"It's very sweet and delicious."
That's how Sherry Pullen describes the pure produce she grows at Tree Grace Farms. The garden operation, complete with goats and chickens, is powered by CSA.
"CSA is community supported agriculture. It's where someone can buy a half share or a full share of my garden and then they come every week, approximately from June to September, and pick up their bag of fruits and vegetables," Pullen said.
Shareholders can enjoy the fruits of Pullen's labor, and work never stops on the farm. She's busy now in the colder months prepping her organic acreage for harvest season.
"In the winter I'm getting the land ready, I'm composting. I don't use any chemicals, so I use fertilizer that's all natural and composted manures."
By investing in the farm, shareholders get the freshest goods and the satisfaction of stocking their kitchens with locally grown food.
"Shareholders can go through and look to see exactly where their food came from and the people that are picking their fruits and vegetables."
After picking vegetables and herbs fresh from the garden, Pullen bags the produce for her shareholders to pick up once a week during harvest season.
"So I start the minute I can see, when the sun comes up, and I pick until about ten, and then I get their bags all ready. So after ten, they can come and pick up their bags, so everything was picked that day."
By owning a share of the farm's harvest, those involved with CSAs also own some uncertainty.
"This past season with the drought was really rough. The shareholders still had bags to pick up, but they weren't as big as normal. It got so hot when it was 112, and the winds, that a lot of the melons just exploded, and the greens, they just dried up and blew away," Pullen said.
Pullen usually sells extra produce on the market, but she said serving the shareholders is on the top of her priority list.
"Because I wanted to take care of the shareholders, they took the risk right along with me, and they're first," Pullen said.
Weighing the pros and cons, Pullen said community supported agriculture is a promising program.
For their fees, shareholders receive about 10 pounds of vine ripened produce per week.
