Now taking signups for our 2023 program!
Being a member of our CSA is a special commitment to eating healthy, nutrient dense food for people who appreciate the difference between high quality, fresh picked, heirloom flavors and what you can find in the grocery store. Our CSA is a unique offering in the Lynchburg area and by becoming a member of our program:
Our CSA is a unique offering in the Lynchburg area and by becoming a member of our program:
- You are supporting a family farm that cares about quality.
- You know that the produce you receive is always grown by our farm in a sustainable manner (no nasty chemicals on your food), no exceptions!
- You can source a large portion of your diet locally with add-on options for bread, chicken, and eggs.
- You may order additional items a la carte including vegetables, flowers, herbs, bread, live plants, and eggs. CSA members receive 10% off products produced on the farm when ordering online or at the Farmers Market, but you can order items from other producers including stone-milled grains, garden seeds, and organic cheese from our website, or order meat products from Restoration Acres and pick them up when you get your CSA share.
- You receive special recipes, tips, and print materials throughout the season to help you learn to use all the veggies!
Before joining, we ask that all members read the CSA details below.
What is a CSA?
Beginning in the 1990s, Community Supported Agriculture is a movement catalyzed by the alienation and lack of transparency in the industrial food system. Feeling a need to connect more deeply with local food production, members “join” a CSA program run by their local farm on a yearly basis. Members then receive a weekly box of delicious fresh produce straight from the farm!
Farming can be a tough, unpredictable job, and as a CSA member you bring us some stability. Up-front payment helps the farm cover early season costs like seed, tools, and pots. Having a dedicated customer base makes planning much easier on the farm and ensures that the farmer has an outlet for occasional bumper crops that may be hard to sell at market.
CSA has exploded across the country in recent years, and the reason for this is simple. Members love their CSA experience. By joining, you are committing to feeding your family the freshest food possible, every week! Members feel a sense of ownership over the growing process and get to know the farmers by picking up directly from them every week.
A core idea of CSA is that consumers are sharing in the inherent risks that come with natural farming. This means in the event of extreme crop loss, you could receive less than the value of the share. However, we have 8 years of CSA experience and are confident members will receive a diverse selection of quality produce every week. Our members have always received more than what they paid for, and most join again the following year because they loved it so much!
What makes the Great Day Gardens CSA unique?
The vegetable share is the core of our CSA, and, with a few exceptions, includes only produce grown by us on our farm. The crops we choose to supplement come from small local farms with similar, natural growing practices. Whereas some programs may offer lots of choice and conveniences, we keep things simple by offering a “farmers choice” share for 25 weeks from May to October. Members must pick up every week, and are typically adventurous eaters who enjoy trying new things. Many also like the fact that they can grab their share and dash, without having to make their own decisions about what to eat for the week.
Payment is either all up front or in monthly installments. With add-on options, we are also unique in that you can supply your family with a large portion of your diet through our CSA program. Our wood-fired sourdough breads are baked right on the farm using local ingredients, the eggs are laid in our backyard and we offer a weekly chicken from a farm who goes above and beyond to regenerate their land.
2022 Program Details
The 2022 CSA program runs for 25 weeks from May 3– October 25, with 1 week vacation in the middle (Aug. 2). Pickup is either at Rookie’s ice cream in Forest (Wednesdays 3-6PM), Blickenstaff & Company Realtors on Boonsboro Rd (Wednesdays 4:30-5:30PM), Scratch Pasta Co on Bedford Ave (Wednesdays 4-5 pm), or the Lynchburg Community Market (THURSDAYS 7AM-12PM).
When and where do I pick up?
Pickup is on Wednesday afternoons or Thursday mornings at one of four locations:
Rookie’s ice cream, located at 16129 Forest Rd in Forest. We are under the white tent in the parking lot on Wednesdays from 3 to 6 PM.
Local food drive-thru at the Blickenstaff & Company Realtors building in the Boonsboro Shopping Center, 4923 Boonsboro Rd, Lynchburg, VA 24503, Wednesdays 4:30 to 5:30 PM, you don’t have to get out of your car!
Scratch Pasta in Lynchburg at 2400 Bedford Ave, Lynchburg, VA 24503 from 4 to 5 PM. Your shares will be inside!
Lynchburg Community Market downtown on Thursdays from 7AM to 12PM. Shares will be placed inside near the front door of the market.
If these times don’t fit your schedule, we will do our best to work with you! Please email us to see if we can work something out.
Is it every week?
Yes, by joining you are committing to picking up your CSA share every week except for our one week break on August 2nd. We send an email reminder every Tuesday and shares generally can be reclaimed if you forget to pick up but notify us immediately. Please understand that CSA share is harvested the morning of pickup and will spoil if not claimed, therefore, we ask you to give advance notice if you are unable to claim it that week. If you forget to cancel one week, it is a great opportunity to invite a friend to try eating local produce by picking up your share in your place!
