Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

What is CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture or (CSA) started out as a European concept where farmers and consumers created a mutual commitment to support each other over a growing season. This concept has grown in the United States over the last 30 years and now represents over 2,300 farms. The CSA commitment or contract assures the farmer a reliable source of income while simultaneously providing fresh organic produce directly to the consumer. As a member of a CSA farm, you
will be securing a food source close to home and providing for the long-term care and security of agricultural land and open space in Rhode Island. You will also be breaking the “fossil fuel chain of produce” across America by buying local and making an environmental statement that supports your local economy.

How Does This Work?

The concept is quite simple: Each year you buy a “share” of the harvest, becoming a “shareholder” of the farm. The yearly share price supports the actual costs of running the farm and provides the farmer with much needed cash and confidence in what he should plan on growing for the season. In return, the farm supplies each shareholder with his or her weekly share of the produce based on the actual production of the farm.

The 2010 Season will be our 27th season farming. With experience as our guide, we look forward to sharing the adventure of farming with our members. For us, it is more of a spiritual journey than just a job; calling upon all our resources and sensibilities. We invite you to explore this relatively new economic concept to save family farms and provide a right-livelihood for ourselves, our employees and you our shareholders.

Real Food

We believe that you and your family deserve the highest quality food. In an age where the chain stores almost exclusively source their produce from large corporate farms more than half way across the country or even half way around the world! It is clear we have become disconnected from the source of the very food that sustains us. Add to that events like (9/11), and other news about world pandemics and food disruptions, etc…. It makes one pause and asks meaningful questions about what is important and sensible in the long run. There is no clever one line answer to the problems facing our modern world but a first step is building relationships and trust through commitments to one another on a local basis. Wishing Stone Farm is committed to not only growing organic and biorational/IPM foods for our shareholders but educating them and engaging them in this on going debate of about our global future. 

Real Prices

We feel that the share prices we offer are a good value when compared to the chain stores. Quite often members add up their weekly pick-ups to find that it was considerable less than even the conventional sections of most stores and certainly considerable fresher.

We are different than most traditionanl CSA’s in that we do not demand any labor for membership. We incur higher costs because we grow greenhouse vegetable crops during the early spring months in heated greenhouses. This is so our members can enjoy fresh vine ripen tomatoes; usually by the second pick-up date. This year we are looking to add sweet peppers and eggplant to our greenhouse vegetable crops. Offering a living wage to our dedicated employees is another priority of ours that adds to the bottom line. All in all we feel the prices reflect a good value for an honest service rendered. Despite a 30% increase in greenhouse heater oil in 2007, we have only increased our prices 15% over last year's pricing.

What is in a Share?

CSA encourages us to eat “in season” and cook what is available. Wishing Stone Farm grows over 345 varieties of fruits and vegetables (many heirloom & gourmet selections). We encourage members to try new varieties but we allow the final choice to be yours as you select your produce for the week; within a mix-and-match system. We will not always have everything but we will have a wide variety of choices every week. Please see our Harvest Calendar for more details on what is available when.

Little Compton On-Farm Pickup:

At the Little Compton pick up, each size share is based on volume and matched to the size of your household and appetites for produce. In other words, do not just count the number of people sharing your CSA but consider your eating habits and what volume of vegetables you consume on a weekly basis. Our Family Share will generally feed a family of 3-5 while our Single Share will satisfy a group of 2-3, our Half Share is more for couples or first timers who are not sure what their needs will be. We are agreeable to allowing people to adjust their share (larger or smaller) once within the first month. For members who want extra produce for canning or freezing we can provide this for an added wholesale cost.

Our renovated CSA room has a large wall-sized black board with ample room for Liz to communicate daily shareholder veggie info, while young members can doodle and draw pictures of the farm to their hearts content. The CSA room can accommodate around 30 members and has the daily vegetable offering arranged farmer’s market style around the room. The only difference one notices are no price cards. Instead there are variety identification cards and tips on new flavors await our budding chefs.  The central table contains all the cheeses, breads, pickles, honey, free-range eggs, fresh baked scones and more. All arriving piping hot out of our commercial kitchen just steps away. As the season progresses local fruits like peaches and blueberries appear for those so inclined. Our new style of distribution is by ‘volume not by weight’ !!!

Providence Debit-CSA Farmers' Market

Wishing Stone Farm has run a satellite Debit-CSA program in Providence for the last seven years. Although the direct contact with the farm is diminished, the same fresh produce is delivered to the city, most of which is harvested the morning of the market.

