Locally grown produce with side of community

WELLINGTON – With spring finally here and summer just a few months away, the mind turns to good things from the garden.

That means, perhaps, tilling up part of the old backyard to put in your own garden of delights or waiting for the growers to bring in their goodies every week to the farmers markets.

But there is another avenue to access the freshest produce – a “community-supported agriculture” experience at one of the region’s local organic farms.

For the first time, local organic producer Grant Family Farms near Wellington is offering a CSA farm within its sprawling commercial growing operation. Mary Miller, Grant Family Farms’ CSA coordinator, said the concept aims to put people in closer touch with the food they eat.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for the local community to have fresh, locally grown and organically grown produce,” she said.

Grant Family Farms has been growing vegetables for four decades and is the first farm to be certified organic by the state of Colorado. Miller said the farm has been growing organic produce mostly for shipment out of the region, but the CSA now offers a “pathway” into the farm’s produce to local shareholders.

Affordable memberships

Under the CSA, people can buy a $50 membership that supports the overall CSA operation and entitles them to receive a newsletter on what’s happening and what produce is available, invitations to seasonal celebrations and first priority on the next season’s sign-up list.

Members can then choose from a variety of shares, including full shares – which provide two to four adults with a weekly box of produce averaging 10 to 20 pounds – and working shares that allow people with limited cash and more time to actually work in the 15-acre parcel set aside for the CSA.

A full share costs $580 and a working share costs $490. Miller said supported shares are also available for businesses or individuals to purchase on behalf of another person or family. Cut-flower shares entitle holders to receive a bouquet weekly from mid-summer through early fall and a winter share provides four boxes of late season vegetables after the regular season ends.

All of this is aimed at encouraging the development of a community experience to savor on those sweet days of summer, Miller says.

Community-building

“It gives people in the local area the opportunity to create a community through the farm and for people to associate with each other through the CSA,” she said. “It’s really an opportunity to meet new people.”

That can happen by working in the field, in meeting others while picking up their produce or by attending get-togethers to be held throughout the summer, she said.

Among the crops planned for growing and harvesting this summer in Grant Farms’ community-supported agriculture plot are corn, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, cauliflower, peas, spinach, squash, peppers – the list is extensive and includes herbs and spices, too.

Grants Farm joins several other established community-supported agriculture programs that have been offering organically grown produce for years, including Happy Heart Farm in west Fort Collins that’s now approaching its 17th growing season.

“We pioneered the concept in Colorado and we were the first CSA in the state,´ said Bailey Stenson, who owns and operates Happy Heart with her husband Dennis. She said CSAs are becoming increasingly popular with the growing interest in organic foods.

“It’s just now catching on, now that people have locked onto organics,” she said. “But it’s different buying organics from anywhere (in a store) and buying it locally.”

Stenson said while CSAs vary one from the other in the kinds of foods they offer, the basic idea is the same: “It gives people a connection to where their food comes from,” she said.

Meanwhile, back at Grant Farms, 150 shares are being offered this first growing season on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call Miller at (970) 568-7654 or visit www.grantfarms.com.

Steve Porter covers agribusiness for the Business Report. He can be reached at (970) 221-5400, ext. 225, or at sporter@ncbr.com.

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