Community Supported Agriculture

What is a CSA?

CSA stands for “Community Supported Agriculture” and refers to a program where your local farmer (Bishop’s Orchards) offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Each share entitles members to a weekly box of fresh-picked produce, discounts & specials (ex. 2 tickets to our Annual Shoreline Wine Festival), hand-picked weekly recipes and other locally-produced goodies that may make guest appearances, such as Honey from Vincent of Swords into Plowshares.

Community-Supported or Community-Shared Agriculture (CSA) is also known as “subscription
farming.” You buy a subscription from a local farmer just like you buy a magazine subscription or sports season's tickets. But instead of receiving a magazine or a game each week, you receive a “share” of fresh, locally grown or raised fruit and/or vegetables. CSA is an opportunity for members or shareholders to “buy” into the farm and create a partnership while taking on a shared risk with the farmers. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

Read the March 6, 2012 New Register Article on our CSA.

What is the Advantage to You? Why Should You Participate?

• Weekly supply of ultra-fresh food, brimming with flavor
• Getting exposure to new foods that you may not normally buy
• Tips and Recipes to help you enjoy your weekly bounty, including wine pairing!
• Members only specials and discounts for additional farm products
• Contents fresh picked by Bishop’s Own Farmers and hand selected for CSA Members
• Develop a relationship with the farmers who grows your food and learn more about how
  food is grown
• Weekly emails for CSA Members with information on the CSA Program, current happenings “on the farm,” recipes, upcoming products and other useful information.
• Discount rate for educational classes.
• Add on Shares of Wine, Flowers, Egg and Specialty Items also available!

When does Bishop’s Orchards CSA Start?
Bishop’s Orchards CSA will begin in June and run for 20 Weeks. The approximate start date would be the week of June 12, 2012 and ending the week of October 25, 2012. These are the weeks that we have the best variety of our own products as well as more variety from Ceccarelli Farms in Northford, CT. You choose your pickup day at signup, which will be the same for all 20 weeks.

How much does a “Share” Cost?
A Bishop’s CSA Full Share is $600.00. A "Half" Share is $400.00. Since we are a diverse farm and your CSA will contain both fruits and vegetables, seldom will you be overwhelmed by one kind of produce. A FULL SHARE is suitable for most everyone, including a couple, unless you eat out or are not at home many days of the week. You can also split a full share with a friend or family.

When you break a Full Share down, it ends up being $30.00 a week for the 20 weeks. A GREAT deal if you ask us or anyone else who has ever been part of a CSA before. Each weekly share is for a family of 3-4. For a "HALF" share you will receive a $20 value each week for 20 weeks. In reality our 'HALF" is 2/3 of a full share, but in marketing '2/3' is awkward so for most CSA farms 'half' has been used historically, even though you get more!

In addition to the Primary Produce shares, Bishop’s offers several other share options. To be able to participate in an “option” you will need to be a Produce share holder (either full or half).

Flower Share - Egg Share - Specialty Share - Wine Share

How does CSA work at Bishop’s?
Families and households sign up to purchase a “share” of the upcoming season’s harvest. The
commitment in advance partners with the farmer on the costs of running the CSA, including seeds,
fertilizer, labor, equipment and insurances, most of which are incurred during the spring planting
season.

Throughout the 20 week period, you will receive a number of fresh products from the farm. During
the growing period, you may receive more quantity of some things as the harvest continues to thrive
into the summer months where you will then find more of an assortment each week in your basket.
In June, we will have fresh strawberries, lettuce and greens. July will bring out fresh picked green
beans, beets, sweet corn, squash, blueberries and cucumbers.

What is the Payment Method?
Payment in full using Paypal, Debit or Credit Card (MC, Visa, AMEX or Discover) is due with completed subscription. We will accept online subscriptions with payment in full from early February until we are sold out. There will be a maximum number of shares sold, so don’t delay in signing up. Failure to pick up shares at set times, or without prior notification, will result in a forfeit of the week’s share. If you cannot pick up your share you can have a friend pick it up for you! If no one picks up your share for the week, we will donate it to a local Food Shelter so it does not go to waste.

Come along with us and share the journey.

Introduction and History of Bishop’s Orchards

Bishop’s Orchards has been farming for 141 years.
In celebration of our 140th year, we decided to really showcase our farm by starting the CSA and put you in touch with our roots, products from the farm, and news about our crops and farm.

Most people these days know us for our Farm Market, but we are very proud of the progressive work that we have done and continue to do on the farm. We are one of the first true practitioners of IPM in the state and we have aggressively pursued better, safer and more sustainable ways to grow into what is now our 141th year in agriculture. While we have a thriving Farm Market, many people may not know that we are stewards of over 300 acres of working farm land that provides many products in the market when they are in season.

One of our goals with this CSA program is that we bring you back to the farm and remember how we got our start and how local your food really can come from. We will be partnering with several other CT Farms, including Ceccarelli Farms in Northford, CT, who has been another agricultural steward in this state and is a diversified grower of vegetables. Some of the vegetables that will be provided in members weekly basket will come freshly picked directly from Ceccarelli’s. We have been working with the Ceccarelli Family for over 40 years and are pleased to be providing members with their produce as well as our own. This partnership will allow us to offer the most diversified weekly baskets to our members.