Sign up now for the Forest Hills CSA 2023 Season!
OVERVIEW
- Where: at the Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Avenue in Forest Hills
- When: Thursdays from 4-8 pm, June 8th, 2023 – November 2nd, 2023, 22 weeks
- Shares: Hawthorne Valley Farm Full and Partial Vegetable shares
- Optional Add-ons: Fruit shares and lots more (eggs, bread, dairy, meats, granola, & sauerkraut)
- Administrative fee: $10 (subsidy for low and middle-income shares, the Just Food Network fee, church donation, and miscellaneous administrative costs.)
- Share sign-up: The link to signup is at the end of this email, but PLEASE READ THE “HOW TO SIGN-UP” SECTION BELOW BEFORE CLICKING ON THE LINK
- Payment is via credit card (Stripe) or check
- Contact Form: Please complete our contact form (green button at the bottom of this email) in order to receive newsletters from the farm and for volunteering or any other reason the FHCSA core may need to contact you.
- Volunteering signup: All FHCSA members volunteer! Signup will be emailed in late May after registration is closed.
WHAT IS COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE?
Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a unique partnership between a farm and its members. As a CSA member, you share in the risks and benefits of local, organic farming. You receive a weekly share of farm-fresh produce, get to know the life of the farm, and share in a sense of community around food, farming, nature and nutrition. By receiving payment before the growing season begins, farmers are able to buy seeds and supplies, plan what to grow, and offset some of the risk inherent in farming, like extreme weather and crop failures. We do our best to mitigate these risks and fill any gaps that occur during the season. Through the CSA model, we commit to the close connection between farmer and eater and to growing healthy, nutritious food in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible.
The Forest Hills CSA is entirely volunteer-run. Like most CSAs in NYC, all our members volunteer a certain number of hours to run the CSA.
ABOUT HAWTHORNE VALLEY FARM
Hawthorne Valley Farm is part of the Hawthorne Valley Association, which is a 501(c)3 nonprofit made up of diverse initiatives committed to the renewal of soil, society, and self by integrating agriculture, education, and art. For more information, see https://farm.hawthornevalley.org/.
Hawthorne Valley Farm is a certified organic and Biodynamic vegetable farm in Columbia County, New York, near the town of Hudson, about 2 1/2 hours’ drive north of New York City. The farm was started over 50 years ago, and they have been farming for CSAs for over 25 years. They grow over 40 varieties of vegetables on 16+ acres. They have a herd of 65 dairy cows, whose milk they make into yogurt and cheese. They also have some cows, pigs and chickens that they raise for meat. The farmers of HVF take land stewardship very seriously.
They have multiple certifications:
- USDA certified Organic
- Demeter certified Biodynamic Biodynamics can be called “organic plus.” Biodynamics views the farm as a whole, interconnected organism and tries to take as little input from outside the farm as possible. For more information on Biodynamics, click https://farm.hawthornevalley.org/biodynamic-is-beautifully-complex/
- Animal Welfare Approved by AGW
Todd Newlin is the Field Vegetable and CSA Manager. You can read more about the farm staff here. Everyone who works at the farm is either a long-term staff member or an apprentice.
OUR 2023 SHARES
VEGETABLE SHARES:
- Hawthorne Valley Farm offers two share sizes: “full” and “partial” shares. A partial share is about 2/3 the size of a full share.
- Please note that the prices below are just for the shares and do not include the administrative fee.
FULL VEGETABLE SHARE:
- Each week you will receive on average 10 different vegetables (8-12).
- Price: $698.94 for 22 weeks ($31.77/pickup)
- Pay-in-full, or monthly payment available
PARTIAL VEGETABLE SHARE:
- Each week you will receive on average 6 (5 – 8).
