My own CSA?

Capechick2007

Anyone done this? We live on 2-acres of land and have about a 1/2 acre field where we grow organic veggies. We also have about 7 chickens and we raised 2 pigs last year. I really want to continue to grow and raise my own food and am looking into a few milking goats as well. However, it is costly, especially to grow organic.

I am wondering about starting a small CSA. I have so many friends who buy organic, that I think i would have people interested. I end up giving away a lot of what we produce.

I am trying to find a place for information on what to charge and how many people I should be able to support. I figure I should start small this year and see how it goes.

Anyone know of a good resource on this?

TIA

mrsbooboo

I think it's a great idea! I would love to be able to do that one day.

You probably won't make a ton of $$ the first year, but you might as well sell it rather than give it away, to cover some of your operational costs.

You'll probably need a business license and check with your local health department for permits.

What do you grow and how long is your growing season?

Btw, I would also re-post this on Green Living board. People there might have some good ideas. I'm excited for you and hope it works out!

ddumire

We've bought from a CSA a few years now.  Have you thought about joining a group CSA?

Some of the CSA's in our area are a bunch of farms that get together.  We've paid about $400 each year.  One year it was a full share, but it didn't start until July and there wasn't enough of the types of produce we really wanted.   Last year we bought a half share and it was plenty for the two of us.  The CSA we used last year had greenhouses and we had spinach as early as April.  By May we were picking up our weekly shares and it went until the end of October.

Here's a link to a local CSA site I've looked at:

http://www.localharvestnh.com/LHCSA 2010 brochure.pdf

There is also a book about CSA's:

http://books.google.com/books?id=13sDbCIz0ooC&pg=PA223&lpg=PA223&dq=crop+share+new+hampshire+rules&source=bl&ots=yOaCxXMfAi&sig=oxM8bKGx9OW3bx8IUL9CkNqSJJI&hl=en&ei=nOsbTanAE4qr8Aaa5fn5DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&sqi=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=crop share new hampshire rules&f=false

redcabbage

my sister sort of does this. She has a very large garden and she had a friend pay for all her seeds and such in return for veggies during the season.