Community Supported Agriculture

Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Scheme!

Our Communuity Supported Agriculture Scheme members enjoy a weekly supply of local fresh vegetables, all grown without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides in Rushmere-St-Andrew, East Ipswich. Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between farmers and the local community, providing mutual benefits and reconnecting the people to the land where their food is grown. CSA schemes have been popular in the USA and Japan for many years, and are now growing in the UK.  We are the first Community Supported Agriculture Farm in Suffolk!

Our vegetable CSA scheme is now fully subcribed, but please do contact us if you would like to join the waiting list for first refusal on new places as they become available.

CSA members enjoy an equal share of all the vegetables grown on the farm, for a weekly price of £7.50.

• Members commit to work a minimum number of sessions on the farm: at least two hours per week on average during the busy season (March – August), and one hour per week on average during the rest of the year (September – February). This work commitment is per share, i.e. may be shared between members of your household. For example:
  • a couple with a single share might choose to work one 8-hour day together once every eight weeks during the busy season
  • a single shareholder might choose to work two one-hour evening sessions each week during the busy season.

  This commitment may include work to administer/publicise the CSA if you wish (by agreement with the farm) .

• Members and their families are welcome at free social events at the farm to celebrate changes in the seasons, including our annual harvest meal.
• Minimum membership one year from beginning of June 2013 – end May 2014 – cancellation by agreement with the farm only.  Payment annually in advance by cheque or bank transfer, or monthly in advance by standing order, from 1st June 2013.
• New members pay a deposit of £25 on filling in their membership form which will be refunded at the end of the first year of membership (end May 2014) if all payment and work comittments have been met.
• Members have the opportunity to buy a side of Oak Tree Pork.

Find out what our members say about the Community Supported Agriculture Scheme on our Members’ Testimonials page.

Can you tell me exactly what vegetables I will receive each month?
No, except that it will be one fifty fourth of the vegetables grown on two and a quarter acres by the farm professional growers with the help of CSA members.  To see what previous shares have included see our regular photos and descriptions of the weekly shares. We invite members to complete an annual veg survey to say what they would prefer to see in their boxes over the year to come. Here are the results for 2013.

We try to keep the volume of the veg in the boxes as even through the year as possible, but inevitably there are seasons of plenty, such as the autumn when we enjoy plentiful sweetcorn, beans, carrots, squash and more, and the summer when we enjoy abundant lettuce, tomatoes, courgettes, Swiss chard, among many other crops.  Wintertime brings parsnips, leeks, brassicas and more.

The really hard time is “the hungry gap” which is typically April/May when the winter crops have all but finished, and the spring crops haven’t yet started.  We’ll work hard to keep the shares as generous and varied as possible, crops include sprouting brocolli, Swiss chard, winter salads including rocket and spring greens.

But I don’t know how to cook half of those!
Don’t worry, we share recipes on our forum for unusual vegetables, and we welcome your ideas on how to make the best of the harvest!

I’m interested in the chickens and geese. Can I get involved with them?
Yes, absolutely!  The farm poultry is intimately interlinked with the veg production as our birds eat much of the waste veg from the farm (stuff that really is too damaged or past it to go in the veg boxes!) and provide fertility for the soil with their manure.

Members already have the opporutunity to get involved in caring for the poultry as part of their CSA work commitment, and we are planning to launch three new community supported agriculture schemes to veg CSA members (only) in 2013:

1) A hen’s egg CSA

2) A meat chicken CSA

3) A Christmas goose CSA

We haven’t figured out all the details of how these schemes will work, but we’ll keep veg CSA members posted by our regular weekly email updates.

I’m interested in the pigs.  Can I get involved with them?
The pigs are cared for by our friends in the Acorn Antics Pig Club, and many members of the pig club are also members of the CSA, however the CSA and pig club are separate – there are only eight members of the pig club.  This limited membership keeps things simple, and ensures that the pigs are well cared for.

