Planning for a Successful CSA Season

Facilitated by: Richard de Wilde, Harmony Valley Farm Date: 3/16/2010 I: GOALS OF OPERATING A CSAWhat makes a CSA successful? A. Customer Focused Goals 1. Make members happy HOW? Dont make excuses, Make deliveries! Fulfill their perceived value by providing quality produce that is cooled, clean and of the appropriate quantity (enough, but not too much) Timely delivery of product Maintain a neat and orderly pick-up site (a reflection of your farm) Provide excellent customer service by keeping members informed, communicating with them through email, newsletters, etc and by replying to their orders, inquiries, etc in a timely manner Aid customers in successfully making the transition to seasonal eating by providing them with resources for cooking, storage tips, mentoring, etc. Form a relationship with the customermake them feel like this is their farm WHY? Build and maintain loyal, long term customers Establish a positive reputation in your market area Facilitate growth through recruitment by current members B. Farm Focused Goals 1. Profitability Price your products right Utilize labor saving techniques, equipment, etc to increase efficiency Expand the sales potential of current customer base Extend your season Offer other options in addition to vegetable shares (Produce Plus, Fruit, Cheese, Eggs, Meat, Gift Baskets, Field Rocks for landscaping, etc) 2. Manageability & Quality of Life: How does CSA fit into the scope of your business plan? (Are you able to employ enough employees or utilize labor saving efficiencies? Are you able to effectively handle communications with members? Do you need/want to extend your season and employ some crew year round?) Business goals Employee well-being Personal goals II. PLANNING CSA BOX CONTENTS (SEE HANDOUT HVF 2009 Box Contents) A. Balance: Color, texture, use, and overall balance from week to week B. Quantity: Not too little, not too much (if you provide recipes, scale them appropriately for quantity of ingredients in the box) C. Variety: Within each box and throughout the season D. Components to Include in Each Box: Consider how the contents can be used to create a variety of dishes 1. Onion (chives, overwintered onions, scallions, fresh cipollini, sweet onion, yellow & red storage) 2. Garlic (ramps, green garlic, garlic scapes, fresh garlic, cured garlic)

3. Cooking Green (sorrel, nettles, baby turnips with tops, hon tsai tai, bok choi, amaranth, chard, kale, collards, tat soi, etc) 4. Ingredients for a raw salad (offer suggestions for members as the season changes): Salad mix, arugula, spinach, cucumber, tomato, celeriac, escarole, etc 5. Familiar Vegetables: Carrots, broccoli, sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, peas, summer squash, potatoes, melons, head lettuce, asparagus, etc 6. Unfamiliar or Unique Vegetables or Varieties: Something the customer wont easily find in a Local retail store or even at the farmers market; Gives the customer exposure to other vegetables; Keeps boxes interesting throughout the season gold & chioggia beets, scarlet & gold turnips, pimento peppers, poblanos, amaranth, yellow watermelons, scallop squash, edamame, horticultural beans, flowering kale, etc III. CROP PLANNING A. Quantity: How much do I grow? Plan for Plenty150% of what you actually want to harvest. For example, if you need 100 heads of Napa cabbage, grow 150 heads. Consider diversifying your markets to absorb excesses and shortages B. Consecutive PlantingsNot as crucial to CSA markets that are more forgiving, but is essential to C. Timing Consider days to maturity, days from greenhouse to field, optimal growing conditions, heat and cold tolerance, when do you want/need the product to be ready D. What to Plant Fill in the Gapswhere do you have a gap in your box contents plan and what can you fill it with? Eg: Transplant bok choi and kohlrabi in the spring for an early cole crop; do an early transplant of summer squash and cover for heat gain Variety SelectionSize appropriate for CSA (personal watermelons vs 15# watermelon); days to maturity, yield potential, disease resistance, etc. Season Extension Overwintered crops for early spring harvest (multiplier onions, spinach, sorrel, nettles, parsnips, sunchokes) Storage crops to extend deliveries into late fall/early winter (root crops, alliums, dried beans, dried peppers) Late season greens plantings that can withstand colder temperatures (kale, collards, spinach, chicorieswith row covers) Hoop Housesfor both early and late season extension E. Where to Plant the crop (See HANDOUT FIELD PLAN) Consider crop rotations Cover Crops Irrigation requirements (eg all our crops planted on plastic covered beds are located near the creek/river to easily accommodate regular drip irrigation) Early crops on well draining soil in the spring IV. SEED MANAGEMENT A. Build relationships with seed company reps & use them as a resource for information B. Maintain accurate and detailed inventory records for seed varieties (HVF uses Access Database) (See HANDOUT SEED DATABASE) Record lot numbers and suppliers (if there is a problem with the seed, lot numbers are helpful for tracing back the problem) Record and pay attention to company germ tests on packages C. Sterilization: a means of eliminating seed coat diseases (See HANDOUT ON STERILIZATION)

