ABOUT OUR CSA

SCROLL DOWN FOR SLIDING SCALE, FARMER/MEMBER AGREEMENT,
& EXAMPLES OF OUR CSA SHARES.

FAQs

CSA stands for "Community-Supported Agriculture." It's a partnership between a farm and their community. Members of a CSA program pay a subscription fee at the beginning of the growing season, or commit to a monthly payment, which the farm then uses to buy seeds and supplies. In return, the farm harvests the freshest of the crop for members and delivers it each week. The customer, or eater, gets their "weekly share" of the farm's abundance, and is beside the farmer during hardship. Members of a CSA program are enthusiastically opting into the inherent risks involved in farming. Not every crop will be a success. CSA members share in the failures and successes of the farm, thereby genuinely supporting local small agriculture. See the bottom of this page for the September Sun Produce Farmer/Member Agreement.
- definition adapted from Ten Mothers Farm (NC) & High Five Farm (KY)
Expect six to seven fresh, nutrient-dense vegetables and herbs for 24 weeks between May and October, with a two-week break in August. A good fit for households of 1-3 people.
Additional Perks:
The option to modify what’s in your share! More information on how this works coming soon.
Weekly newsletters with recipes and cooking tips for the vegetables in your share.
Access to the farm for leisure, fun, and learning.
Add-ons from other local farms.
Every week CSA shares will be delivered to a neighborhood pick-up location near you. Each of the locations listed below hosts a self-serve cooler for maximum flexibility and convenience for you! We drop shares off in the morning and you have until the following evening to get your share from the cooler. (Ex: Thursday AM drop off, Friday PM pick-up deadline.)
CSA drop off for the 2024 season will be Thursdays in Charlottesville, and Tuesdays in Richmond.

You can also pay an extra weekly fee to have your CSA delivered to your door.
Pick up locations for the 2024 CSA include:
Charlottesville:
Visible Records, 1740 Broadway St., 22902

New City Arts, 114 3rd St. NE, 22902

Plenty Cville, 1304 Market St. Unit J, 22902

Ridge Street, 839 Ridge St., 22902

Observatory Hill, 602 McCormick Road, 22904

Richmond:
Birdhouse Farmers Market, Tuesdays, 3- 6:30PM, 1507 Grayland Avenue, Richmond VA 23220

Forest Hill Porch Pick-Up, More details coming soon.

Gordonsville:
Atha Yoga, 108 S Faulconer St, 22942

Orange:
The Arts Center in Orange, 129 E Main St., Orange VA 22960
In an attempt to achieve affordability for customers and sustainability for this business, I'm trying out a sliding scale. Following the guidelines below, you can select what cost per week makes sense for your personal budget, no questions asked. You can pay the full-season cost for your share up-front (which is a big help for the farm), or in monthly installments.
The cost of food, especially produce, is wildly undervalued. Food prices, wages for food workers, and the ways we get our food are tangled in a messy web of corporate power and problems of scale. CSAs are a very small way that farmers attempt to interrupt the horrific organization of our food system. By asking for their community’s support with a CSA program, a farmer reintroduces what is often lost in the fluorescent aisles of chain grocery stores, but is crucial to our health and wellness, a relationship with our food. Unfortunately, the true cost of producing ecologically and ethically-grown local food is rather high. I'm hoping that a sliding-scale price model can enable access for a wider range of our community members.
Yes! Thanks to Market Central, you can use SNAP/EBT to purchase a CSA Share through their vending infrastructure. The current SNAP/EBT processing system requires visiting the Market Central tent at either the Saturday Farmer’s Market at IX, or the Thursday Sunset Market at IX to swipe your card. Virginia Fresh Match enables SNAP/EBT recipients to double their money on fresh fruits and vegetables, which means the CSA share is only $15/week! You can decide how you’d like to pay for your share- either in installments, monthly or weekly. Send us an email if you plan to use SNAP/EBT to pay for your vegetable share- septembersunproduce@gmail.com.
Yes! 3 or more members of your workplace, neighborhood, friend group, studio space, etc. you get $15 off! Send us an email before you sign up for the discount code.

