What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The CSA model for farming is also referred to as subscription farming or farm shares. In this model one subscribes to a farm like a magazine. You pay for a seasons worth of vegetables in the spring, sharing both the risks and bounty of agriculture. You place your food dollar directly in the hands of a local family farm and in exchange receive a share of fresh, organically grown vegetables each week delivered to your local neighborhood in Athens, Abbortsford, Marathon, Merrill, Medford and East or West Wausau.
By joining our farm as a CSA member you gain greater knowledge of where your food comes from and how it is produced through weekly newletters, farm visits, and recipes. Community Supported Agriculture unites farmers and consumers to create direct and mutually beneficial relationships around the production of envirormentally sustainable andhealthy local food. By joining a CSA you support small farms and a production system which provides nutritious and fresh food for your family.
Check out 10 Reasons to Join a CSA, read a cost/benefit analysis comparing CSAs to other food provision systems by the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at the University of Wisconsin Madison, or listen to Community Supported Agriculture [real player] a story produced by National Public Radio.
How to Join
Read over the options below and select a share you want. Follow the instructions on the signup page, or print the form [pdf] and mail with a check payable to:
Stoney Acres Farm
7002 Rangeline Road
Athens, WI 54411
CSA Drop Off Points
Drop off points will be open from 1-6 pm, every Thursday from June 3rd or 10th (based on the coming of spring to be announced in preseason mailing) to October 14th or 21st. See a clickable map here.
- At the farm: 7002 Rangeline Road, 5 minutes due north of Athens
- Abbotsford: Hawkeye Dairy 118 S. 4th Street
- Athens: The porch of Maggie and Terry Ball 517 Mueller St.
- Marathon: The garage of Kitty and Gordie Roesler, 916 Walnut St in Marathon
- Wausau West Side: St. Ann's Church, 700 W Bridge St
- Wausau East Side: The garage of Heather and Kent Busig, 2201 Elmwood Blvd
- Merrill: Apprill Family Chiropractic 3207 E. Main St.
- Medford: Uncommon Grounds Coffee Shop 118 South Main Street
What You Receive as a CSA Member
- 20 Weeks of vegetable/fruit deliveries (June-October). Our CSA is designed to bring you a diverse and seasonal cornucopia of produce. Each week you will receive a selection of at least 7 types of vegetables. We provide you with staple vegetables (such as carrots, lettuce, green beans, tomatoes and potatoes), to last even the heartiest vegetable eater through the week. You will NEVER end up with an entire box of rutabagas or "six weeks of nothing but beets." We will also include one new vegetable each week which may be something you have never tried (such as fennel, garlic scapes, or baby salad turnips). Click here for a complete list of everything we will be growing this season.
- Weekly farm newsletter with recipes.
- A pint of maple syrup in your first box.
- U-pick flowers, peas, tomatoes, raspberries, and pumpkins.
- Farm events
- Ability to order additional canning vegetables, organic eggs and pastured poultry, and maple syrup all produced on our farm.
- Members will be able to order an additional box of storage vegetables at the time of the last delivery.
- A farm which you can be involved in diverse ways – from harvesting your own food to letting us know your preferences for vegetable varieties. We are dedicated to answering your questions on how we grow your food or how to prepare the vegetables in your box
What to expect in your box
- Sample Box June
½ lb bag of lettuce mix, 1 ½ lbs snap peas, 1 lbs aspargus, 1 bunch radishes, 10 early season onions, 1 bunch carrots, 1 bunch beets, 1 lb bag of sauté greens, 1 bunch rhubarb. - Sample Box August
2 lettuce heads, 4 tomatoes (2 heirloom and 2 red slicers), 1 head of garlic, 3 onions, 1 bell peppers (green or purple), 1 sweet pepper (red or orange), 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 1.5 lb. green or yellow beans, 3 zucchini or summer squash, 1 pint raspberries. - Sample Box October
½ lb lettuce mix, 1 head of cauliflower, 1 head broccoli, 2 heads of garlic, 1 bunch carrots, 3 lbs. potatoes (red, purple and yellow), 1 bunch of kale, 1 butternut or spaghetti squash, 1 celeriac root, 3 red onions, 6 apples.
Farm Share Options
Full Share (¾ bushel)……………………. $460
Includes a box of vegetables larger than a large paper grocery bag. Farm events, u-pick and delivery included. A good family size.
Half Share (½ bushel)…………………….. $300
Same features as the full share, just over ½ the amount. This share is best for 1 or 2 people or a family that does not use many vegetables.
Storage Share (2½ bushel).......................$75
Seasonal storage crops and late season greens. Single delivery takes place after the CSA season, the week before Thanksgiving.
Worker Share.…in exchange for weekly work
Full share in exchange for weekly work. We will offer a limited number of worker shares where you exchange 3 to 4 hours of work each week for a box of produce. Please contact us to discuss this possibility.
Share a Share………donation of your choice
Purchasing a ‘share a share’ allows families with lower incomes to share in the CSA by covering part of the cost. If you only purchase a ‘share a share’ you are welcome at all farm events.
Egg & Coffee Shares
We are offering egg shares and coffee shares to CSA members for 2010. We will provide sign up forms for both in our 2010 preseason welcome form which is mailed to you and posted in the newsletter section in mid-march.
For more information on the egg shares, click here. The coffee shares (1 lb every-week or every other week) are provided by a local roaster New Roots Coffee, 100% organic and fair-trade http://www.newrootscoffee.com/