Community supported agriculture comes to Woodstock

Patty Taylor stands with Rachel, an American Milking Devon. Photos by D. Coffey.

The fields at Devon Point Farm in Woodstock are quiet in February. Some Buckeyes and Americana Bantams roam the property pecking at the ground. A herd of American Milking Devons graze on one of the fields. Nonetheless, owner Patty Taylor is deep into planning for a summer harvest.

Taylor grows an assortment of 35 different vegetables on 10 of the 93 acres that make up Devon Point Farm. And she sells her harvest before it has even grown. Up to 200 families will pay her for a season's worth of organically-grown produce before the planting has even begun in what's known as Community Supported Agricultural shares.

A full CSA share ($636 for full CSA share; $375 for half CSA share) will provide a family with seasonal vegetables for an 18-week growing season, starting in mid-June. Members choose one day a week to pick up their shares at the farm. The shares consist of the vegetables that are in season. In mid-June, those vegetables will most likely be salad greens and cold weather vegetables. As the summer progresses, shares include whatever crops are ripe for harvest. The process yields the freshest available produce, if not the widest selection available, throughout the summer.

Share members also pay with the understanding that they assume the same risks Taylor assumes as a farmer. If there is a loss due to weather conditions or pests, share members suffer the loss as well.

For Taylor, the concept brings together group purchasing power, organic farming, stewardship of the land and community building. “The good thing about a share is that people get an abundance of vegetables each week,” Taylor said. “But they get what is in season and what we have that week. If we have crop failure one week, there's usually something else I can go after.” The challenge for her is to have six to eight vegetables ready each week and to be constantly planting throughout the season, to ensure continuous crop harvesting.

Taylor calculates each week's share value by using the prices of organic vegetables sold in grocery stores. “I look at other CSAs in the area,” she said. “I balance it against this area's economy, as well. People get their money's worth.”

Taylor said her share holders range from moms with children to executives. She opens up easily-accessible portions of the field to members so they can pick their own cherry tomatoes, peas and beans. “We pick everything else for them,” Taylor said. “I don't care if you're an executive or a kid, it gives you five minutes to break out of your mold and decompress. It gives you a chance to get your hands dirty. Everyone loves that.”

While not certified organic, Taylor grows organically and uses the guidelines provided by the Organic Materials Review Institute. Taylor's husband Erick cleared about 25 cords of wood from a hedgerow recently in order to remove three invasives and chokecherries that were growing there. Chokecherry leaves release toxins that could kill the American Milking Devons that he raises on the farm. And ripping up the multiflora rose, Asiatic bittersweet and barberry is the only organic way to rid the farm of the invasive plants.

CSA share member Martin Fey claims that the Taylors provide what verges on a public service. “It's quality food. It's as good as organic. At the end of the year, we save money,” he said. “Growing locally is great and green. And it keeps money in the local area.”

Fey was loading his truck with wood that had been felled on Devon Point Farm and offered to the community. “It's fun, actually,” he said. “It keeps you in touch with the actual growing season. It seems a more natural, healthier way to eat.” As for the risks, he was philosophical. “Problems come with the territory,” he said. “We want to support our farmers.”