Welcome to Ivy Brand CSA

Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) is a system of growing and distributing organic produce which restores the link between the farmers and city dwellers. Successful in Japan and Western Europe since 1965, today there are approximately 1000 CSA farms in North America

Each season, local households purchase subscription "shares" of the year's harvest from a local organic farm. CSA "shareholders" pay for their produce at the beginning of the growing season providing the necessary start-up capital for farmers to purchase seeds, supplies and soil amendments, eliminating their reliance on expensive bank loans and helping to pay for the real cost of food.

You order a 'share' of organically grown vegetables from our farm for a season. Each week you pick up your share from a designated drop-off location.

We are currently sold out for this season, and may not offer new shares for the 2009 season. Please join us at one of our markets, or consider becoming involved as a working member. If you live within 5 miles of 21037 and want on the waiting list for future seasons, please fill out our mailing list form. To find more CSAs, please visit localharvest.org.

We only allow new members to sign up for one season at a time, just to make sure it is right for you.

Because we include the help of other local organic farms, we are able to offer a larger variety of vegetables all year. We do take time between seasons for farm maintenance. Check the subscriptions page often for season information.

We are trying to collect for the whole year now, to save on administrative time and expense. But we don't want this to stop anyone from joining, so we would be happy to work out a payment plan. Just send the deposit now. We do have a long waiting list, so be sure to have the balance in by the deadline or your space may be given to another member.

We leave the boxes at your drop-off location by 4pm, and you have the evening to pick them up. At 3 p.m. the next evening, we take any unclaimed boxes and give them to families in need.

Current locations are UUCA(near Annapolis Mall off Bestgate road), Eastport, Edgewater (behind Lee Airport) and West River (Owensville).

We hope to add Cape St. Clair, Davidsonville and Mount Rainier in Summer '08 season. Please check subscriptions page often for a drop off near you.

To go to your neighborhood, we would probably want a group of 15 or so. If you do not have enough people for a neighborhood drop-off, someone from your group can pick up boxes from one of our current locations and take them to their home. We could offer a discount to that person.

The boxes are only available until close of business Wednesday (3pm). After that they are donated to a shelter.

You can have a friend or neighbor pick up your box, or we can donate it to a local shelter.

Please bring the boxes back when you pick up each new box. We come and get them to reuse for the following week.

We do not offer home delivery at this time. We are currently surveying to see if there is an interest in home delivery.

We offer a regular and large share. We also encourage people to split boxes with other families if you have doubts that you will be unable to finish a box.
A regular box is 1/2 to 3/4 bushel, and will feed a couple, or small family.
A large share is 1 to 1 1/19 bushel and will feed a family of 4 or more.
Please visit our overview page for sample box contents.

Visit our Nutrition page for helpful instructions on storing and preserving your produce.

Fruit is available occasionally. We have strawberries in the spring, melons in the summer, and tree fruit in the fall. We are going to add more perennial fruit crops, like blueberries, to make fruit more available, but this will take some time. We are considering offering a separate fruit share, especially in the winter.

Harvest days are Monday and Thursday. We ask that working members arrive between 7:30 and 9:30 on harvest days and stay for at least 3 hours. You will get a portion of what you harvest, so the longer you stay, the more you get. Sundays are not a harvest day, so we can put together a box of market leftovers, and you can pick some food to add to it, as well as take eggs. We try to keep the working member program as flexible as possible, to help busy parents get involved. Please contact Sara Colhoun at info@ivybrand.com if you choose to participate 24 hours in advance. Visit the working members page for more information.

We do encourage families to come and spend the day together in the garden. It is a great way for kids to learn about where their food comes from. We love children in the garden, but would want to know that you are able to complete your goals. Also, we have been working to make the garden completely child-safe, and are getting close. However, there are always tools around. I have 4 year old twin boys that come with me sometimes, and they have never gotten hurt here, but it takes constant supervision.

We do need help on harvest days, which are Monday and Thursday and weeding on Sundays. Visit our working members page for times and contact info. We do not give credits or discounts toward current memberships, however, we can offer you a credit for the next season or give you a portion of what you harvest, so the longer you stay, the more you get.

We don't publish our address, and you will see why when you drive down our road, it's not very visitor friendly. Please email us for directions if you choose to join us on a harvest day. info@ivybrand.com

No, we sell seasonal subscriptions of produce. You can read more about this on our CSA page. We also sell at the local farmers market on Riva rd from early spring to late fall. The dates for the farmers market are usually posted on our homepage.

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