Provider Farm

From our fields, for your family

Community Supported Agriculture

Photo of greenhouse through gate

Welcome to the Provider Farm CSA. You'll find information about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) , shares and share logistics, and information about vegetables and recipes to help you make the most of your CSA share. You can also find information about our growing practices.


What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?

A CSA is a partnership between farmers and their customers. When you buy a membership or a "share", you are investing in the farm for one season and receive the dividends in the form of a weekly portion of the vegetable harvest. CSAs are great for you because you receive a full season's share of the best vegetables you can find at an affordable cost. CSAs are great for us, the farmers, because paying up front makes it easier for us to plan the season. CSAs guarantee the shareholder the best prices around since we sell shares at the cost of production.

As partners in this farming endeavor, we share the risk of farming so you as a CSA shareholder agree to share in the risk of farming and experience the ups and downs of farming. Every year, some veggies will do great while others will not do so well. Maybe there will be a storm that knocks out the winter squash or maybe we luck out with an incredible tomato harvest. It's all part of the experience of being a CSA shareholder. Fortunately, we grow over 150 varieties of vegetables so there is always a bounty of vegetables. Eating the harvest does mean that that our shares are seasonal. The good thing about eating seasonally is that you are getting your vegetables when they taste best! Gone are the days of cardboard tomatoes in November! Imagine a salad with the sweet crunch of spring lettuce and the delicate spice of radishes, or a rich juicy slice of an August tomato with some aromatic basil. Food has never tasted better, and we bet your kids will notice it too!

At Provider Farm, we strive to give you the freedom to choose your own share, so we distribute our vegetables using the "mix and match" method. This means you get to pick and choose what is in your share, based upon what is in season of course. Kids hate rutabagas? Get more carrots! It's your choice!

CSAs also enrich the community, becoming a vibrant meeting place for community members.  It is not uncommon for CSA members to linger over baskets of veggies while they exchange cooking ideas for turnips and their children watch the cows graze our fields.   We firmly believe in the CSA as a place for our neighbors to get to know each other as we share in this experience.


What's in a share?

A share is a portion of the week's harvest of vegetables and herbs. We have three different share sizes to fit everyone's needs.

  • Small provides about 5-6 lbs of produce a week and is good for folks who eat out a lot or are cooking for one or two. 
  • Regular is suitable for a small family and provides about 10-15 lbs of produce a week and is good for shareholders who eat in mostly.
  • Large is great for a bigger family or folks who eat a lot of vegetables. It will provide you with 15-20 lbs of produce a week.
  • Coventry Farmers' Market Regular Share is suitable for a couple or small family and provides around 10-15 lbs of vegetables per week.  Please note we do not offer the "mix and match" distribution system at the market and the Coventry Market Share is a pre-packed box share of 8-10 items per week. 

Share quantities, of course, vary on the time of the season. In the spring, we have lots of greens so the share is lighter and as we progress towards the fall, they get heavier with root vegetables, fruiting crops, and squash. Learn more about the seasonal availability of our crops.


What are the share prices?

For the 2013 season, share pricing for shares on the farm is as follows:

  • Small  $450
  • Regular  $575
  • Large  $700

New for the 2013 season, we are offering a share pick up at the Coventry Regional Farmer's Market in Coventry, CT.

  • Regular boxed $600 (Coventry only)


When and where is share pick up?

We have two pick up locations:

  • Provider Farm - Tuesday 2-7pm or Friday 2-7 PM Share pick up runs from early June to the beginning of November.
  • Coventry Farmers Market - Sunday 11am-2pm New this year, we have a pick up of boxed shares at our stand at the market in Coventry, CT.


Tools for shareholders

Newsletters

As a shareholder, you receive an email newsletter updating you on what is going on the farm and our crop outlook. The newsletter includes what is in your share every week along with cooking tips and recipes. The current newsletter and all of our previous newsletters are available on our website.

Recipes

We also have lots of recipes right here and always encourage shareholders to submit their favorite recipes.

Join our waiting list