Any rational person would tell you that we’re still in the heart of winter, but a few recent days have held a hopeful feeling of spring. Some farmers are beginning to plant seeds. I can see the faint glow of the grow lights in my neighbor’s living room windows at night.

For CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farmers and shareholders, this means it’s time to think about signing up for summer CSA shares. In fact, many farms begin accepting applications for shares as early as January.

But what, you might ask, is a CSA share?

Most CSA shares represent an agreement between a farmer and a consumer. The consumer agrees to pay for a share of the upcoming harvest before the season starts. This gives the farmer much-needed springtime capital. In exchange for this investment, the farmer provides the consumer with a “share” of farm products (which could include produce, milk, eggs, meat, and more) for the duration of the agreed-upon season.

Every farm offers a unique twist on the basic CSA model, with variations in cost, payment dates, and food choice. Some farms offer a “free-choice” model in which customers can essentially choose from the farm’s available foods each week. Other farms will provide customers with a box of pre-selected food representing the diversity of that week’s harvest.

Some operations specialize in seasonal produce, while others have branched out into milk, meat, and eggs. Certain farms also offer winter shares of storage crops (such as potatoes, onions, winter squash, etc.) and preserved foods (such as pickles and salsa). One local CSA, Spruce Lane Farm, offers gardeners the option of getting all their plant seedlings in one place through a seedling share.

CSA’s allow consumers to save money on local, fresh food by eliminating the middleman, while giving farmers a reliable consumer base. In general, CSA members pick up their food at the farm or at a central pick-up location each week. This allows farmers, for whom time is often a precious commodity, to spend more time in the field and less time trucking their produce to market.

By picking up their food on-site, CSA members establish a relationship with the farm and deepen their understanding of where their food comes from and what it takes to grow it. Many farmers hold annual on-farm celebrations that help strengthen this sense of connection between farm and community. Fable Farm in Barnard, a particularly community-minded CSA, regularly hosts community potlucks and wood-fired flatbread dinners, often accompanied by local music and general merriment.

Many CSA’s also offer creative options for people on a tight budget, including participation in NOFA’s (Northeast Organic Farming Association) Farm Share Program, which offers CSA subsidies to low-income Vermonters. Some farms also offer work shares that allow CSA members to barter work for food.

While CSA’s offer economic benefits to both consumer and farmer, they also offer the less tangible, but equally important benefit of allowing consumers to feel connected to the source of their food. This model helps preserve our working landscape, strengthen the local economy, and support a reliable network of local food sources.

For more information on local CSA’s, please see the CSA directory in this week’s Herald. If you run a CSA in our readership area that is not listed in this directory, please contact Josey at joseyhastings@gmail.com.

Directory of Central Vermont CSAs

Local Farm	Location	Contact Information	Share Type	Share Season
Brotherly Farm Organic	Brookfield	www.brotherlyfarm.com brotherlyfarm@yahoo.com 802-276-9904	Meat	June-September
Camp Merrishko	Brookfield	clotildeh@gmail.com 802-276-3950	Produce	June-October
Earthwise Farm & Forest	Bethel	www.earthwisefarmandforest.com Lmccrory@hughes.net 802-234-5524	Meat, milk, eggs	June-November
Fable Farm	Barnard	www.fablefarm.blogspot.com fablefarm@gmail.com 802-234-5667	Produce	June - October
Fat Rooster Farm	Royalton	www.fatroosterfarm.com fatroosterfarm@myfairpoint.net 802-763-5282	Produce, meat, eggs	Year-round
Field Stone Farm	Northfield	www.fieldstonefarmvt.wordpress.com 802-485-3349	Produce, meat, eggs	Year-round
Four Springs Farm	Royalton	www.fourspringsfarm.com fourspringsfarm@gmail.com 802-763-7296	Produce, eggs	Summer
Green Mountain Girls	Northfield	www.vermontfarm.blogspot.com greenmtngirls@gmail.com 802-505-1767	Produce, eggs, meat, milk	Year-round
Luna Bleu Farm	South Royalton	www.lunableufarm.org lunableufarm@myfairpint.net 802-763-7981	Produce, meat, eggs	Year-round
Parmelee Farm	Randolph	parmelee.clark@gmail.com 802-728-4311	Meat	Summer
Spruce Lane Farm	Brookfield	llipkvich@gmail.com 802-276-3038	Seedlings	Spring
Sundora Farm	Randolph	www.sundorafarm.blogspot.com sundorafarm@gmail.com 802-522-6877	Produce, meat	Summer
Sunshine Valley Berry Farm	Rochester	www.vermontberries.com rob@vermontberries.com 802-767-9385	Berries	July-first frost
Tunbridge Hill Farm	Tunbridge	www.tunbridgehillfarm.com thillfarm@gmail.com 802-889-3565	Produce	June-October