What is Community Supported Agriculture?

Community Supported Agriculture is a direct partnership between the consumer and the farmer. CSA members pay in advance for a share of the upcoming harvest and are ensured high-quality local produce, and the farmer is ensured a consistent market. Produce is harvested from the farm and delivered to our members' neighborhoods all on the same day.

What's in a CSA Box?

We grow over 60 different types of vegetables and herbs, and each week, members receive a half-bushel box with a variety of 8-12 seasonal, organically grown vegetables, fruits and herbs. All of the vegetables in our CSA shares come from Johnson's Backyard Garden directly, and we partner with other trusted local farms to provide specialty items (such as organic oranges and grapefruits from South Tex Organics).

Some of the crops we grow are unusual and cannot be found in most stores; we make an effort to balance these unusual crops with more familiar ones. The contents of each week's box can be found on our home page, and recipes using those items are included in our weekly blog posts.

You can see photos of our recent CSA boxes on our Facebook page.

How much does it cost to become a member?

The share cost is $32 per box, and there is a four-box minimum to join.
Members who pay for 10 or more boxes at a time will get a discount of $2 per box.

Where are the pick-up sites?

A map of our pick-up sites can be found here.

How do I pick up my produce?

On delivery day, members go to their pick-up sites and get their shares for the week. We ask that you take your vegetables and put them in your own bags or boxes, then break down the farm's wax box and leave it at the site. This way we can reuse the wax boxes and keep costs down.

What happens if I cannot pick up my box?

You can change your pickup dates to accommodate your schedule through our website, or by calling or e-mailing our office. We can also arrange for a pick-up at an alternate site on another distribution day. If contacting the office, please give us at least 48 hours notice so we can make the change to your schedule in time.

How long is your season?

We grow year-round and provide CSA boxes 50 weeks out of the year. Our family takes a week off in August and another in December.

Ten Reasons to Buy Local

• 1. Locally grown food tastes better.

  Food grown in your own community is usually picked within the past day or two. It's crisp, sweet, and loaded with flavor. Produce flown or trucked in from Florida, Chile, Mexico, or Holland is, quite understandably, much older. Several studies have shown that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles. In a weeklong delay from harvest to dinner plate, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality.

• 2. Local produce is better for you.

  Studies have shown that fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. Locally grown food, purchased soon after harvest, retains its nutrients.

• 3. Local food preserves genetic diversity.

  In the modern industrial agricultural system, varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously and withstand harvesting equipment; for a tough skin that can survive packing and shipping; and for an ability to have a long shelf life in the store. Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. Local farms, in contrast, grow a huge number of varieties to provide a long season of harvest, an array of eye-catching colors, and the best flavors. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, because they taste good. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds or even thousands of years of human selection; they may someday provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing climate. Local food preserves genetic diversity.

• 4. Local food is GMO-free.

  Although biotechnology companies have been trying to commercialize genetically modified fruits and vegetables, they are currently licensing them only to large factory-style farms. Local farmers don't have access to genetically modified seed, and most of them wouldn't use it even if they could. A June 2001 survey by ABC News showed that 93% of Americans want labels on genetically modified food - most so that they can avoid it. If you are opposed to eating bioengineered food, you can rest assured that locally grown produce was bred the old-fashioned way, as nature intended.

• 5. Local food supports local farm families.

  With fewer than 1 million Americans now listing farming as their primary occupation, farmers are a vanishing breed. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middle man and get full retail price for their crops — which means farm families can afford to stay on the farm, doing what they love.

• 6. Local food builds a stronger community.

  Local food builds community. When you buy direct from the farmer, you are re-establishing a time-honored connection between the eater and the grower. Knowing the farmers gives you insight into the seasons, the weather, and the miracle of raising food. In many cases, it gives you access to a farm where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture. Relationships built on understanding and trust can thrive. Local food preserves open space. The open landscape will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.

• 7. Local food preserves open space.

  As the value of direct-marketed fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. You have probably enjoyed driving out into the country and appreciated the lush fields of crops, the meadows full of wildflowers, the picturesque red barns. That landscape will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.

• 8. Local food helps to keep your taxes in check.

  Farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas suburban development costs more than it generates in taxes, according to several studies.

• 9. Local food supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife.

  A well-managed family farm is a place where the resources of fertile soil and clean water are valued. Good stewards of the land grow cover crops to prevent erosion and replace nutrients used by their crops. Cover crops also capture carbon emissions and help combat global warming. According to some estimates, farmers who practice conservation tillage could sequester 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles and industry. In addition, the habitat of a farm — the patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds, and buildings — is the perfect environment for the many species of wildlife including owls, hawks, blue herons, bats, and rabbits, and foxes.

• 10. Local food is about the future.

  By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow so that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful, and abundant food.