BETHEL — Three Bethel area farms—”Food for Friends” in Hanover, “No View Farm” in Rumford, and “New Spoke Farm” in West Paris—are now accepting customers for their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs.
A CSA is a partnership between farmers and their local communities. Customers pay for weekly CSA food boxes upfront, providing farmers with the capital they need to purchase seeds, supplies, and equipment before the growing season begins.
New Spoke Farm 92 Stearns Hill Road, West Paris
Farmers Janelle Plummer and Ross Spenser offer three food box sizes and three host/pick up locations
Sizes :
Full shares / $675 / 6-8 items per week
Large shares / $775 / 8-10 items per week
Half shares / $425 / 4-6 items per week
Pick-up locations:
New Spoke Farm, 92 Stearns Hill Road, West Paris; Night Moves Bread in South Portland and Maggie Mae’s in Yartmouth
Number of weeks:
They plan to get started in early June or late May and will go until October.
Additional information
Their “weekly spread” is ten or more “freshly harvested, certified organic, vibrant vegetables to choose from,” chosen from over 60 varieties of vegetables, plus flowers and herbs on their 1.5 acre farm.
They accept SNAP/ EBT.
Plummer and Spenser publish a weekly newsletter of, “notes from the field, photos, recipes, and tips for food storage and processing, plus our encouragement and some inspiration to try the less common vegetables offered that week.”
https://www.newspokefarm.com/the-csa
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Food for Friends Farm, Newry
Farmers Lane Callahan and Devin Aspy, are in their second season of farming and of offering a CSA. They grow on on less than one acre, in part because they are growing their farm slowly.
They use a no-till/low-till method to minimize disturbance of the soil’s microbiology. They follow organic practices without any pesticides, but are not yet certified organic.
Callahan and Aspy write, “If it’s a good eggplant year, the customer is liable to get inundated with it and learn to love baba ganoush. Alternatively, if it happens to be a wet year and all the tomatoes get early blight, there may be no tomatoes in the share at all. This trust between the farmer and consumer deepens the connection between a community and their food.”
Sizes:
Small shares/$425/ five items per week
Large shares/$675/ eight items per week
They offer a traditional CSA where food is selected for you or you may choose your own vegetables
Pick-up location:
Bethel, Maine on Thursday afternoons (location TBD) or on Saturdays at the Bethel Farmer’s Market, on The Parkway. The Farmer’s Market opens May 17.
Number of weeks:
Their CSA’s will start in June and end in October (20 weeks).
Flower bouquets are an add-on, when available.
Food for Friends full information sheet can be accessed via email:
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No View Farm & Bakery COOP, 855 S Rumford Road, Rumford
The CSA’s at No View Farm are set up a little differently. There are no pre-packed boxes, instead patrons use a “shopping cart method” to purchase goods. In exchange for a pre-season purchase of a share, they offer a minimum 15% off anything produced by No View Farm. For example your $100.00 CSA will get you a minimum of $115.00 in products that you choose.
Owner Annette Cochran grows over 80 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flower seedlings and will have some seedlings available to purchase.
Prices
Their CSA Shares vary in price from $100 to $600.
Pick up locations
Pick-up is at No View Farm.
Number of Weeks
Many of their products are offered year-round, so this is not applicable.
Additional information
The Market features fresh local produce, eggs, breads and baked goods, local crafts, gifts, jewelry, pickles, maple and honey products, jellies and jams, natural Laundry Detergent and organic baby products. No View offers various craft classes. Cochran has camp sites, and rooms for rent, too. https://noviewfarm.org/
207- 364-6300 Annette or https://no-view-farm-inn-bakery.square.site/product/community-supported-agriculture-share-purchase-or-share-reload/265?cs=true&cst=custom
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