The farm and pig club are planning a joint project in 2013 to offer “armchair membership” of the pig club to Veg CSA members.  Veg CSA members will be invited to buy half a (butchered) pig – sharing it between groups of members if they wish.  We haven’t worked out all the details, or the costs, but we’ll keep veg CSA members posted by our regular weekly email updates.

Armchair membership of the pig club will be available to veg CSA members only.

When can I work on the farm?
Any time during daylight hours!  For your first few sessions we suggest you join one of our sociable Saturday working parties.  Once you have learnt the ropes you are welcome to visit the farm alone, or with other CSA members, to complete jobs from the current task list.  Tools, seeds, fertilizers etc. are all provided, as is water, tea and milk.  Many of us like proper coffee so we ask members who are fellow coffee drinkers to contribute a bag of ground coffee from time to time.  Please bring a packed lunch if you plan to stay all day.

Hang on, you want me to pay and work?
We’re competing with cheap, oil-powered, large scale industrial agriculture.  We do our very best to offer good value, excellent tasting, completely fresh, locally grown vegetables and a very direct link between members and the farm. Above all, the CSA is a community of people growing food together, and many members find working at the farm not only satisfying, rewarding and sociable, but also good fun!

In the long run, our costs will stay moderate as the cost of oil, and as a result, chemical fertilisers, grow, so the long term aim is to offer excellent value.  In the meantime we do the very best we can.  We are currently setting the farm up as a not-for-profit social entreprise, so you can be sure that all your money goes into developing the farm to provide excellent food for the benefit of CSA members.

How does one CSA share compare to growing vegetables on an allotment?
A standard allotment, which is intended to feed a family when cultivated by an experienced gardener, is one sixteenth of an acre.  By comparison one CSA share is grown on just over one twenty fifth of an acre.  Joanne was an allotment holder for many years, and her experiences were pretty similar to these from a telegraph article which suggests a minimum weekly workload of at least 12 hours per week, compared with minimum 2 hours per week as a CSA member – with the added benefit of flexibility in the CSA so you can take time off without worrying.

Many newcomers to allotment holding fail to achieve good yields due to lack of experience and shortage of time or commitment.  As a CSA member your work commitment is far lighter than serious allotment holding, and you don’t have to worry who will water your crops when you are on holiday!  All seeds, compost, machinery, tools, etc. etc. are included in your CSA membership.

Can my children come along?
Children under 18 are welcome at the farm, however they remain the responsibility of their parents/guardians at all times.  Please remember that this is a working farm, so take care to follow any health and safety instructions given.

Can I bring my dog along?
No, sorry, we don’t allow dogs on the farm.

Isn’t this just another vegetable box scheme?
Well, the weekly shares will come in returnable ex-mushroom boxes, but that is where the similarity ends!

All the vegetables included in the weekly CSA share will be grown on The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm, and while members share the risk of some crops failing, your annual commitment to the farm and your work on the farm ensures you get your vegetables at a better price than many organic box schemes.  You eat completely with the seasons, from fresh sweetcorn in the late summer, to sprouting brocolli in the early spring.

Is The Oak Tree certified organic?
No, and we’re not allowed to use the “O” word because we’re not certified.  All cultivation at The Oak Tree is done without artificial fertilisers, pesticides or other chemicals, and we use only natural non-chemical pest control and fertilisers.

Organic certification costs around £500 per year and imposes considerable paperwork overhead, and might mean we couldn’t use the horse manure from our friendly neighbouring stable yard, and other similar constraints, which would in turn increase our carbon emissions.

Can I “share a share” with someone else?
Yes, no problem.  All we ask is that we receive one single monthly standing order, per one fifty-fourth share, and we will prepare each share in a single box – you’ll need to arrange delivery and split the veg between you yourselves.  This is simply to keep the administration and packing work down for the farm, so we can spend more time growing the vegetables.  Members who “share a share” are welcome to share their farm work commitment.

It sounds great!  How do I join?

Our vegetable CSA scheme is now fully subcribed, but please do contact us if you would like to join the waiting list for first refusal on new places as they become available.