Community Supported Agriculture, more commonly referred to as CSA, is an awesome way for gardeners to connect with their communities and for communities to connect with the source of their food and feel a bond with their local farmers. In a world that can be sometimes disconnected, it has never been more important to have community engagement. Not to mention, for a grower, a guaranteed sale is reassuring and encouraging. In this post, we are going to show you how storage veggies can grow your business and please your customers.

Planning Out Your Growing Season and CSA Strategies

When you’re planning out your CSA offer for the growing season, you need to consider a few things:

• How long will your season be? Do you want a 25-week summer CSA program, extend your season a little bit longer or do you want to have a 4 season program? 
• If you’re planning an extended season; are you able to produce enough variety in the colder months to keep your members engaged?
• What do your customers want to eat?

How to Add Variety and Keep Your Customers Happy 

Happy customers mean recurring customers. Want to add so variety to your baskets? Please enter crops like winter squash, potatoes, and onions! 

In the fall and winter, you will surely have greens in your greenhouses, perhaps some kale and swiss chard if you are adventurous. But you will undoubtedly be needing some bulk and variety to complete and incentivize your CSA members to extend their membership with you into the winter months. There is no question that storage veggies can grow your business.

You can conserve and store properly prepared and triaged potatoes, squash, and onions from anywhere from 4 to 6 months. That means that while you are slowing down during the winter months your baskets will still be full and bountiful for your loyal customers. 

Storage Veggies Can Grow Your Business. 

The price for conservation vegetables, since they require lots of time and storage, is quite advantageous for growers. The average price for organic potatoes and onions is around CAD$3.50 a pound (USD$6.00 a kilo). Those are great revenues for small-scale market gardens. Adding conservation vegetables to your CSA is advantageous any way you look at it. It’s great for your members and for you!