Athens Hills CSA provides fresh vegetables and other produce to Athens, Marietta, and Columbus areas on a weekly basis.
Although colder temperatures are approaching, Green Edge Gardens is gearing up for its upcoming planting season and its winter Community Supported Agriculture program.
The Athens Hills CSA offers shares of fresh vegetables weekly throughout the winter, grown locally at Green Edge Gardens in Amesville.
A share of vegetables consists of a bag of vegetables and mushrooms, with the option of additional add-on items from other local producers like Snowville Creamery and Village Bakery, according to the group’s pamphlet.
A full share of vegetables is $525 for 18 weeks and is delivered weekly from Dec. 2 to April 13, according to the group’s pamphlet.
A half share can be delivered every other week for $284.
The CSA also offers a 20-week summer program.
There is no guarantee of the amount of vegetables a share will include, and depends on a variety of weather and growing conditions, Claudia Bashaw, the CSA coordinator, said.
“Essentially our brochure says, ‘Here’s what we’re hoping this season will look like,’ and we even have a calendar of the months of the season and then the listed veggies that we are growing and an estimate of when they might see those in their bag of veggies,” Bashaw said. “Very plainly it says, 'This is what we’re hoping for, it’s not a guarantee.’ ”
The CSA program also has pickup sites in the Belpre and Marietta area and Columbus area.
Green Edge Gardens is aiming to sell about 130 full share equivalents this winter season, Bashaw said.
“Winter tends to be our more popular season because there’s less options for fresh local produce,” Bashaw said. “We are probably going to meet that limit very quickly. It’s exciting, but it’s also hard to turn people away and we’ll have a waiting list. Usually we get pretty close to 200 households, and that’s between the three different regions.”
Becky and Kip Rondy opened Green Edge Gardens in 2004. The CSA program was started in the winter of 2007-2008, after Kneier brought up the idea, Rondy said.
“Dan had been traveling around the United States and he thought that it was a good source of income,” Becky said. “I was really skeptical. I just didn’t believe it would work.”
The first season consisted of 25 weekly shares, Becky said. She said the first season went well, but that it’s better to be cautious about the number of shares promised because people pay up front.
Bashaw said one of the benefits of the program is that it allows their partners to get exposure in new areas and increased businesses.
“Village Bakery bread, they’re very, very local, (and it's) also an opportunity to get their name out there and people do come down from Columbus and say, ‘Where is Village Bakery? I love their bread,’ ” Bashaw said.
Snowville Creamery has been a partner of the Athens CSA for about as long as they’ve been in business, about 8 years, Victoria Taylor, co-owner of Snowville, said.
“We have compatible philosophy and methods when it comes to approaching our business and sustainability model,” Taylor said. “We want to make sure we’re taking good care of our customers, our workers, and our farmers.”
For Athens resident Susan Gallagher, a member of the CSA for four years, the service has its benefits, including the freshness that local produce brings.
“I have had the chance to experience some new foods I never had before and explore some new ways to prepare them,” Gallagher said. “By supporting Green Edge Gardens and getting a community supported bag of food, you’re getting the freshest lettuce you could possibly get.”
Bashaw said the group plays into the Athens local food movement.
“When you’re in Athens, we are in this wonderful food mecca in southeastern Ohio and for me, it’s a very easy sell,” Bashaw said.
