What is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and is a direct relationship between the farmer and the eater. You provide a financial commitment at the beginning of the season, and in return, the farmer has working capital and you are guaranteed a share of the harvest.
Many people are familiar with vegetable CSAs, where you might get a weekly box of veggies from May to October, but our meat CSA is a little different. Since our meat is frozen, we can operate year-round, so we offer shares every month. Since most people are trying to eat better quality, but maybe less quantity of meat, our shares are 10-12 pounds and only once per month. There is also the option of a half share, which is the full 10-12 pound bag, but only every other month.
What will I get in my share?
Each month, you will get meat from at least three different species, and over the course of a year, up to 8 species will be offered. We think this makes us the most diverse meat CSA in the country.
Each month there will always be at least one or two cuts of both beef and pork, and in 8-9 months of the year, you will get a whole chicken. The next most common type of meat would be lamb, and as our sheep production is ramping up, that can be expected 4-6 times per year. (A quick note about our lamb – we raise hair sheep, so they don’t produce wool and thus don’t produce lanolin, which gives some lamb a strong flavor. Our lamb is very mild tasting and most people who say they don’t like lamb will happily eat ours).
The next most common is goat meat, which we aim to get in 2-3 shares per year.
Finally, rabbit, duck, and guinea fowl represent some of the more specialty items we raise and each of them will make an appearance only once per year.
You will also get a sheet with a share description, updates from the farm, and a recipe.
How do I get it?
Sign up through our online store, which you can find in the menu above, select the season you are signing up for, full or half share, and pickup location. We currently have three pickup sites: on the farm in Corbett (these are on Sunday afternoons), Woodstock in SE Portland (Tuesday evenings, co-located with the 47th Ave Farm veggie CSA), and in Kenton in North Portland (Thursday evenings at the Funhouse Brews weekly pop-up)