Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Enjoy a weekly box of nutritious, seasonal produce from our coastal permaculture farm.

About Our CSA Produce Share & Farm

CSA stands for community-supported agriculture, a system connecting farmers and consumers in a bioregion. If you want 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 farm share is for you!

Here’s what one CSA member had to say recently: “Just wanted to let you know how much we have been enjoying the produce in our boxes. We are talking about and thinking about our meals, much more than usual. We learned a lot about fava beans and have been eating delicious pastas.  The lettuce is sweet and beautiful and the berries are a great treat. I hope that we are on the early phases of changing the way we eat and how we relate to food… exactly what we were hoping!” – CSA Member Jason Snitzer

The 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. As we head into our first full season of growing, we’ll embark on a journey that will lead us to no-till, ecological farming – bringing life to the soil and diversifying the vegetation and animals to grow a complex and healthy food forest. A diverse group of students, local supporters, and regional leaders will bring their curiosity and knowledge, helping us to create a center for permaculture education.

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 produce from our regenerative farm, available for pickup at a convenient location

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?

6-8 vegetables/fruits weekly

A typical mix includes:

Salad greens – 1-3 items

Staple vegetables – 1-2 items

Snacking vegetables – 1-2 items

Onion family vegetables – 1-2 items

Unique vegetables/herbs – 1-2 items

Fruit – 1-2 items

 

Pickup Locations

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. We need at least 20 members to add a new pickup location, so reach out to your neighborhood and community members!

Pickup locations:

Downtown Santa Cruz, Fridays

Santa Cruz Permaculture Farm, Fridays

Westside Santa Cruz Farmers Market, Saturdays

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.

Help Us Spread the Word!

As a brand new farm hoping to create positive change and educate future growers on the most ecological methods of farming, we need help spreading our message and finding more CSA members. We’re so grateful for such an active community of supporters. We can’t do it without you! Please share info about our CSA to your social networks; post in online forums, hang flyers at local community centers and schools, or just mention us to your friends. 

Click here to access our press kit

You’ll find printable and digital flyers and descriptions that you can copy and paste. Thank you!

Payment Options

The 2023 CSA season runs for 25 weeks, from June 9th to December 1st. If you join after June 9th, we’ll prorate your membership price for the number of weeks remaining in the season. A CSA share is $25 per week.

Click here to see what’s included in a share.

Click here to see our list of pickup locations.

Full Season CSA Share: $625

Can’t pay all at once? That’s ok! Email us to set up a payment plan.

When you click the button below, you’ll fill out and submit our CSA member agreement. We’ll email you with an invoice that you can pay online or mail a check.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Farm

The Santa Cruz Permaculture Farm is new to this beautiful 26 acres and our growing methods will evolve as we transition soil that was cultivated organically, but traditionally, to a no-till, biologically complex ecosystem. Heading into our first full growing season, we’ll use organic methods of pest control, while beginning 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!

Our farm hosts many events, including dinners, potlucks, internships, classes & more. CSA members will be invited to a tour at a pre-season event and will continue to have many opportunities to join us throughout the year.

Our CSA runs for 25 weeks, from June 9th to December 1st, 2023. Your advance payment supports our farm by allowing us to buy seed and supplies in advance of the season, and to pay our crew. We then share our farm abundance with you during the growing season, and invite you and other CSA members to come to the farm for CSA community celebrations.

As a brand new farm, we are so grateful for our community of supporters. We want to see more permaculture in the world and we know you do too! We need help getting the word out about our CSA. Click here for materials you can share with your community.

We occasionally host volunteer days. If you’re interested in volunteering on the farm, contact Leah at info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com

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! Upon signup, we offer the option of spreading the cost of your membership over two payments. If you need to spread your payments out further, 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 our first 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 and to gain a little extra help on the land. 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 use up 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!

You’ll bring a bag with you to the pickup site and transfer your items from the box to your bag. If you forget your bag, no worries! Just take the box home with you and bring it back with you the following week, we’ll make sure to reuse it.

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 this first season. Each week, we’ll choose the freshest items at their peak of ripeness, and fill your box with these. We hope you’ll enjoy the delicious challenge of finding new favorite ways to use all different kinds of produce and the simplicity of not having to pick & choose every week. If you end up with something you can’t use, share your abundance with a friend!

Join us October 7th on the farm for a celebratory fall harvest dinner and festival!

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