Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Since 1997 we have provided a weekly summer share of vegetables to families, from Brunswick to Old Orchard Beach. We currently have a very active group of Portland families who come to our "drop point" at Greenlight Studio in Portland to pick up their vegetables and other products.
What Is Community Supported Agriculture?
Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, lets you buy a “share” of our farm, and have the opportunity to eat fresh organic vegetables as they come into season. It’s a way to experience the way people used to eat, before mass transportation, with the added benefit that we grow a large variety of different vegetables to keep things interesting.
We built our farm by providing high quality and unique vegetables to many of the finest restaurants from Freeport to Wells, and the vegetables our CSA members receive are the same as those we deliver to our restaurant customers.
Follow this link to the USDA's "Alternative Farming" site for their interpretation of what a CSA is. As you can see, the USDA says that the CSA members share in the rewards and the risks of farming. While that is true, we feel that it is important to note that Laughing Stock Farm has never failed to provide the value of the share to our members. Some years are more challenging than others, but by the end of the year we have always been able to provide the full share value to our customers. Everything always works out.
Laughing Stock Farm is a Year Round CSA Farm
We provide four seasons of fresh vegetables by offering both a Winter share, which is unique among local farms, and a Summer share. In our Winter share we distinguish ourselves by providing fresh mesclun, arugula, lettuce, baby carrots, hakurei turnips, and radishes from our own greenhouses, in addition to the traditional storage vegetables such as beets, cabbage, carrots, turnips, winter squash, parsnips, and rutabaga.
Please visit the link at left for more information, including how we heat our greenhouses with our renewable fuel.
So How Does It Work?
You either come to our farm in Freeport every week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday afternoon between 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm, or Saturday from noon to 4:00 pm; or you can come to Greenlight Studio in Portland every Thursday afternoon between 3:00 pm and 6:30 pm in the summer (twice a month in the winter) and we will have lots of vegetables ready for you to select, bag up, and take home. In the beginning of the season there are very few vegetable ready in the field, and so there are fewer choices. By the end of June there are a lot more choices, and by mid July you will have many vegetable choices to customize your share.
From about mid July to the first frost you will also have the chance to cut a nice big bouquet of your own fresh flowers every week as part of your share.
Our Partnerships With Other Local Farms
In 2009 we began offering products from other local farms who we know and trust to supplement our vegetables with products that we cannot grow. At every pick-up we have butter, cheese, and eggs as well as frozen organic and natural beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and locally roasted coffee. In the summer we also had strawberries, blueberries, and apples. Visit the Partners link at the left for a complete description of the products and the farms and small businesses we are working with.
Please Remember, The "C" Stands For Community
When choosing a CSA plan please choose a family owned and operated CSA farm in your community. Family owned farms pay property taxes which literally support the community. Many Land Trust subsidized farms do not pay property taxes. Family owned farms have to sell farm products to make a living. Land Trust subsidized farms rely on tax deductable, charitable contributions and tax exemptions to exist. Please support family owned farms. The only "sustainable" farming is self supporting.