GRUB CSA Farm

The best way to enjoy what the farm has to offer is to become a member of our CSA program (Community Supported Agriculture). If you are not ready yet to join our CSA, but still want to enjoy some of our fine produce look for us on Third Street between Main and Broadway in downtown Chico at the Thursday Night Farmer's Market 6-9 pm, or in the North Valley Plaza parking lot near Trader Joe's at the Wednesday Morning Farmer's Market 7:30 am–1 pm in North Chico. Our produce can also be found at the Chico Natural Foods Co-op at 8th and Main St, at S&S Produce on Mangrove Ave just south of highway 99, and some of the more distinctive kitchens of Chico restaurants.

To join our CSA simply fill out and return the membership form.

If you are considering joining the CSA and have any questions the best way to get a feel for what the CSA is all about and how it works is to just drop by the farm during a CSA pick-up on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 4-6 pm to see the CSA in action, check out the fields, and get to know your farmers. Or, if you can't make it out please contact us at grubchico@yahoo.com or call (530) 680-4543, or better yet

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a relationship between a farm and the people it nourishes as well as a partnership between the CSA members and their farmers. The people, referred to as members, invest in the farm for the season and in return they receive a weekly share of what the farm produces throughout the season. This direct relationship prevents any third parties from profiting from the exchange, often resulting in a better value for the members, and a better return for the farmers. Joining a CSA is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to supporting local sustainable agriculture.

CSA helps people reconnect with the food we eat, the land in which it is grown, and the people who grow it, a genuine opportunity to get in touch with where your food comes from. Other benefits include an abundance of local, seasonal, fresh farm products which means better tasting more nutritious food for members; and the farmers benefit from pre-sold crops easing the burden of in-season marketing while guaranteeing sales, along with increased cash flow upfront to meet start-up costs heading into a new season, and an opportunity for farmers to get to know the people their hard work is feeding. CSA is most often associated with small farms employing sustainable farming practices.

Implicit in this exchange is the shared element of risk and reward. Having formed a partnership for the season CSA members and farmers are in it together for whatever the season has in store. Most of what is experienced is an abundance of good food as the miraculous transformation from seed to vegetable never ceases to amaze. But working so closely with the unpredictability of nature each season also holds its share of setbacks. Members join the farmers in facing these setbacks. Pests, disease, and weather all pose challenges that can affect changes in the shares as planned. Changes in quality, quantity, and the timing and duration of a crops presence in the share can all be affected to varying degrees. As a matter of course occasionally crops do fail, fortunately the nature of CSA farming is to have a tremendous diversity of crops planted in many successions. So while you may miss a crop if it doesn't make it into your share, you will not be without an abundance of food.

For an excellent overview of information about CSA check out these links to Local Harvest, USDA's Rural Development website, and the Robyn Van En Center.

No one individual or governing body presides over the answer to the question, “What is CSA?” We shared with you a little about what CSA means to us, and pointed you to a couple of sources that do a good job of sussing out some of the more important ideas behind CSA. Hopefully this information will inspire you to ask questions of yourself: What does CSA mean to me? How do I define local? Does this farm fit with that idea? How important is it that the farm be certified organic? If it is not certified can I trust the farmer's growing practices? How important is it that the farmer running the CSA grew the food I will be eating? If it is not grown at the CSA farm then grown where, by who and what practices were used? Can I meet the other farmers and see the other farms? What is in the CSA shares? How is food distributed? where do I pick it up? Are the farmers accessible? Can I visit the farm? Where is the farm located?

Like any situation in which you consider joining a community or choose to invest in something financially it is important to get in touch with what is important to you, to so you can make informed decisions. Looking for the right farm to be your CSA farm is no different. We encourage you to research ours and other CSAs to find out what is out there, ask the right questions, and find a good farm fit.

Our CSA begins in April and runs through the third week of December. While we strongly encourage you to sign up in the winter preceding the the season, you can also join at any point after the season gets underway. Once you become a member our expectation is that you stay on for the season. If you wish to stop participating before the season is over please help us find someone to take over your membership. In the off season we also offer Winter Shares.

The shares are picked up each week by you at the GRUB CSA Farm located just 1½ miles from the heart of downtown Chico. We think you'll enjoy picking up your share at the farm. Take the opportunity to talk to your farmers, share recipe ideas or gardening tips, walk the fields where your food is grown, pick cherry tomatoes with your kids, and connect with others who value these things.

The majority of share items are harvested the same day you pick them up, with the exception of storage crops such as garlic, onions, and winter squash, and when heat waves require us to harvest some share items the evening before. Once harvested the crops are field washed and cooled, and just before you arrive, set out for you on tables in the shade of a magnificent English Walnut Tree at our farm. Then you arrive with a box, bag, or basket to gather your share during your chosen pick-up window, either Tuesdays or Thursdays between 4-6 PM (you choose one* when filling out our CSA membership form). Slate and chalk instruct you in how much of each item to take as you move down the tables laden with the vegetables that make up your share for the week. While we determine the what and how much of your share items, you make the final selections. Perhaps choosing only the smallest zucchinis because your family likes them the best, or selecting same-sized potatoes as you weigh them out so they cook off at the same time. Our alternative to a pre-boxed share gives you more choice, and fosters a sense of community, creating an environment where people feel welcome to hang-out and chat while children bounce on the trampoline or hang out with the chickens.

*we are currently suggesting new members sign up for Tuesdays to help balance out the harvest, but we can still accommodate Thursdays if need be.

