You've heard of timeshares, where a customer purchases his "share" of a vacation home. Well, I'm coining the phrase "FarmShare". Come on, you can say it. Farm-Share.
What is FarmSharing
FarmSharing is my word for the Community Supported Agriculture trend that is beginning to sweep the nation. In this kind of program, consumers purchase a yearly membership to a local farm. The money that the memberships bring in help the farmer with the costs of farming and producing crops. In return, each "harvest day", usually once a week during harvesting season, each member comes in and picks up a pre-determined amount of whatever produce is being picked at that time. Since there is always more than one type of fruit or vegetable growing at one time on every FarmShare farm, consumers usually bring home a nice haul.
What Can You Get?
Customers of the local Sweetwater Organic Community Farm in Tampa rave about the amount and variety of the vegetables they receive at each harvest. Sweetwater's website states, "We aim to have 10-15 different items in each share including salad greens, cooking greens, root crops, herbs, vegetables and occasionally fruit. Typically, a share will fill 2-4 grocery bags full." Some farms, like Sweetwater, even have special events and entertainment throughout the year. Volunteers at the Sweetwater farm help out with harvesting, planting and general farm maintenance and in exchange they are taught about organic farming - plus the added benefits of being outside in the fresh air working with the land.
Some CSA's in the area (sorry, I mean FarmShare's) include:
Rabbits, Etc. in Masaryktown, FL
Urban Oasis Hydroponic Farm in Tampa, FL
Sweetwater Organic Community Farm in Tampa, FL
Gateway Organic Farm in Clearwater, FL
Outpost Ranch inBrooksville, FL
Rebeccas Veggie Patch in St Petersburg, FL
Steed Farms in Plant City, FL
Aquaorganics in Polk City, FL
Merry Heart Farm in Astatula, FL
More details about these farms can be found at the Local Harvest website. Use their search function to find one near your zip code.
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