Do you know where your vegetables were grown?
Your groceries probably travel more than you do!
Are you looking for pesticide-free, non-GMO, organically-grown food? The freshest possible produce?
How about locally-grown, straight from the farm?
Fresh, Local, AND Organic*
what more could you want?
As a member of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm program, you…
- help preserve small family farms
- boost the local economy
- promote sustainable agriculture
- cultivate healthy eating habits
- enjoy locally-grown, fresh, seasonal produce
- reduce your food energy footprint
- are part of a like-minded grassroots community
- foster the farm-to-plate connection
- share our farms’ bounty—and share our risks.
OUR PROGRAM
WHO: Bee Heaven Farm, our Redland Organics partners and other South Florida certified organic farms grow your harvest share items. Some are pesticide-free but not certified organic.
WHAT: A fresh harvest share every other week, consisting of assorted cooking and salad greens, fruiting vegetables, herbs, local seasonal fruit, mushrooms, sprouts and more. We specialize in old-fashioned heirloom varieties full of flavor and color.
- Family share: $45 biweekly ($42 for full season members)
- Small share: $30 biweekly ($27 for full season members)
- Add-on options:
soy-free organic eggs**,artisan bacon, honey & more (**this year’s egg shares are a casualty of the pandemic – our flock was due for replacement, but when April rolled around, there were no baby chicks available for several months – too late to grow them out to laying size by the start of the season…it takes 6 months) - E-Newsletter: with tips and recipes
On a budget? We have payment plans. Sign up early and pay in installments. We accept SNAP/EBT and offer 1:1 match with Fresh Access Bucks (pickup site restrictions may apply).
WHEN: Every other Friday from late November through mid-April/early May.
WHERE: pickup sites throughout Miami-Dade and the upper Keys, or pick up free at the farm near the Redland Fruit & Spice Park.
HOW: Sign up online. Then head to your pickup site every other week, sign in, grab your fresh harvest box plus any add-on options or orders, and enjoy!
WHY: it’s fresh, 100% local, and it’s organic*!
*some of our farm partners are not certified organic, but follow organic practices or are pesticide-free (personally vetted to ensure their produce cannot contaminate our organic produce)
YOUR COMMITMENT: Eat in season – Eat local.
You receive what’s ready to harvest. Early on, there are lots of greens. As the season progresses, items and quantities change to include more long-season vegetables. We always have plenty of greens—for salads, cooking, or both, and some type of herb, and local fruit as available. You can also buy extra goodies to be delivered along with your share.
We are not a supermarket. We are not a co-op. We are not a buying club. We are the farmers!
Our network of farm partners lets us provide you with freshly-harvested vegetables directly from local South Florida farms. You can’t pick and choose as in a market Shares are not customizable, except with our Farm Choice option available exclusively for on-farm pickup, (not offered this season, in order to minimize handling of produce and expedite pickup during the pandemic) but we strive to provide plenty of variety. Nothing is EVER imported.
Not in Miami-Dade or the upper Keys?
One of our own Redland Organics member farms offers a CSA in Southwest Florida! Check out Worden Farm, based in Punta Gorda. The Wordens have partnered with us for over 20 years, since they got their start here in the Redland area. They grow and supply a lot of the food in your shares, and are USDA certified organic.
There are other local CSA farms in Miami-Dade: examples are Little River Cooperative (organic practices, but not certified), and Nana’s Greenes CSA (not organic). There are also buying clubs, some calling themselves CSAs, but these are simply purchasing groups buying their produce from distributors. They are not farmers, and ‘local’ produce they provide may come from larger farms via out-of-town distributors.
For other CSA locations, check out Local Harvest (localharvest.org). They have an excellent locator resource – simply enter your zip code to find farms, CSAs, markets, restaurants and more near you.
TIPS FOR PARTICIPATING
The most common reason given for quitting a CSA is that you cannot use all the vegetables. Be realistic about your family’s lifestyle: if you eat out often or use a lot of prepared food, this may not work for you. If you live by yourself and you think a share may be too much produce for your needs, consider juicing, opt for a smaller share, or split your share with a friend. You can take turns picking up or each take half the items-get creative!
Our customers vary from students to singles to families to retirees. Some are vegetarians, some are vegans, some juice, some follow a raw, live foods lifestyle, but most are simply interested in fresh, locally-grown, non-GMO, organic or pesticide-free, flavorful food. For many, this is a new way of cooking and eating. They find that they make more foods (such as pesto) “from scratch”. They also are willing to try new foods and ways of preparing them.
If you’re not used to eating a lot of fresh produce, you will change some things about how you prepare and cook food. To help you make the transition to cooking and eating this way, we suggest getting a good vegetable cookbook. Some of the best are designed for plant-based diets, but even if you eat meat, you’ll find great recipe. You’ll often the more uncommon vegetables in our shares that you might not have encountered at the grocery store). We offer a selection of cookbooks on our webstore showcasing local, Florida foods, along with the farmers, artisans, chefs, and their recipes. You can also check out your local bookstore, library, or the internet for recipes. And keep an eye out for the recipes in our weekly newsletter .
The easiest way to clean your veggies is to soak them briefly in a sink full of cold water, swish them around gently a few times, let rest for a minute (any sand and dirt will sink to the bottom) then drain well in a colander. This is especially useful when the veggies are sandy, or stowaway critters have hitched a ride.
To keep your greens at their freshest, DON’T wash them until you’re ready to use them. This is why you’ll often find a bit of our farms along for the ride. Always store your greens in a plastic bag inside your refrigerator’s vegetable drawer, never loose on a shelf.
Juicing is popular nowadays. This is a great way to process an abundance of leafy greens, including lettuces, for a quick, nutritious boost. Nowadays there are several brands of powerful blenders that turn whole fruits and vegetables into smoothies, preserving all of the pulp along with the juice. Or you can opt for a juicer, that separates the pulp and fiber from the juice. You can save the pulp to put into soups, thicken stews, or use in baking for added nutrition. My personal favorites are macerating juicers, which do an excellent job and are very easy to clean.
You’ll probably have more vegetable waste than you’ve had in the past. If you have a yard (even if you only grow plants on a balcony), the best way to use these scraps is to recycle them by making compost to use on your plants. You don’t need anything fancy– a small corner in your garden will do. Just be sure that when you put your scraps out, you cover them lightly with a top dressing of soil, and don’t forget to add the trimmings every time you cut grass or trim your plants. If you pick up your shares at the farm, and don’t want to or can’t keep a compost pile, bring us your veggie trimmings to add to our compost pile, helping us close the cycle of sustainability. You can accumulate your scraps in a zip bag or container in your freezer until you have enough to bring. Another option is vermicomposting- using worms to compost your trimmings. A properly-maintained vermicompost bin can be kept underneath your sink and will have no odor. The resulting worm castings make a great soil conditioner.