Hey! We're neighbors! I'm from the same area. I'm doing research in starting a CSA or Farmers Market. This is good information. Thank you for sharing! I'm a year or two out from doing anything as I am currently in G.R. My husband and I are looking for a new place. Thanks again!
We do both. Started at the market, which we still do every Wednesday afternoon for the summer in our hometown. It helped get our name out there, and it is absolutely GLORIOUS to get off the farm for an afternoon and see all of our local friends. But I knew the CSA was ultimately what I wanted to do. We limit our shares to guarantee we can meet demand, and our marketing model has really attracted some of the higher-income customers around our area. I do our deliveries on Saturday in the late morning, which leaves me time for coffee with friends in town, and an empty truck to hit my supply stores before heading back to the farm. It also gives our customers a day to look through the basket and plan their big Sunday dinner, which is still very traditional around here. We've optioned on specialty mushrooms and farm-fresh eggs this year, and I just started checking out the legalities of offering farm-butchered chickens and ducks, which we're hoping to option on for summer 2024. We grow for the CSA and add on for additional customers, which gives us stuff to sell at the market. We stay late at the market for CSA customers to pick up if delivery day didn't work out for them, and then try and hit the last stragglers on the way home. It also gives us a chance to pull into the local food bank and dump the last of the stuff we couldn't get rid of at the farmer's market, which gives everyone here a warm fuzzy feeling in addition to being great PR(I've had more than a few friends rely on the food bank over the years, and there's never anything green in there). But if I were backed into a corner and had to pick one or the other, I'd be doing CSA all day long. It does take some more organization, but it's absolutely the way to go.
Do to work schedule change this past year, I can now restart with more $10 week elder boxes (similar to csa). Previous garden set up was like yours. 1/4 acre is enough for 1 person to handle (no dig & daily projects).
Hi there I’m new to CAA this year and here’s why. The food is fresh when you get it and it’s not gmo which I’m having a hard time digesting . I’m hoping to get more of their produce to preserve for my winter supply .I’m in Canada so can’t support you but wherever you are it’s a good service plus this year it’s outside ick up or delivery to your door free of charge so for me that’s a plus also as I’m a senior and no heavy carrying for me . The delivery people are one more person I’ll see in a week . Keep going as I know farming is year round work with all the prep and such . Thank you for doing this video .
Thanks for posting this video but one of the things I don’t understand that you said about the CSA is that you have to provide different vegetables every week… I don’t see why that is necessarily true? If it’s tomato season people are going to want tomatoes and if you have a bumper crop of green beans I don’t think anyone’s gonna complain if they get green beans two weeks in a row. Maybe that’s just from your experience in your location? Folks around here I just happy to get a box full of fresh veggies
Thanks. I noticed that to after the upload, not exactly sure what happened.. The one I just put out didn't have that issue. Weird. Definitely still trying to figure this all out😆
Thank you so much for sharing this info. It's very helpful. You've probably determined this by now, but the dark/fading episodes are probably transitions inserted by your video editing software. The dark spaces are showing up at the cuts between video clips and insertion/removal points for your text. Only commenting to help by sharing what I've learned from early forays into video editing. You're doing a great job simply by sharing so much useful content. Thanks again!
I have done markets the last 2 seasons and it’s exhausting and does not make much income. Really want to build a CSA for next year. What are your tips for planning and marketing to get members.
Right on. Man I've actually got a few tips on that actually. Planning is a balancing act between being able to grow enough quantity and varieties to satisfy enough customers to bring in the revenue needed. I would start with how much food can you grow and Harvest, on the space you have, on a weekly basis for 15-20weeks, depending on where you live. What is the going rate for CSA's in your area(market research), vs what yould like to sell them for? Example - you can grow enough for 20 families per week(20 boxes), IF the going rate is $400 for 15week CSA, That would yield $8,000 for the season. How much you can make will be determined by how much growing space you have and how much you can charge. The biggest thing is KNOWING how much food you can produce consistantly, so you can plan accordingly. Because you are taking their money before you provide service. Once you know that, you can start marketing the limited spots you have. I would start with past, loyal Market customers. Reach out to them and see if the would be interested in the service. Depending on how much Branding you've done up to this point will determine how much you can leverage social media.
