Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Basket of TomatoesBasket of Tomatoes

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 2300 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 agriculture and open space. 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 2008 season will be our 25th 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 our employees.

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.

Basket of TomatoesBasket of Tomatoes Left: Our home farm CSA room with fresh breads and scones hot out of the oven. Right: Skip tending to his flock of free hanging cherry tomatoes.

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.

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. We have had families who are into canning purchase two shares; one for just this purpose. In 2008 we will have Pick-your-Own (PYO) items at the farm! It will include small items like cherry tomatoes, green beans, culinary herbs and others. It will be located to the west of the distribution room and just beyond the new kids garden and play area.

What is it like at the Farm Pick-up Site?

Our recently renovated CSA room was a big hit in 2007. Our large wall-sized black board provided ample room for Liz to communicate daily shareholder veggie info, while young members could 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’ !!! Gone are the digital scales and members fussing over tenths of pounds. It has all been replaced with bags that you fill up to certain levels with whatever you would like to eat.   For years we forced our members to take ‘2 kohlrabi and 1 lge bok choy’ etc…. but no longer. Now our members are free to fill two handle bags with whatever vegetable excites them. If someone loves Zucchini and tomatoes that week so be it! Obviously, during the early days of harvest we will have to limit certain items like Greenhouse Tomatoes. But all and all our members have celebrated this new change in our distribution approach.

Providence Pick-up

At the Providence Pick-up site we have setup the displays just as we do at our farmers market. All our produce, cheeses, free range eggs, breads, honey, pickles and more, are set up for you to pick and choose what you need that day. This market is not exclusively a CSA market but a regular farmers market as well. So there will be non-CSA patrons shopping there as well. As a Providence CSA member you will take your purchase up to the checkout area and alert the teller to your CSA membership. They will then add up your purchases, record it in our master logbook and subtract it from your account balance. In effect your CSA membership functions like a debit card. This allows you the freedom of utilizing your investment in Wishing Stone Farm as you please. Many of our city dwelling members shared they want to take vacations in the summer but still wanted the connection to the farm. That is now possible with this new concept in CSA marketing. A most important caveat: this is not a program for procrastinators. The Providence CSA members must utilize their investment by the last market.

This year we are determined to get our city members down for a visit to our farm. There is so much to see and an added incentive is the PYO privileges that all members enjoy for free. Children are especially impressed with the working of the farm plus the kid’s garden has great raised beds they can dig in and play farmer Skip.

Barrington Pick-up

In 2007, Wishing Stone Farm offered a new box CSA to the Barrington community. We were excited to see a great interest in this new concept of marketing produce to an off farm site. As the demand for resources around the world gets more intense, the cost of transportation and the decisions we make to get what we need is going to become more a focal point of our everyday lives. It is this kind of reasoning that prompted us to bring our produce to the Barrington community in the first place. It makes all the environmental sense in the world that we bring one large truck to the Barrington community than to have 50 families get in to 50 separate cars and drive to Little Compton and back! To us, this is an environmental no-brainer! Going forward, farmers delivering to satellite sites will be the future of local farming and savvy “buy local” consumers groups.

The next question is just how this will take place. Last year we were able to find a location for the Box CSA sight. However, members shared that they were interested in more of our products than we could fit into the weekly box; namely, (breads, eggs, honey, pesto, sweet corn,etc...). With this in mind, we are actively seeking permission from the powers that be to set up a Farmers Market in Barrington on Wednesday afternoons. This would offer everyone a much greater choice and flexibility. Securing a sight can be a lengthy process involving many steps. Right now we are setting up for both Box CSA and Debit Card CSA members (see our Providence Pick-up Info). By May 1st will know which way we will go. We may offer both! Some 2007 Box CSA members were definitely excited about receiving a mysterious box of fresh vegetables. They actually enjoyed being encouraged to try different items. We beg your indulgence while we figure out these marketing options. In the meantime, we are accepting members for either or both styles of CSA for the same price, $53.. Anyone dissatisfied with the final out come may have their funds returned at anytime. At present we are exploring options somewhere on County Road near the town hall. If anyone has good connections in the Barrington business community, we would love to have you on or team. This will be especially important if we need like minded consumers to speak on our behalf when we go before the Barrington Town Council for our final permit. We are worried that big stores like ‘Shaw’s Supermarket’ may put up a fuss if they perceive us as a threat during any town counsel hearings. Please check out our Blog for the latest developments.

Bird's nestPeppers

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 2-6 PM. Our Providence members pick-up at the Wickenden Street Farmers Market on Tuesday from 2-6 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 at a to be announced location.

For sign up details on all of the CSA programs, please see our 2008 CSA brochure (2.7MB PDF).

All shares also include:

Basket of TomatoesBasket of Tomatoes

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

BlueberriesPeach tree

Contact Us:

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

Phone: 401-635-4274

Email: skip@wishingstonefarm.com

Sign up for our mailing list!

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 for 2008

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 eatin. 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.

Basket of TomatoesBasket of Tomatoes

Wishing Stone Farm Scholarship Fund

About

This year we are offering a scholarship fund to five low-income families. It is a reduced cost share program funded by our CSA members and our farm. Families seeking this designation should contact Liz or Skip for more details. There are also opportunities to exchange portions of your membership for labor or other talents you may have. 

To Contribute:

CSA members wishing to contribute to this new program should write a separate check to Wishing Stone Farm and earmark it “for the scholarship fund”

To Apply:

Please fill out the Scholarship Application, along with the Shareholder Application and site and send them back to us.