Everything in our shares is grown by us truly. Each week a wide variety of vegetables make up the bulk of your share. We also provide culinary herbs on occasion, and in the spring we include snap dragons and garden starts from our greenhouse to round out the shares. As a member your share will consist of 7-12 items each week. Over the course of the season we hope to introduce you to varieties of vegetables you have never tried before. We run variety trials each season to continually update and improve what we offer. We especially value heirloom varieties and varieties adapted to our growing conditions. By providing you with new and unusual vegetable varieties, we hope to inspire creativity and experimentation in your kitchen. To see examples of what is in a CSA share at different points in the season see our sample shares, or to get an idea of what vegetables we are growing and when we hope to harvest them for you see our projected CSA harvest schedule.

Sometimes we experience an over abundance of some crops at certain points during the season, or harvest some vegetables that have minor damage that makes them unmarketable. In addition to donating these surplus vegetables to charity, we like to put them out for CSA members to take as optional items in addition to what is offered in the regular share. Sometimes these surplus veggies are available in larger quantities for preserving.

In the past for limited runs we have been able to offer pastured eggs, pastured pork, pastured chicken, fresh squeezed juice, and fresh fruit as extras not included in the price of your share. We hope to be able to offer these farm extras to you again at some point in the season.

The size of the share will increase with the bounty of the season. Starting smaller early in the season, growing as the season progresses, and tapering off a bit towards the end; but generally if you cook at home often, one share should meet most of the seasonal vegetable needs for two to three adults or a family of four for the majority of the season. Some members find it beneficial to split a share, usually with a friend, neighbor, relative, or co-worker. There are many different ways to go about sharing a share with more than one household, contact us for ideas, or if you are having trouble finding a share partner.

The cost for a CSA share is $84 per month, due at the first weekly pick-up of each month. There is also a once per season $100 annual membership fee due with your first payment upon joining. Make checks payable to: GRUB CSA Farm. Bring your payment with you to CSA pick-up or send it to: GRUB CSA Farm; 1525 Dayton Rd, Chico, Ca 95928. We also accept cash. Please do not send cash in the mail. When paying in cash please put your payment in an envelope clearly labeled with your name on it and the month(s) you are paying for.

An annual membership fee paid in January, February, or March before the season begins reserves your place in the CSA and allows us to invest in farm infrastructure and make capital improvements for the upcoming season. Early payment also provides us with cash flow at a time when operating costs are high (purchasing seeds and updating inventories) and income is low. If you join the CSA after the season is underway your membership fee helps us meet operating costs as the season progresses.

With the cash flow generated by the annual membership fees received in the winter months we are better able to meet our start-up costs without having to charge members for a larger portion of the season up front to do so. These early annual membership fee payments are what allow us to offer our more affordable monthly payment schedule, helping us meet our goal of making fresh, healthy, sustainably grown produce more accessible to the greater Chico community. If you are interested in paying for a larger portion of the season up front to help make our shares more accessible to others and to keep the farm running smoothly, please let us know.

One of the things many CSA members enjoy about receiving a share is the ease and joy of eating seasonally. If you are eating a fruit or vegetable that is out of season locally, then it has to be shipped by truck or plane; often picked long before fully ripe, the result is a meal featuring ingredients with inferior freshness, flavor, and nutrients. As a CSA member you will have an abundance of fresh seasonal produce provided for you each week, taking the guesswork out of eating seasonally, and providing your family with food that tastes better, is better for you, and is better for the planet. Eating seasonally helps us feel more connected to the rhythms of the seasons and more grounded in the place we call home.

Here in the northern reaches of the Sacramento Valley we usually experience a dry spell in January long enough to work up some ground to accommodate the first plantings of the new season. Because of Winter's short daylight hours these crops come along slowly and won't begin coming to fruition until April. These crops will make up the bulk of your Spring CSA shares along with a handful of overwintered crops like onions, garlic, leeks, spinach and snap dragons. As Spring turns to Summer some vegetables are phased out, unable to be grown in the summer heat, and still others will come into season to take their place. As more vegetables come into season you will see an increase in the overall share size and the number of items that make up your shares, as well as more variety in the vegetables you see from week to week. By the time late Summer turns to early Fall we will be at the peak production of the season. Then as as daylight wanes and temperatures cool Summer crops begin to fade and some crops we haven't seen since Spring reappear while other Fall crops also make their way into the share. For an idea of what vegetables we have planned for your shares this season and when we hope to harvest them see our projected CSA harvest schedule.

If you will not be able to pick up your share during your pick-up window please contact us and let us know. We will box it up and leave it out for you to pick up at your convenience within 24 hours. The sooner you pick it up the fresher it will be.

Because we have to seed and plant crops months in advance to have them ready for you each week, we are not able to accommodate weeks off during the season. If for any reason you are unable to pick up your share please arrange for someone else to pick it up. Some of the best smiles we see are on the faces of the lucky ones gifted a share of veggies for a week. If no one will pick it up let us know and we will donate your share.

We are located at 1525 Dayton Rd just 1.5 miles from downtown Chico. From the Downtown area head west on W 8th St. Turn left at the stop sign onto Walnut Ave. Stay in the right lane and in less than ½ mile Walnut turns into Dayton Rd and you will see Maisie Jane's gift shop on your right, take the next left onto McIntosh Ave (if you get to the driveway at 1525 Dayton Rd you just missed your turn, please turn around and enter the property from McIntosh Ave). Once on McIntosh turn right into the gravel driveway immediately after the dirt parking lot for the strawberry stand. Please park on the side of the driveway as you approach the larger trees. Walk straight ahead (without following the road as it curves to the right) until you find the tables in the shade of the enormous walnut tree on the east side of the buildings. Welcome! You have just arrived at the CSA Pick-up site.

In addition to the four acres of row crops we have in production at the GRUB CSA Farm, we also grow at the Riparia Farm on Estes Road on 1½ acres nestled amongst the riparian habitat of Comanche Creek located about ½ mile as the crow flies from our main farm site.