Annual Farm Membership: $50 single, $75 household

What You Get:

• $20 farm credit

• A 10% discount on all of your purchases for the season

• Free admission to all of our open houses (Regular: $10/adult, $5/child)

• Members-only access to u-pick crops

• One free members-only item at all of our open houses

• Members-only pastured poultry pre-orders

 

What is Farm Membership?

Farm membership is our small farm’s alternative to the traditional CSA structure.  We like to think of it like the Costco of farming models.  Buying a seasonal farm membership gives your family access to the best resources that our farm has to offer - the same resources farm residents enjoy throughout the year.  Being a member also supports and sustains our small farm and our commitment to sustainable agriculture.

 

Over the years we’ve come to find that many individuals and families are seeking a community farm.  They want to know their farmer and they want to see exactly how their food has been grown, but they may not want to be surprised in their weekly boxes or get the same thing multiple weeks in a row.  But most of all, we understand that one of the biggest challenges on our customer’s end is the financial burden.  Of course we as farmers benefit from receiving the bulk of revenue in advance during the winter when we have most of our expenses.  However, it’s a lot of money for many families to commit hundreds of dollars (or more) at once.  We feel that this is unattainable for many members of our community and therefore an inappropriate model for us to follow.  In addition, we feel that such an exponential investment puts undue pressure on us as farmers.  Whether we like it or not, and despite the best possible planning on our end, harsh weather, pest pressure, and other factors might cause crop failures.  Crop failure is an extreme circumstance but for such a high investment we don't feel comfortable sharing in that level of risk with our customers.

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Farm membership is simple.  With your small financial contribution during the winter before the season begins, we are able to fund our seed purchases and get an approximate idea of how many customers we need to plan to grow for.  As soon as we have things to offer, you're the first to know.  Our membership season runs from about April through the holiday season, though we sometimes have early crops in March and storage crops through the snowiest parts of winter.  You can shop as much or as little as you want throughout the season, and you can shop specifically for the products you like.  Some members are here for our pay-week-by-week produce boxes, others for our diverse selection of orchard fruits, others for our artisinal pantry items like natural sourdough bread and fruit preserves and soup beans.  We are proud of the diversity we offer and feel that it is the closest we can get to a guarantee that you'll get your money's worth throughout the year.  And members often have the opportunity to pick up a free gift here at the farm, no purchase necessary.

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We grow primarily for our members, and that means that you get first access to a majority of the produce, grains, pulses, and cut flowers grown at Ley Creek Farm.  We also grow for a small number of restaurants as well - sometimes interesting crops on commission, and that means that you may also get the opportunity to join us for tastings, purchase the surplus, or participate in on-farm pop-up dinners.  Anything unclaimed then makes its way to the farmer's market or to our local food pantry, or if applicable may be turned into value-added goods like shelf-stable preserves.

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Farm membership is not meant to seem exclusive.  In fact, we feel this is the way we can make community-supported agriculture an inclusive food choice.  We hope you'll consider joining us!