WHY CSA

What is a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. When you join a CSA, you are buying a 'share' or becoming a ‘member’ for a farm's season before it begins. By becoming a CSA member, you’re supporting a small farm’s growing season with your upfront payment (whether it be a deposit, full payment, payment plan, it all helps). This model is extremely helpful for getting a small-scale farm like ours started up in the early spring when there aren’t vegetables or herbs to sell. Essentially you’re buying into the farm, and therefore investing in that year’s growing season. Upfront payments go directly to our organic seed costs (which can be $5k+), organic composted soil costs ($2k+), organic soil inputs (TBD $), and all of the other things that help us to get the season started. To be honest, there are far too many things to list….

What do you get as a CSA member?

You receive a weekly share of extremely fresh veggies and herbs. At Odd Crop, our CSA season typically begins mid-June and ends in late October. Everything you’ll receive is harvested fresh the day before or day of, which means it will be harvested, washed and packed within 24 hours.

Plus, all members have access to our additional CSA events (think natural dying with flowers, bonfires, cookouts!, drag shows!), additional celebrations, and access to bulk items and CSA specific discounts. Oh, and don’t forget full access to the pick your own flower and herb gardens!

Why is joining a CSA so helpful to a small farm?

It’s tough to have a small business in general, but can be especially challenging to start a small organic veggie farm. The reality is that the profit margins for organic veggies are slim even for a successful and established venture. We farmers are constantly crunching numbers on what makes sense for the longevity of our productions. Even calculating how much every kale leaf costs when harvested.

So for a a small farm like Odd Crop to get started without existent infrastructure, thick wallets or well-funded backgrounds — it requires a decent amount of capital to build out the basics for a new location. Even if we are very scrappy like finding abandoned greenhouse hoops, used equipment, and diving hard into our sweat equity. At the end of the day, we spent many years working at other farms, where we at times made $14/hr. This leaves us with very tight budgets for our personal lives, and means we still find ourselves typically spending our few personal dollars on items for the farm anyways.

By joining our CSA, or becoming a Farm Card Member - you’re investing in this season of Odd Crop, which hopefully means investing in our long term future of growing food in Lebanon. Your early support helps us to receive the funds immediately and to directly re-invest those funds back into the farm. Our goals are to serve as not just a good local food resource, but a safe space and mutual aid connection for the larger community of Madison County.

Thank you to all that do sign up! Or show your support online, in person or at one of our markets. We understand that CSA’s aren’t for everyone <3