Community Supported Agriculture 

Click here and get a Backyard Bounty Box weekly in 2011!

Details on shares this season

Backyard Bounty Boxes are sold out for the 2010 season.  Click the box above for a share in 2011.

Members of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program get a bounty of fresh vegetables every week for 20 weeks.  NOTE: You do not need to have your yard gardened to get veggies!

Half shares - appropriate for one adult: $250 for 20 weeks, equivalent to $12.50 per week. 
Full shares - appropriate for two adults or a family:  $450 for 20 weeks, equivalent to $22.5 per week.  Full shares are exactly 2x the amount of a half share, so you save $50!
Both are really great deals!  At the Farmer's Market, you would pay an additional $10 on average for the same amount of produce!  That equates to about $200 in savings on your grocery bill for the season. 
 
Optional Delivery - $100 additional for the season for either share.  
 
Pick-up locations - Wellington Chiropractic and Wellness Group, 12 Waterloo Ave.  (across from Farmer's Market).  Tuesdays (about) 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Click here for a map.  Please bring your own bag/box to get your produce!  

Start Date: June 15th, 2010.  End Date: End of October, 2010.

At pick-up, the produce will be in bins, and you will select a certain number of each.  If there is something you don't want, you can trade it for something else in the 'trading bin', or leave it.  Everything is picked the day of, so it is all as fresh as it gets!  Scott is an exceptional farmer and the vegetables are really amazing!

***Selling extra produce: We will be selling produce at the pick-up location, so if you need additional produce or want to try it out before committing, you are more than free to do so!  Tell your friends!  Polestar Hearth Bakery, Irvine Creek Organics and Meals that Heal are selling their prepared goods as well. 

Help us get the word out!  If you have friends, neighbours or family members who might be interested in their own Backyard Bounty Box, please pass this info along!

A note to CSA Members:  Please help us out by bringing your own bags or boxes to carry your vegetables.  We may not be able to have the compostable bags after they run out :(  If you have extra, we would be very glad to take them off your hands!  Also, if you are able to either park in the street, bike or walk, then we will reduce our fuel use and not take too many parking spaces from the clientele of the Chiropractic Centre.  Thanks! 

What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?

This is a model for distributing fresh produce from farmers to individuals in the community.  People opt-in to receiving a basket or 'share' of the produce each week by paying at the beginning of the growing season.  This way, both the consumers and the farmers share the benefits and risks of growing crops.   By paying in advance, we immediately have the resources to purchase our seeds and equipment for the season.  

What kinds of vegetables are included in your Backyard Bounty Box? 

Part of being in a CSA is that you recieve a share of produce which is growing and ready each week.  This means that you eat with the seasons and that if one vegetable is doing poorly, you will receive another which is doing well with the current weather conditions.

• Spring shares:  arugula, lettuce, beet greens, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, kale, broccoli, green onions, corn salad, spinach, snap peas, edible flowers, herbs.
• Summer shares:  zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, radish, beets, carrots, Swiss chard, basil, eggplant, herbs, cut flowers, snap beans, peppers.
• Fall shares:  cabbage, kale, broccoli, squash, pumpkin, beans, fennel, beets, leeks, onions, arugula, lettuce, radishes, herbs.

Six reasons to try out a weekly ‘Backyard Bounty Box’ membership:

1. A Bounty of Food.  Every week you’ll get a variety of vegetables, herbs, fruit and edible flowers.  There will be 20 weeks of shares of food in total – each one with enough veggies to typically last a week (the number of people indicated above). If the weather cooperates and we can start sooner we’ll let you know.
2. Fresh:  All of our veggies are harvested at their ripest point, when nutrition and taste are at their peak. This means you will get your food the same day it was picked.
3. Natural Farming Practices:  Even though we’re not “certified” organic, we will be farming organically.  No chemicals will be used.  We believe in building healthy soil to grow healthy food.  Our crops will include a range of rare and heirloom varieties.  Our work will be ‘people powered’ with gardens being tended not only by our expert farmers but also by local volunteer community members.
4. Supporting Urban Agriculture:  Every dollar you invest in your food box goes into supporting food being grown right here in your city.  Food will be grown within walking distance of where you live.  One of the most untapped resources in our city are our own backyards.  We are working on a model that creates local ‘green jobs’, a sustainable food system, re-skills people in growing food and involves community members.
5. Trying new foods.  The beauty of a wide variety of food is that you get your favorites but you also get to try new foods you might never have come across.
6. Receive Backyard Bounty newsletters weekly with recipes from Guelph chefs , urban-food events & updates and photos of your neighbours getting dirty)

Click here and get a Backyard Bounty Box weekly in 2011!

Questions?  Call Julianna, the Project Coordinator at 519-803-2539, or send an email.

Page edited July 28, 2010.