2013 was a great year for the Central Michigan CSA. We increased our membership to meet our yearly goal and are over 1/3 of the way to our Farm goal of feeding 200 families here in the Central Michigan Area. Midland members were the largest drop off in 2013, with Mt.Pleasant a close second. For what ever reason our Clare membership really took off in 2013 as well. I guess it takes time to get the word out. Living here in Clare and having the Farm Market I guess I focused on the other pick up locations in years past.
Our Market share that is offered for people who live close enough to shop at the farm market did really well this year as well. The crops did OK. It certainly wasn’t the best growing year with the WET spring and cool nights until Mid July. On the other hand there was a terrific fruit crop across the board here in Michigan so that was cool.
2014 CSA Membership: What’s New?
We’ve installed the 30X100 high tunnel already and are getting it ready for an early mixed crop. This will help out when we have another cold wet spring. Starting the pick ups last year in Mid June was a really difficult situation as things weren’t producing anywhere near what the would with normal temps. The Challenge as the CSA farmer is to gain trust, early on, with the new members who had long since sent their checks and are awaiting their veggies. I just like a better start, with more stuff. The new high tunnel will help to assure that in years to come. I also have a 30×50 hoop house that I need to find a spot for, I’m thinking I’ll put tomatoes in that one along with more lettuce.
If there is any one item that really needs improvement, it lettuce and greens. I’ve purchased some growing troughs that are 2′ wide by 12′ long (I have 6 right now). I will use these for lettuce and spinach in the high tunnel. The only way to get nice tender lettuce and other greens is to protect them from the wind and hot direct sunlight. The high tunnel will do a great job of that.
Another addition this year will be voluntary work days and more farm days. We had a lot of fun at the one we did this year and will be doing more. We’ll take advantage of the warm months and maybe get together and go tubing down the river. We did that a lot when I was a kid. The Tobacco river runs 1/2 mile along our north property line.
2014 Egg Share
We will also be offering an egg share and I’m opening that right away. I’m working with an Amish neighbor who has 15 years 
experience in raising layers. He actually moved here this summer and bought my late uncles farm. He would like to raise 500 layers and I’ll have around 100 ready by early spring. I will let all the current CSA members know and offer it to you guys first. We are going to work with a conservative 120 dozen a week and base available shares on that. I think the shares will be 1/2 share is one dozen a week, full share is 2 dozen a week. Again I’ll keep you all posted.
Another new addition to the CSA Farm will be a dedicated vehicle, just for drop offs. Right now I’m thinking that will be a van built out with shelves to hold baskets securely and also have lots of room for additional items. The banners and tables and such can stay right in the Van and it will be more recognizable once I plaster a big Central Michigan CSA banner on it.
CSA Shares ~ Changes and Additions
I’ve gotten some great feedback this year through the members and I’ll say right up front these changes are directly from that feedback. I stink at guessing and when members offer feedback, the membership increases in value. I greatly appreciate all those who offered feedback.
When you purchase a full share you should expect your share to have more value than a 1/2 share. To make this easier for us and more apparent for the members we are going to continue to use 1/2 bushel baskets for the 1/2 shares and the full shares will simply get 2 1/2 bushel baskets. I considered doing bushel baskets for full share members, but was reminded of the weight and difficulty getting it to the car. So a full share will receive 2 Half Bushel Baskets in 2014.
Communication was another major concern for several of our CSA members, mainly because of the few times we changed the pickup day. I should note, we are making it the number one priority to keep the pick up schedule the same for the entire year. It makes if very difficult for us and it was annoying for you guys as well. We still need a good way to communicate. Not everyone is on Facebook, not everyone texts, and not everyone uses email, so I’m still working on a good way to communicate with everyone. The obvious best way is to do it at the CSA pick ups. This would work great for getting the word out about farm days or canning tomatoes being ready, and stuff like that. Eliminating the need to communicate about a pick up could best be done, by doing a rain or shine policy on the pick up day. I’m still working on the communication thing.
1/4 Share or Single Person Share
I had 6 or so people who live alone and wanted veggies. The 1/2 share was way to much for them so I did a 1/4 share. It worked out well so I’ll offer it as part of the CSA membership this year.
Another item worth mentioning is setting the CSA up on a software called CSAware. Which is like a store front designed to implement an organized CSA program. The Shares would be spelled out ahead of time, you’d know what’s in the share for the week. There would also be a way to order additional items you might be interested in. I’ll let everyone know if we go ahead with that. Many of the successful CSA programs with over 100 members use it, I’ve spoken with them and they really like.
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