Our subscription service is the backbone of our farm. It operates much like a CSA, but we don't use that term since we direct our own operations and do without a core group of community advisors. Shares can be picked up at the farm or at sites in Allentown, Ardmore, Bala Cynwyd, Bryn Mawr, Chestnut Hill, Gladwyne, Glenside, Haverford, Havertown, Lafayette Hill, Lansdowne, Mt. Airy, Narberth, Northern Liberties, South Philadelphia, St. Davids, Wayne, West Philadelphia and Wyomissing.
Subscriptions run for 23 weeks. Shareholders visit our website each week to review an ever changing list of available produce items, e.g., a bunch of French Breakfast Radishes, a two pound bag of Brandywine Tomatoes, a bunch of rosemary, a butternut squash, an 8 oz. bunch of arugula, etc. They use the website to select ten items each week. At the beginning and end of the season, the weekly list consists of at least twenty-five items. In midseason, we offer up to 50 items each week.
The website compiles the shareholders' selections, tells us what to harvest and generates labels for each customer's box with his or her name and individual selections for that week. We harvest, process and pack weekly shares as close to the drop-off date as possible. Usually shareholders receive produce that has been picked one or two days before delivery. All produce other than tomatoes and other cold sensitive items are stored in a walk-in cooler before delivery to insure freshness.
We will serve approximately 340 shareholders in 2005. If you are interested in trying our service but doubtful about your ability to consume ten generous vegetable selections a week, consider partnering with another family to purchase a share. Our new software allows families sharing a share to order independently. More information on our subscription program is available in the subscribe section of this site.