Sharing Gardens CSA - 2020

We are now accepting CSA subscriptions for our 2020 season. We have a limited number of spots so, if interested please reserve your subscription.

Here's a description of our CSA:

Llyn and Chris-Your local 'farm'acists.

What is a CSA? A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a membership-relationship between you and a farm. Members receive a "share" of seasonally available produce, on a weekly basis. This gives you the benefit of superb freshness, knowing where your food comes from, how it is grown, and that you are giving direct support to the people who grow your food.

Your subscription will bring fresh and local food to your family while supporting us in our mission to donate healthy produce to people in our community, through local food charities  (3,399 pounds in 2019). We focus on familiar, staple crops; the things that are most popular at grocery stores and farmer's markets.

Home-grown fresh!

What's in my box? In the beginning of the season, boxes are less full as there are not as many crops ready for harvest in the spring. Over the course of the summer and into the fall, the boxes increase in the amount that's included so, over the course of the season, you receive generous value for your membership.

May, June: Beets, cabbage, carrots, chard, onions, kale, lettuce and radishes
July: same as above, AND early tomatoes. summer squash, garlic and cucumbers
August, Sept.: same as above, AND green beans, celery, large tomatoes, peppers, apples, pears, plums, blackberrries and grapes
Oct., Nov.: Most of above, AND winter squash and potatoes.

Dates of the season: The Sharing Gardens CSA provides weekly boxes of fruits and vegetables from May until November as it is available.

How much is in my box? At the height of the season, each member receives enough produce to feed the average family of four. We cannot customize boxes but if you are receiving more produce than you can consume, we encourage you to be generous with your friends and neighbors so it doesn't go to waste.

Each member will be added to our special CSA email-list and receive recipes and ideas for using the produce provided. We ask members to check their email regularly so as not to miss our communications.

Lettuce grown from seed we saved.

How do we grow your food?

No herbicides or pesticides
Soil-fertility is created primarily through compost, worm castings, leaves, grass-clippings and wood-ash.
Slow-grown for maximum density of nutrition and flavor.
We encourage birds and beneficial insects for natural pest-management.
We grow all heirloom varieties (no hybrids or GMO) from 85% (or more) of seed we saved ourselves.

Commitment to living lightly on the Earth: Each weekly box will have a large, plastic liner that all - but a few items - will be placed in without separate plastic-bags. Liners will be re-usable. Less plastic - better for the Earth! Thank you for helping us reduce our environmental footprint.

Healthy food for you and your family!

Cost of season's 'shares': $700 (payable either in full - when you sign-up, or in two payments of $400 - when you sign up, and $300 by July 1st). This works out to about $25/week.

Payment methods: We can accept cash or checks made out to 'The Sharing Gardens'.

Where do I pick up my box? Members in the Monroe area will be able to pick up their boxes on Wed. afternoons from 1:00 to 5:00 at the Sharing Gardens.

664 Orchard St., Monroe 97456

Corvallis and Junction City: We will have a single, weekly delivery site to both Junction City and Corvallis. Day of week/time and site location to be determined based on enrollments.

Can I share my membership? Yes, if you find someone to share it with.

Can I cancel my membership? Only if we have a waiting list. You will be refunded the balance of your fees if there is someone else who wishes to buy your "share".

To sign up for the Sharing Gardens CSA,  send an email to us at - ShareInJoy@gmail.com - We will email you an application for you to fill out and mail to us, along with your payment.

Questions? Phone: Chris and Llyn (541) 847-8797
Call: 8:00 to 12:30 or 2:00 to 6:30 (we keep 'farmer's hours' and take a nap each day. 💤)

Benefits of the Sharing Gardens Model

The Sharing Garden is a unique community-garden model. Instead of many separate plots that are rented by individuals, the garden is one large plot, shared by all. All materials and labor are donated. Share-givers (volunteers) typically come one to two times per week (at scheduled times) to help in all aspects of farming from planting, through harvest. The food we grow is shared amongst those who have contributed in some way as well as with others who are in need in our community (through food pantries and other charities.) In 2018, as a fund-raiser for the Gardens, we started a CSA (community supported agriculture).

Amy and Cindy sort donated pots and trays.

Our project encourages community in a tangible way. Growing food together helps build relationships. The  Gardens have become a hub for distributing surplus building materials, garden equipment and supplies, canning jars, seeds and 'starts' and other related materials. Neighbors bring us their excess (or invite us to come pick it up) and we distribute it to those in need.  

