About Our CSA & Farm
CSA stands for community-supported agriculture, a system connecting farmers and consumers in a bioregion. If you’ve ever wanted to feel closer to the land where your food is grown, to know the processes involved, and to join a community of folks delighted to eat with the seasons, our CSA is for you!
Santa Cruz Permaculture Farm is located on a beautiful 26 acres where fresh ocean breezes blow and the sound of barking seals can be heard in the distance. Learn more about the farm, education center, and our regenerative organic practices.
how it works

You purchase your CSA share before the season

We use your funds for seeds and equipment

Each week of the season, we harvest produce for you

We deliver your CSA box to a convenient pickup location

At the end of the season, we celebrate together!
What’s Included in Membership?
Our CSA season runs for 25 weeks, from early June until mid November, and includes:
- A weekly share (great for 1-4 people) of fresh, organic produce from our regenerative farm
- A weekly newsletter with recipes, ideas to use every part of the plant, and updates from the field
- Special access to farm dinners, events, & tours
- Invitation to our CSA member potlucks
- The opportunity to support regenerative agriculture & permaculture in our region and grow community around healthy, ethical food
What’s in the box?
A CSA share includes 6-8 vegetables weekly and typically includes:
- Salad greens 1-2 items
- Staple vegetables 2-3 items
- Extra snacking vegetables 1 item
- Onion family vegetables 1-2 items
- Berries 1 item
- Herbs occasionally
Want extra goodies, such as strawberries or dried peppers? Members can add to their boxes at any time through our online shop.
Pickup Locations & Days
Pickups are on Fridays unless you’d like to pickup your box at any of our weekend farmers markets. If you’re unable to pick up your CSA box at one of these locations, but would like to join our CSA, or if you’re interested in becoming a pickup location either at your home, place of work, or community center, fill out this form.
SF, Oakland, and Peninsula
- San Francisco
- Oakland
- Pacifica
- Belmont
- Redwood City
- Mountain View
- San Jose
- Campbell
- Los Gatos
Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Area
- Scotts Valley
- Santa Cruz, Downtown
- Santa Cruz, Seabright
- Santa Cruz, Westside
- Santa Cruz, Eastside
- Soquel
- Aptos
- Monterey
Payment Options
The 2025 CSA season runs for 25 weeks, from early June to mid November. A share is $30 per week. Click here to see what’s included in a share.
CSA Share: $750 full season
Can’t pay all at once? That’s ok! We offer payment plans. Email info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com for more information
Frequently Asked Questions
The Farm
Yes! Click here for information about bringing a school or other large group for a tour and we are adding weekend tours for 2025. Also, we host many events, including dinners, potlucks, internships, classes & more.
The Santa Cruz Permaculture Farm is new to this beautiful 26 acres as of 2022, and our growing methods will evolve as we transition soil that was cultivated organically, but traditionally, to a no-till, biologically complex ecosystem. We use regenerative organic methods of pest control, while continuing to integrate compost, worm castings, cover crops, and beneficials to regenerate the soil, increase resilience, and build biodiversity. We welcome CSA members for a farm tour to learn more!
Santa Cruz Permaculture prevents pests and diseases by selecting regionally adapted varieties suited to our climate, following a carefully planned crop rotation, practicing good hygiene and proactive behavior, and using row covers and physical barriers. We grow a large diversity of crops and create tons of natural habitat on all sides of our fields to regenerate the native beneficial insect and bird populations.
We are soil regenerators. We feed soil microbes and improve soil organic matter by growing a lush cover crop each winter and applying 3-5 tons of compost per acre annually. We are also members of the growing community of practitioners transitioning to no-till agriculture, methods that reduce disturbance while dramatically improving soil health. We grow on two soil types. 15 of our acres are rich, fertile alluvial soils from the Ano Nuevo Creek floodplain, deposited over thousands of years. This is an improved clay soil that has been farmed organically for 100 years, having many tons of compost added annually. We also grow on 9 acres of colluvium, a sandy clay loam that is a newer soil created from the eroding hillside above.
We have extreme reverence for water – water is life – and are aware that we are living in the coming age of permanent drought in California. Our irrigation water comes from surface water, not wells, derived from Elliot Creek and Ano Nuevo Creek. The reservoirs provide a rich habitat for bald eagles, great blue heron, bass, tule, cattail and more. To conserve we utilize drip irrigation, to prevent erosion we make sure the soil is covered through cover crops and mulches, and we utilize settlement basins and other permaculture best practices to “slow it, spread it, sink it” and prevent soils from eroding away in winter rains.
