Good Soil Farm LLC’s CSA…

Our CSA is unique–not only is it our goal to build up the community of people, animals, plants, and soil microbes, but we also strive to build up the culture.

We do this by bringing traditions, old and new, to our CSA members as well as the broader community with events such as the St. John the Baptist Vigil Bonfire in June and our Michaelmas Harvest Celebration in September.

Testimonial:

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Full Season CSA options

We have two pick-up choices and one droppoint:
Thursdays from 3 to 6 PM pick-up on the farm
Saturdays from 12 Noon to 3 PM pick-up on the farm
Mondays from 5:30 to 6 PM droppoint at Gravel & Grind in Frederick, MD

CSA Details

How it works

We have two pick up options and one droppoint this season:

Thursday pick-up from 3-6pm and Saturday pick-up from 12-3pm. Pick-up is on the farm, located at 9736 Keysville Road in Emmitsburg.

Monday droppoint is from 5:30 to 6 pm at Gravel & Grind, located at 15 E 6th St, Frederick, MD 21701.

We harvest fresh before pick up begins.

The pick-up is market style. This means the vegetables are arranged as in a market and you are able to pick exactly which head of lettuce or variety of tomatoes, etc. that you want. If there is something that you know you don’t want in a given week, it is fine to not take it, though we do encourage members to try everything at least once. Some things are offered by weight, some by bunch, some by head. We provide scales, etc.

We do not prepare a box for on-farm members–we want you to be free to choose which tomato, pepper, etc you actually want.

The members bring bags to the pick up to put their food in to take home. Many use cooler bags. Some use boxes. Some use grocery bags. The key is that the member is in charge of that component. It allows members to bring a variety of means for packing their goods since some goods require remaining cold, while others don’t.

The droppoint in Frederick will be boxed and ready, but we’d love to chat while you are picking up! And if there is any week that you’d prefer to pick up your share on the farm, whether to suit your schedule or to get to see the farm, just let us know and we can arrange that!

What to expect in the share

The vegetables we intend to grow this year are arugula, basil, beets, chard, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, escarole, garlic, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, okra, sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, radishes, spinach, summer and winter squash, and tomatoes. The fruits we are growing this year are watermelon and cantaloupe. What is harvested varies each week and is based on the season. You can expect four to ten types of vegetables each week. The first weeks of the CSA see an abundance of greens. Halfway through the season, the farm generally switches over to heat-loving plants like peppers and tomatoes among other things. Then, as weather cools, we see greens come back. We also have a pick-your-own herb bed available to members.

The season

The season lasts between 17 and 20 weeks, depending on the weather. The season starts at the end of May or beginning of June. You can expect there to be enough vegetables for a week’s worth of meals, barring any extreme weather/pest events, but we mitigate that risk by planting a wide variety of crops and other farming methods.

Each week

Each week we send an email listing what we plan to harvest that week. Sometimes members choose between vegetables, as you can see in the sample weeks below.

Here are the shares for two sample weeks from 2019:

Week 3:
large share– 4 heads of various kinds of lettuce, 1/2 lb. spinach, 1/2 lb. kale, 1 head of escarole, 2 oz. garlic scapes, 5 oz. mustard greens, and 1 sprig of basil              
medium share– 2 heads of lettuce, 1/4 lb spinach, 1/4 kale, 1 head of escarole or 5 oz. mustard greens, 1 oz. garlic scapes, and a choice between beets of basil              
small share– 1 head of lettuce, 1/4 lb spinach or kale, 1/2 oz. garlic scapes, 1 oz. mustard greens, and a choice between escarole or basil

Week 15:
large share– 2 lbs. sweet peppers, 10 oz. hot peppers, 5 lbs. tomatoes, 5 oz. basil, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 1 lb 5 oz. radishes, 3 bulbs of garlic               
medium share– 1 lb. sweet peppers, 5 oz. hot peppers, 2.5 lbs tomatoes, 2.5 oz. basil, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 10 oz. radishes, 2 bulbs of garlic               
small share– 1/2 lb. sweet peppers, 2.5 oz. hot peppers, 1.25 lbs tomatoes, 1.25 oz. basil, 5 oz. radishes, 1 bulb of garlic

Choosing a share size

We recommend the large share for families, the medium share for couples, and the small share for a single person.
Typically a two person household chooses the medium-size share, but we have couples who garden and choose the small size, and couples who want to freeze or can vegetables for the winter, and so they choose the large share.

Small Share: $500 on-farm pick-up/$550 for droppoint for the season (one fourth of the large share)

Medium Share: $700 on-farm pick-up/$750 for droppoint for the season (one half of the large share)

Large Share: $1000 on-farm pick-up/$1050 for droppoint for the season (the best deal if it fits your household)