Sweeter Days Farm
I don’t know if the CSA has finally reached the acronym status of, say, ASAP or LOL — or even the timely POTUS or DNC. But it has certainly come a long way.
CSA stands for community-supported agriculture, and by signing up for a CSA share with a local farm, customers choose to support a farmer upfront in exchange for a regular and seasonal box of vegetables (and sometimes meats or other products). In the meantime, the farmer and customer get to know one another, and the customer sharpens kitchen-improv skills with incentive to make healthful meals from scratch at home.
Not so long ago, Middle Tennesseans only had a handful of farms to choose from when picking a CSA. Options now are bountiful. And though CSA shares vary somewhat in structure, price and duration, this is the time of year when farms open sign-ups.
At their core, CSAs give us more opportunities for connection — feeling connected to the land where we live; feeling connected to food by season; and feeling connected to the people who grow or raise the food that we’ll use to nourish ourselves and those around us. A CSA can get us away from our screens and away from a processed, shipped existence, back toward our roots in real life — or IRL, as some might say.
Below you’ll find a list of area CSAs — it isn’t a comprehensive list, but it can get you started in making choices.
Younger Family Farms
According to the 2017 USDA census, the average age of a farmer in Tennessee is 59. But here in Middle Tennessee, several younger families have taken a chance on a tough business. For example, Bloomsbury Farm has a popular CSA, and the farmers at Sugar Camp Farm in Bon Aqua have already sold out of their 2020 CSA shares. Before starting their farm, they interned at Bells Bend Farms, which has had a CSA for 11 years. A couple more to consider:
Lost Weekend Farms
Lost Weekend Farm
Elizabeth and Paul Lassiter grow food at Neely’s Bend in Madison, and they call their CSA share The Good Life Box. It usually includes seven to 10 types of fruit, vegetables and herbs per share. Full and half shares are available at two price points and run from May through mid-October. It might include corn grits and garlic scapes at the beginning of the season to arugula, crowder peas, tomatoes, turnips and sweet potatoes by fall.
More info and sign-ups: lostweekendfarms.com/good-life-box
Sweeter Days Farm
Christa and Todd Bentley (whom the Scene covered in our Veterans Day issue back in November) run Sweeter Days Farm in Ashland City. This year they’re providing a 20-week summer CSA as well as an eight-week fall CSA, which runs from mid-October through mid-December. What to expect? In spring, you might see beets, fennel, broccoli, bok choy. Summer will bring eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and collards. By fall, it’s sweet potatoes, mustard greens, radish and more frost-sweetened carrots. Sweeter Days offers a 5 percent discount for active-duty military — the equivalent of one share.
More info and sign-ups: sweeterdaysfarm.com/csainfo
Experienced Mainstays
Since 1972, farmers Hank and Cindy Delvin have blazed a trail for others in organic farming in Middle Tennessee, and now their son Hank Jr. offers a CSA through Delvin Farms, while the Delvins’ daughter Amy and her husband Brandon Tavalin have a grass-fed meat CSA at Tavalin Tails that includes 20 to 22 pounds of meats per share, including beef, lamb, pork and chicken. Also to consider:
Hill and Hollow Farm
The couple behind this farm, Robin Verson and Paul Bela, met on an organic CSA farm in Northern Illinois and almost immediately started making plans for their own. After farming and working across the world (Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia), they put down roots in Edmonton, Ky. Their first CSA began about two decades ago with 19 customers, and while some of those same folks remain today, Hill and Hollow has added many new friends. You’ll find vegetables, herbs and flowers in their CSA shares.
More info and sign-ups: hillandhollowfarm.com
Long Hungry Creek Farm
Long Hungry Creek Farm
Jeff Poppen (also known as The Barefoot Farmer) is about as close to a celebrity farmer as Nashville gets. From Red Boiling Springs, Poppen runs one of the oldest and largest organic farms in Tennessee and encourages CSA members to treat his farm like their own for “hiking, picnics, swimming, camping and planting potatoes.” He grows biodynamic food — 80 varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers. If you like a little dirt on your potatoes — as a reminder where they came from — this is the CSA for you.
More info and sign-ups: barefootfarmer.com/csa
An Ethnically Diverse Farm
While labor on farms often involves people of color, the USDA census indicates that 95 percent of farmers running their businesses are white. Here is a local spot with folks from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
Growing Together
This program of The Nashville Food Project includes 10 farmers who came to the United States as refugees from Bhutan and Burma. While some of the farmers have been in the States for several years, others arrived as recently as the fall — which means you’ll have the chance to help support their businesses as they find community in a new country. The farmers, many of whom have been farming their entire lives, grow more familiar vegetables like tomatoes, collard greens and bok choy, as well as Nepali mustard greens and bitter gourd. After two seasons with a successful fall CSA, Growing Together will be adding a spring CSA this year. Both CSAs run eight weeks. (Full disclosure: I work with The Nashville Food Project.)
More info and sign-ups: thenashvillefoodproject.org/csa
Out-of-the-Box Boxes
In addition to CSA shares with vegetables, many farms have specialized areas of expertise — places such as Stomping Ground Herbals, which offers an herbalism share. Caney Fork Farms provides a mixed share that includes vegetables, meats and breads, while Rosie Belle Farm and Green Door Gourmet allow customers to choose products that range from vegetables to jams, honey and goat cheese.
CSA shares focused on meats and fish abound too, and those include farms like Myers Farm Beef, Virgin Bay Seafood, Tennessee Grass Fed (beef), Ladies of the Lamb and Pure Pastures (chicken and eggs).
