CSA

Front 9 Farm specializes in producing over 100 types of fruits and vegetables which are packaged into weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) shares. These shares are sold to our local community members and within Medina, Cuyahoga, and Summit counties. The shares are distributed weekly at four pickup locations: Thursday evenings at the LEAF Community Farmers’ Market from 5:30pm-8pm at the Lakewood Library main branch (on front porch), Fridays at our farm from 3pm-8pm, Saturdays at the Medina Farmers’ Market from 9am-1pm on the public square, and Saturdays at the Countryside Farmers' Market at Howe Meadow from 9am-12pm in Peninsula.

• At least 10-15 different seasonal fruits and vegetables included each week
• 5 customized recipes included each week, simplifies meal planning
• shares averaged 15% off farmers' market pricing (2019 CSA average)
• Pasture-raised chicken, free-range eggs, and wildflower honey, all produced on our farm, available as add-ons
• Vegetables harvested at peak freshness and brought directly to the CSA pickup
• 28 weeks beginning the second week of May (May 14th-May 16th pickups), and will end the third week of November (November 19th-21st pickups)
• Four pickup options available (listed below)
• Payment for half of the share is due before the seasons begins, and the balance is due by the midway point

CSA Package Overview

We have flexible package offerings which allow members to participate in the program without committing to the full 28 weeks. Members can tailor their participation around their schedule, or trial a 4-week program before committing to the full 28 weeks. We include five weekly recipes which use all ingredients in the weekly package. The recipes range from soups to salads, to hearty roasted vegetable dishes, and many more. These recipes allow our members to consume all of their weekly vegetables in 5 meals, which simplifies meal planning and ensures that you’re getting a heavy dose of vegetables in your diet.

Logistics

This year's program will run 28 weeks beginning the second week of May (May 14th-May 16th pickups), and will end the third week of November (November 19th-21st pickups). 

Pickups at the following locations:

• Thursdays, beginning May 14th, 5:30pm-8pm, Lakewood Public Library- 15425 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107 Lakewood CSA Calendar
• Fridays, beginning May 15th, 3pm-8pm, Front 9 Farm- 8421 Richman Rd, Lodi, OH 44254 Farm Lodi CSA Calendar
• Saturdays, beginning May 16th, 9am-1pm, Farmers' Market of Medina- 3916 Pearl Rd, Medina, OH 44256 Medina CSA Calendar
• Saturdays, beginning May 16th, 9am-12pm, Countryside Farmer' Market- 4040 Riverview Rd, Peninsula, OH 44264 Akron CSA Calendar

Let us know a few weeks ahead of time if you will be going on vacation so that we can split the contents of that week’s package into the preceding or following weeks. If a delivery is forgotten the package will be available for pick-up at our farm the following day but beyond that the produce will be donated to the local food bank. When filling out our membership application, please note any products which do not interest you and we will do our best to make accommodations. We place a high priority on customer satisfaction. If at any time a customer wishes to cancel their membership to the CSA program and the member has pre-paid we will refund their money back for the remaining weeks. If you are interested in canning or freezing additional produce please contact us and we will verify if we have the amount you are looking for, and we can bring the produce along to the next pickup. Memberships are paid early in the season which helps us maintain cash flow throughout the season.

The CSA model requires the consumer to share some of the risks of production, and payment is made upfront. As with any form of agriculture, there is a risk production will be tempered by inclement weather. When crops are scarce we first serve our CSA members. Eating seasonally can be foreign to most people whose every produce need is easily met in the grocery store. May and June will be lighter production periods, and more diversity will arrive by July, and finish out through October and November. Our production season begins with highly cold tolerant vegetables and few fruiting crops. Abundance will build as the season progresses, beginning with peas and summer squash, then our high tunnel tomatoes should start yielding in June, and finally many of the delicious fall squash crops. Most members will need to supplement the produce provided in the boxes, especially with fruit and possibly commonly used staples such as carrots, onions, and garlic. By purchasing our CSA share you are support a local farmer and a member of your local community. The produce included in our CSA shares is harvested fresh the morning of delivery, field washed, and then delivered to the pick-up locations. All crops are harvested a peak ripeness and freshness, allowing our members to receive the tastiest, freshest, most long-lasting produce available.

Production Methods

We grow all produce in our CSA packages on one acre which is divided into three large plots. All production is done using a permanent bed system. Permanent beds allow us to have quick crop successions with minimal labor, and since the soil is not tilled each season, we're able to sequester all the carbon generated by decomposing plant residues, and our weed pressure is reduced. We care for the soil, the plants, and the local environment. We've done extensive research far and wide on available plant cultivars, and each year we've improved the plant varieties in nearly every category of what we grow, from broccoli to lettuce to tomatoes. These varieties should give us more adaptable plants with better pest and disease resistance. All field crops are grown in soil with over 5% organic matter, and all transplants and hydroponically produced crops are grown in soilless mixes with high organic matter. By growing transplants continuously throughout the year we are able to cultivate a diversity of crops in each season. By growing crops in small, tightly spaced plots from transplants we are able to produce quick succession crops, and our high crop diversity reduces potential pest problems. When pest problems do arise we use biologicals such as neem oil and beneficial bacteria rather than synthetic sprays. Our passion is fresh food and we are delighted to be working towards building a sustainable production system which provides fresh food to our local community.

Package Contents

Our CSA package is structured to emphasize high quality, a high diversity of produce, and reasonable quantities. A common challenge for many CSA subscribers is finding the proper place in a dish for a vegetable in which they are unfamiliar. For this reason we have carefully selected weekly recipes which accompany the CSA package, and which use many of the vegetables included that week’s delivery. Most weekly recipes include anywhere from 3-5 of the items in that week’s delivery, and the recipes focus on well-established flavor pairings, removing the challenge of cooking with unique vegetables with which you are unfamiliar. We have carefully constructed our production schedule to include a large diversity of crops so that our CSA members received varied produce throughout the season. See our CSA Crop Breakdown page for more information on our CSA package contents.

According to the USDA, fruits and vegetables makes up less than 10% of total calories in the average American’s diet. Of that 10%, a large majority of consumption is attributed to fruits and vegetables in processed forms, such as fruit juices, French fries, and tomato sauce. In contrast, the plant kingdom offers an enormous diversity of fruit, and vegetable options, and more when considering the inclusion of other edible potions of plant tissue, ranging from the roots, stems, leaves, to the flowers, fruit, nuts, and seeds. Of the over 400,000 plant species on Earth, the FOA estimates 250,000 species are completely edible or have edible portions. This large discrepancy highlights the nutritional diversity and quality we have given up in exchange for abundance in our modern food system.  Our goal is to grow crops for our customers which increase the diversity and frequency of vegetable crops which are included in their diet. Our goal is continually increase the crop diversity we offer to members of our food program so that they can experience the enormous diversity of flavors, as well as phytonutrients and phytochemicals, that the plant kingdom has to offer. 

This year our goal is to include over 125 crops in the CSA share throughout the season. We’ve categorized the crops based on vegetable type and/or plant family to display the diversity and relative proportions of each group of vegetables that we include in our CSA share. Each plant family contains unique phytonutrients and antioxidants, many of which promote good health. We estimate our 2017 CSA share will include an average of 13 lb of produce weekly. For some this may feel like a lot of produce while for others this may only be a fraction of the produce they consume in a week. Our goal is to aid our CSA members in prioritizing whole, nutrient-dense food in their diets so that processed, nutritionally devoid food is squeezed out of the 3-5 lb of food, on average, we each consume daily.