- Price: $440.00 for 22 weeks ($20.00/pickup)
- Pay-in-full, or monthly payment available
SUBSIDIZED VEGETABLE SHARES
Please see the chart below for income guidelines and note that they are for total PRE-TAX income (not take-home pay), and are subsidized by your fellow CSA members. Low and middle-income shares are given out on an as-needed basis to the extent that we can afford to subsidize them. Family size and income are calculated by the number of people eating the share (whether or not they are related) and those people’s total pre-tax income from all sources, not just salary. Subsidized shares are given out on the honor system, although the Forest Hills Core Group reserves the right to request supporting documents.
Family Size – Middle-Income Share, Low-Income Share:
1 – <$32,000, <$20,000
2 – <$44,000, <$27,000
3 – <$55,000, <$34,000
4 – <$66,000, <$41,000
5 – <$77,000, <$48,000
6 – <$88,000, <$55,000
MIDDLE-INCOME PARTIAL VEGETABLE SHARE:
- Each week you will receive on average 6 (5 – 8).
- Price: $330.00 for 22 weeks ($15.00/pickup)
- Pay-in-full, or monthly payment available
LOW-INCOME PARTIAL VEGETABLE SHARE:
- Each week you will receive on average 6 (5 – 8).
- Price: $220.00 for 22 weeks ($10.00/pickup)
- Pay-in-full, or monthly payment available
Vegetable Share Description
Later spring to early summer, expect to see a lot of salad greens, radishes, turnips, kale, and other brassicas. Summer crops include classics like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, and cucumbers. In the fall, you’ll find more salad greens and brassicas, as well as storage crops like onions, winter squash, beets, and carrots. Note: Unlike AFF and GEOF, HVF’s vegetable share is solely vegetables. If you would like strawberries and watermelon (and more), you should sign up for a fruit share (more information below).
HVF partners with a few local farms to help fulfill the CSA and provide some items that don’t fit in HVF’s crop rotations. These farms include:
- Markristo Farm – certified organic
- Farm at Miller’s Crossing – certified organic
- Thompson & Finch – certified organic
- Row by Row – certified organic
- Kinderhook Creek Farm – Corn only, conventionally grown, non-GMO seed (the only non-organic vegetable in the share is corn)
FRUIT SHARES
- Every week for 22 weeks (yay!)
- Price: $275.00 for 22 weeks ($12.50/pickup)
- Note: Fruit shares are considered an add-on
Fruits expected:
- Strawberries – 1-2 pints
- Blueberries – 1-2 pints
- Cherries – 1-2 quarts
- Apricots – 1-2 quarts
- Peaches – 1-2 quarts
- Watermelon – 1
- Plums – 1-2 quarts
- Apples – 1-2 quarts OR 1/2 peck
- Pears – 1-2 quarts OR 1/2 peck
- Cider – 1 half gallon
Fruit shares are from the following farms:
- Hawthorne Valley Farm – Certified Organic
- Thompson & Finch Orchards – Certified organic strawberries, blueberries, and apples
- Grindstone Farm – certified organic
- Fishkill Farms – Berries and some apples are organic. The remainder of their apples, stone fruit, and pears are Ecoertified by Red Tomato.
- Mead Orchards – Ecocertified by Red Tomato
Read more about Red Tomato’s EcoCertified Fruit program here.
ADD-ON SHARES
Other than fruit shares, HVF also offers other shares of add-on shares of Hawthorne Valley Products.
Monthly, weekly and/or bi-weekly shares are available for the following products:
- Bread (Baker’s Choice of many varieties, San Fransisco Sourdough, Sun Flax, or Sourdough)
- Buttermilk
- Cheese Maker’s Choice (variety of raw milk soft or hard cheeses, 1 per delivery)
- Chicken (whole)
- Eggs (from Oliver’s Organic Eggs)
- Granola (honey almond or maple walnut)
- Mixed Meat (Pork, beef, and chicken)
- Quark
- Sauerkraut (Original, Caraway, Turmeric, Jalapeno, Ruby, Curtido, Kimchi, 1 per delivery)
- Yogurt (honey, maple, or plain)
Forest Hills CSA 