CSA Produce Shares
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) means you buy a share in the homestead and you receive a generous box of fresh, delicious, heirloom veggies every other week from June to October. You can also WORK for food. Call us right away to reserve your share in this adventure.
Why CSA? Community Supported Agriculture is an opportunity for you to connect directly to the farm where your food is grown. Your contribution funds the health of the land, enabling the farmer to carefully tend the homestead and all that live there, both plants and animals. Your share provides you and your family with a steady supply of healthy, organically-grown produce that’s been minimally handled and only briefly shipped, enabling you to eat seasonal gourmet food every day. You are also privy to the life of the farm, invited to schedule private visits and to participate in community work days and seasonal festivals.
Why Circle M?
Every CSA farm is different and is able to offer a unique experience to members. We think one of the most joyous aspects of Circle M is that we’re based on a sustainable small homestead model in which animals, pastures and row crops live in a continuous circle of nurture. Each aspect of the farm life here has a specific purpose in the circle. For members, that means farm visits are a vibrant circus of sheep, cows, pigs, goats, horses, chickens, dogs, cats and geese. It also means you can order homestead meats or wool products to come with your delivery! And because Circle M is such an utter delight for us, we think it’s a community you’ll want to be a part of, too. You can join the adventure by blog every day at circlemfarm.com.
What’s in the Box?
We’ve decided to offer every-other-week boxes, as some people find weekly boxes to be more than they can eat. The size is approximately 2 cubic feet. Contents will vary according to season, but will start with lettuce, spinach, Asian greens, radish, pea shoots, snap peas, turnips and kale; progress through beets, kohlrabi, cabbage, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, carrots, eggplant, garlic, fennel, tomatoes and melons; and finish with potatoes, celeriac, leeks, onions, shallots, hard squash, pumpkins and parsnips! We’ll include delicious herbs and lots of recipes. We’ll also tuck a bouquet in every box, when we’ve got flowers.
When Does It All Begin?
Deliveries will run to the West Side of Madison on Tuesday evenings June through October. Local pickup at the farm and deliveries in the Hollandale/Blanchardville area will be on Saturday mornings.
How Do I Join the Circle?
To become a ShareHolding Member, you’ll pre-pay $350 by April 30, or $370 until May 31. Contact us for discounts on pickup shares and local deliveries. We’re also offering a WorkShare Membership – in exchange for 4 hours of work here at the farm every other week, you’ll get a full share. Work must be scheduled at least a week in advance, and tasks include both animal care and crop cultivation and harvest. Farm labor isn’t easy, but it sure is fun!
How to Use the Box
Living out of a market garden is quite a bit different than grocery store shopping. The biggest difference is that things tend to grow in a garden in fits and spurts and fluctuate dramatically over the growing season. So when peas are in they are really in, and when they are gone they’re gone! We’ll include recipes and suggestions in your boxes so that you can make the best possible use of every bumper crop. You might consider experimenting with freezing or canning veggies you’d like to have later in the year, and we’ll put some general preserving suggestions up on circlemfarm.com. Our primary suggestion to you is to endeavor to eat seasonally! It’s healthier for your body to eat food as fresh as possible, and when you eat what is seasonal and local to your geographic area you become gradually more connected to and appreciative of your very surroundings. We encourage you to come to the farm and see how your food grows and join us in awestruck contemplation of just how generous and bountiful healthy soil can be.
You can contact us at any time via a message at circlemfarm.com to schedule a farm visit or to ask us specific questions about recipes and uses for the food in your box. We’re always learning and experimenting, so we’d love to try your recipes, too, and share them with the rest of the Circle on the website. Yum!
Kriss Marion ~ County Rd. H ~ Blanchardville, Wi ~ 53516
608-523-4341