Red Wagon Organic Farm LLC
Home |
Locations | CSA | Research | Photo Gallery | Employment Opportunities | About Us | Links
We will begin taking CSA memberships for 2012 in a few
days. We will take up to 400 members and do not expect to sell out for at least
a month or two. Check back soon… (posted 2/3/12)
Please
read this page before joining the CSA!
What
is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?
What will I receive from the
harvest?
What are the benefits of
joining the Red Wagon CSA?
Do I need to wash my
vegetables?
What happens if I don’t pick
up my share?
Can I pick up my share at
the Boulder Farmers’ Market?
What forms of payment do you
accept?
Can I take turns picking up
my share with other CSA members?
Can I get a half share or
split a share?
How many people will a share
feed? Will a share provide all of my vegetables for the week?
Will I get large quantities
of vegetables to pickle or can?
What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?
The original CSAs started when members of a community partnered with a farmer. The members share in the risks of the farm by pre-paying for a share of what the farm produces. The farmer benefits by having money to pay for up-front expenses such as seeds, equipment, and labor. The crops are then harvested and divided among the CSA members.
Many CSAs are now a modified form of the original CSAs. The farmer still sells shares, but does not sell all of what the farm produces to CSA members. Red Wagon will sell about 30% of what we produce to our CSA members. There is still some risk to the members, but we should be able to fulfill our commitment because only a portion of our annual production will be used for the CSA obligation. It would take a catastrophic event to prevent us from meeting our obligation.
How does it work?
Our CSA will run for 22 weeks from May 21 through October 18. Each week you will get a selection of amazing certified organic vegetables grown on our farm. CSA members do not choose what they receive in their weekly shares, rather we will provide you with a mix of what is available each week on the farm.
How much does it cost?
We have three sizes for our CSA shares:
Regular Share $534.60 (plus sales tax) (average of $24.30/week; feeds a family of 2-4 people)
Large Share** $748.00 (plus sales tax) (average of $34.00/week; feeds a family of 4-6 people)
Biweekly Share $269.50 (plus sales tax) (average of $24.30/week; pick up every other week)
**The Large Veggie Share is meant for a family. We do not recommend splitting it between a group of individuals.
Click
below to see what the CSA share received last year:
Where are the pickups?
We have four pickup locations:
· Mondays in Lafayette from 4-7pm in the Atlas Valley parking lot at the SW corner of 95th & Arapahoe
· Mondays at Red Wagon Farm from 4-7pm at 7694 N 63rd Street (2 miles north of IBM)
·
Tuesdays
in North Boulder 4-7pm in the Boulder JCC parking lot at
· Thursdays in East Boulder from 4-7pm in the Congregation Bonai Shalom parking lot at 1527 Cherryvale Rd (near Arapahoe and Cherryvale)
Please make sure that one of these locations will work for you before you sign up for the CSA. You can only pick up at one location for the entire season. You cannot alternate between pickup locations. You are responsible for picking up your share during this time each week.
What about fruit?
We will provide delicious, certified organic fruit grown by Ela Family Farms and First Fruits Organic Farms from the Western Slope of Colorado. The fruit share runs for a total of 12 weeks, generally starting in August. While the fruit share is for 12 weeks, it is not 12 consecutive weeks. The dates of the fruit share pickups are dependent upon availability. The fruit share will mostly consist of peaches and apples. However, if we are lucky we might also have the following available: cherries, apricots, pears, plums, strawberries, or melons.
Fruit Share $123 (plus sales tax) (average of $10.25/week for 12 weeks)
Biweekly Fruit $61.50 (plus sales tax) (average of $10.25/week for 6 weeks; pick up every other week)
Click
below to see what the fruit share received last year:
What should I expect?
CSA members should have a desire to eat and prepare foods they may not be accustomed to and also to change what they eat with the changing seasons. Eating seasonally can be a challenge, but can also provide incredible variety over the course of the year. Wilted greens sautéed with garlic become a staple of the CSA as do many various and wonderful salads. We will provide you with some recipes and we also encourage you to share your favorite recipes with us and other CSA members.
What will I receive from the harvest?
