Hello Dear CSA Members! Welcome to the Fall 2024 CSA program! We are so happy and grateful to have each and every one of you as members for the next 12 weeks! We hope that you enjoy the season immensely and have a great enough experience to continue with us in the Winter and Spring seasons as well.
The following are all the details for the 2024 FALL CSA PROGRAM. The season is a full 12 weeks long with the final week coming on Thursday & Friday, December 19th and 20th.
It is recommended that you print out this entire packet to utilize as a reference for the entire season (we recommend reducing the size to 50% - or so - to reduce paper and ink). This packet of information will be what we will cover in the pre-season meeting.
THE PRESEASON MEETING IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL MEMBERS.
The pre-season meeting will be held on Monday, September 23rd @ 6pm (you should already have received e-mail communication regarding this). If you have any questions, this would be a great time to ask. We will do our best to keep it short. 45 Minutes is the goal. The meeting will
stay posted for about a month after the meeting so you can go back and re-watch it. To tune in to the Facebook Live and to participate you must already be a member* of the Ahavah Community Facebook Group before the meeting.
** The video will be posted to Youtube and sent out for all non-Facebook users and for those who cannot make it.
Start Here!
What to expect:
2024 is our 10th CSA YEAR!!!, and we are proud to say that we have built one of the best CSA programs in the United States, and this past year we were recognized as the most sustainable farm in the United States for the second year in a row (2023 and 2024!!)!
These accolades don't come without very high standards of excellency, although we are far from perfect, we strive very hard to ensure that our CSA program reflects this and we hope you will have the best CSA experience you have ever had because we want you to be members of our FARMily for years to come!
VARIETY:
The season is 12 weeks long (Winter will be 8 weeks). One of the things that makes our CSA unique is our ability to balance out the value of your shares throughout the entire season, every season. This means that you won't receive a glut of veggies at the beginning of the season or really sparse shares at the end or vice versa. We grow a lot of varieties that other farms don't grow, but we also try not to grow too many "odd" varieties and try to keep those to the fringes for a fun change-up. Instead we grow mostly the staples you're familiar with and expand from there. We also try our best to include just one, sometimes two, varieties of microgreens in each share. These are highly sought after, and truth be told, many members' ultimate reason for being a member - they are that good. The varieties and some of the "bulk" may change throughout the season, but we try our best to keep things balanced. To learn more about what we grow, CLICK HERE.
VALUE:
The goal, from our perspective, is to give you as much variety as we can, while providing you with more than you paid for. Our goal is the following: >5% (small's), >10% (Medium's), and >15% (Large's) more value than what you paid for (we have NEVER failed at this goal, even in the worst of times). In the last season, SUMMER of 2024, we were able to give our members the following:
Share Size | Auto-Renewal Members (additional 5%) | Non-Auto-Renewal Members |
Small | 8.7% Savings | 3.7% Savings |
Medium | 13.9% Savings | 8.9% Savings |
Large | 18.1% Savings | 13.1% Savings |
🍂🍁🍎Fall Season Expectations🥕🥬:
The "off"-seasons., like Fall, Winter and Spring are very special seasons for our members. After all the farmer's markets close for the year is the best time of the year to support local, and most people don't know it! Fall is the only season that you can get almost all of our varieties that we grow within the 12 weeks, when during the other seasons that are more season-specific, the varieties are a lot more limited due to the weather extremes. Therefore, you can expect a lot of different varieties to be available throughout the fall.
Veggies
In the beginning of the season you will receive much of the summer varieties that are still around like tomatoes, peppers and perhaps even some cucumbers and summer squash. You will also receive a lot of the items that are available throughout the rest of the year, like kale, carrots, turnips, radishes, beets and lettuces throughout your CSA as well. Finally, there will be new items that you only see in the fall, winter and spring seasons: like celeriac, pumpkins and winter squash, onions, dried herbs, living herbs, spinach, tatsoi, mustard and more cold-weather veggies too.
Fall Runs in Reverse
One thing that makes fall unique to the rest of the 4-seasons here at Ahavah Farm, is that the season runs in reverse to the rest. In the rest of the seasons, CSA members receive a larger abundance of veggies in the beginning of the season, while receiving a smaller abundance at the end of the season, whereas most seasons start out small and end up larger.
Fall Preparations
As for the preparations for fall, it looks like it is going to be an outstanding season! As long as the weather is not too extreme, we should have a beautiful share for you week in and week out, as our farm is 100% planted at this moment and the season is completely planned out to be a success.
