What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is an innovative model of food distribution that connects the consumer directly with the farmer. A CSA customer essentially buys a stake in the farm and in return, receives a regular delivery of fresh produce throughout the growing season. CSA is a great way to create local food infrastructure, reducing our dependence on imported/shelf stable foods and fossil fuels all while connecting families and neighbors to the benefits of local seasonal agriculture.
Our Commitment to you
We pledge to provide the freshest, highest quality organic vegetables and fruits. Most of the produce you receive from us will be less than 48 hours from the field when you are able enjoy it. We commit to using, and often surpassing, USDA Organic standards. That means we use no synthetic fertilizers, insecticides or soil fumigants. Although many of our methods are time-intensive and don’t generate profit for the farm, we believe that putting a priority on soil health and conservation as well as promoting biodiversity, results in beautiful, flavorful, and clean produce that you can serve to your family and friends with pride.
We will do everything we can to provide a wide variety of foods to help you become familiar with the joys of seasonal eating. We are capping our second season’s CSA at 120 members to assure that our shareholders receive the highest quality we have available. Occasionally we may add an item or two from other local farms if we have a production gap. We will never put anything in our boxes that doesn’t come from farmers that we have a personal relationship with, meaning we’ve worked on or visited their farms, and we implicitly trust their practices.
Your Commitment to us
By signing up for the CSA, you are agreeing to let us farm for you for the whole season. You are providing us working capital at the beginning of the year to insure the farm’s financial and operational sustainability (thank you!). With that trouble out of the way, we can focus on growing the best food possible for you and your family.
Unfortunately, vegetables don’t go on vacation; so when you do, please arrange for a friend or family member to pick up your share for the week. Unclaimed shares will be donated to local food charities.
When people start a CSA for the first time, they often fail to see the challenge of eating locally. You are making a commitment to eating healthy season-focused foods, which is in direct contradiction to the way most of us have learned to eat. It is not easy to have your menu planned out for you by Nature- but it is more sustainable, more healthy, and ultimately, more enjoyable. In order to help you transition to a more local diet we will include several recipes in our newsletter each week under the consult of Burge Plantation’s executive chef, Andrew Feathersone.
What can I expect?
Each week you will receive 6-10 items that represent the height of seasonal quality. Each box should be sufficient to feed a family of four for a week, with a few supplements needed from time to time. Half shares will be delivered every other week, providing a good option for smaller families and those who travel often, preventing you from being overwhelmed by produce.
There are several well-established CSA’s available now in the Atlanta area, but we hope to offer you a unique value with your subscription. You are more than a customer by joining the CSA, you are a partner. We want to offer you not only the weekly produce, but also the story of how your food is grown, and the opportunity to come visit and see the process for yourself. We will offer a CSA potluck dinner each season so members can tour the farm and swap stories and recipes with other CSA customers.
Burge Organic Farm is unique because in addition to our 12 acres of cultivated vegetables, we also have a 3 acre orchard of fruit trees including plums, Asian pears, figs, blackberries, blueberries, and pomegranates (as well as more exotic and experimental fruit like jujube, kiwi, and pawpaw). Our recent addition of two large high tunnels means that we can significantly extend our variety of offerings to you throughout the season. We also forage wild edibles from the 1000 acres of field and forest at Burge. These include wild plums, poke salad, choke cherries, black walnuts, elderberries, muscadines, and more! As a CSA customer, you will be our only customers this year who receive our Burge Heirloom Garlic. This elephant-type garlic was found growing near an abandoned share-cropper’s house and is unique to our farm.
Although we can’t always estimate what Nature has in store for us, below is a list of what you can expect with each season.
Spring: lettuce, arugula, sugar snap peas, asparagus, cabbage, turnips, scallions, broccoli, carrots, beets, spinach, wild edibles, collards, kale, Asian greens, spring herbs, and fava beans.
Summer: tomatoes, summer squash, okra, eggplant, sweet and spicy peppers, beans, orchard fruits(pears, plums, figs), Burge Heirloom Garlic, blackberries, melons, onions, wild edibles, cucumbers, beans, flowers, summer herbs, southern peas and corn.
Fall: carrots, winter squash, cauliflower, broccoli, orchard fruits (Asian persimmon, apples, pomegranate),beets, spinach, sweet potatoes, beans, cabbage, scallions, lettuce, salad greens, collards, chard, kale, grits/cornmeal/popcorn, radish, cucumber, fennel, garlic and turnips.
Winter: Collards, apples, kale, arugula, spinach, turnips, radishes, chard, fennel, spring onions, sweet potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, cauliflower, canned goods, cabbage, radicchio, endive, escarole, salad greens, pumpkins, and more!
Let us be your farmer!
