Beginning in June, the NH Farm Museum will offer weekly shares of fresh, organically-grown produce to participants in its new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. The CSA will help support the museum’s farm-based educational programming while offering members access to a variety of locally-grown vegetables and herbs.
Members of a CSA purchase shares of a farm’s harvest before the season starts so that the farm has cash to buy seed and equipment for growing. In return, CSA members receive the freshest possible produce through out the growing season (roughly June through October.) With the NH Farm Museum’s CSA, participants will additionally receive a museum membership which includes free admission to the museum as well as free or discounted admission to a number of special events that occur throughout the year.
Kathleen A. Shea, the Director of the NH Farm Museum, plans to offer a variety of produce through the CSA: “In the spring you will enjoy plenty of greens, radishes, and possibly peas — shell and snap,” said Shea. “Warmer months will bring on carrots and beets, beans, squash and cucumbers, new potatoes, corn, garlic and onions, peppers and tomatoes. In the fall you will see most of these items plus storage crops like potatoes, turnips, winter squash, and onions.”
This year, the museum is offering 25 shares at the cost of $500 per share, which works out to about $25 per week for a quantity vegetables that would feed a family of four. Shares may be split with friends and CSA members can pick up their shares at the Museum Country Store on Wednesdays 10 am-6 pm or at the Wakefield Marketplace or the Museum Store on Saturdays 10 am-3 pm. A share is payable in two payments: $200 deposit by March 30th and final payment of $300 by May 15th.
By becoming a member in the NH Farm Museum’s CSA, members would be taking an active role in supporting the museum’s farm-based educational programs. Furthermore, they would also be keeping their food dollars in the local economy, and reducing the amount of fuel used to ship food across the country to their table.
The NH Farm Museum has initiated the process to be certified organic. Farmer, Kirk Russell, uses no synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides as well as no genetically modified seeds. Russell focuses considerable time and attention on soil improvement and brings years of organic farming experience to the NH Farm Museum.
To find out more about the NH Farm Museum CSA, call or email the museum at:
1305 White Mountain Highway
Route 125 / PO Box 644 Milton, NH 03851
603-652-7840
http://www.farmmuseum.org/
info@farmmuseum.org