What’s a CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a seasonal subscription to a farm’s produce and products. Members pay a subscription fee prior to the growing season, and in exchange they receive a weekly bundle of fresh produce once the season begins.

A CSA is a highly beneficial model for both members and farmers because it provides a direct outlet for food grown by the farmers (no waste + financial assurance) while supporting the optimal health and culinary enjoyment of its members, all while fostering strong relationships within our local community!

CSAs are specifically beneficial to farmers because they provide an income stream in the off-season, right when we need it the most to purchase supplies and seed for the upcoming season. Your CSA membership is the best way to directly benefit small farms, and as your farmers, we will love you forever for your support.

What’s the ethic behind joining a CSA?

Locally produced food is unequivocally superior in nutritional quality to anything that you can find in a grocery store. This has in large part to do with the time between harvest and purchase by the consumer. Food loses vitality once it is harvested, so eating a beet that came from central California four weeks ago is not going to provide the same nutrients as a beet harvested from a local farm yesterday. The superior quality of local food also has a lot to do with the growing practices of small local farms. Large, industrialized farming operations commonly rely on tilling for efficiency and chemical sprays that expedite plant growth and eradicate pests. Many of these large scale practices result in nutrient-deficient soils which cannot sustainably produce food without the use of chemical fertilizers. The use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides in turn produces nutrient-deficient food. So, while the cost of buying local organic food may seem higher than what you can buy in a grocery store, the cost to your health and the planet of eating food produced in these ways is undeniably much much greater.

If you are someone who cares about optimizing your health, enjoying fresh, flavorful foods, knowing your farmers, and reducing your impact on climate change, we encourage you to join a CSA.

Why should I choose the Space Twins CSA?

Great question! We are so fortunate to live in an area where there are many thriving small organic farms producing excellent quality food. We are proud to be among the cohort of local farmers and encourage interested CSA members to check out other local CSAs in order to find the one that best fits your budget and needs.

What distinguishes our CSA is our growing practices and our story. We are an owner operated husband-wife farming business that prioritizes soil health to produce nutrient-dense vegetables for our community. We consider it our greatest honor and responsibility to provide high quality produce to our local markets. Our methods are centered around sustainability, soil health, and farming on a human scale. Everything that we do is made possible by our collaborative farming model at White Lotus Farm, where we live and work alongside other farmers who share our passion for regenerative land management and Earth care. Each resident of White Lotus Farm manages a different niche of the overall farm operation, and it is through this division of labor that we are able to hone our skills and focus our attention to our specific niche in order to produce the highest quality goods possible.

Becoming a member of our CSA means that you will not only enjoy delicious high quality foods at the peak of in-season freshness, but it means that you will also be a vital part of our farm story. Your membership in our CSA makes our farming endeavors possible, and we are deeply encouraged by your support and shared love of this planet.

What are your payment options and can I pay for the CSA in installments?

We offer three payment options:

1. Pay in full within 30 days of sign-up. This is our most appreciated option. Your share will be fully and officially secured upon receipt of payment.

2. Pay half within 30 days of sign-up, and pay the other half anytime before/on our deadline on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Your share will be secured upon receipt of your initial deposit. Reminder emails will be sent one month prior to the payment deadline for any outstanding balances.

3. Pay for your share with SNAP benefits. The stipulation with this option is that you must pay for your weekly share in person at our booth at the Port Townsend Saturday Market. We are able to accept a limited number of SNAP members, so please let us know when you sign-up if you plan to use SNAP benefits for your CSA share.

We do not offer other payment plans for our CSA at this time. Members are asked to pay the full amount of their share by our sign-up deadline of Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Receipt of payment secures your share. If payment is not received in full by our deadline, we will begin accepting members from our waitlist.

Are your vegetables organic?

Our vegetables are organic in every way except in the legal sense. We are not certified organic producers because the cost of becoming one is prohibitive to our young venture. We are deeply committed to growing food in the most responsible way possible, from selecting organic seed and propagation mix to practicing no-till garden management to using only organic amendments and beyond. Check out our growing practices to learn more, and please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

As a CSA member, what happens to my weekly share if I am out of town?

If you are out of town or otherwise unable to pick-up your CSA share for one or more weeks of the season, there are a few options:

1. You can gift your share to a friend. Please contact us to let us know if you plan to do this so we know who will pick up your share in your absence.

2. You can donate your share. We will do all the leg work, just let us know in advance of your absence that you would like your share donated and we will make sure it goes to a local household in need.

3. You can request extra items in your share following your absence. Maybe you’re out of town one weekend, but having guests the next. We would be happy to bulk up your share upon your return to make up for what you didn’t receive while you were away. Just let us know if you would like us to add extra items to your share upon return!

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions about our CSA. It would be an honor and joy to be your farmers!