Help us extend our harvest to others!
Our Community Shared Agriculture ProgramΒ Fund goes to two things:
- Giving free weekly veggies to local newcomers, seniors with low food access, and other community partners.
- Offering discounted weekly veggiesΒ to those would would find it difficult to otherwise access local produce through our CSA.
Veggie & Flower Subscriptions
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership with a farm and the community eating from it.
You sign up at the start of the growing season to essentially buy a share of our farm’s bounty.
We get money at the start of the season to buy seeds, compost, and pay wages and in return you get fresh produce or flowers each week from a place you know grown by farmers you trust.Β
Our CSA subscriptions are more than fresh produce β itβs a way for you to experience the seasons and abundance of life on a local farm.
Vegetable Subscription
Our veggie subscription provides over 50 crops & 200 varieties of vegetables and herbs from our farm + optional add-ons from partner farms.
This is a full season subscription. Get your choice of our farm’s harvests each week for our entire harvest season.
Timing
From June to October (22 weeks), come each week to pick up your veggies. TUESDAYS: Our farm in South Surrey from 2-6pm or to an accessible East Vancouver pick up site from 3-7pm.
How it Works
Members get our farm canvas tote to fill with anything from our farm’s harvest each week. You decide what goes in your bag.
It’s like your personal farmer’s market!
What Size Do I Choose?
Get what you want and can use. You’ll sign up based on the adults in your household eating the produce together each weekΒ (kids ride free):
- One-adult household – $31.50/week
- Two-adult household – $47.25/week
- Three+ adult household – $63/week
2.5% of pricing covers online transaction fees.
Choose your subscription size on the number of adults in your household who will be eating together from your share each week. In order for us to harvest enough for you, it is very important that you sign up accurately to your household size and not according to how much you think you might take. You’re getting full access to the farm, which is more than just a price/vegetable.
The bag is your weekly upper limit & fits more than your weekly fee no matter your household size.
Sliding Scale Fees
Thanks to Soul Fire Farm for inspiration in developing sliding scale CSAs.
Membership Benefits
- Weekly pick or βshareβ of produce.
- Access to bulk crops when we have a bumper harvest.
- Exclusive access to our u-pick patch.
- Add-ons you may purchase from our partners (tree fruit, mushrooms, bread, & more!)
- Weekly recipes and e-newsletter to help you use the food we give you.
- Resources on storing & preserving veggies.
- Winter squash harvestΒ before our annual October Harvest Celebration (choose your own to take home!).
- First access & discounts on on-farm workshops offered through the season.
Handshake Agreement
Signing up is an agreement between us as your farmers and you as a CSA farm member.
As your farmers,Β we pledge to:
- GrowΒ high quality vegetables and/or flowers using organic & regenerative growing practices.
- Work hard to mitigate the risks inherent in farmingΒ posed by weather, pests, etc.
- Write a weekly newsletter with good stuff.
- Provide opportunities to connectΒ with the farm and us farmers.
When you sign up and pay to secure your spot as a 2024 member,Β you pledge to:
- Sign up for the correct household size (if purchasing a vegetable share). We are using the honour system that you have selected the household size appropriate for who will regularly eat together from your share.
- Share the risk.Β You will share in both the bounty and the risks of farming.
- Be added to CSA communications.Β You will be added to our email list and you need toΒ addΒ csa@arocha.caΒ to your email contactsΒ (so we donβt end up in your spam or promo tab).
- Be responsible to pick up your share (or send a substitute) during pick up times. Otherwise, your veggies may be donated.
- Coordinate the splitting of a share yourselves (if applicable). We allow splitting shares between you and another household of the same size. You are responsible for splitting payment and coordinating which week is whose for pick up. We will provide a bag for each party if this is noted at sign up.
- Make payments (if choosing monthly). Monthly payments are still a commitment to pay for and complete the entire season. There are no refunds or cancellations once purchased (except for unforeseen circumstances & transfers can be arranged mid-season if needed).
- Understand the start date is flexible.Β However, weβll continue for the total promised weeks.
