UCSC Farm’s CSA program accepting members for 2014

The UCSC Farm’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is open for business and accepting new and renewing members. Members of the campus’s 2014 CSA program get a freshly picked box of organic produce from the UCSC Farm each week while supporting one of the nation’s longest-running organic farming and gardening training programs.

The full CSA season begins June 3 (weather permitting) and runs through October 31 (22 weeks). Shares for the full season cost $560. A payment plan and limited-income shares are available (see below); the program also accepts SNAP Benefits.

A share contains a diverse supply of freshly harvested organic fruits and vegetables throughout the season (roughly 8–13 items per week) and is designed to feed a household of two or three for a week, or a larger family that perhaps doesn't cook every day but still wants to eat fresh, organic, and local.

Members who may be away for part of the summer but still want to get in on the Farm's CSA, a "late-season share" will be available for $280, with pickups beginning August 19 and extending through October 31.

CSA shares may be picked up either Tuesdays or Fridays, with pick-up sites available on the UCSC Farm, at the Market Cart at the base of campus, and at Westside Farm and Feed, located at 817 Swift St.  Santa Cruz.

To sign up for the UCSC Farm’s 2014 CSA program, download and fill out the 2014 CSA pledge form.   For a hard copy, call (831) 459-3240 or 459-4661, or email farmcsa@ucsc.edu and please include your physical mailing address. To learn more about the CSA program, see the 2014 CSA Brochure.

To apply for a limited-income share ($280 for the full season), please download and submit an application (http://casfs.ucsc.edu/community/produce-sales/low-income-app.pdf) along with the 2014 CSA pledge form.

Proceeds from the CSA program help support the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, a six-month training program in organic farming and gardening offered annually through the UCSC Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems.

More information is available about the Center's Farm CSA project, including limited-income shares at (831) 459-3240 or 459-4661, fax (831) 459-2799; email farmcsa@ucsc.edu, or write to UCSC Farm & Garden CSA, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, CA 95064.