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You are invited to help buy seeds this spring and eat organic food all summer by getting involved with a CSA project. Community Supported Agriculture is a way of growing and buying food that allows both the farmer and CSA participants to be involved in the production of food. This means that you know where your food comes from and how it is grown. The participants pay in advance allowing the farmer to purchase seeds and other necessary items at the beginning of the growing season. Each participant then gets a share of the farm's produce during that growing season. WHY JOIN A CSA? 1. To support local and sustainable farming. 2. To pay a fair price for your food and know that you money goes directly to the farmer to cover the costs of growing food. 3. Buying food from a farm close to where you live reduces the hidden economic and ecological costs of food production such as long distance transportation, storage, and marketing. 4. You pay 10-20% less than the farmer's market price and as much as 50% less than the grocery store price for food of the same quality . WHY BUY LOCAL ORGANIC FOOD? Healthy food comes from healthy soil. Organic farm practices include soil management through crop rotation, growing a diversity of crops, preventing erosion, adding organic matter to the soil, and protecting fragile areas. Pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers are not used. This is healthier for you, farm workers, and rural communities and ecosystems. Organic farming is labour intensive, which often means organically grown food can be more expensive than supermarket fare. However, the price you pay accurately reflects the real costs associated with growing healthy food. HOW THE CSA WORKS You buy a membership in advance of the CSA growing season. Every week you complete an order that you select from a list of available produce. Orders must be received by 8 pm on Mondays. Orders will be filled and delivered weekly to the Halifax farmer's market on Saturday mornings. The dollar value of the items will be deducted from your CSA account. Members can choose not to place an order every week. However, it is up to each member to use up the money in their CSA account during the growing season. The 2000 CSA season lasts for 20 weeks, from June 10 to October 21. Individual memberships are $150. Sometimes during the season there is a surplus of vegetables that you may want to use for canning or freezing. (There were lots of extra tomatoes and beans available last season.) WHAT IS BEING PLANTED FOR THE CSA arugula beans beets & greens carrots kale kohlrabi lettuce potatoes pumpkins salad mix snap peas spinach summer squash tomatoes turnip winter squash basil cilantro dill mint parsley summer savoury WHERE THE FOOD GROWS The farm is on seven acres of land, with approximately one acre in cultivation. It is a short walk to two tidal rivers, the Avon and the Cogmagun. The growing season is affected by the rivers. This area has one of the longest and warmest growing seasons in Nova Scotia. It is classified as zone 6 while Halifax is in zone 5. The farmland is a fertile mix of loam, sand and clay. The region has been in cultivation for centuries. The Acadian history is evident in the dykes that exist throughout the landscape. For more information about this project please contact Ruth Lapp of Herb & Roots farm: 138 Red Bank Road, Centre Burlington, N.S. B0N 1E0 (902) 757-0326
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