Testimonials
Frequently Asked Questions
Each adult in your household regularly consuming food from your share should be included in the size you select with kids riding free. When you sign up to become a member of the farm this year, your fee is paying for a relationship to our farm with a weekly free-choice share of our harvests, access to u-pick crops, and other perks (see the list to the left!).
Choose your share size based on the number of adults in your household who will be eating from your share each week, not by the quantity of vegetables you think you need. All sizes get full access to what you can eat all season.
Each week, you’ll have your choice from around 10-20 vegetables and herbs. Take what you’d like! As the season changes, so will the selection.
In the spring, there will be crops like leafy greens, beets, radishes, and peas. In the summer, there will be tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, and carrots. In the fall, there will be root vegetables and winter squash. By the end of the season, you will have had access to over 50 crops and 200 varieties! Here’s a seasonality chart estimating what is available each month.
Is there something you really want to make sure we’ll have? Send us an e-mail to ask at csa@arocha.ca.
Yes! If you signed up for the appropriate share size (one-adult, two-adult, etc.), then you’ll take what you need for the week. There may be some weeks we have a limit on some crops to make sure everyone gets some, such as tomatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. Otherwise, take your pick!
We put limit signs (e.g. 220g green beans/bag or 1 cabbage/bag) when our harvest can only go so far for each member. This may happen the first time it appears on the harvest line but when our harvests are really rolling, the limit sign come off in the following weeks. Some items are so popular that we couldn’t grow enough for it to be truly limitless such as tomatoes and winter squash, so expect that a few things will always have a weekly limit.
There’s also “take lots” signs that will appear so you can really take to your heart’s content (think canning, freezing, other preserving). This often happens for cucumbers, summer squash, and even basil.
We’ll have a staff member present at each pick-up and will make sure there’s enough for everyone to get the full value of their share each week no matter what time you arrive in the pick up window. When favorites are in seasons β like tomatoes, broccoli, etc. β there will be a cap/limit on quantities for each person so that there’s enough for everyone. Otherwise, fill your bag with anything you’ll use for the week.
We put limit signs (e.g. 220g green beans/bag or 1 cabbage/bag) when our harvest can only go so far for each member. This may happen the first time it appears on the harvest line but when our harvests are really rolling, the limit sign come off in the following weeks. Some items are so popular that we couldn’t grow enough for it to be truly limitless such as tomatoes and winter squash, so expect that a few things will always have a weekly limit.
There’s also “take lots” signs that will appear so you can really take to your heart’s content (think canning, freezing, other preserving). This often happens for cucumbers, summer squash, and even basil.
For the 2024 season, we have two locations available:
- Our farm on 1620 192 Street, Surrey.
- A pick-up location in East Vancouver near Commercial & 1st.Β
You’ll choose your pick-up location when you sign up.
Hear’s what our members love about our CSA:
“[Free-choice at pick up]Β was the best thing about your CSA. I like to plan my meals weekly and cook from recipes and this is so much easier when I can choose which veggies I want and how much I take.”
“Definitely ate more produce this summer than we ever have. We did feel like we got our value!“
“Bringing my kids to the farmΒ helped them be more adventurous (picky eaters) towards produce and we enjoyed eating fresh, fantastic taste.”
“I love that the veggies are fresh, organic, and such great quality!”
“Good value for a family with growing kids. One tote bag was all our veggies for the week, minus a few staples we buy regularly from the grocery.”
“Excellent value. Could take what we needed without excess. Less waste. Perfect amount.”
“It was fun to get to eat veggies that you wouldn’t normally buy in the store like mizuna and brussels sprout tips, or getting heirloom varieties of veggies.”
“[The biggest benefit of being a CSA member is] the amazingly fresh produce, increased knowledge about what’s in season, trying new vegetables, learning about how to prepare a vegetable from the staff or other CSA members, sense of community, weekly newsletter with updates about the farm and recipes, and supporting a local farm.”
“We eat what is in season and I love that we can eat local food and avoid buying food that has to travel long distances to get to us.”
If you will be away during the harvest season, feel free to have friends or family pick up your share. Vacations are a great way to share the CSA experience with someone else!
