a Wednesday. Members that pick up at the farm have the flexibility of picking up their boxes from 3 pm on Wednesdays through 7 pm on Saturday. The boxes are stored in our walk in cooler.
Worker shares: Small scale, sustainable vegetable production is labor intensive, creating a need for dedicated workers. To address this need, we offer a limited number of "worker shares". A worker share is the exchange of labor for a CSA membership. Worker shares receive a box of fruits and vegetables and make a significant contribution to the success of Pinehold Gardens. A worker share is a serious commitment of 4 hours per week. The majority of our worker share hours are Tuesday mornings from 9 am to 1 pm. A worker share commits to a shift and works that shift for the entire season. Worker share positions are open for both early season shifts and late season shifts. All shifts are 16 weeks long for a total of 64 hours. The early season begins May 15th and the late season begins July 10th. We will also have a worker share meet and greet potluck lunch and light work day on June 12th. Please email or call first to check if we still have worker share openings.
Assistance fund: For those unable to meet the financial obligations of being a member and are unable to do a worker share, we have an Assistance Fund. Dependent upon the generosity of other members in our community, the fund will be used to partially offset the difference in what a member is able to pay and the cost of a membership. This year we can offer up to $100 off a membership. We are doing this because we think everyone in the community should have access to fresh, local produce. Call it redistribution of wealth if you like; we call it community spirit. Flexible payment options are also available.
General note: Due to the high number of requests for CSA information, we recommend contacting us during our "off" season, which is November through March for a timely personal response. Sign-ups for the 2012 CSA season are accepted in the order in which we receive the sign-up form. Our 2011 members are given priority until March 1st, but we do have about 20 openings for new members as we are slightly expanding the size of our CSA. Please note we are a two person operation, and your patience is appreciated.
(Updated 01/22/12)
How does a CSA work? We grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs that we distribute on a weekly basis to families that become members of the farm. A set number of memberships are offered in the winter prior to the growing season. Members pay in advance for the food they will receive throughout the CSA season. This advance payment allows us to buy seed and other materials needed to produce the food, and allows the members to become partners in the farming process.
Our 2012 CSA brochure
Our 2012 sign-up and payment form
Pinehold Garden's CSA Shares: For 2012, our CSA share begins during the height of summer in mid-July and ends late in October, with deliveries on Wednesdays. This 16 week CSA share is offered at $420. A weekly newsletter keeps you up to date on the farm as well as providing recipes and food preservation ideas for that week's produce. Archives of the newsletters from the 2010 and 2011 seasons can be found under the News and Muse tab. And since our CSA season starts after the sugar snap pea and strawberry season, we offer CSA members a chance to U-Pick a certain amount of these items for free. The CSA share also includes the U-Pick of 10 pounds of tomatoes. In addition, CSA members are offered a 10% discount on "Market Dollars." The use of Market Dollars is an opportunity to supplement the CSA box with fresh produce of your choice any week during the 2012 market season at the South Shore Farmer's Market, at our farm stand and at the Milwaukee County Winter Farmers Market. Our produce features heirlooms and time-tested hybrids, but the good taste and high quality is what you will notice. See the brochure and sign-up form for more information and pricing. Lastly, we encourage CSA members and those interested from the community to join our annual open house celebration, the End of Summer Harvest Festival, held on August 26, 2012.
Delivery locations and times: Besides the option to pick up at the farm, we offer delivery sites in Racine, Cudahy, Bay View, Greenfield, Shorewood and in Milwaukee at 59th and Garfield. The locations of our delivery sites as well as the specific pick-up times can be found on our sign-up form. Pick-up times generally span late afternoon and early evening. Delivery is always on a Wednesday. Members that pick up at the farm have the flexibility of picking up their boxes from 3 pm on Wednesdays through 7 pm on Saturday. The boxes are stored in our walk in cooler.
Worker shares: Small scale, sustainable vegetable production is labor intensive, creating a need for dedicated workers. To address this need, we offer a limited number of "worker shares". A worker share is the exchange of labor for a CSA membership. Worker shares receive a box of fruits and vegetables and make a significant contribution to the success of Pinehold Gardens. A worker share is a serious commitment of 4 hours per week. The majority of our worker share hours are Tuesday mornings from 9 am to 1 pm. A worker share commits to a shift and works that shift for the entire season. Worker share positions are open for both early season shifts and late season shifts. All shifts are 16 weeks long for a total of 64 hours. The early season begins May 15th and the late season begins July 10th. We will also have a worker share meet and greet potluck lunch and light work day on June 12th. Please email or call first to check if we still have worker share openings.
Assistance fund: For those unable to meet the financial obligations of being a member and are unable to do a worker share, we have an Assistance Fund. Dependent upon the generosity of other members in our community, the fund will be used to partially offset the difference in what a member is able to pay and the cost of a membership. This year we can offer up to $100 off a membership. We are doing this because we think everyone in the community should have access to fresh, local produce. Call it redistribution of wealth if you like; we call it community spirit. Flexible payment options are also available.
General note: Due to the high number of requests for CSA information, we recommend contacting us during our "off" season, which is November through March for a timely personal response. Sign-ups for the 2012 CSA season are accepted in the order in which we receive the sign-up form. Our 2011 members are given priority until March 1st, but we do have about 20 openings for new members as we are slightly expanding the size of our CSA. Please note we are a two person operation, and your patience is appreciated.
(Updated 01/22/12)
