2024 Summer CSA Program

Overview:   

Sold Out!

  • Registration is now open to everyone for our Summer CSA program!
  • We only have 80 shares available, so get yours quickly before they sell out!
  • Complete and deliver to the Farm (USPS, UPS, or in person)  a CSA ENROLLMENT FORM and check (more info about the process available below).  
  • Must be a current Friend of the Farm to apply for a CSA share (see below for more details).  If you are not currently a Friend of the Farm, click here to make a nonrefundable donation.
  • Traditionally, our CSA sharers receive significantly more value for their money than buying from the grocery store.
  • Remaining spots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you enjoy eating fresh, delicious, locally-grown produce, then consider signing up for our 2024 Summer CSA program.

* At the beginning of each growing season, CSA sharers purchase a “share” of the upcoming produce, which helps the farm cover a substantial portion of the costs of our agricultural operations. In return, NCF provides sharers with a supply of sustainably grown, fresh vegetables and herbs each week throughout the farm season.

* We have the equivalent of 80 weekly shares available. Some of our sharers enroll for an alternate week share, which means they pick up produce every other week. Other sharers enroll for a weekly share for their family or else they split their share with another friend or family (or two!).

Here are some fun facts about the Summer CSA Program:

  • CSA members generally get a lot of value from buying the veggies in bulk and sharing in the risk with us, typically about 15-20% off retail prices.
  • Last year CSA members received more than 35 pounds of tomatoes and 12 pounds of cucumbers over the course of the season.
  • Each week, CSA members have access to a rotating variety of fresh pick-your-own herbs.

What is in a share?

The array of fresh and delicious produce typically includes:

  • In the spring and early summer: fresh greens like arugula and spinach, carrots, lettuce, Hakurei salad turnips, PYO sugar snap peas, and scallions.
  • In early summer: –1 bunch of beets, 1 bunch of broccolini, 1 bunch of cilantro or dill, a bag of bok choy, a head of lettuce, a quart of PYO peas, and a bag of spinach.
  • By mid-July: summer favorites like cucumbers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and basil.
  • August brings lots of tomatoes, corn, peppers and eggplants.
  • Fall: potatoes, winter squash, and plenty of cooking greens, and last year we had tomatoes through the end of September!
  • We grow most of the produce distributed in the CSA but some crops require more space than our modest site allows so we supplement the CSA shares with potatoes and winter squash from a local partner farm. We also purchase nonorganic sweet corn from Massachusetts farms for our CSA. CSA sharers participate in the bounty of the farm, and also the risk. While we have confidence that we will meet our production goals, growing vegetables always involves a certain amount of uncertainty, and quantities may vary week to week, season to season.

PROGRAM INFORMATION AND APPLICATION

Duration, Prices, and Logistics:

  • Duration – Our 2024 Summer CSA program will run from June 5 through October 17. As with all things agricultural, these dates are dependent on weather and other growing considerations. NCF’s farm manager will contact sharers in the event that the program’s start and end dates need to change.
  • Prices – A weekly share costs $850 and an alternate week share costs $460.
  • Pickup Days & Times – CSA pickups take place at the farm on the bottom level of the barn on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2–7 pm. If you can’t come then, help bring new people to the farm by having a friend or neighbor pick up your share. Shares are not available before or after these times or on other days of the week. If you don’t have time for the PYO options during the week, you are welcome to come back on Saturdays before 3 pm for those items.
  • Donations – NCF will donate any unclaimed shares to a local food pantry.
  • Alternative Week Shares – Good for people who find that our weekly shares are too much food to eat in a week. Participants pick up a full share of produce every other week during the season. When you enroll please carefully select your preference for a starting week, as this will put you on an alternating week schedule for the rest of the summer. Assignment of starting dates is on a first-come, first-served basis. 
  • Split shares – Feel free to split a share with family, friends, or neighbors but be aware that you do that on your own.  The farm will have one person on record as the sharer and they will be financially responsible for payment. When picking up your share either have only one party come each week, or if both parties come please be sure to come together to avoid taking more than your share’s worth of vegetables.

Application and Payment:

  • Completed forms and checks must be received at NCF (mail or drop off) for consideration.  Mailing instructions, prices, and other information are included on the CSA ENROLLMENT FORM.
  • All applicants must be a current Friend of the Farm to apply for a CSA share. Please note you have been automatically enrolled as a FoF if you made a donation $50 or more since November 1, 2023. If you are not currently a Friend of the Farm, click here. Donations are nonrefundable.
  • NCF is accepting applications until all shares are sold.
  • Sharers do not have to be Newton residents.
  • Wait List – Applicants who do not get a share in the 2024 program by the beginning of June 2024 will be given an opportunity to sign up for the 2025 Summer CSA wait list.

Other CSA Programs:

In addition to our Summer CSA program, we also offer separate Fruit Share and Late Fall CSA programs. Information, including enrollment forms and deadlines, will be available on our website by mid-summer for the Fruit Share Program and mid-Fall for the Late Fall CSA.

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Read our 2024 CSA Program Policy