Bear Butte Gardens’ Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Model

Generic Definition of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA):

A system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows the producer and consumer to share the risks and bounty of farming. The model is a subcategory of civic agriculture that has an overarching goal of strengthening a sense of community through local markets.  In return for subscribing to a harvest, subscribers receive either a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce or other farm goods.

How the Bear Butte Gardens’s CSA Works:

As a CSA subscriber, you will receive a share of freshly harvested vegetables weekly (full share) or bi-weekly (half share) during the garden growing season. With this CSA model, you will accept the risks of farming and the bounty. We have no control over nature, and there is the possibility of some crop failure; however, when we succeed, you will be partaking in the farm's bounty as a CSA member.

Goals:

• Provide fresh, nutritious, flavorful, certified organic produce to our CSA customers. 
• We can expose our CSA customers to a diverse variety of garden vegetables and provide recipes and suggestions for preparing and utilizing them.
• Encourage our CSA customers to eat a healthy diet, including high-quality vegetables.
• Pursue the trifecta of food quality: fresh, local, and organic.

USDA Organic Certified

• All produce included in the CSA is from our USDA Organic Certified Farm.

Share Size Options:

• Full Share (every week): A full share will usually feed a family of 3-4 or two people who eat a lot of vegetables, cook often, or are vegetarians.
• Half Share (every other week): A half share will feed a single person or couple who eats a fair amount of vegetables.

Cost:

• A Full share is $522.50 (includes sales tax)
• A Half Share is $276.93 (includes sales tax)

Pickup

• CSA customers must come to Bear Butte Gardens to pick up their vegetables.
• CSA customers must choose to pick up their vegetables either Thursday late afternoon between 4 pm and 6 pm or Saturday morning between 9 am and 11 am. We need to know which day you will be picking up your vegetables in advance so we can harvest the appropriate quantity of vegetables prior to pick up. CSA customers generally select their pick-up day when they purchase their share. If a CSA customer need to change their pickup day, we need to know a week in advance to manage and schedule farm labor to perform the harvesting.
• Any shares not picked up at the appropriate time will be distributed to another family or to the Sturgis food pantry without refund or replacement.

Schedule:

• CSA customers generally purchase their CSA share and make payment(s) sometime between January and May.
• CSA customers start picking up their shares in May (depending on the weather). 
• No shares will be distributed during Sturgis Motorcycle Rally week. 
• Share distribution generally continues until about the end of September (depending on the weather).
• Occasionally during the summer season we MAY choose to skip a week when garden production is very low and we will notify customers.

Payment:

• We provide only a limited quantity of CSA Shares each year. Don't hesitate to contact us and ask if CSA shares are available.
• We only reserve CSA shares upon receipt of the application (a photo of the completed app is fine) and an initial payment of at least $250 (full share) or $150 (half shares).
• Full payment must be made by May 1 – no exceptions.
• Full refunds (minus a $20 administrative fee) will only be made for requests made before May 1.