CSA
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a shared connection between a farmer and the folks who eat the food the farmer grows. It is a mutual commitment between the farmer and the shareholders. The farmer grows the food and the shareholders reap the bounty, as well as sharing the risks.
What does it mean for you?
It means that you will have the opportunity to support the students enrolled in the Sustainable Farming and Food Systems program here at Tompkins Cortland Community College! You will have an opportunity to gain a greater connection to where your food is coming from by eating sustainably grown vegetables from the TC3 Farm.
What’s the cost?
Making the CSA affordable to everyone is an important goal. The TC3 Farm offers shares on a sliding scale. Student share prices are the low end of each sliding scale with a limited number of scholarships available to eligible Tompkins Cortland Community College students to help offset the cost:
What's in my Share Each Week?
Being part of a CSA means sharing in the harvest. It's hard to say for sure what your share will look like each week. The season usually starts off slow but picks up as it progresses. There are many things that might affect a weekly share like weather and pest pressure but Todd will send a weekly newsletter out ahead of the pickup providing an idea of what's in it as well as supplying recipes, storage tips and updates about goings on at the farm.
Are You Certified Organic?
The TC3 Farm is not Certified Organic, but all of our farming practices adhere to USDA and NOP Organic Standards. We don’t use any synthetic/chemical pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or fertilizers. We rely on crop rotations, cover crops, compost and variety selection to maintain soil health and limit disease and pest pressure. Want to know more? Just ask!
Sliding scale of $435-$505.
Geared towards households of 1-2.
Features at least 5-9 items per week.
Average share price = $470.
Sliding scale of $545-$615.
Geared to larger households and veggie lovers.
Features at least 7-11 items per week.
Average share price = $580.
Sliding scale of $245-$315.
Share starts at the end of August and is geared to households of 1-2.
Features at least 5-9 items per week.
Average share price = $280.
Sliding scale of $300-$370.
Share starts at the end of August and is geared to larger households and veggie lovers.
Features at least 7-11 items per week.
Average share price = $335.
The TC3 Farm is proud to be a participating farm in Healthy Food For All. Healthy Food For All provides subsidized CSA shares to income eligible individuals and families. Follow the link below to the TC3 Farm Healthy Food For All enrollment form.
FAQs
For expanded information, click on each question below to learn more. Have a question that isn't listed below? Send Farmer Todd an email at tm1@tompkinscortland.edu.
The TC3 Farm offers two share sizes, a regular share and a deluxe share. The regular share is geared to individuals, smaller households, or folks that eat out multiple nights a week. The deluxe share is geared to “veggie lovers,” larger households or folks who are committed to cooking at home.
CSA pickups take place in the barn at the TC3 Farm located at 100 Cortland Rd. in Dryden on Wednesdays from 3:30-6 p.m. We are located about 1/2 mile north of Tompkins Cortland Community College’s main entrance on the right. Look for the TC3 Farm sign across the street from Creative Touch Salon.
The TC3 Farm uses a “free-choice” model for pickups. Dependent on what’s available to harvest, the farm determines the number of items available to each share size (Regular or Deluxe) and each shareholder is able to choose what they would like for that week. Due to availability, some items may be limited to ensure that all shareholders are able to receive that item. We also set the volume/amount for each item. For example, some weeks there may be a choice of 1 bag of lettuce, 1 pint of roots, 4 summer squash, 1 box of cherry tomatoes. In this example, if there are no limits, and you wanted 2 bags of lettuce, that would count as 2 items.
If you know that you are going to be out of town or can’t make a certain pickup day, you can always have a friend or family member pick up your share. If you can’t make it before 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, the barn will still be open until about 8 p.m. but be unstaffed. If you completely forget about your share on Wednesday, please get in touch with Farmer Todd to arrange for pick up the following day. Forgotten shares will be donated.
The farm also has a flex-week option. With this option, if you let Farmer Todd know ahead of time that you can’t make a pickup, there will be an extra pick up at the end of the season.
We are not always able to accommodate you taking extra items another week if you missed a pickup. We harvest weekly based on the number of folks we have picking up.
We will have some paper bags available but please bring your own bags.