D. Germ Testing: Determine quality of carryover seed & new seed to avoid spending money (See HANDOUT ON GERM TESTING) unnecessarily and avoid a potential crop failure if you receive a poor lot of seed V. GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT A. Create a GREENHOUSE PLAN (HANDOUT) B. Timing C. Potting Soil Selection D. Optimal Germination temperatures (HANDOUT on GERM TEMPS) & Heat Tables E. Fertilizing F. Hardening off plants before they go to the field VI. FIELD MANAGEMENT A. Scout your fields frequently Look for signs of disease & pest problemsintervene early Observe growth and development of plants, make notes to help with variety selection Anticipate when a crop will be ready for harvest, catch it at the right time to avoid losing a crop to old age, disease progression, etcPlan CSA boxes 2 weeks out B. Weed Control Assess need for weed control & identify the appropriate method (flamer, mechanical cultivation, basketing, hand weeding) Do not let weeds go to seed! Youll battle them for years if you do! C. Fertility & Soil Quality Watch crops for signs of inadequate fertilitysidedress Do soil tests to determine appropriate formula for soil amendments (minerals, etc) Compost & Cover Crop in the fall to get ready for the next year D. Pest Management Monitor for signs of pest invasionspray, utilize row covers Plant intentional habitats Utilize crop rotations E. Water Management Irrigation needs Drainage F. Disease Management Monitor for signs of disease & try to identify the cause Spray Remove the crop Make notes about varieties with disease and record this information VII. HARVEST A. Weekly Plan (HANDOUT) Consider crop being harvested & time of day you schedule the harvest (heat, sun, etc); harvest crops subject to wilt early in the day when its still cool, eg lettuce and greens; harvest more tolerant crops in the afternoon (zucchini, tomatoes, etc) Assess your labor needs to finish a harvest efficiently Consider post harvest handling requirements and timing , eg Do the green beans need to be portioned before box packing? Do you need time to put tomatoes in clam shells? B. Cool Product Take a water tank to the field to dunk product for the initial attempt to remove field heat

Use covered wagons or keep harvested product in the shade Make sure product is stored properly and further cooling takes place when it is taken to the packing shed; eg have a tank of ice water ready in the packing shed when sugar snap peas come in from the field; have a cooling tunnel ready in the cooler to further cool head lettuce; Have ice ready for broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, etc C. Utilize Harvests Aids for efficiency VIII. POST HARVEST A. Storage: store product in the appropriate environment and limit the time product is out of the cooler B. Clean produce to remove field dirt C. Portion for the boxes to have greater control of quantity going into the box, better presentation & protection for the product, ease in packing D. Pack the CSA Boxes Make final adjustments to the box contents plan Make a packing planconsider the weight & size of items (heavy items on the bottom, fragile items on the top); consider what the customer will see when they first open the boxstrategically place items for eye appeal Determine number of people needed to pack the boxes E. Deliver the CSA Boxes Handle boxes with care (eg you can easily split watermelons if you dont handle boxes gently when setting up the CSA site) Utilize blankets to cover product at the site in cold weather Maintain neat and orderly pick up site standards IX. OVERALL FACTORS FOR SUCCESS A. Be ready & plan for the worst possible scenario B. Always have a plan in advancethink through the process, create a Pre-planting plan, a Preharvest plan, a Pre-Pack Plan, etc C. Maintain equipment & machinery Do preventative maintenance, train employees to look & listen for problems Keep backup parts in inventory, eg extra belts, bearings, pumps, etc D. Anticipate your needs Supplies: Order and receive supplies before you need them (eg bin liners, boxes, greenhouse flats and trays, clamshells, potting soil, seeds, fertilizer, cover crops, etc) Labor/Employees Field & Seed Prep Storage Needs: eg if you are harvesting onions and plan to cure them in your greenhouse, make sure the greenhouse is clean, set up and ready for onion storage; if you are harvesting lettuce, make sure the cooling tunnel is set up and ready for use E. Operate every day as if it will rain tomorrowmeaning dont leave something for tomorrow that can be done today. When tomorrow comes, it will have enough challenges of its own and you could easily and quickly fall behind.