Change is Good, but Hard!
When it comes to the changes being made in the fall of 2024, they are quite intimidating and scary. Though we have been putting in hundreds of hours to plan and prepare for these changes, including utilizing a beta group of CSA members for the last 3 weeks to prepare for the transition, there is nothing that will fully prepare us for the fully-customizable changes and the schedule changes that are coming in just one week. It will be a lot of change for all of our members, and there will be some confusion at first, and there even may be a few mistakes, but we are going to get through it together and make the, already awesome, Ahavah Farm CSA even better for years to come! There is no such thing as a perfect system, and our customization system is no exception. However, as we work through the first few weeks together, and the members begin to get comfortable with the changes, the rest of th time should be smooth sailing. We ask all of our members for patience, understanding and flexibility as we launch these changes that are sure to improve our CSA program!
SUPPORTING LOCAL
Since this is a 100% local CSA, with 100% of everything being grown by our farm, there may be
fluctuations in your share sizes from week to week. There also may be items you have not tried before (actually probably many! - which is the fun!). We do our best to have as many protected crops as possible: against wind, hail, pests and more. However, nothing is 100% and this is FARMING. That means that it is not always up to us whether or not mother nature decides to give us a good season or a not-so-good season. Either way, we aim to get you quality produce consistently week after week.
CSA PICKUP LOCATIONS AND TIMES**
Ahavah Farm Schedule
(please note the days the farm is closed and pay close
attention to the CSA delivery and pickup schedules)
Times are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.
**Please be aware that it is your responsibility to check the weekly packing list for updated information and changes at www.ahavahfarm.com/blog
**THROUGH THE MONTH OF OCTOBER ALL OF THE PICKUPS WILL BE ON WEDNESDAYS. STARTING IN NOVEMBER, PICKUPS WILL BE MOVED TO FRIDAYS. THANKS YOU.
North Colorado Springs @ The Dabler Residence
FRIDAY'S
11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
726 Airman LN,
Colorado Springs, 80921
Peyton @ Ahavah farm
FRIDAYS
10am to 7:00pm
7545 N. Log Rd.,
Peyton, CO 80831
Central Colorado Springs @ Ranch Foods Direct
FRIDAYS
11:30am to 6pm
SATURDAYS
9am to 5pm
4635 Town Center Dr.
Colorado Springs, CO 80916
- Go to www.ranchfoodsdirect.com to learn more about this location.
FARM TO DOOR DELIVERY
Door to door deliveries are available for a fee ONLY between the Denver and Colorado Springs areas highlighted in grey on the map to the right. Sorry, but we are not able to deliver outside of that area.
Signing up is easy.
1. Go to avahahfarm.com/orders
2. At the bottom of the customization and order form is the option to add a delivery for the following week.
3. If you need an emergency delivery for the current week please email contact@ahavahfarm.com.
Farm to door deliveries are made on Friday's between 5am and 4pm (it is a long window, so we recommend leaving a cooler at your front door).
Deliveries between 5am and 8am will be left at your doorstep, or in your cooler, without a knock or ringing of the doorbell. Deliveries after 8am will receive a knock or doorbell ring before we leave the food on your doorstep or in your cooler.
What to expect:
2024 is our 10th CSA YEAR!!!, and we are proud to say that we have built one of the best CSA programs in the United States, and this past year we were recognized as the most sustainable farm in the United States for the second year in a row (2023 and 2024!!)!
These accolades don't come without very high standards of excellency, although we are far from perfect, we strive very hard to ensure that our CSA program reflects this and we hope you will have the best CSA experience you have ever had because we want you to be members of our FARMily for years to come!
VARIETY:
The season is 12 weeks long (Winter will be 8 weeks). One of the things that makes our CSA unique is our ability to balance out the value of your shares throughout the entire season, every season. This means that you won't receive a glut of veggies at the beginning of the season or really sparse shares at the end or vice versa. We grow a lot of varieties that other farms don't grow, but we also try not to grow too many "odd" varieties and try to keep those to the fringes for a fun change-up. Instead we grow mostly the staples you're familiar with and expand from there. We also try our best to include just one, sometimes two, varieties of microgreens in each share. These are highly sought after, and truth be told, many members' ultimate reason for being a member - they are that good. The varieties and some of the "bulk" may change throughout the season, but we try our best to keep things balanced. To learn more about what we grow, CLICK HERE.
