Food & Drink

A procrastinator’s guide to remaining seasonal CSA share programs

Strawberries from Partners Trace Farm's fruit share. (Via Facebook)
Strawberries from Partners Trace Farm’s fruit share. (Via Facebook)

It’s hard to get good nutrition in when your bank account chains you to a ramen-and-easy-mac existence. But there’s a simple way to bring fresh fruits and veggies into your diet without diving into the worm-eaten produce selection at the bottom of the C-Town barrel. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs provide weekly packages filled with fresh-picked organic goodies, and if you share them with a friend or two, they’re even cheaper (and the food doesn’t go rotten as quickly!) A lot of CSA deadlines have passed for the season, but there are still a whole bunch ready for registration. We’ve rounded up some info on how to join, deadlines, volunteer requirements and other nitty-gritty details; take a look, and start signing up!

GARDEN OF EVE
Price: Weekly veggie share runs $24.80/week for 24 weeks; a combo of veggies, fruits, flowers and eggs runs $43.75/week, also for 24 weeks.
How long you’ve got to join:
Brooklyn Heights, Kensington Gardens and Windsor Terrace pick-up sites are currently waitlist-only, but Bushwick and Carroll Gardens still have spots available. Bushwick’s first pick-up is June 5th, and Carroll Gardens’ is June 8th. 
Where you pick up from:
In Bushwick, you can pick up your package from 2pm to 8pm on Wednesdays at 2 Porter Ave at the corner of Flushing and Porter, at shop #107 in the Loom. In Carroll Gardens, you can pick up on Saturdays between 10am and noon at the Transit Garden Community Garden on corner of Smith Street and 2nd Place. 
Volunteer time?
You’re required to work 1-2 volunteer shifts, though if you’re sharing with a big group, only one of you needs to take the shift. 

COBBLE HILL CSA
Price:
Weekly veggie share runs $17.50 per week for 28 weeks, but you can also opt for add-ons like flower shares and fruit, which all run about an extra $10 per week.
How long you’ve got to join: The season kicks off June 4th, but they’ve still got spots available, so sign up ASAP.
Where you pick up from: Distribution runs Tuesdays from 4pm to 8pm at Kane Street Synagogue, 236 Kane Street between Court and Clinton Streets in Cobble Hill.
Volunteer time? One member of the “household” receiving the share is required to work one 2.5 hour work shift at the distribution site.

CROWN HEIGHTS FARM SHARE
Price: A full veggie share runs $633 for 23 weeks, but you can also opt for a partial share, 23 weeks for $423. There’s also a fruit share that runs $195 for 18 weeks, and a cheese share at the same price.
How long you’ve got to join: The season starts on June 11th, but CHFS will close registration on May 31st, so sign up now.
Where you pick up from: Distribution is on Tuesdays from 5pm to 8pm, at  Georgia’s Place, 691 Prospect Place at Bedford Ave in Crown Heights.
Volunteer time? You must work two 2-hour shifts per season at the distribution center.

PARTNERS TRACE FARM 
Price: A full share runs $27.50 per box for 20 shares, and a half runs $15 per box, also for 20 distributions. For an extra $10 per share, you can also opt for a fuller Farmers Market Share.
How long you’ve got to join: The first distribution is on June 3rd, but the Partners Trace share is filling up quickly, and only one location still has spots. So sign up ASAP!
Where you pick up from: Distribution is from 5pm to 8 pm on Mondays at t.b.d. Bar, 224 Franklin St in Greenpoint. They’ve also got waitlisted spots at Huckleberry Bar, 588 Grand Street in Williamsburg.
Volunteer time? No required volunteer hours, but to lower the cost of the share, they do accept some trades and barter items, like tattooing, veggies they don’t grow, carpentry and computer work.

PAISLEY FARM CSA
Price: 
A vegetable share is $550 for 22 weeks. A fruit share is $290 for 17 weeks, and an egg share is $115 for 22 weeks, or  $55 for a half share.
How long you’ve got to join: No deadline, but the summer share season kicks off on June 5th.
Where you pick up from: Paisley Farms has three pick up spots in Brooklyn: At d.b.a., 113 N. 7th Street between Berry and Wythe in Williamsburg; at the Metropolitan Exchange Building, 33 Flatbush Avenue in Fort Greene; and at Tutu’s Restaurant/Bar, 25 Bogart Street in Bushwick. Pick up hours at all three spots run from 5pm to 7pm on Wednesdays.
Volunteer time? One member of each “household” must sign up for a shift at the pick-up site during the season; no actual farm work required, but they’re happy to have you come help out there, too.

PARK SLOPE CSA
Price: 
A full share of veggies is $500 for 22 weeks, and a full share of fruits is $190 for 20 weeks. You can also opt for an every-other-week share, with veggies running $250 for 11 weeks, and fruits running $95 for 10 weeks. And if you’re on food stamps, you can use $11 a week for veggies and $6 a week for fruit.
How long you’ve got to join: No deadline, but Thursday pick-ups are already filled up, and the shares start getting distributed on June 11. You’ll also have to pay a $25 member fee and a $15 late fee for registration.
Where you pick up from: Pick-ups are every Tuesday from 3 pm to 6:30pm at the Garden of Union, Union Street between 4th and 5th Avenues in Park Slope.
Volunteer time? Park Slope CSA has a hefty volunteer requirement, with full share members warranting 5 hours (two 2.5 hour shifts) at the distribution center per season. Every-other-week members get 2.5 hours of volunteer time, as in one shift at the center.

NEXT DOOR ORGANICS
Price: 
Shares run $25-$50 per package, with a pretty wide variety of options including fruits, veggies and prepared foods.
How long you’ve got to join: Next Door Organics is year-round, so you can jump on the wagon whenever.
Where you pick up from: They’ve got a million locations in Brooklyn every day of the week. Bed-Stuy pickups are on Mondays from 4pm to 7:30pm at Restoration Plaza, and from 10am to 2 pm at the Neighborhood Next Door Organics hub. Bushwick pickups are also on Mondays, from 5pm-6:30pm at Roberta’s, and from 6 to 7:30pm at Egg in Williamsburg. Gowanus has two pickup locations on Wednesdays: 5pm-6:30pm at 4&20 Blackbirds, and 7pm-8pm at Triomph Fitness. Ditmas Park does distribution at Sycamore on Wednesdays from 6pm-7:30pm, Clinton Hill’s pick-up time is at Urban Vintage on Thursdays from 5pm-6:30pm, Downtown Brooklyn’s is also on Thursdays, at Palmer’s from 6pm-7:30pm, and Boerum Hill’s runs Thursdays from 7pm-8:30pm at Building on Bond. They also do deliveries; check the website for details.
Volunteer time? No volunteer time required, but if you choose to help out, you’ll earn a $30 credit towards that day’s pickup.

BAY RIDGE CSA
Price: A full vegetable share runs $530 for 22 weeks, and an every-other-week share runs $285.
How long you’ve got to join: The deadline to sign up is May 31, and distribution kicks off June 8th for veggies. 2013 fruit shares are all sold out.
Where you pick up from: Pick-ups are on Saturdays from 8:30am to 10:30 a.m. at the Fourth Ave Presbyterian Church, Fourth Ave between 68th and Senator Streets in Bay Ridge.

4 Comments

  1. Kaitlin

    Question – this will be my first CSA and some of these don’t explain how you pay (even on their websites) – is it typically one big chunk of dough up front?

    • Rebecca Fishbein

      Depends on the program – some make you pay up front, some allow you to pay in installations and some require you to make payment when you pick up the package. There are also different membership fees and extras with various packages and payment programs.

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