» Community Supported Agriculture
The mission of Hoosac Harvest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is to support and encourage access for Northern Berkshire residents across all income levels to sustainably-raised, locally grown food produced through community supported agriculture while building respect for the relationships between the land, each other, and our food.
CSA is a relationship between a farm and a community. Community, Farmer, and Land all benefit from this arrangement. Community members purchase a share before the growing season starts and share the risks and rewards of farming. With the resources available at the beginning of the season, the farmer can concentrate on farming with sustainable methods, which contributes to the long term health and viability of the land, creating richer harvests as soil fertility improves over time. Local food security is also enhanced, and the local community is strengthened.
Hoosac Harvest CSA is an effort to help support and develop local agriculture. The first expression of this is a partnership with Farmer Michael Gallagher and his new farm, Square Roots Farm, on Daniels Road in Clarksburg, Massachusetts.
Hoosac Harvest CSA is a local initiative focused on increasing food security in the seven communities that make up the Northern Berkshires. We are facilitated by a core group of volunteer community members who are working to impact the local food system by developing this model of community support.
» Square Roots Farm
Square Roots Farm is a new farm located on the former site of MCLA's Center for Resourceful Living in Clarksburg, MA. Michael Gallagher, a native of Chesire, has been farming for the last several years in Vermont and New York, and has now returned home to the Berkshires to start his own farm.
In Community Supported Agriculture the risks and rewards are shared. Especially in the farm's first year, Michael will still be learning what varieties and methods perform best on this particular piece of land. A discounted price is being offered this year to reflect the risks entailed in the first season. As a consequence, there may be a superabundance of potatoes, but fewer cucumbers than you might expect, or the other way around. Chances are your share bag will be full, but the exact selection and timing of vegetables is less certain.
CSA is a way to be more connected with the person who grows your food, to know where it is grown, and to develop a community with the farmer, the land, and the other shareholders. "I've ordered seed for basil, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celeriac, chinese cabbages, collards, cucumbers, eggplants, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce (lots of lettuces), melons, onions, scallions, pac choi, snow peas, snap peas, sweet peppers (one of my favorites), hot peppers, spinach, summer squash, swiss chard, tomatillos, tomatoes, arugula, carrots, parsnips, green beans, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, rutabegas and turnips, in addition to a smattering of herbs for a little PYO herb garden." --Farmer Michael Gallagher