VALUE:
The goal, from our perspective, is to give you as much variety as we can, while providing you with more than you paid for. Our goal is the following: >5% (small's), >10% (Medium's), and >15% (Large's) more value than what you paid for (we have NEVER failed at this goal, even in the worst of times). In the last season, SUMMER of 2024, we were able to give our members the following:
Share Size | Auto-Renewal Members (additional 5%) | Non-Auto-Renewal Members |
Small | 8.7% Savings | 3.7% Savings |
Medium | 13.9% Savings | 8.9% Savings |
Large | 18.1% Savings | 13.1% Savings |
NEWSLETTER AND REGULAR COMMUNICATION
As you know, we are making HUGE changes to our CSA program and one of those changes is how we will be communicating going forward. For many years our members have received a weekly email or newsletter outlining your shares and availability for that week. With our new customization platform, the control will be in your hands and the availability for you to choose from will be posted every week (Monday - Thursday). Therefore, the need for a weekly e-mail is redundant and unnecessary. Therefore, once per month we will be putting together a monthly newsletter and we will send periodic e-mails to our members and mailing list from time to time as announcements are made.
The newsletter contains news from around the farm, updates, announcements, schedules and calendars and articles, videos, pictures and more. It's definitely worth the read, but weekly is too much and not necessary any longer.
The newsletter will be e-mailed out, will also be posted to Facebook, to the Community Facebook Page and also to the blog at ahavahfarm.com/blog. Be sure to check these locations for updates and announcements as well as for the newsletter if you don't receive our e-mails.
COMMUNICATION TO AHAVAH FARM
All communication for changes, holds, requests etc. MUST come through official E-MAIL (or the order and customization page) and not through phone calls, Social Media, or even through Farm staff.
The following are the contact emails you may need:
AHAVAH FARM MAIN CONTACT: contact@ahavahfarm.com - this is the main contact for all CSA communication or general business inquiries.
AHAVAH COMMUNITY INITIATIVE MAIN CONTACT: aci@ahavahcommunity.org - this is the main contact for all Ahavah Community Initiative communication or general business inquiries, donations and volunteering.
AHAVAH COMMUNITY MARKET and EVENTS CONTACT: manager@ahavahfarm.com - this is the main contact for the farm festivals, classes, tours and the festivals.
Follow updates, announcements, news and memes on our social media pages:
Ahavah Farm
https://www.facebook.com/ahavahfarm https://www.instagram.com/ahavahfarm/ Ahavah Community Initiative
https://www.facebook.com/AhavahCommunityInitiative https://www.instagram.com/ahavahcommunityinitiative/
Our Hashtags
HOLDS, CREDITS and DOUBLE SHARES
One of the things that makes our CSA special is that we offer you to place a
"HOLD" and to receive a "CREDIT" for a "DOUBLE SHARE." Follow these steps if you are going on vacation or taking a week off from CSA.
1. Email your request to place a hold to contact@ahavahfarm.com NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT ON THE SUNDAY BEFORE THE HOLD. This lets us know not to harvest as much that week.
2. Enjoy your vacation (or other reason for taking the week off).
3. When you are ready for your "DOUBLE SHARE" you must e-mail contact@ahavahfarm.com to place your request NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT ON THE SUNDAY BEFORE YOU WANT TO RECIEVE THE DOUBLE. This lets us know we need to harvest a little more that week.
4. Enjoy your double share.
NOTES and RESTRICTIONS: If you request a double share, there is a possibility that we may request a different week due to one reason or another. Double-shares are USE-IT or LOSE-IT if you are not an auto renewal member. They ONLY roll over to a new season if you are signed up for our auto renewal program.
Please note that there is a maximum of 1 credit to be used per week (no triple shares), and depending on the season, credits are not guaranteed.
Weekly CSA Customization and Online Farmer's Market
Picking Up Your Share
Since all of your shares are now prepackaged for you, picking up your share is a breeze. When you arrive at the pickup location, simply let the representative know your name and he/she will happily give you your prepackaged bag. If there is not an Ahavah Farm representative
there, you will have to pickup your share without assistance. To do so, simply locate the bin with your name, locate the bag with your name on it and that's it, take the bag, re-seal the bin and voila, no papers to sign, nothing to fill out, no long lines...just grab your share with your name on it, and enjoy your veggies!
PLEASE SAVE YOUR BAGS AND RETURN THEM. WE WILL HAVE A BIN FOR BAGS AT EVERY LOCATION. THANK YOU!
Founded in April of 2018, our mission is to connect people who are facing food insecurity due to financial struggles to locally-farmed, regeneratively-grown produce, and to provide education centered around healthy living and environmental consciousness.
