Organically grown produce can be hard to find at your local grocery store, and frightfully expensive as well. Where do you go when you need large quantities of fresh-grown produce that’s raised without pesticides, chemical additives, or waxes and polishes designed to make the produce more attractive while adding nothing to the taste or nutrition of the food?
New Harvest Farms has the solution: community supported agriculture. CSA allows your family to get fresh vegetables, herbs, and even flowers on a weekly basis guaranteed to be grown without chemicals. The concept behind CSA is that families buy shares in the farm, then realize their investment each week as fresh produce is delivered. It’s also known as subscription farming, and more people are taking advantage of this new opportunity to save money while getting their produce direct from the farm.
“One of the main advantages to buying from us is not just that it’s organic, it’s fresh,” JD Dimick told The Herald. “Even organic produce that local stores might sell could have been shipped from overseas and picked as much as a week before. Ninety percent of the produce you get from us will have been picked that same day.”
When customers commit to a season of farming up front, it gives the farmers a guaranteed income and a rare bit of assurance in what is traditionally a very uncertain business. The shareholder gets one box of quality mixed produce each week from May 22 through October 16.
New Harvest Farm uses heirloom varieties, such as Brandywine tomatoes and Kentucky Wonder pole beans, and a special method of controlling insects called Integrated Pest Management. Each variety offered is delivered with every box includes a description of the produce and suggestions on how best to use it.
Vicki Walker is a member of the New Harvest Farms CSA. She belonged to another CSA in Maryland, but when she moved here she was left looking for a great local source of fresh produce. “Nothing tastes like fresh vegetables,” Vicki told The Herald. She also enjoys spending time out on the farm when she can. “I consider it playing on someone else’s farm – and you get to go home at the end of the day!”
Vicki extolls the benefits of belonging to the CSA. “Membership is good for the land,” she said, “Good for the farmer, and good for the members and their families.”
Shares for each family cost less than $28 weekly and provide enough produce to feed a family of four for 22 weeks of the growing season. Subscribers also receive a farm newsletter to keep them updated on the progress of their produce as it grows, and seasonal visits to the farm are also encouraged. The kids can even pull up their own veggies. Egg shares are also available.
To contact New Harvest Farms, call JD Dimick at (865) 497-2297, or hit their website at www.newharvestcsa.com.

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