Community Supported Agriculture

What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a grassroots movement that started in the USA in the late 1980s, based on ideas from Europe and Japan. CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Through donations (monetary or otherwise) supporters cover a farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks, and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members donations help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. The average non-CSA produce travels 1,500 miles to get to your plate. Eating locally and organically is environmentally friendly and sustainable. For more info visit www.csafarms.org and www.umassvegetable.org.

Avalon Gardens established the first CSA program in Arizona in its truest form as a living agricultural/all volunteer community sharing its resources and the harvest of the land purchased and worked together, while also offering harvests to Share-Members.

As an ecovillage we sponsor events year-round and offer workshops and internships. Click here to view a short video presentation on our ecovillage and organic gardens.

How does it work?

CSA Share-members give their donation in advance for a chosen amount of the harvest for a minimum of 6 weeks. Each week members pick up their share at a designated location. There will be a variety of 8-12 fresh, organically grown vegetables in your personalized bag every week.

We are certified to accept SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; formerly known as Federal Food Stamps), WIC (Woman, Infants and Children), Senior AZFMNP (Arizona Farmer's Market Nutrition Program) vouchers and Cash Value Vouchers (CVV) for weekly purchases only.

Our produce is beyond organic!!

We are not “certified organic” by USDA rules and we are not planning to be. Unfortunately it requires expensive and time-consuming paperwork that is getting exploited and commercialized by large corporations who can afford it. Our gardening and farming is beyond organic in practice and all of our vegetables are grown without chemical or synthesized fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. What we do is love the earth and grow healthy soil, using permaculture methods including biodynamics that will, in turn, grow healthy plants that are more resistant to pests and disease. We are planting a wide variety of heirloom, native, and only GMO-free seeds. Our members know us and trust our methods, and can observe our practices anytime during a visit.

What are we growing for you?

You will receive a weekly "Hands in the Soil" newsletter that introduces each vegetable with its history, benefits, qualities and recipes. Eating seasonally is a choice and a very healing experience. Most seasons, there are some crops that do exceptionally well and others that produce less than expected. As partners in agriculture, we share the benefits of bumper crops and the risks of a crop failure. Avalon Organic Gardens cannot guarantee the quantity or type of produce that will be available.

Here at Avalon Organic Gardens & EcoVillage, we feel our CSA members are part of our extended family. You are welcome to visit and/or volunteer in the garden, just give us a call or send us an email.