After trying several different approaches, we have decided to stay with our new concept of a debit system, which allows individuals to shop when they wish and to purchase what they need, when they need it.

For those unfamiliar with this, first you choose either size commitment and then use that amount as a line of credit at our Tuesday market. With this system you can choose the weeks you wish to shop and the amount you wish to spend each time. It is very important, however, that you realize that all of your investment must be used up by the seasons' end in October. No credit will be forwarded to the next season. All discounts are subtracted from the daily prices posted at each market. Our daily prices are already below prices offered at the local chains; so, receiving the additional CSA discount makes the savings even better.

New in 2010 we will now offer 2 days of Debit-CSA pickups in Providence. We will continue with the Wickenden Farmers Market on Tuesday afternoon between 3-6pm. This year we will add a Debit-CSA option at our Hope St Farmers Market at Lippitt Park on Saturday morning between 9:30am-12:30pm. This is a busy market and we will manage this by having CSA members use a separate check-out line.

Barrington Debit-CSA Farmers' Market

In 2010, we are once again indebted to George and Suzanne Tammer for allowing us to put our farmers market in front of their ACE Hardware Store; located on the corner of County Rd. and Rumstick Rd. In the last 3 years, we have created a thriving market at this site, while getting to know the good people of Barrington and the surrounding community. We urge all our customers to please acknowledge the Tammers' continuing commitment to the community by patronizing their finely outfitted store.

Visiting the Farm

At the heart of our decision to do satellite CSA/Farmers Markets is the acknowledgement of the world's current crisis over energy and our carbon foot print. We came to the conclusion that the future of our type of farming would be based on bringing food to urban environments; rather than the traditional CSA model that requires members to drive to the farm weekly. It seems only logical to have us drive one large truck to populous areas rather than have a hundred cars drive many miles to Little Compton. We call this an environmental no brainer.

The only part of the picture that is diminished is the member's connection to the farm. This is especially important to us for it impacts our most important constituency: our member's children. We have a five year plan to make our farm more family oriented by creating children's gardens and programs to educate and build experienced based educational programs. For now, our satellite CSA members are welcome to come to the farm for prearranged visits and to invitation events like fall harvests or special children's programs. We urge you to call ahead to be sure a farm member is at the farm to greet and orient you when you arrive.

Another way to experience the farm is to visit our blog in which we will have biweekly updates on our successes and failures. For details about how the Debit-CSA will function, please see the Providence Debit-CSA section for further details.

Can I share a share? What if I miss a Week?

Absolutely! A member can always send a friend or relative in their stead. We actually encourage it and do not mind helping them through the rigors of what delicious vegetables to take. It is a fun way to introduce more members into the fold.  It is not necessary to call or write a note.

However, we have had some problems at the Home Farm CSA. We have created different size shares and would prefer you choose the one that fits your needs. Because of our limited parking and staff resources we ask that your pick-up occur using one car per share. Each share must leave the farm intact. We cannot allow partial pick-ups. If your share is consistently too large for your household, you can share with a friend once you get the produce home or fill your bag less full, knowing that we donate the daily surplus to local food pantries.

What if I Will Be Late?

We cannot arrange another pick-up time or day; as each day here is very busy and often focusing on another market or Wholesale orders. However, as long as you call us by closing time we will bag up your share and leave it on the porch with your name on it.

What day is the pick-up?

Little Compton members come to the Home Farm every Thursday between the hours of 3-6 PM. Our Providence members pick-up at the Wickenden Street Farmers Market on Tuesday from 3-6 in the parking lot of  “The Church of the Holy Rosary”, which is on the corner of Brook and Wickenden Street. Barrington members will pick-up on Wednesdays 3-6 at Ace Hardware.

For sign up details on all of the CSA programs, please see our 2010 CSA brochure.

All shares also include:

What to Expect:

Our production year starts in June and ends in October. Each month is characterized by distinct seasonal variations. We start off slowly with mostly greenhouse vegetables in June. By mid-July our field grown production will increase substantially and peak during the months of August through October.

The following are three snap shots of typical harvests you might expect throughout the season:

June 30th: Greenhouse tomatoes, yellow (low acid) tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, radishes, mesclun (salad greens), choice of (chives, oregano, basil, or dill), arugula, baby white turnips, sugar snap peas, red leaf lettuce, cabbage, rhubarb..etc….

