Great news! Trinity UMC and AHB Community School have partnered together to provide a convenient way for you to be a part of Community Supported Agriculture here in Austin. Soon, you can begin picking up local, certified organic food right here at Trinity.
Green Gate Farms is a small, family-run organic farm on Austin’s eastside, just 8 miles east of downtown. What makes them different from other farms, is that in addition to delicious food, they have an open-door policy at their farm. When you join their Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA), you receive discounts on their farm camps, workshops and events as well as access to camping and canoeing.
Here’s how CSA membership works:
- Each week for which you have signed up, you receive up to two bags full of 8-10 varieties of produce. They balance the familiar (carrots) with the unusual (kohlrabi)
- You can add eggs, flowers (and maybe meat) to your order via your own on-line account
- You pick up your order each Thursday between 2:45 and 5 pm here at Trinity (4001 Speedway.)
- All food not picked up by the end of the day on Thursday will be donated to Hope Food Pantry for distribution Friday morning unless arrangements have been made in advance (email info@trinitychurchofaustin.org or call 459-5835.)
Members also enjoy:
- A weekly newsletter with tips and recipes.
- New online ordering system that makes shopping and payments extremely easy.
- Convenient pick-up locations and times throughout the week.
- Access to our farms for canoeing, camping, field trips, volunteering, exploring and relaxing.
- Discounts on farm events, like Farm Camps, Yoga in the Hayloft, and cooking classes.
- Advance invitations to on-farm workshops and special events like Slow Food Farm Tour, Dai Due Supper Club, cooking classes, and potlucks at the farm.
- New friends who share your interest in healthy living and good food!
Any questions? Check out www.greeengatefarms.net. You can also make further inquiries at info@trinitychurchofaustin.org.
Ready to sign up? Visit http://csa.farmigo.com/join/greengatefarms/spring2012 and be sure to select Trinity UMC/AHB Community School as your pickup site. All sign ups and payments go directly to Green Gate Farms via their website (please don’t send sign up requests or payments to Trinity.)
From Green Gate Farm’s website:
Community Supported Agriculture is a connection between a nearby farmer and the people who eat the food that the farm produces. Food producers + food consumers + annual commitment to one another = CSA and untold possibilities
– Sharing the Harvest, the book written by the farmers who harvested the first CSA vegetable shares in the U.S. in 1986
For Green Gate Farm, that means:
- Providing healthy, seasonal, certified organic vegetables and flowers, and top quality meats and eggs.
- A place where decision makers can see sustainable methods in action.
- A place where children explore livestock and fields, and where adults learn and participate in the health of their living space.
- We want our farm to inspire others to farm.
As we enter our sixth year of operation, we still depend upon you, not middlemen, to keep our farm running. This unsolicited report gives you a sense of how it works when folks pick up at the farm.
Additional questions? Check out our CSA Frequently Asked Questions.
We encourage you to come out to the farm to experience the rhythms of farm life and see where your food comes from during the season.