Sliding Scale

These price points and guidelines are developed from the guidance and work of High Five Farm (KY), Real Roots Food Systems (VA), Soul Fire Farm (NY), and The Green Bottle, designed by Alex J. Cunningfolk.

Curious about our own farm’s budget and planning? Email us.

$33/week

Total of $792 for the full season. This works out to roughly $4.75 per item. Consider this price point if some or all the following apply to you:

I own my home and/or car.
I can comfortably afford rent.
I have expendable income for personal pleasures.
I have money in savings.
I have an inheritance.
I am employed or do not need to work.
I can afford to vacation more than once per year.
I do not have debt.
I am excited about subsidizing the cost of weekly fresh vegetables for other people in my community.

$30/week

Total of $720 for the full season. This works out to roughly $4.25 per item. Consider this price point if some or all the following apply to you:

I own my home and/or car.
I can comfortably afford rent.
I have expendable income for personal pleasures.
I am employed.
I can comfortably take some time off of work.
I have some debt.

$25/week

Total of $600 for the full season. This works out to roughly $3.50 per item. Consider this price point if some or all the following apply to you:

I have some stress about meeting my basic needs (housing, food, utilities, healthcare).
My rent is a little too high.
I have very limited expendable income for personal pleasures.
I am employed and have regular paychecks.
My debt causes me stress.

$18/week

Total of $432 for the full season. This works out to roughly $3 per item. Consider this price point if some or all the following apply to you:

I frequently stress about meeting my basic needs (housing, food, utilities, healthcare).
My rent is too high.
I have very limited expendable income for personal pleasures.
I am unemployed or underemployed.
My debt causes me stress about affording my basic needs.
I qualify for government assistance (SNAP, etc.).

Does $18/week feel inaccessible? Is somewhere between $18 and $25 per week the sweet spot for you? Do you have more than $32/week to contribute to the farm and subsidize shares for others? These are general guidelines based on income, but there is some flexibility.
Send me an email and we can discuss what a better option might look like for you! - septembersunproduce@gmail.com

Farmer/Member
Agreement

By signing up for the September Sun Produce CSA, you agree to the following practices regarding duration, pick-up, payment, and cancellations. Please read it thoroughly!

Duration

The share season runs May through October for a total of 24 weeks/shares.

Start Date

The exact start date is determined by a number of factors, primarily weather. We shoot for the second week of May and will communicate about changes as the date approaches.

August Break

There will be a break in August for 2 weeks (2 pick-ups). The exact timing of the break is dependent on the start date of the share. This gives the famers some time to rest and catch up, while pivoting to fall crop planning.

Payment

When you sign up, you are agreeing to pay for the full amount of your share and to submitting payments on time. Ideally the full cost is paid one-time up front when you purchase your share. This helps the farm to purchase seeds, equipment, repairs, and generally prepare for the season ahead. If this option is not available to you, you can pay a $50 deposit when you sign up, and then monthly installments. If monthly payments are missed, Kendall will reach out to discuss.

Sliding Scale

We do not verify income or financial status to qualify for any price-point on the sliding scale. We trust that our customers will choose their price point with honesty and integrity.

Customization

There will be an option to customize your share based on what is available on the farm each week. There will be a default share each week, which will be communicated in the email, and a window of time to swap and change its contents. If no changes are made within that time period, you will receive the default share. More details on this are coming soon.

Pick-Up

You are responsible for picking up your share from your preferred location, or arranging for someone else to pick it up for you, during the determined window of time.

Out Of Town

If you are going out of town or are unable to pick-up your share, please give us a week's notice and we can either arrange delivery, or you can double up for the next available week.

Missed Pick-Up

If you miss a pick-up with making alternative arrangements beforehand, the pick-up host may share or donate it. Within reason, accommodations can be made between you and the pick-up host, but we don't want to bug our fellow shareholders at all hours of the night (for example).