Llyn preparing tomatoes for dehydrating.

The Sharing Gardens also has a strong educational component: share-givers learn about organic gardening, creating habitat for pollinators and other beneficial wildlife, saving “heirloom” seeds, pruning and other food-growing skills. We have also offered classes in cooking from scratch, using ingredients from the garden and encourage our share-givers and blog-readers to learn about canning and other food-storage techniques.

Every year we have been able to provide local food-pantries with a bounty of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables from the Garden's surplus. We have given away  thousands of surplus 'starts' grown in our green-house to other sharing-type gardens, and food-pantry customers. We save over 85% of our own seed which is shared through seed-swaps, and to those who will use it for non-commercial growing.

OSU students re-potting 'starts'

In recent years we have partnered with Oregon State University's "service-learning" projects. Over the school year we host 50-60 students, for four-hours each (in groups of 4-6). These students help with all aspects of our project and learn about organic gardening, sustainable living and experience the joys of being in service to the community -- while receiving college credit.

Apples gleaned from our neighbors.

Currently our project gleans fruit from neighbors' trees and provides a drop-off site for gardeners/farmers to drop-off their surplus. This is then distributed to those in need. Since purchasing the land that hosts the Sharing Gardens (2014), we have planted dozens of fruit and nut trees and berry-bushes. As these mature, we are significantly adding to the quantities of fresh, organic produce we can share in our community.

We have a strong commitment to providing habitat to birds, small-mammals, insects and reptiles. Our style of gardening provides food and shelter for many of these critters who's habitats' are shrinking due to humans' lifestyles habits.

There are many benefits to growing food in the sharing model.

You can:

Grow the maximum amount of food: Sharing Gardens use the garden space more efficiently. Since we grow all the food together (instead of separate plots) there are fewer pathways between garden rows and all of the same kind of plants can be grown together making harvests more efficient too.

Delicata squash on harvest-day.

Water more efficiently: Plants can be grouped together with similar watering requirements.

Manage weeds and pests more easily: In a typical community garden setting, pesticide or herbicide applications in one plot can lead to a mass exodus of the offending bugs or weeds into adjacent plots. This can lead to a mini “arms race” between garden plots to bolster plants against pests. In a Sharing Garden, if pests/weeds appear, they can be managed selectively without the need for ever-accelerating methods of eradication.

Cindy, Rook and John have a "weeding party".

Save pure seeds: Many plants will cross with their neighbors, or hybridize. This means that, in a typical community garden neighboring gardeners would need to coordinate so their seed-stock doesn't cross with neighbors. In a Sharing Garden, you can plan your crops to keep strains from crossing and save enough seed to last for a few years. In years that you're not saving seed, it doesn't matter if you plant varieties that might 'cross' in neighboring rows.

Kidney beans grown for food and next year's seed.

Build community: Though some community gardens have regular work parties and social gatherings, the emphasis is on each gardener doing his own thing. In a Sharing Garden, the focus is on cooperation and sharing a common goal. Having a meaningful shared purpose builds great camaraderie.

Children enjoy eating the food they helped grow and harvest!

Share knowledge: Sharing Gardens become a place where gardeners can share their experience with each other. Participants are also learning about food preservation, gleaning and other ways of increasing local food security.

Participants learn about food-preservation.

Live more lightly on the planet: An additional benefit of this style of gardening is that we use salvaged material whenever possible. This keeps these materials out of burn-piles and the land-fill while providing new life for tools, leaves, grass clippings and building supplies. By encouraging people to share their surplus we build a tangible sense of community and networks of relationship that can be drawn from in times of crisis.

Ken and Chris create tomato-cages out of old fencing material.

Help local wildlife: Each of our gardens is designed to create habitat for pollinators and other beneficial wildlife as we believe it is important to "share" the earth beyond our human family.

A Sharing Garden creates a healthy environment for humans and non-humans alike!

We are pleased to see that other communities around the U.S. are beginning to adopt the Sharing Gardens model. It's an idea with so many benefits and very few "down sides". 

The Sharing Gardens is a non-profit and tax-exempt organization. We exist primarily through grants, our CSA program and donations from people like you. If you have found benefit from our site, our project or just want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation through PayPal. (Click button below.)