What is in the share?
The base CSA is our vegetable share, which includes over 50 unique items over the course of the season. Most weekly shares will include one of each of the following:
- 1 herb bunch
- 1 cooking green (Chard, Kale, Cabbage, Collard Greens)
- 1 salad green (lettuce, spring mix, arugula)
- 1 storage crop (onion, garlic, winter squash)
- 1 root vegetable
- Variety of seasonal vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, beans, eggplants, etc.)
How do I pay?
Members receive electronic invoices that can be paid with ACH direct deposit (preferred), cash, check, or credit card. New for 2023 we are accepting SNAP/EBT for pickup at the Lynchburg Community Market only.
At signup you can choose either to pay in full or in 6 monthly installments starting in late April. All members must place a $25 deposit to reserve their spot in the program; this is counted towards your overall payment for the CSA share.
Do I get to choose what I get?
The CSA is 100% farmer’s choice. You get what you get, so be ready for some culinary improvisation!
What if I decide to end my CSA membership early?
No worries. If you have to end your membership early for any reason, we will refund you in full for the future shares you won’t be receiving.
Mutual Benefits and Shared Risk
In addition to a heavy bag of our produce every week, members gain cooking inspiration, updates on our garden, and a sense of community by participating in our CSA program. Members also receive a coupon code for 10% off online orders of Great Day products from May to December of the year you are a member. Members are even welcome to schedule their own tour at the farm any time during the season. The mutual benefit comes as we form a network of supply and demand for local agriculture and together share the risks that small-scale farming can entail. In a season of severe drought or storms the farm may not supply a full share every week, but as long as things go as planned, we will supply you above and beyond what you pay for!
CSA is not for everyone
Some people join the CSA with good intentions, only to find out that they are too busy to cook the vegetables they receive every week, or they are uncomfortable with the changes and unpredictability of what comes in the bag. The earliest we are able to notify members of what will be in the bag that day is the morning of pick-up, when we send an email reminder.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions if you are thinking about signing up but aren’t sure if it will suit your lifestyle and personality. The CSA program does require you to commit to eating locally, which sometimes means you lose conveniences that the grocery store offers. The CSA is for those who enjoy the surprise factor of learning to use new foods, and not having to make decisions about what to buy.
If you sign up and later find out the CSA does not fit your needs, we will give you a full refund for shares not yet delivered.
Vegetable Share
Designed to provide a good variety of produce to a family of 4-5, though 2 vegetable enthusiasts could eat it up on their own. Includes 6-12 seasonal vegetables (on average $28 retail value per week). You can expect to receive lots of greens in the spring and fall, and lots of tomatoes, peppers, and squash in the summer. Salad greens will be very consistent the entire season. Most shares include: an herb bunch, a salad green, a cooking green, a storage crop (i.e. onions, potatoes, winter squash), a root vegetable (i.e. radishes, carrots, beets, turnips), and variety of summer fruits (i.e. tomatoes, squash, beans, peas, okra, eggplant). We often will have a choice between two items (ex: parsley OR cilantro, kale OR Swiss chard), though this is on a first-come-first-serve basis and we cannot guarantee your first pick. Though you will not ever receive the exact same bag of vegetables in two consecutive weeks, we try to have some consistency so that members know what to expect and aren’t stuck with just unusual items they don’t know how to cook.
Full cost: $700.00
Bread Share
Members receive one bread item per week, baker’s choice. The bread is made using a sourdough culture and ingredients are organic, local, or home-grown as often as possible. To give you an idea of what to expect, in 2018 the types of bread offered were: Walnut Raisin, Multigrain, Country White, Honey Oatmeal, Rustic White, Forest Corn, Bolted Wheat, Whole Spelt, Rye Caraway, Garlic Herb, Danish Rye, Sourdough Bagels. All breads are baked on the farm in our wood-fired oven.
Full cost: $200 for one loaf per week
Restoration Acres Meat Share
We love connecting with this farm which does a wonderful job producing healthy and delicious pasture-raised animal products. We have eaten for an entire week from one of their chickens, which are full of flavor and nutrients and make a delicious broth. Check out their website for more information.
This year rather than just whole chicken, the meat share will include an alternating schedule of pork and chicken. One week you will receive two varieties of sausage and the following week you will receive a whole chicken (averaging around 4.5 lbs).
Cost: $475 for one whole chicken every other week, averaging 4.5 pounds and two sausage varieties every other week. That’s 13 chickens and approx. 24 lbs. of sausage total.
Mountain Run Permaculture Egg Share
These eggs are laid by chickens raised on rich pasture and fed a non-GMO feed in addition to their foraged food.
Cost: $175.00 for one dozen eggs per week.
Flower Share
We have been growing flowers on a small scale for years and are excited to be diversifying our CSA selection with weekly “Farm Bouquets”.
Cost: $300.00 for one bouquet per week.
