Family Rock Farm Community Supported Agriculture Subscription
Would you like to have a basket of fresh picked, sustainably grown produce every week of the growing season? Family Rock Farm is offering a limited signup to join its CSA (community supported agriculture). Each year the farm grows a huge variety of produce and shares it with a group of consumers who know good food and wish to know the person who grows it for them. The year begins with greens for stir-fry and salads, moves into peas and new potatoes, then squash, beets, carrots, Swiss chard, and turnips. Finally, warm weather brings beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelon and cantaloupe, big potatoes and fingerlings .winter squash and pumpkins. Emphasis is always on freshness (picked on the morning of the day you get it), and taste. I grow several heirloom varieties.
Shareholders come to the farm once a week to pick up a full basket, leave an empty one, and pay a monthly fee on the first week of the month. Baskets are provided by the farmer, at a cost of $25 for two and it is a one-time charge. Share prices are $68/month for a full share, or $40/month for a half share. Pickup is between 3 and 6 pm on either Tuesday or Thursday, with some delivery in town on Tuesdays. Because planting happens 3 months in advance of harvest, each subscription lasts all season, typically May to September. Family Rock Farm is just 10 minutes from Wellsboro, three miles out Round Top Road, across from the Charleston Valley Grange. Alternately, take rte. 287 south towards Morris and turn left on the dirt road just past Nessmuk Lake (turn left across from the red barn sitting just off the road on the right hand side). Renewal letters come each year in late winter or early spring and I ask that you respond quickly with a ‘yes’ or ‘no thanks’ to give me an idea of how much seed to order and ground to prepare. This business is all about planning ahead.
Sue Ripley is a life long gardener who loves to grow delicious varieties of vegetables that are not found in stores which value shelf life over quality. This year the farm added a commercial hoop house to lengthen the growing season and provide the heat so loved by melons. Raspberry and blueberry patches are planted and growing for the near future. The farm produces vegetables and fruit from May until a killing frost---usually late September.
Please join in keeping this farm a working farm. I raise grass-fed lamb and occasionally beef, butchered, cut and wrapped by an inspected meat packer. Orders for meat are separate, and placed in spring so I have time to raise the animals on my own land. All the manure from my healthy animals is composted to add to my garden soils, and all my gardening is without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. I grow my own hay as well, so the animals’ diet is mostly generated on farm, though I buy some of the hay locally.
Knowing your farmer is an excellent way to assure your family of quality food. By spending your food dollars at the farm, you support sustainable agriculture and a local farm family, as well as enjoy the fruits on my labor and experience. Occasionally I have room for more customers during the growing season, but generally, the roster fills by March, as I need to plant 3 months ahead of harvesting for most food. Sign up now to get on the next year’s list for a share of all we grow, and please send me an email with your address, phone and preferred pickup day (Tuesday or Thursday).