Do you ever get an idea in your head that wont go away. A thought that consumes you regardless of where you are or what you are doing? Let me tell you about my current thought. I’ve been thinking about the likelihood of being able to grow enough food in part of our back yard for a 4 (or so) member CSA. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. It’s a farming model in which a person will buy “shares” of the farm for a season. In early spring people would pay the farmer their membership money, then every week throughout the growing season the person would pick up their “share” of veggies. CSAs are great ways for people to connect with their food, and it helps the farmer financially during the beginning of the season. Every CSA is a bit different because every farm across the country is different, but it’s common to see a 20 week CSA charge $500. Studies have been done to research the cost breakdown of the CSA model vs. grocery and natural food stores and the CSA always proves to be a cheaper option. The downside is that you have to be able to put the money up in the beginning of the season, and if devastating hail comes through and wipes out the farmers crops, then that affects the food the people will get that week.
I’ve had a few conversations with some friends about me growing veggies for them, but it didn’t really click until Friday. I was talking with my friend Chris and when he asked about buying any extra veggies I had in my garden my mind went right to a backyard CSA. We have about a 20′ x 100′ strip of land behind our fence that is technically part of our property. Our landlord is happy for us to take the fence down and use the land, but she isn’t really interested in having more grass. She’s said that if we wanted to convert the reclaimed land into a garden, she would be on board with that. For the last two days I’ve been thinking of taking the fence down, turning compost into the soil, and sewing a cover crop/green manure into the ground to start preparing the soil for working it next year. I’ve been wondering if I could grow enough in that space for 2 or 4 shares (a full share is generally meant for 4 people), which might mean growing for 8-12 people. I’ve been thinking about how to irrigate back there. I’ve been thinking about how I would charge people. And the most consuming thoughts have to do with whether or not this is a ridiculous idea.
What do you think? Is this a ridiculous idea? If you had a friend willing to grow veggies for you in his backyard would you trust him enough to pay him to do it? I need your thoughts.
Where there are gardens and bicycles... 
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July 19, 2009 at 4:13 pm
cecily
this is totally NOT a ridiculous idea, friend. many folks are doing such things here in pdx, including one of my colleagues. go for it! if kell and i were closer, we’d totally buy a share.
July 20, 2009 at 6:36 am
scochenour
Cecily- good to hear from you. I’ve been reading about people offering their yards to urban farmers for a share in the food each week. I really like that idea of using a persons own space to grow food for them. Their sensory experience is heightened because they are able to see the plants grow throughout the season and understand the seasonality of food. I’ll save a share for you guys when you move out this way.
July 19, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Maria
Sounds like a great idea. I think there’s lots of room for creative alternatives like mini-CSA’s. My gardening skills (and interest in planning ahead) are too far down the learning curve to actually think about growing for anyone beyond our family — at least if it involved charging money. But it might make sense to coordinate with some neighbors so that everyone isn’t trying to offload zucchini at the same time. Let us know how it goes…
July 20, 2009 at 6:41 am
scochenour
Hi Maria- how’s your summer been? I think that one of the reasons that I think that I should do something like this is because I feel like I will always be able to find ways to tell me that I should wait until I have more knowledge about it. Yet when I talk with people who have been farming/gardening for years they never seem to speak with certainty. I don’t mean that in a critical way, of course, but I continue to get the impression that this way of life in an ongoing type of learning. I’m not as worried as whether I can grow the food, but I am worried about the exchange of money for it. I’m not sure if that’s because I’ve only been thinking about this for a few days or it’s because I know that I’ve never done something like this before.
Either way, I’ll keep you updated.
peace to your family.
July 22, 2009 at 9:32 am
Shannon
I think it is a great idea, and if I lived a bit closer I’d be a customer. My garden got absolutely shredded by a two-minute, extremely heavy hailstorm yesterday, and I was really sad because my tomatoes were doing great this year and were almost ready to harvest!
By a stroke of providence I had been re-reading some Laura Ingalls Wilder that very day and was able to put it into perspective. Seems like nine out of ten years, something destroyed the crops and the family was in debt for another year. That’s being a farmer. The loss of my two dear tomato plants stings, but it wasn’t my livelihood. I still worry about where I am going to find some good summer tomatoes, though, seeing as the farmer’s market here is such a scam.
A CSA, however small, guarantees for the customer the origin of their food, which is becoming more and more difficult to ensure. I think you could make a go of it.
July 25, 2009 at 9:06 am
scochenour
Shannon- I’m so sorry to hear about your tomatoes. Livelihood or not, that stinks. Don’t give up on the farmers market. Go in with a bunch of questions to ask before you by. Make them sweat. You’ll find out pretty quickly if they’re carting in produce from Mexico. You should go check out the farm stand at Malara Gardens on 72nd and Kipling. They bring in produce from all over Colorado. They do have produce from Mexico sometimes, but they’re up front about it. I shopped there quite a bit when we were down in that area.