Many people have pivotal transitions in their lives when they wake up
and decide they want to do something different. Mechanicsville resident
Kathy York remembers this well. As a systems analyst with Xerox
Corporation, she would often commute into Washington, D.C. - a grind
which lots of tri-county residents experience.
One night, however, it took her five hours to get home, prompting her to
make a change. "I went from a three-piece suit to digging in the dirt,"
she said one afternoon while taking a break from the new career she dug
into (literally) full time in 1995.
Today, York and her husband, Forrest York (also referred to as Sandy),
run a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in St. Mary's County.
Instead of cultivating leads to build Xerox's customer base, Kathy York
now cultivates specialty-cut flowers for the family-run Scarborough Farm
- a year-round commitment
"CSA's - Community Supported Agriculture, consists of a community of
individuals who pledge (monetary) support to a farm operation,"
according to the United States Department of Agriculture's online
Natural Agricultural Library.
So, how do CSAs work?
A CSA subscriber signs up and usually pays for his or her family's share
early in the year - not in the height of the spring, summer and fall.
The harvest usually ensures a weekly bag, box, container or basket of
whatever the CSA is harvesting. "CSAs are about shaking the hand of the
person actually growing what you're eating or enjoying," said Lori
Brown, a proprietor of a Charlotte Hall-based CSA, Farmstead of
Charlotte Hall, who grows produce that is a foodie's fantasy. Think 25
different varieties of fresh tomatoes, peppery lettuces, brightly
colored peppers, broccoli rabe, Japanese white turnips, Asian eggplants
and fava beans.
Brown notes that the popularity of CSAs is tied to the fact that most
owners rely on organic and sustainable farming techniques and avoid
pesticides and chemicals.
"I think part of the reason they (CSAs) are gaining popularity is
because people are looking for safe food grown by someone that they know
and trust and people are also sorry to see the loss of the small family
farm," said Christine Bergmark, executive director of the Southern
Maryland Agricultural Development Commission. She and her husband, Brett
Grohsgal, run the Lexington Park-based CSA Even' Star Organic Farm and
have 280 subscribers, with 50 clients in St. Mary's County and the rest
outside of the area. Their CSA offers winter and summer subscriptions
for fresh produce, eggs and cut flowers. Customers pay about $25 to $28
weekly.
"A lot of people think of us as their farmer and this is important to
them because they have a direct connection to the farmer and to the farm
and the land," Bergmark said.
The act of transitioning often emerges as a storyline in accounts of why
people start and support CSAs. Tony Brown was raised in Washington,
D.C., and once worked at a law firm. Lori Brown, a wildlife biologist by
training, once worked in Tanzania and Sierra Leone studying chimpanzees
and working in the area of conservation, respectively. They started
their CSA four years ago after Lori Brown quit working as a research
librarian with the Worldwatch Institute and now have 75 members (also
called shareholders) who pay $550 for 22 weeks for a bag of fresh
produce each week.
Along with the eight or nine unique items customers get in their weekly
bags, the Browns provide cooking tips and an e-mail newsletter that lets
them know what they're getting and contains news about what's happening
on the farm.
The Family & People Connection
The Yorks moved to Southern Maryland from Montgomery County and in 1980
bought farmland in what was once primarily Mennonite country. They
wanted more property and were attracted to the open, rural spaces that
Southern Maryland then promised. Those seven acres first supported their
dream of having an herb farm and selling to local restaurants, but when
they first started taking what they grew to local farmers' markets, they
discovered that the few flowers they would take were also a draw.
Now, the Yorks' CSA customers opt for either a $15 or $24 weekly
container of flowers supplemented by herbs and can sign up for four,
eight or 12 weeks (which doesn't have to be consecutive).
Community support is the lifeblood of the CSA. CSA subscribers pledge to
support a farm, including its ups and downs, such as a bad crop caused
by weather woes.
"People who buy into this (practice) are buying into our farm and we
make that very clear to our subscribers," said Jim Bourne, owner of the
Owings-based CSA The Lamb's Quarter. "They're buying into a piece of
history on this particular piece of land that goes back to the 1690s."
Bourne, a former police officer, and his wife, Patrice Bourne, a
personal chef, started their CSA in February 2008. For $500, CSA members
receive a box of produce weekly, starting around the middle of May and
running until the end of September. The farm, however, also raises
cattle and broilers, and sells eggs from free-range chickens.
The Bournes already have 40 clients in Calvert County who are eager for
freshly picked produce that will range from lettuce, tomatoes, greens,
peppers, potatoes, peas, asparagus, herbs, squash, cucumbers and herbs,
to watermelon, cantaloupe and small berries.
Community Supported Agriculture is beneficial to our community, the
individual farmer as well as for you and your family. It helps sustain
our local farms, gives you a direct consistent connection to an area
farming family, and is a much healthier way to eat. The food is fresh,
mostly organic and grown with special attention to healthy production.
The experience is like stepping back in time when most people shopped
for their food daily at a farmers' market or country store-only better.
It's another way of making a mutually beneficial connection to Southern
Maryland's homegrown community.
CONTACT THE CSA'S
Most CSAs are full by this time of the year but now is a great time to
make contact with one and get on a list for next year.
Even' Star Organic Farm:
E-mail: evenstarfarm (at) evenstarfarm.org
Phone: 301-866-1412.
Farmstead of Charlotte Hall:
E-mail: farmstead88 (at) msn.com
Phone: 301-884-3384.
Scarborough Farm:
Web site: www.scarboroughfarmflowers.com
E-mail: york (at) tqci.net
Phone: 301-373-3852.
The Lamb's Quarter:
E-mail: thelambsquarter (at) peoplepc.com |
