Naturally Grown Produce Sustainable Stewardship
About CSA
Community Supported Agriculture
What is CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.
CSA allows people who can’t or don’t choose to garden to have direct access to high quality, fresh produce grown by local farmers. When you become a member of a CSA, you're purchasing a “share” of vegetables from your farmer(s) and supporting a small, local farm.
What You Do (CSA Members)
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Sign up before the start of the season & pay your membership fee.
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Show up on the designated days to pick up your produce (For BGF, Tuesdays for 20 weeks, June-Oct).
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Remember to bring along your bags or a cooler to transport your produce home.
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Remember to return your clean pint/quart containers.
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Read the weekly newsletter to learn about what is included in the delivery (as well as storage & recipe ideas) and learn about goings-on at the farm and other important information.
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Participate in our online CSA community group to share recipes, ideas & questions with other CSA members, if interested.
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Contact your farmer with questions.
What We Do (the Farmers)
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Grow more than 100 chemical-free food crops for members & customers.
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Schedule crops so that boxes always contain the maximum quantity, quality & variety possible.
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Research and write newsletters to further educate members about their produce and provide them insight of life on the farm.
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Harvest, clean and package fresh produce to maintain the highest quality possible.
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Pack and deliver weekly boxes to various pick-up locations so we can meet our members in person.
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Collect and return empty boxes to the farm to reuse for future deliveries.
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Answer questions from our members and customers.
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Continue our own research to learn how we can better serve our members and improve our stewardship of the farm and all its resources.
How to become a CSA member?
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E-mail us with your interest along with your city/town. If we don't have immediate availability we will place your name on our waiting list for future seasons.
Newsletter
Check out our Newsletter, which is full of information, updates, and recipes to help you make the most of your CSA box. http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/
Have a question or want more information?
e-mail us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com or
call us at 641-203-1709.
2024 Pricing
Produce (base membership)
Weekly delivery $650/season
Add-on Options
Herb It! -Three additional varieties each week. Starts in late June (add $90)
Jam It! -Two jars (different flavors) of our farm-fresh jam each month, farmer's choice of flavors.
(add $70)
Spice It Up! One jar of our Seasonal Seasonings each month, farmer's choice of flavors. (add $35)
Our CSA season generally runs from early June to mid-October with typically 19 - 20 weekly deliveries.
Deliveries are made on Tuesday evenings from 5-6pm at the following locations:
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Des Moines: Peace Tree Brewery, 317 E. Court in the East Village
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Knoxville: Grand Theater on Robinson St. on town square
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Blue Gate Farm: 749 Wyoming St., Columbia
What is included in a weekly box?
Box contents changes throughout the growing seasons. The following is a sampling of the seasonal offerings. For a detailed, week-by-week listing, look to the Newsletters. For more information and lots of photos, see our Products page.The following is a sampling of the seasonal offerings.
Early Season
Arugula
Asparagus
Garlic Scapes
Herbs
Kale
Head Lettuce
Pac Choi
Peas
Sorrel
Strawberries
Swiss Chard
Tapestry Salad Mix
Mid Season
Basil
Beans
Carrots
Eggplant
Green Garlic
Head Lettuce
Kohlrabi
Okra
Pac Choi
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes
Turnips
Late Season
Beets
Cabbage
Garlic
Kale
Onions
Pac Choi
Peppers
Potatoes
Shallots
Sweet Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Tapestry Salad