Garden Larder CSA Program

Garden Larder

My name is Rowan and I have a little market garden in Casterton, Vic (Australia). I sell my produce to many customers in Casterton and nearby towns like Coleraine and Hamilton.

I have decided to start a CSA to help with my forward planning and to start the process of developing a bigger program in the future with more land. 

I specialise in heritage, rare, unusual and old-fashioned varieties of vegetables and some fruits. Some of them may be strange but when they end up in your box I will also add recipes.

My produce is fresh and tasty - and a lot better than the hard, tasteless supermarket hybrids.

Costs are very similar to or less than what you would pay in a supermarket but the food is better.

When you sign up, you dedicate yourself to being my customer for the season, thus providing me a secure market — a welcome measure of certainty in the fickle world of farming! I, in turn, dedicate myself to being your farmer, providing you with a varied, nutritious vegetable diet. I will do my very best to bring you a fresh, varied, beautiful and bountiful box each fortnight, but since our boss, Nature, provides no guarantees — we can’t offer any either. One of the premises of a Community Supported Agriculture program is that the shareholder shares, through the veggies, the farmers’ experience of nature’s mischief (and blessings).

 My commitment to my CSA shareholders

 Check out my friendly service to Casterton, Hamilton and Coleraine, and feed your family freshly picked vegetables for only $20 per box.  Please note the change of box size. The $20 box is so popular that I have decided to make it my default size. 

What is a CSA

CSA is short for Community Supported Agriculture. The other name for it is a Farm Share Initiative (FSI).

Subscriber gives farm money. Farm uses money to grow food. Food goes back to subscriber. Taking some of the burden of financial risk off the shoulders of the food growers is the whole point of community supported agriculture.

Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy ultra-fresh, local, seasonal food directly from a farmer.

Here are the basics: a farmer/market gardener offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. These are shares of the crops. Typically the share consists of a share of the harvest (box of vegetables, but other fresh products may be included) for the season. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week or fortnight throughout the farming season.

This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief...

Advantages for farmers:

• Get to spend time marketing the food early in the season, before their long hours in the paddock begins
• Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm's cash flow
• Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow
• Less produce wastage as the farmer knows how much to grow and none is unsold. 

Advantages for customers:

• Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavour and vitamin benefits
• Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
• Get to visit the farm/market garden if you want
• Find that kids typically favour food from "their" farm – even veggies they've never been known to eat
• Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows your food and learn more about how food is grown
• Similar or lower cost than the same amount of vegetables in the supermarket. 

It's a simple enough idea, but its impact has been profound. Tens of thousands of families have joined CSAs in many countries. The government does not track CSAs, so there is no official count of how many CSAs there are in Australia

Is a CSA subscription for you?

CSA programs are not for everyone. There are two basic questions to ask yourself before you sign up:

1, Do you love to cook from scratch?

2, Do you love trying new things?

If you answer yes to both of those questions then I think you will love my CSA program.