What is a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, where the community directly supports the farmer.  Members of the CSA generally pay the farmer a certain amount of money at some time before the beginning of the growing season, usually well before the first seed is planted.  The reason for this is because that is when the farmer is incurring their expenses - seeds and plants to purchase, seed starting supplies to acquire, and equipment to buy, rent, or repair.  Some times the payments are broken into 2 or more payments to make the membership more affordable.  This has an advantage to the member, but may hinder cash flow for the farmer during the early months when there are no crops in the field.  ...Spring arrives, and the farmer is preparing the soil and sowing seeds.  There is usually an estimate of when the first shares of produce will be available; however, the farmer is at the mercy of Mother Nature, and crops may reach harvest sooner or later than expected.  Some times some varieties will fail altogether.  There is no membership refund, per se - in purchasing a membership, the member is sharing the risk of the farmer, guaranteeing the farmer a certain amount of income, even in poor yielding years.

Many CSAs are run by full time farmers feeding 50 or 100 or more members.  Some deliver to a farmers market where members pick up their shares.  Some deliver to a certain location once or twice a week.  The Little Biddy CSA, however, will be more of a micro CSA - really tiny.  When we officially offer memberships in 2016, I am thinking of starting with ten members who are probably withing walking distance.  Probably less than an acre will be devoted to this endeavor to begin with.  Also, I work full time off of the mini-farm, so I don't have time or energy for deliveries. If I break even, or even lose a bit of money, I anticipate for that first year, the lessons learned will be well worth it.  Follow this blog to share in the adventures.