Northern Kent County. It's not easy, but possible. We start a lot of seeds early indoors, and extended the shoulder seasons with row covers or poly on our hoops. And a lot of planning and planting extra incase of crop failure.
@@SimplisticFarms oh I see. I haven't used row covers before so that makes sense. June is always the toughest for us because the starts have only just gone in the ground, plus I've never had luck with spring crops. So if you have row covers are you able to get things in the ground in early May as opposed to after memorial day?
I'm really surprised that you do 6-10 different veggies. Up here 5 is more common as any more tends to spread produce + growing too thin. Crop failure for that much variety is literally not an option. Kudos on being able to juggle the stress and be successful. That truly is a testament in fortitude and good planning. 👍❤️
I did not hit the 30k goal. Covid didn't help things..But I did 4x from my first yr. Still learning and growing. And celebrating the small successes along the way. This year we are expanding the farm a bit but backing our goal to probably 20-25k this year. That will still be good growth.
@@SimplisticFarms We are in Crockett Texas, which is east Texas if you are not familiar. We have about 1/4 of an acre minus our house. It seems that many are able to have a good amount of success with a small amount land, and I feel that it will be quite the challenge in our first year.
@@se9252 yep, a quarter acre should be plenty of space to grow a lot of food. I looked at my first year like an experiment with very little expectations other than to learn and get infrastructure built and try to dial in a few crops. I waited until year 2 to try the CSA model and I'm glad I did. It was still challenging. Good luck to ya, reach out if you have any questions 👍
![What Makes A CSA Farm Work? [These 5 Things Lead To Failure] | GroCycle](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/F9pqVvS0RFE/mqdefault.jpg)
Hey! We're neighbors! I'm from the same area. I'm doing research in starting a CSA or Farmers Market. This is good information. Thank you for sharing!
I'm a year or two out from doing anything as I am currently in G.R.
My husband and I are looking for a new place. Thanks again!
Hey neighbor! Glad you enjoyed it👍
We do both. Started at the market, which we still do every Wednesday afternoon for the summer in our hometown. It helped get our name out there, and it is absolutely GLORIOUS to get off the farm for an afternoon and see all of our local friends.
But I knew the CSA was ultimately what I wanted to do. We limit our shares to guarantee we can meet demand, and our marketing model has really attracted some of the higher-income customers around our area. I do our deliveries on Saturday in the late morning, which leaves me time for coffee with friends in town, and an empty truck to hit my supply stores before heading back to the farm. It also gives our customers a day to look through the basket and plan their big Sunday dinner, which is still very traditional around here. We've optioned on specialty mushrooms and farm-fresh eggs this year, and I just started checking out the legalities of offering farm-butchered chickens and ducks, which we're hoping to option on for summer 2024.
We grow for the CSA and add on for additional customers, which gives us stuff to sell at the market. We stay late at the market for CSA customers to pick up if delivery day didn't work out for them, and then try and hit the last stragglers on the way home. It also gives us a chance to pull into the local food bank and dump the last of the stuff we couldn't get rid of at the farmer's market, which gives everyone here a warm fuzzy feeling in addition to being great PR(I've had more than a few friends rely on the food bank over the years, and there's never anything green in there).
But if I were backed into a corner and had to pick one or the other, I'd be doing CSA all day long. It does take some more organization, but it's absolutely the way to go.
It sounds like you guys are doing a great job for your community, that's what it's all about, growing food and feeding people. Nice work!
Do to work schedule change this past year, I can now restart with more $10 week elder boxes (similar to csa). Previous garden set up was like yours. 1/4 acre is enough for 1 person to handle (no dig & daily projects).
Great information for anyone trying to get started as a farmer.
Thanks for the perspective! Really helpful
Glad you liked it, thanks for watching 👍
Hi there I’m new to CAA this year and here’s why. The food is fresh when you get it and it’s not gmo which I’m having a hard time digesting . I’m hoping to get more of their produce to preserve for my winter supply .I’m in Canada so can’t support you but wherever you are it’s a good service plus this year it’s outside ick up or delivery to your door free of charge so for me that’s a plus also as I’m a senior and no heavy carrying for me . The delivery people are one more person I’ll see in a week . Keep going as I know farming is year round work with all the prep and such . Thank you for doing this video .
