CSA is an arrangement that allows farmers to sell produce directly to customers. Customers purchase a share of the harvest and receive items weekly throughout the season. Think of it as a subscription service for local produce!

CSA was pioneered in the early days of the organic movement in the 1970s as a way to connect local producers directly to local consumers. This was the era when the basic economics of food production became untenable for small farmers, and many small farms failed. As the food system rotted from the inside out, new organic growers developed CSA as a way to operate outside the conventional network of food retailers and purchasers, a rapidly consolidating industry that heavily favors corporate ag.

“Organic” is a regulated term that we cannot legally use. Certification is simply too expensive for us to pursue on a small, temporary site. We can tell you that our produce is produced naturally and sustainably using “no till” growing methods, and never with the use of pesticides.

The items included vary seasonally, but every week members receive as wide a variety of seasonal produce as possible. A winter pickup might include things like kale, lettuce, leeks and winter squash, while a summer pickup might include tomatoes, okra, melons or calabaza squash, among many other options. For example, during our last season members received a total of 40 different types of produce!

The short answer is freshness! Although there are many organic options available in grocery stores today, the fact remains that traditional retail stores are a terrible way to buy fresh food if quality and taste are a priority. When a piece of produce is removed from the plant, whether it’s a lettuce leaf or a tomato, that piece of produce has started to die and the clock is ticking. Even at a high quality grocery store, the produce might look nice, but the reality is that it’s been sitting around for weeks or even months. Every hour that piece of produce is from when it was picked means a perceptible loss in flavor and nutritional value.

When you buy a piece of produce at a grocery store, very little of the purchase price finds its way back to the person who produced it. The more complex the supply chain, the more people that need to be paid. The grocery store building, the workers in the store, the delivery truck, the warehouse, the corporate bureaucrats, all these need to be paid for to make that system work. CSA flips the script on the economics of small scale farming by allowing farmers to claim the entire pie instead of just a piece, meaning less acerage is needed to make a farm economically viable.

Local food is critical for the economic, ecological and cultural sustainability of our community. A place that outsources its food production to other states or other countries loses an important piece of its identity. Tomatoes from Mexican greenhouses or pears from a Californian orchard are efficient but joyless. Celebrate the place you live and what it has to offer!

CSA prices per item average out to be significantly lower than retail prices for similar quality produce at a farmers market or retail store. We estimate that CSA members save about 20% on the retail price.

We do sell our surplus at area markets when possible. However, we find the CSA model works much better for us due to our convenient location and the relatively underdeveloped nature of the San Antonio market scene.

Eating what’s in season is one of the great joys of purchasing a CSA share! If you are accustomed to the apparently unlimited choices at the grocery store produce section, limiting yourself to what is seasonally available in South Texas might seem like a downgrade. But it is in fact a serious upgrade to your diet! Items that are fresh and in season simply taste better and have greater nutritinal value than items that are out of season and shipped in or stored for long periods. CSA takes the guess work out of knowing what is in season and what isn’t. This is also a really important part of knowing and loving the place you live in!

We are located in the Mahncke Park neighborhood, about two miles north of downtown San Antonio.

Many of us relish fantasies of simple country living, of going back to the land. Many of us are only a generation or two removed from that world. But the fact of the matter is that in 2024, America is a predominantly urban society. 80% of Americans live in cities, and those Americans are in desperate need of fresh food! However, the sprawling nature of Texas cities creates interesting opportunities for urban agricultural infill. We currently farm on vacant lots that are awaiting their date with real estate destiny as townhomes or apartments. There are thousands of acres of vacant or otherwise underutilized land within the urban core of the city. So let’s put it to use!