Creating A Market

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Computer-generated farm letters are fine, especially if your handwriting is messy. But don't feel compelled to do anything fancy; some people prefer a low-tech letter that lets them get to know you through your script. If possible, rotate authorship of the letter around your crew and occasionally ask a member to write it from his or her perspective. Members always appreciate a recipe or two photocopied onto the other side of the farm letter, giving them ideas for using some of the vegetables in that week's share (be sure to credit any cookbooks that serve as sources).

Distribution Site and Managers

If you're delivering shares off-farm, you'll need a reliable site. Members in the delivery community should be able to help find a site and sometimes will offer a garage, porch, or yard. If that is not feasible, churches and community centers are often receptive to housing a weekly distribution. Look for a good-sized room, garage, courtyard, or other area that is accessible to a truck, can get a little muddy, and can be used for about five hours each week. Indoor or covered space u nice but not necessary, as vegetables don't mind getting wet.

If your distribution is on-farm, you may ,wish to designate an area of the barn or of another outbuilding that is safe for children and won't create a nuisance for you.

Some growers deliver their produce in already bagged or boxed shares. Prepackaging is a lot of work for you, :cough, and so unless you've got a particular reason for doing it, setting produce out in bulk may be easier. Also, many members like digging their hands into the crates--it echoes in a small way your experience of the harvest. The bulk distribution (ask members to bring their own bags) also allows members some :election and it tends to lead to a good deal of socializing at the site, a priority for some groups. A bulk distribution usually involves a chalkboard with a list written out every week, telling members how much of each vegetable to take. With a bulk distribution, you will almost certainly need a site manager.

Most likely, whether the distribution is on your land or not, you'll have time to drop off the goods, but won't be able to stick around for three or four hours to make sure every family gets its share. A site manager is a non-farmer who fills this role. Further, many CSA groups require that members put in a few hours every year in helping at the site.

Sam and Elizabeth Smith of Caretaker Farm in Williamstown, Massachusetts, ask their 185 members to volunteer for a few hours over the course of each season at their barn-based distribution. "The distribution is pretty straightforward, but there's always something new each week and it's good to have a person overseeing things," explains Sam.

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