Join the Farm - Winter 2012
Thank you for your interest in our 2012 Winter CSA!
(Jump to: Share Description Schedule and Prices Payment Details Registration)
We're excited to be providing fresh salad greens and locally-grown organic vegetables to our members this winter, and we're happy to have customers who are committed to eating seasonally all year. Please check out the information below before registering through the links on the bottom of this page.
The Winter CSA at Village Acres is made up primarily of our own salad mix, grown in our unheated greenhouses and field tunnels, and our winter storage crops such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, and cabbage. Cooking greens, such as collards and kale, are also included as weather and space allow, and in April and May our early perennial field crops such as asparagus and rhubarb are a highly anticipated addition. In some cases, shares may be supplemented with produce grown by other members of our local organic grower's co-op, or by local growers (pesticide-free but not always certified organic) who we've been working with. Last year our winter CSA members received 37 different types of vegetables throughout the season. With the completion of our Food Shed and certified kitchen, shares this year may occasionally also include frozen or preserved summer produce (such as frozen sweet corn, dried tomatoes, or canned soups or sauces).
Our salad mix is constantly being adapted to grow well in our climate during the winter. Our greenhouses are unheated, and even though temperatures can reach the seventies when the sun is shining, the short days of midwinter can take their toll. Our mix includes a diverse variety of salad greens: arugula, mizuna, baby mustards, baby beets and chard, claytonia (miner's lettuce), and others, but it does not always include lettuce. It's tasty, fresh, and often beautiful, but it can be a little spicy compared to a lettuce-heavy bagged salad mix.
Due to the scarcity of some prized winter crops (such as salad mix) and the time between biweekly deliveries, we have only one size of winter share available- members who anticipate not being able to use a standard-sized share should look for someone to split it with. You are welcome to split your share with however many people you'd like, but we do ask that the responsibility of managing split shares remain with you and your partners, not with the farm. It's up to you how to split up shares and costs with your partner.
Our Egg Share consists of a dozen eggs biweekly (at every winter delivery) from our own chickens. Our hens are pasture-raised during most of the year; in the winter they are free to roam our barnyard in all but the coldest weather or to take shelter in our barn. They are not certified organic (due to the price of organic feed) but eat plenty of organically-grown bugs, seeds, and compost-ready produce and you're welcome to stop by any time and check on them!
Our Community Fund exists to make sure that good, local, organic produce is available to everyone, regardless of economic means. Our Community Fund provides reduced cost shares for those on limited budgets who want to be a part of the CSA. If you would like to contribute to the Community Fund as part of your signup, you'll be given the opportunity to do so. All donations made during registration are matched by the farm. If you are interested in receiving financial assistance from the Community Fund, please sign up online as usual, and then contact the farm with "Community Fund Request" in the subject line, or call us at (717) 436-9477.
Winter CSA distributions are held every other Tuesday from December 6, 2011 to May 1st, 2012, except that there are two weeks between our December 20th distribution and our January 10th distribution (see our calendar).
However, we are also offering a distribution November 22nd to help our Winter CSA members get ready for Thanksgiving. If you are currently a summer CSA member, you have already paid for a box of veggies the week of Thanksgiving! If you are not in the summer CSA, and you'd like a big box of Thankgiving produce, sign up for the Thanksgiving box option during registration.
2012 Winter CSA Prices
Share Size Amount
Vegetable Share (Off the farm - 11 weeks) $330
Vegetable Share (On-farm pickup - 11 weeks) $295
Thanksgiving box (Full summer share Nov 22) $30
Egg Share (11 weeks) $33
Pickup Locations:
1. State College: We are still holding pickup at the Friends Meeting, 611 East Prospect. 2. At the farm: 229 Cuba Mills Rd., Mifflintown, PA 17059
3. Burnham: The Healthy Food Store, 135 Nolan Dr., Lewistown, PA 17044
4. Selinsgrove: Emma's Food for Life, in Selinsgrove, or the Peachy home in Winfield, PA. We're considering moving Selinsgrove winter distribution to Wednesdays, to help streamline our packing and harvesting, but Emma's isn't open late that day, so we may be looking for a different winter home in Selinsgrove. Again, if for some reason our final decision ends up not being a good one for you, we'll refund any payment you've made.
Please send a $100 deposit, up to the full amount to the farm's address, payable to "Village Acres." In the memo field, please write "Winter Share '12" and your member #, which will be in your confirmation email. Finally, if your name is not on the check, please write it in the memo field. Please note that your deposit is the only way to hold your spot. (We are not set up to accept online or credit card payments.)
Our winter share is somewhat smaller than our summer one, since we only have so much greenhouse space and so much room to store root crops, so make sure to get your reservation in as soon as you can! We will probably not take more than 160 members overall, as compared to the almost 220 we currently have this summer.
Farm's Address:
Village Acres
229 Cuba Mills Rd.
Mifflintown, PA 17059
If you have previously been a member of any Village Acres CSA since 2008, click here to sign up for the '12 Winter CSA.
If you're a new member, click here to sign up for the '12 Winter CSA.
Thank you for your interest and support. If you have any questions/comments, please call (717-436-9477) or email us (villageacres@gmail.com).
Saturday, March 3rd, 6pm -11pm Dave Lefever Singer/Songwriter, Musician will perform.
Tuesday, March 13 Transition to Organic Vegetable Production Workshop