We have an incredible diversity of produce at Red Wagon. Each season we grow over 100 varieties of vegetables and herbs. The season starts with cool weather crops such as greens, turnips, onions, and peas. Diversity gradually increases throughout the summer, reaching its peak in August and September when we harvest around 25 crops per week! We work hard to provide crops like beans tomatoes and melons that are easy to use and familiar to everyone. Our goal is to find a balance between diversity and familiar foods that make people happy.
What are the benefits of joining the Red Wagon CSA?
When you join our CSA you will know who is growing your food (us!) and where it is coming from (our farms on Valmont Road and on N 63rd Street in Boulder County). Each week you will receive the freshest produce straight from our fields. You will be strengthening our local food system and helping to ensure the survival of local agriculture. You will also have the opportunity to become more involved with your community. You will be connected with a local farm and other CSA members who share some of your same values. We will also get the opportunity to be connected to CSA members who understand the importance of local agriculture and who want to take an active part in protecting it. Your membership will pay for seeds, labor, and equipment in the beginning of the season when expenses are high and income is low. We will send you a weekly newsletter with an update of what is happening on the farm as well as some recipes to use for that week’s share. You will also be invited out to the farm for two tours to be able to better understand how a small farm works. And also just to enjoy the beauty of the farm!
What is Sharing the Harvest?
Red Wagon will make reduced-rate CSA shares available to needy households in our community. You can contribute towards one of these shares in any amount. You can also contact us (or Tuv Ha’Aretz at boulderjewishcsa@gmail.com) if you or someone you know might qualify for one of these reduced-rate shares. In 2011 we collected $2,543 and were able to offer reduced-price shares to 9 families! A contribution of just a few dollars can go a long way towards helping families in our community.
How do I become a CSA member?
Click below to join our CSA. Shares are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
CSA FAQs
Do I need to wash my vegetables?
We rinse your vegetables at the farm, so they are generally free of soil and grit. But you should wash your vegetables at home before your prepare them.
What happens if I don’t pick up my share?
If you are not able to make it to the pickup, you can have a friend pick up your share for you. You do not need to let us know that you are having somebody else pick up your share for you—they just need to give us your name at the pickup. Any shares that are not picked up will be donated.
Can I pick up my share at the Boulder Farmers’ Market?
No. We do attend the farmers’ market
on Wednesday and Saturday, but for logistical reasons we will not have a pickup at the farmers’
market in
What forms of payment do you accept?
All CSA payments must be made by electronic check. We do not take credit cards due to the additional fee to the farm.
Do you offer a payment plan?
It is very helpful for us to have payment in full at the time you submit your application. However, if you are not able to pay for your CSA share all at once you can use one of our payment plans.
You can divide your total amount due into 2, 3, or 4 payments. The first payment is due at sign up. The subsequent payment(s) are due monthly after the first payment.
If none of these payment methods work for you, you may contact us to try to work out another plan.
Can I get a half share or split a share?
If you think a regular share will be too much food for you, we recommend getting the Biweekly Share. It is possible that you might miss out on one or two crops, but we will do our best to make sure you get to try everything. And almost all of our produce will last for at least 10 days (if not much longer), so a share from one week should stay fresh until it is time to pick your next share in two weeks.
You can also split a share with a friend, but that will be up to you to decide how you want to split up your share. And we have gotten feedback that it really does not work to split a share 3-ways. It is too difficult to split up things like melons, winter squash, etc.
The Large Veggie Share is meant for a family. We do not recommend splitting it between a group of individuals.
How many people will a share feed? Will a share provide all of my vegetables for the week?
It is really difficult to say how many people a share will feed. Some people say it is too much food for their family and others say that it is not enough. It really depends upon how many vegetables you eat. You can look at what we had in our regular and large CSA shares for 2011 to give you a better idea of how much food you will receive.
The CSA share will likely not provide all your vegetables for the week. A regular share will get 5 to 7 different kinds of vegetables each week. You will probably need to supplement certain other vegetable ingredients to make your favorite recipes.
Will I get large quantities of vegetables to pickle or can?
You will not get a large quantity of any one vegetable in a given week. Our CSA is meant to provide you with vegetables you will eat that week, not to give you large quantities of food to preserve.
Questions? See our web page, email us, or call Wyatt at 303-949-0285.
Red Wagon Organic Farm 7694
N 63rd St Longmont,
Colorado 80503