July 30th: greenhouse tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, (biorational/IPM Peaches and Nectarines) , green peppers Twelve varieties of Peppers, three varieties of cucumbers, Zucchini, yellow squash, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, leeks, kale, broccoli rabi, carrots, beets, hakurei turnips, six varieties of potatoes, garlic, scallions, swiss chard, green beans, nine varieties of braising greens and first sweet white field onions.

August: Heirloom field tomatoes, 5 Var. cherry tomatoes, 3 Var. paste tomatoes, muskmelons, watermelons, roma flat Italian beans, yellow wax beans, artichokes, sweet potatoes, red bliss potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes,  sixteen varieties of peppers (hot and green, white, yellow, red and purple, sweet peppers, Ancho/Pablano, Mexican stuffing, Yellow and red piemento peppers, cucumbers reg. and pickling, yellow summer squash, Zucchini, Leeks, scallions, red onion, yellow onion, shallots, Cipollini, bu. Carrots, bu. Beets, conv. IPM/Peaches and Nectarines, Japanese Plums, Winter Squash- Delicata, Mesclun salad greens, Sunflower sprouts, Swiss Chard, Eggplant (five Var.), Cabbage, Kale, Kolhrabi, Broccoli, Broccoli-rabi, Arrugala, and much more…..

September: Everything from August plus add:  Pole beans, fall field tomatoes, five varieties of cauliflower including  Romanesco, Winter Squash- Delicata, Butternut, Buttercup, Spaghetti, Acorn, Carnival, Kabocha, Sunshine, Blue Hubbard, Fall Spinach, Diakon, Oyster Root, Sugar pumpkins, neck pumpkins, Ornamental Carving pumpkins, Red Russian Kale, Collards, Toscanno Kale,  Winterbor  (curly) Kale, Celeriac, Russet Potatoes, Red Bliss Potatoes, Hakurei Turnips, Purple Top Turnips, Parsnips and more

Contact Us:

Wishing Stone Farm
25 Shaw Road
Little Compton, RI  02837-1518

Phone: 401-635-4274

Email: skip@wishingstonefarm.com

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Directions to Wishing Stone Farm

From Providence take 195 heading east; go across the Braga Bridge and look for  Rte 24 south approximately 3.5 miles to the (Fish Road) exit. At the bottom of the ramp, make a left on to Fish Road and go to the end. Make a right (you are now on 177 heading west. Go to the end (3/4 mile) Make a left on to Rte 77 south. Go approx 4.5 miles. You will come to a stop light (Grays Ice Cream store) go straight through the light and measure off another 4.5 miles and then look for a typical green highway sign that says ( The Commons) make a left. The road will wind around a bit till you come to a fork. Stay right and go 1000 feet to dead end in front of Wilburs General Store. Make a right on to (South of Commons Road) take to end. Make a right on to Brownell Road go 100 feet and make a left on to (Long pasture road) go to end.

Make a left on to Shaw Road. Go past the dairy farm on the right and look to your left we are at 25 Shaw Road. Look for a red and green mail boxes. You will see greenhouses and tractors. If lost call 401-635-4274 or my cell 401-418-0270  Goodnight and good luck!  Skip

Wishing Stone Farm Refund Policy

Refunds on CSA membership are given out on the following basis.

What’s Not in a Share

The “We aren’t growing it and Why” list

There are several items you won’t see at our CSA distributions or in your Boxes. After growing organically for 24 years you can clear see what works and what doesn’t. We will not grow the following:

Sweet Corn: Corn is very labor-intensive and land-intensive and nitrogen-intensive to grow organically. It takes almost five times the nitrogen to grow corn as it would a field of spinach or lettuce. No one likes a thumb size worm to greet you when you pull the husk back. Trying to grow organic sweet corn this close to Long Island and New Jersey you are guaranteed to have massive infestations of a multitude of corn borers.

Soybeans (Edamame):  We have grown soybeans for years now only to see them left on the distribution tables once people find out how much labor it is to open each pod only to get two small beans. We are all aware of how much press there has been about women’s health and the consumption of soybeans. The reality is that they are better sought after in the freezer department of Whole Foods. They have the technology to do it right and they are so convenient and delicious. Besides we don’t want Whole Foods to go out of business!

Shell Peas (English Peas): These model T’s just are no longer popular. They take longer to pick than regular peas and twice the time to shell them for not much eating. Most of our shareholders would rather have the new sugar snaps anytime. Raw or cooked they are in demand..

Asparagus: We have never offered this great veggie. Though we have tried growing it only to loose it to weeds. It also comes to fruition way too early; when we are in the midst of planting hundreds of other long-term crops to see us through the larger season.