Thank you for the kind words! It's hard to beat fresh fruits and veggies!!
Thanks for posting this video but one of the things I don’t understand that you said about the CSA is that you have to provide different vegetables every week… I don’t see why that is necessarily true? If it’s tomato season people are going to want tomatoes and if you have a bumper crop of green beans I don’t think anyone’s gonna complain if they get green beans two weeks in a row. Maybe that’s just from your experience in your location? Folks around here I just happy to get a box full of fresh veggies
Great info, really liked the different points about each option you brought up. Weird how the screen kept going dark there though!
Thanks. I noticed that to after the upload, not exactly sure what happened.. The one I just put out didn't have that issue. Weird. Definitely still trying to figure this all out😆
Thank you so much for sharing this info. It's very helpful.
You've probably determined this by now, but the dark/fading episodes are probably transitions inserted by your video editing software. The dark spaces are showing up at the cuts between video clips and insertion/removal points for your text.
Only commenting to help by sharing what I've learned from early forays into video editing. You're doing a great job simply by sharing so much useful content. Thanks again!
I have done markets the last 2 seasons and it’s exhausting and does not make much income. Really want to build a CSA for next year. What are your tips for planning and marketing to get members.
Right on. Man I've actually got a few tips on that actually. Planning is a balancing act between being able to grow enough quantity and varieties to satisfy enough customers to bring in the revenue needed. I would start with how much food can you grow and Harvest, on the space you have, on a weekly basis for 15-20weeks, depending on where you live. What is the going rate for CSA's in your area(market research), vs what yould like to sell them for? Example - you can grow enough for 20 families per week(20 boxes), IF the going rate is $400 for 15week CSA, That would yield $8,000 for the season. How much you can make will be determined by how much growing space you have and how much you can charge. The biggest thing is KNOWING how much food you can produce consistantly, so you can plan accordingly. Because you are taking their money before you provide service. Once you know that, you can start marketing the limited spots you have. I would start with past, loyal Market customers. Reach out to them and see if the would be interested in the service. Depending on how much Branding you've done up to this point will determine how much you can leverage social media.
Hi what part of West Michigan? I'm in SW Michigan. How are you able to get 15 weeks worth of veggies???
Northern Kent County. It's not easy, but possible. We start a lot of seeds early indoors, and extended the shoulder seasons with row covers or poly on our hoops. And a lot of planning and planting extra incase of crop failure.
@@SimplisticFarms oh I see. I haven't used row covers before so that makes sense. June is always the toughest for us because the starts have only just gone in the ground, plus I've never had luck with spring crops. So if you have row covers are you able to get things in the ground in early May as opposed to after memorial day?
@@justuslightworkers yep, but primarily only the cool season crops. Yeah, Michigan is not an easy place to grow long season.
I'm really surprised that you do 6-10 different veggies. Up here 5 is more common as any more tends to spread produce + growing too thin. Crop failure for that much variety is literally not an option. Kudos on being able to juggle the stress and be successful. That truly is a testament in fortitude and good planning. 👍❤️
Thanks! It can get a bit tricky at times but it keeps it interesting 👍
Hi, CSA sound much better.
Four times the income, is that what I heard? Did you hit your 30k goal?
I did not hit the 30k goal. Covid didn't help things..But I did 4x from my first yr. Still learning and growing. And celebrating the small successes along the way. This year we are expanding the farm a bit but backing our goal to probably 20-25k this year. That will still be good growth.
@@SimplisticFarms That is awesome, this is our very first year so we have no idea what to expect honestly.
@@se9252 that is fantastic! I'm on a big push to get others to start growing food👍 Where you farming at?
@@SimplisticFarms We are in Crockett Texas, which is east Texas if you are not familiar. We have about 1/4 of an acre minus our house. It seems that many are able to have a good amount of success with a small amount land, and I feel that it will be quite the challenge in our first year.
@@se9252 yep, a quarter acre should be plenty of space to grow a lot of food. I looked at my first year like an experiment with very little expectations other than to learn and get infrastructure built and try to dial in a few crops. I waited until year 2 to try the CSA model and I'm glad I did. It was still challenging. Good luck to ya, reach out if you have any questions 👍