Buying Straight From the Farm: A Growing Trend in MA

February 28, 2011
(Listen)MIDDLEBORO & BARRE, Mass. - The popularity of eating locally grown food continues to rise in New England agriculture. The number of Massachusetts and regional farmers turning toward community-supported agriculture, or CSA, has tripled in the last decade. Under the CSA model, people buy shares in a farming operation on an annual basis. In return, the farmer provides a regular supply of fresh, natural or organic produce throughout the growing season.

James Reynolds owns The Dahlia Farm, Middleboro. He says farming is hard work, but while the rewards may not necessarily be financial, the connection to community members is priceless.

"There's definitely more of a community aspect or community feel to it. We're meeting the people who are actually consuming our product, and we're getting involved with their families, their children."

Julie Rawson owns Many Hands Organic Farm and also is the executive director of The Northeast Organic Farmers Association in Massachusetts. She has run her CSA in Barre for the last 19 years. She says farmers have a huge number of expenses going into the growing season, and this business model relieves a lot of that burden.

"When people who are buying a share put up their money up front, that helps us not have to go into debt. It's a great way for the consumer and the farmer to work symbiotically: Farmers get their money up front and then consumers get their food throughout the season. You know it's of great value to both sides."

Reynolds says a lot of misconceptions still exist about buying directly from the farm - especially regarding price.

"You can actually get farm-fresh, no-pesticide, no-chemical food at a relatively fair economic price. In other words, the super-premium price you might expect to pay isn't necessarily there with your local farms."

Reynolds advises customers to shop around before buying in to a CSA. Some farms also offer half-shares, he notes.

CSAs are not limited to produce; farmers may offer shares for eggs, cheese and other products in their weekly distribution boxes or baskets. The popularity of year-round CSAs is gaining traction, too, with some farmers growing crops in greenhouses throughout the year.


Monique Coppola, Public News Service - MA


Listen to TheDahliaFarm's most recent media podcast from the Public News Service.

EnterpriseNews: Middleboro Farmer Offering Shares in Community Garden

The snow's still on the ground, but it's time to sign-up for shares of the harvest from a local garden...and a share from this CSA might be just the ticket to chase away cabin fever and a chance to dream of fat juicy tomatoes, fragrant basil and crisp cucumbers.

Pictured here, James and Cecilia Reynolds expect to see their first harvest of spring greens by the end of May, and people who want fresh vegetables for 18 weeks during the growing season can sign up for a share through Community Supported Agriculture...(see whole story)

Pear Gorgonzola Tart

Ok, admittedly this is not a particularly "gardeny" recipe - but then again it is fatty, fatty January.

Giada (Dino De Laurentiis granddaughter, proprietor of white teeth) has a real dead-of-winter winner with this one.

For something decidedly delicious and naughty be sure to whip up this Pear Gorgonzola Tart for the weekend or your next dinner party or pot-luck. You'll surely take the prize and be the belle of the ball.

Mmm... Yum!

2011 Season Begins

Happy new year and welcome back!

With this winter solstice we begin the new 2011 season on the farm. Our seeds have arrived and we have already begun to book shares for 2011.

This past year's "Compost Project" landed a generous supply of landscape waste and manure (about 120 cubic yards) which goes into our long-term soil-improvement program. We've also managed a seemingly endless supply of trucked-in oak leaves to use as a mulch for our fall-planted garlic.

Seed germination begins in about a month, so whether you are a returning share-holder or entirely new to our CSA program, be sure to sign-up soon for what promises to be our best season ever.

INTERNATIONAL FARM

It's official -- The Dahlia Farm has gone international!

Sort of...

When the largest egg farm in the Cape Verde Islands couldn't get standard-sized birds (tradititional chickens off the coast of Africa are bantams), they turned to their friends and relatives in the U.S. to personally transport fertilized large eggs home in the hope of breeding their own.

Success!

The Cape Verde Islands are now developing a flock of large birds, thanks to The Dahlia Farm!

So if ever you're travelling there and you should stumble upon Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Rocks -- our southern New England traditional breeds -- you can rest assured, they are from your very own CSA farm, right here in Middleboro!

GAI LOHN, or Chinese Broccoli, or Chinese Kale, or Kailan

Call it what you will, this brassica family member is a true cross-over between rapini, kale and broccoli. While it most closely resembles broccoli, its florets are smaller, stems longer, and its leaves are wider.

Although it is common in Asian markets, gai lohn is fairly new to the rest of us, albeit not entirely foreign in appearance.

It is easy to prepare and may be stir-fried, steamed, or prepared any way in which you might make rapini, broccoli or kale.

"Happy Rich" is the variety we are growing this year at The Dahlia Farm, and if you are a CSA shareholder, you should be seeing yours within the next few weeks. (Provided our woodchuck doesn't return...)