Share Price Assistance. To request assistance, please e-mail csa@arocha.ca.
If you’re able to give a little extra on top of your share fees, consider making a donation toward CSA ProgramΒ Fund, which goes directly toward:
- Subsidized shares for other CSA members who need a reduced price in order to access our local produce.
- Farm to Families shares that fully cover the costs for local families with the greatest need.
We grow melons each year and will offer add-ons of tree fruits through partnerships with other farms. Any fruit from other farms will be an additional cost to the price of your share.
Your share is meant to give you enough produce for the cooking needs of your house including visitors, potlucks, and dinner parties.Β Any adult regularly eating from your share should be counted as an adult member of your household when you sign-up. However, taking extra produce each week to give away fresh to friends not included in the share you signed up for is not an appropriate use of our model.
No, membership is for the full 22-week harvest season.
With our take-what-you-want system, it’s harder to plan quantities for every other week pick-ups. Do consider joining with another family of equal adults to split a share. Just make sure to coordinate and alternate your pick-up weeks. If you do this, give us everyone’s names when you sign-up so we know who to expect and get everyone on the farm newsletter for any updates.
If you’d like to join with another person but don’t know who to do it with, let us know at csa@arocha.ca so we can connect you with each other.
Yes, if there is space. Once the harvest season is underway in June, we can pro-rate the cost.
Membership costs are not refundable. This is because we use the money early in the year to pay for our upfront costs (seeds, compost, labor, etc.) in order to plant your food and flowers. If you would like to end your membership mid-season, we ask that you find someone to take over your share.
Exceptions made for unforeseen circumstances such as illness, life-changes, etc.
Flower Subscription
We offer a 10-week summer flower subscription: July 23-September 24, 2024.
Pick up a large, seasonal mixed bouquet each Tuesday. Pick up time & locations are the same our veggie subscriptions (once a week at our farm or in East Van).
Bouquets are a discounted price in subscription ($25 value for only $22).Β We grow over 100 varieties so you’ll see new blooms every week. Expect a different palette every week: dreamy & whimsical to bright & joyful — we’ll have a whole range.
We have summer standards such as sunflowers, zinnias, and dahlias along with specialty flowers you can’t buy in grocery stores like china asters, cosmos, scabiosa, bachelor’s buttons, and so much more.
Did you know that Canada imports close to $100 million of cut flowers annually. Most of these are shipped over 6,000 km from Colombia and Ecuador. The environmental impact of purchasing imported cut flowers is massive.
Our flowers have a negligible carbon footprint thanks to regenerative practices. Consider buying local for flowers!
*The 2024 flower CSA is over, keep an eye out for the 2025 sign-up.
Custom Flowers: July-Sept
Email us at csa@arocha.ca to inquire for availability.
DIY Buckets
We offer DIY buckets of 60-80 stems for those looking for seasonal flowers for events — weddings, showers, parties, birthdays, any reason you have. Buckets include fillers/greenery as well. You send us a palette and we’ll work with you with to find varieties to match.
Wedding Flowers
We can also make bridal bouquets, bridesmaid bouquets, and boutonnières.
Growing Practices
We use regenerative practices including the use of cover crops, crop rotations, and planting habitat for beneficial insects. We’re transitioning to no-till production to minimize the physical disturbance of our soil to increase soil organic matter content. This sequesters carbon into the ground to mitigate carbon emissions and increase our resilience to climate change.
While we are not certified organic, our practices are considered organic so you can rest assured no synthetic chemicals are applied to the land or your food.
Our farm is part of A Rocha Canada’s Brooksdale Environmental Centre. With our colleagues, we work for stewardship in the Taβtalu River watershed (Little Campbell River) within the Metro Vancouver area. Learn more about our conservation science work.
Our Team
Here are our leading ladies!
We also have a team of seasonal staff (including apprentices!), conservation residents, and volunteers. If you join our veggie subscription, you’ll get to know this year’s crew in our weekly newsletters.
Want to learn more about regenerative agriculture? Keep an eye on our employment page to join the team. Read below about our new apprenticeship program.
