Sign Up With Our Farm, Garden of Eve
CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture, give urban residents access to high quality, fresh produce grown locally by regional farmers.
As a CSA member, not only will you gain access to fruits and vegetables right from the soil, you also contribute your support to local farms.
How a CSA Works:
- Members pay for a ‘share’ of an entire season of produce upfront in the spring. This early bulk payment enables your farmer to plan for the season, purchase new seed, make equipment repairs, and more.
- Once the produce begins to be harvested, the farmers delivers produce weekly to the drop-off location in your neighborhood.
- Members go to the neighborhood location once a week, or once every other week for a half share, during the CSA season (usually June through November) to pick up their produce.
- Members volunteer once per season for an hour and a half, either from 5:00-6:30pm to help with setup and the early shift pick-up, or from 6:30-8:00pm for the second half of pick-up and breakdown.
What is a ‘Share’?
A ‘share’ is a percentage of the harvested crop. Shares are evenly divided each week so that each share portion contains the same amount. Shares will vary in produce and quantity week to week depending on the season and harvest. Shares from the Ansche Chesed CSA are picked up at Ansche Chesed Wednesdays between 5:30pm and 6:30pm.
Why should I join the Ansche chesed CSA?
- Organic at a reasonable price — Get organic vegetables, eggs, and flowers and low-spray fruit directed from a Long Island farm, Garden of Eve.
- More Options — In addition to the standard vegetable share, we also offer fruit, egg, and flower shares.
- Half Shares — We offer convenient half share options that only get picked up every other week. Ideal for individuals, small families, or people with busy schedules.
- Swap Forum — Traveling over the summer? Have a conflict and can’t pick up your share? Request a trade on the Swap Forum!
- Events and Demos — Special events and cooking demonstrations offered throughout the season to help you get the most out of your CSA experience.
- Support Local Farms — Small farms depend on CSAs so they can remain independent from corporate consolidation and provide communities with access to healthy produce while paying farmworkers a livable wage.
- Food Donations — All produce that isn’t picked up by share members is donated to the West Side Coalition Against Hunger, improving access to healthy food to our lower income NYC residents.
- Encourage an Ethical and Sustainable Food System
A word about the “Community” portion of Community Supported Agriculture:
In a CSA arrangement the farmer pre-sells shares; the money goes to the cost of planting and growing crops and paying the farmer and farmworkers a living wage. Your money is not paying for overhead, for staffing pickup, or for the space that we use in the synagogue. This is why volunteering is such an essential portion of the arrangement. It is also a wonderful way to meet your neighbors!
Membership in the CSA requires your volunteer commitment. We provide comprehensive directions and guidance, as well as an experienced core member who will be present at all times.
Shares
You may choose to receive vegetables every week (a “full share”) or every other week (the same amount of vegetables half as often, i.e. a “half share”). A “combo share” bundles together fruit, eggs, and flowers in addition to vegetables and is available weekly or biweekly, or you can pick and choose which options (fruit, eggs, flowers) you want in addition to vegetables. There must be some vegetable component of all orders. You may order multiple shares (eggs are a popular item to double as share is 1/2 dozen).
Costs
In addition to the cost of the shares themselves, the farm adds a 7.5% transportation fee to cover gas, parking tickets (a regular occurrence while unloading) and tolls. We add a one-time $15 administrative fee to cover supplies, costs associated with materials necessary for our free monthly workshops (free and open to all), van rental for the far trip in August, and for tips paid to the janitorial staff at the synagogue at the end of the season for their invaluable and otherwise uncompensated assistance. (We make a muddy mess!)
A couple of notes: You may wonder about the dollar amounts as you proceed through the registration process – specifically the admin fee will show $14 (the system automatically adds 7.5% to everything so this is a work around) – the true admin fee that comes to us will be $15. You may pay by credit card or by electronic check. The check option will divide your total cost into three debits from your checking account spread over three months.
More Questions?
Our CSA is run by a team of volunteers who are happy to lend a hand. Please reach out if you have additional questions or just feel like saying hi.
Contact us at CSAatAnscheChesed@gmail.com
Ansche Chesed CSA 