We control weeds through timely irrigation and planting techniques as well as mechanical and hand cultivation and the use of mulches. We don’t love weeding so we do our best to keep them from growing in the first place.
That said, what is a “weed”? A weed is often referred to as a “plant out of place”. Out of place to whom? Weeds are indicators and learning to read the landscape requires understanding what messages plants convey in their growth habits. For example, plantain grows in compacted soils, and horsetail grows in ground with a high water table. Ultimately our approach to “weed management” is to align our practices with nature so that plant communities thrive with less management and disturbance from us.
Pickup
If you need to miss a week, no problem – your food won’t go to waste! You can either donate your box to a friend or family member who can pick it up in your place, or we will donate your box to a family in need or community group.
Email info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com as far ahead of time as possible and we’ll let you know what items we can offer extra of.
If you’re unable to pick up your CSA box at one of these locations, but would like to join our CSA, fill out this form to express your interest and tell us where you could pick up from.
If you’re interested in becoming a pickup location, either at your home, place of business, or community center, please fill out our form here.
Payments
Sure! We can split your membership fees into multiple payments. Please contact us at info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com and we’re happy to work out a custom option for you.
Before January, we’re still forming our crop plan and can fully refund any payments you’ve made. After January, we’ve ordered seed to grow your produce. If you’d like to cancel your membership, you can contact info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com with a description of your situation and we’ll happily work out some arrangement. It can be helpful for you to ask friends/family/coworkers if anyone might like to take over your membership.
Our CSA box offers an excellent value of organically grown local produce at a price that is usually much lower than groceries. However, we know that these prices are still out of the reach of many folks. As we head into this season and are working hard to get our infrastructure in place, we’re unable to offer low income discounts without a sponsor (see below), but hope to in the future. If you’re interested in joining our list of those needing assistance, please email info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com
Yes! We happily accept a full or partial sponsorship of a low income member. Email info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com and we’ll let you know if we have any low income prospective members who need a contribution.
Our CSA box offers an excellent value of organically grown local produce at a price that is usually much lower than groceries. However, we know that these prices are still out of the reach of many folks. As we head into our first season and are working hard to get our infrastructure in place, we’re unable to offer low income discounts without a sponsor, but hope to in the future. In the meantime, we hope to pair those with abundance with those without.
We love hosting volunteer days to offer our farm as a learning venue where our community members can connect with nature and gain experience and knowledge. We’re unable to offer CSA discounts to farm volunteers currently. Email info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com if you’d like to be added to our volunteer contact list.
The Food
This is our favorite question! How to best enjoy all that goodness?! Our weekly CSA newsletter is full of recipes and suggestions for how to use your produce. Though eating seasonally hasn’t been typical of western culture in recent generations, we find it to be deeply fulfilling and extra nutritious. We aim to make this challenge very approachable for you with our tips & suggestions! If you’ve been wanting to incorporate more fresh veggies into your diet, a CSA membership is the perfect way to get started.
Part of the CSA model is shared risk and shared bounty. Though CSA members might occasionally experience less of a crop that has not performed as well as hoped, more often you’ll find extra goodies in your box when a crop has exceeded expectations. We will always ensure our CSA members receive extra bounty!
Members should bring their own bag to transfer their produce from the box. They’ll leave the box at the pickup site, so we can load it up with new produce the next week.
Though some established CSA programs do offer customization, we’re starting out with the traditional CSA model and don’t offer swapping or item selection. Each week, we’ll choose the freshest items at their peak of ripeness, and fill your box with these. This isn’t a grocery store experience, but we hope you’ll enjoy the delicious challenge of finding new favorite ways to use all different kinds of produce. If you end up with something you can’t use, share your abundance with a friend!