Join us — FARM APPRENTICESHIP
The application window for our 2024 apprenticeship program is closed. Stay tuned for 2025 (applications usually open in Dec/January).
We provide paid farm apprenticeships for a comprehensive educational experience of our regenerative farm from the inside. Apprentices work in all aspects of farm production from soil preparation to harvest, seeding to cultivation, tractors to hand hoes, and farm planning to marketing.
We are part of the Young Agrarians farm apprenticeship program.
Have questions about the apprenticeship program? Send us an email at csa@arocha.ca.
In addition to hands on learning – we offer apprentices:
- One-on-one support including mentor check-ins.
- Responsibility rotations shared with the lead farm team including the management of farmerβs market sales, the propagation house, direct sowing, flower bouquets, wash station, and others as interested.
- Connection to a regional farmer network (farm tours, farmer potlucks, etc.).
- Biweekly training coordinated by the Agriculture Program Coordinator, our on-farm educator. Topical training includes soil health, botany basics, seed saving, climate-smart agriculture, + more (see more topics on our 2024 apprenticeship application posting).
Get skills in:
- No-till + tillage systems. We have converted half our farm to no-till and are going into our third season honing that system. We plan to convert the entire farm at some point but until then, apprentices get a chance to experience both!
- Assessing soil health.
- Soil health best management practices.
- Thermophilic (hot) compost making.
- Crop rotation
- Mixing soil for transplanting
- Preparing seedbeds
- Seeding and transplanting
- Setting up irrigation
- Techniques for managing fertility
- Weed control strategies
- Cover cropping
- Harvesting
- Seed saving
- Identifying beneficial insects vs. pests
- Post-harvest handling
- Crop storage
- Cut flower production & arranging
- Herbal tea production
- Natural dye production
- Tractor basic operation (2- & 4-wheeled)
- Operation of hand tools
- Maintenance of small engines
- Critical thinking
- Active listening
- Time management
- Self-care
- Team building
- Facilitating team meetings
- Stress management
- Safe body mechanics & ergonomics
- Adapting to changing circumstances
- Networking
- Collaborating with community
- Value-added product creation & preservation
- Crop planning
- Volunteer management & supervising others
- Farmerβs market sales
- Farm stand management
- Farm-based workshops
- Farm marketing
- CSA member newsletters
- Customer service
- Supervising others
- Annual budget planning + basic bookkeeping
- Record keeping
Connect
During the growing season, we have farm fresh produce available at farm store + at the Langley Community Farmer’s Market.
We also have dried herbs from the farm, seasonal jams, coffee, and a selection of locally made and fair trade gifts. Follow our farm on Instagram for hours.
Subscribe to the Friends of the Farm newsletter below to get notified for CSA sign up + monthly farm happenings during the growing season!
Workshops
Stay tuned for 2024 workshop dates. Join our Friends of the Farm newsletter and follow us on Instagram to make sure you don’t miss out. Our veggie & flower subscription members get a discount on workshops.
- 20 July: NATURAL DYE CRAFTS with dye plants grown on our farm. Choose your own project. Bandanas, napkins, scrunchies, wool ornaments & more! This will
- (Digital) DIY DEHYDRATED BACKPACKING/CAMPING MEALS. How to make meals for your adventures using dehydrated veggies & herbs from our farm.
- 17 Aug: PRESSED FLOWER ARTWORK. Learn from local artist, Catherine Ruth Moyer, and make your own pressed flower art piece with flowers from our farm (+ press more flowers to take home!).
- Seed saving. We’ll have seed saving information and free seed packets from our farm available at our annual Harvest Celebration in October.
Have a workshop idea or request? Send us an e-mail.
Farm to Families
We donate shares to newcomer immigrant and refugee families, seniors, and school kids through local partners in our Farm to Families Program.Β We also send extra produce to Sources to distribute to food banks. Last year, we gave over 5,000 poundsΒ of vegetables.
We also provide hands-on training in gardening, food preparation, and nutrition. Monetary gifts toward our agriculture program make it possible to grow with giving in mind.
$250 will support a household (3+ people) this year. Join us to share with our community!