A page on all things food security related like sustainable gardening, farming, food distribution equality, sustainable growth and more. Expect this page to grow and change as I find and organize more information. Many links relate specifically to the Pacific Northwest because this is where I live, but there are also local, national, and global links.
Community Gardening & Organic Farming
FAQ’s
Q: What’s a C.S.A.? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The most common type of CSA supports local small to medium-size farmers and provide community members with local, seasonally grown fresh produce and sometimes eggs and meat.
How do they work? Part of the benefit of organizing a C.S.A. for the farmer is that they get money they need before and at the beginning of the growing season to buy seeds, farming equipment, hire labor and for general operations. Usually a C.S.A. will have a list of what they plan to plant in the following season. Members pay a flat share fee up front to the farmer before the beginning of the growing season. In return, customers receive a predetermined share of what is grown/raised on the farm.
Customers do take a risk if the growing season is bad due to weather, crop disease or other events, or they share in the bounty if a farmer has a really good season. Many C.S.A’s offer different shares sizes, such as half share, single person, family size, or double shares. Shares are usually distributed on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Some farms also organize their C.S.A’s with other farms, so as part of your share you might receive produce from a few local farms that each specialize in growing different things. A C.S.A. I belonged to had three or so farms that pooled their harvests. One farm grew salad, herbs, and cooking vegetables, another grew berries, and the third specialized in heirloom veggies. Everything was so good that I sulked for a while when the growing season ended and refused to even look at the produce section in grocery stores. If possible, look at a few different C.S.A. options in your area because selections and farm yields really vary. Ask other people who have bought shares from the farm before what their typical weekly share was like, and compare with your eating and cooking habits to find a good C.S.A. fit. Community supported agriculture farms do not always use organic growing practices, so check with your individual farm to see what they do.
Community Supported Agriculture eliminates the middleman (your grocery store) which lowers costs to you, supports local farmers with cash when they need it and gets you healthy produce straight from the farm!
How to find a C.S.A. near you:
Local Harvest’s CSA and Other Farm Subscriptions National Database (searchable both by zipcode and visual map)
Wilson College’s National CSA Search
Farmer’s Markets
Washington State Farmer’s Market Association
Food Growing Tips and Resources
American Community Gardening Association great tips on starting a community garden
Seed Savers Exchange -a great non-profit focused on saving and exchanging heirloom seeds
You Grow Girl and Garden Rant, two gardening blogs
Seedswappers
Seeds of Change certified organic seeds for home growers and bulk seeds available, heirloom seeds too
Society for Organic Urban Land Care
Organic Gardening and Composting
WSU Master Gardener: Stewardship Gardening-Composting
Pacific Northwest Native Wildlife Gardening
City Farmer.org’s How to Compost with Red Wiggler Worms
Seattle P-Patch Community Gardens
ATTRA/National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service’s Organic Farming Information- Great links to every aspect of organic gardening and farming, detailed advice on individual crops, Integreted Pest Management (IPM), & more!