We do this by offering free CSA Memberships, offering classes, events, free garden plants and more.
Ahavah Community Initiative is a one-of-a-kind registered 501c3 non-profit organization that serves our community in a unique and wholesome way. We believe in this mission so much that all board members (including the Camire family) donate personally to it. Do you believe in this organization too? Please, if you do, consider donating if you have the ability!
Interested in making a tax-deductible donation to ACI? Ahavah Community Initiative is registered as a 501c3 with the State of Colorado as a non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible.
Want to get involved with either ACI or as a volunteer on the farm? E-mail us to let us know. We are always looking for volunteers and we would love for you to join the party!
BRING-A-BUCK!
Oh the amazing power of community and crowdfunding!
Every week, at all of the CSA locations, we have a bin or jar that looks similar to this. We ask all of our members to consider bringing just $1-$5 dollars with them every week to help us provide a CSA membership to a families in need next season.
Don't say your dollars aren't important! The only way crowdfunding works is if we all participate. Your $1-$5 is vitally important and it is directly through this program that we raise the majority of ACI's food donation funds than any other fundraising program, and yet it is the absolute easiest for all of our members to participate!
During the Fall season, your Bring-A-Buck dollars will allow us to donate Fall CSA shares to families facing food insecurity and to offer subsidized shares to struggling families as well.
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR BUCKS!🙏
Winter CSA Share REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
Winter is a special season! Where else can you get pure, local, nutrient-dense, soil-grown, beyond-organic veggies harvested fresh in the middle of the winter?
For 8 weeks, starting in February, Ahavah Farm delivers just that! With lettuce, kale, arugula, cilantro, mustard, carrots, turnips, radishes, beets, spinach, onions, celeriac, dried herbs, living herbs, microgreens, swiss chard, cabbages, kohlrabi and many more varieties all grown in soil, without heat, right here in Peyton CO, our winter CSA program is something really special!
Go to www.ahavahfarm.com/csa to register for our winter season Community Supported Agriculture Veggie-Shares and get weekly bags of the freshest, most nutrient-dense vegetables available!!
✔The highest quality, 100% local, produce you can find, harvested and delivered fresh every week! ✔Pure, chemical-free, regeneratively grown produce. ✔Flexible payment options. ✔Many discounts are available - see website! ✔4 Locations for CSA pickup (Peyton, COS, DEN and Monument. ✔Door to Door delivery options available! ✔Got SNAP!? Get 50% off your CSA share automatically! ✔Every share supports families in need through donations. ✔Flexible CSA options, holds, credits and more! ✔Classes, events, tours and community opportunities.
⭐100% of everything we sell is grown and harvested and delivered by Ahavah Farm and Ahavah Farm ONLY - All produce is grown 100% on our farm in Peyton Colorado, near Colorado Springs without a single chemical, in rich, composted soil. We use biodynamic principles to grow the purest, most nutrient-dense vegetables available and deliver them to you fresh, every week!
⚠ ⚠ ⚠ BAGS! We need your bags (PLEASE🙏) !!⚠ ⚠ ⚠
Thank you everyone for recycling your bags with us! When we receive your bags we immediately quarantine them for 2 weeks before reusing them to ensure they are safe of any yuckies. Thank you for bringing them and any others you may have THANK YOU!
It's going to be a great year and we hope your season is a blessed one!❤️
We are so excited to have you as a member of our community and we are very excited for the upcoming season. We are a little behind, but we are optimistic that this year is going to be abundant as it already has been!
Our family, and our farm staff are committed to serving our local area the freshest, most nutrient-dense and environmentally responsible food possible. We want to be sure to offer our community as many opportunities that we can within our means and we ask that all of you come along side of us and make this community better, because without U doing what you can at the center, it's not C-O-M-M-U-N-I-T-Y! We implore our members to come along side us in this agriculture revolution to restore our lands and re-build our communities to their earth and their land. Help grow it, help volunteer, offer classes, joining our events, help feed your community by donating to ACI, and most of all, get to know us and don't be shy! We hope this CSA experience is a blessing for you and we hope you will take advantage of all we have to offer in the form of classes, articles, events, markets, donations and more!
We love you so much! Let's have an awesome season!💖
LEARN MORE
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WAYS TO MAKE PAYING FOR YOUR CSA SHARE MORE AFFORDABLE, OR EVEN FREE!
The Ahavah Farm CSA Terms and Conditions is an important part of your membership. Click here to learn about them.
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