Turtle Bend Farm is a sustainable vegetable farm in Polk County, Georgia. Adam and Mecca Lowe are growing vegetables on approximately 7 acres of family farmland using ecological methods without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides or herbicides. Our goal is to produce clean, healthy, fresh vegetables for our local communities while protecting and enhancing our local natural and social resources.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Turtle Bend's Vegetable Subscription Now Open!


We are now accepting applications for our 2010 Spring Vegetable Subscription! This is the same thing as a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The idea is that local farmers need the direct, deliberate support of their surrounding community in order to be successful, and likewise, community members need the direct exchange with local farmers in order to fully meet their food-related needs.

The CSA, or vegetable subscription, begins during the week of May 1st and runs for 10 weeks until the first week in July.

What quantities of vegetables are included in the subscription?
Each subscription includes a weekly bag of our seasonal vegetables for ten consecutive weeks. Each week, members will receive 5-8 different varieties of seasonal vegetables. Portions will be standard sizes such as one bunch of carrots or ¼ pound of salad greens. Each week’s vegetables should be enough to provide a typical family with vegetable side dishes or main dishes for several meals per week.

What types of vegetables can we expect in the spring subscription?
Spring vegetables are often forgotten in the Southern garden, but we have a wonderful opportunity in our climate to grow both cool weather and warm weather foods. You can expect to receive some of the following foods each week: Arugula (spicy salad green), Beets, Bok Choi (asian green, good in stir-fry), Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Celeriac (related to celery, great for soups), Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Upland Cress (AKA Creasy Greens- spicy green, native plant also grows in wild), Fennel (bulb), Garlic, Kale, Kohlrabi (related to broccoli, good raw or cooked), cut Lettuce, head Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Onions (red, white and yellow), Peas (English, sugar snap, snow), Parsnips, Radishes, Shallots, Spinach and Turnips. We will provide recipes for unfamiliar and familiar foods.
We try to give you the most variety possible so you won’t have all of one type of food. Each week will be slightly different according to what is maturing in the field.
For example, the first week’s bag may include the following:
¼- ½ lb spinach ½ -1 lb sugar snap peas
1 bunch carrots 1 bunch radishes
1 bunch collards 1 bunch turnips
¼ lb Arugula

What is the cost?
Our subscription costs $20 per week for ten weeks. We prefer that members pay the total amount of $200 prior to May 1st if possible. We have several payment options listed on the application. If these options do not suit you but you are enthusiastic about joining our subscription, please contact us directly to discuss other payment options.

How do I receive the weekly vegetables?
We are opening the spring subscription to 40 memberships this season. Our goal is to serve the communities of Rockmart, Rome, Dallas, Marietta, Kennesaw and some points in between. We offer four options for receiving your vegetables:
1. Pick up your subscriptions at the Marietta Square Farmers’ Market. This is the preferred option for members in the Marietta and Kennesaw areas. We will be at our booth at the Marietta Square Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings between 7am and 12:00pm. This is also a good way to see what other vegetables are available from our farm.
2. Form a drop-site. We are happy to deliver vegetables to groups of at least three or more subscribers. We have a couple of groups of friends or neighbors that have formed collective drop sites and we greatly appreciate it. We have high demand for our subscription and will give preference to subscribers that participate in a collective drop site. All deliveries will be made on Wednesdays.
3. Arrange a home delivery. We may be able to deliver vegetables to your home if it is not too far out of our way. We ask that you add a $20 to your total payment to help us offset our additional costs of delivery. If you are able to find several friends or neighbors interested in the subscription, you can avoid the additional charge by pooling your deliveries.
4. Pick it up from our house in Rockmart. You can pick up your vegetables directly from our house. Rockmart customers must choose this option in most cases.

If you are interested in joining our vegetable subscription, send us an email at turtlebendfarm@gmail.com and we will send you our application. Just return it with your payment and we will include you in our subscription! We expect a high interest in our subscription, so don't wait until the last minute!

5 comments:

  1. Hi! I am in Cedartown and think that it's wonderful what you're doing for our community. I was hoping to find out if you sale any of your items anywhere here in town, outside of your CSA package? We have a few family favorites that I would love to buy locally rather than a grocer if possible. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

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  2. I am interested in joining... do you have any drop points near downtown Dallas?

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  3. Tamara, we do not (yet) have a dallas drop- we do mostly home deliveries in dallas- email us with your address and we can see if you're close to our route and make it work- We appreciate our Dallas customers! turtlebendfarm@gmail.com

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  4. Hi! I just learned about your farm! I was wondering if you offered half subscriptions. I have a family of 3, and my only hangup with a CSA is that I don't know that we can eat it all.

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  5. hi Tiffany, we can accommodate half share, however we prefer that you try to find a friend or neighbor that would be willing to split a share- this helps us because we can better manage our CSA this way, and it might help you because you and your friend can alternate picking up the CSA- let me know what you think via email: turtlebendfarm@gmail.com

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