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The Fruitful Hills CSA community of horse-powered family farms grows the products for 25 weeks of deliveries in the summer, beginning early May and ending mid-October. Our community also grows products for a winter CSA, beginning mid-November, and ending in late April with 12 bi-weekly deliveries. Fruitful Hills CSA grows high quality, healthy products. We started with vegetables 15 years ago, and now include eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, raw dairy, honey, canned goods, cornmeal, popcorn, and apple cider. Fruitful Hills CSA offers farmers in our community the opportunity to take part in our grower’s circle. Members of our grower’s circle must uphold exacting standards for quality and land stewardship. Eight families grow a variety of vegetables for the summer and winter CSA seasons with consistently high quality. Our crops include heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, lettuces, baby leaf salad mixes, carrots, radishes, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choi, kale, peppers, cherry tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, potatoes, and strawberries. Share subscribers in the summer 2023 season received strawberries for 5 weeks, melons for 9 weeks, tomatoes for 19 weeks, and lettuce for 16 weeks. Our winter share subscribers enjoy a mix of root crops, fresh and storage vegetables, canned goods, fresh salad mixes, and head lettuce. Using high tunnels in the winter season gives our subscribers soil-grown fresh greens. We delivered fresh greens even in December, January, and February. We grow varieties harvested and delivered at the peak of their flavor and nutrition. We grow for flavor, not for easy shipping. We grow vegetables high in minerals and nutrients. We avoid the use of synthetic sprays and fertilizer, only using products labeled for organic production. We build soils with green cover crops, compost, and manure, using proper withdrawal periods for manure application of 120 days before harvest. Using horsepower for field work and growing crops in high tunnels, we generate a small carbon footprint. We heat the high tunnels with wood in the coldest days of winter for the early tomatoes. Doing so allows us to deliver to subscribers fresh, soil-grown tomatoes early in the summer season. We raise our animals outdoors on free-range pasture. During extreme weather, we provide proper shelter. A benefit to subscribers is the annual farm visit and tour, held in early summer. We invite subscribers to visit the farms to see our farming practices and talk with the people growing their food. We feel it’s proper to say, “From our fields to your table, using sustainable farming practices with your family’s health and the health of the environment for future generations in mind.” |
