Deep Run Farms’ 2012 Community Supported Agriculture program made the front page of the Sunday paper in the article “Time to Sign Up For ‘Farm Shares’ in CSA’s”
Greg Horner was interviewed by Carrie Ann Knauer on Tuesday, and the article featuring our 2012 CSA Program made the front page of the Sunday paper (click here to read the Carroll County Times article about our 2012 Community Supported Agriculture Program)!
CSA’s are becoming more and more popular in Maryland, and all over the country. We’ve seen a lots of discussion and posts about CSA’s on Facebook and Twitter. Community-Supported Agriculture programs give people the opportunity to be personally involved with their local farm, and gives people a chance to eat ultra-fresh fruits and vegetables. CSA programs have a lot of appeal for people who care about their community and the quality of the food they eat.
The growing interest in CSA’s in Maryland has lead the Carroll County Times to feature this article on the front page of the Sunday edition of their paper, and to interview Greg for the April edition of The Advocate:
If it weren’t for his community supported agriculture customers, Greg Horner and his father would be laboring on their 120-acre vegetable farm by themselves from March to July before any money would be coming in to the farm to support their business.
But through their community supported agriculture system, Deep Run Farms in Hampstead sells “shares” of their farm during early spring, with customers paying for 20 weeks worth of vegetables upfront when they sign their contracts.
“We’re putting a lot of money out getting ready to plant stuff and produce stuff, and to have some money upfront to help offset that cost helps a lot,” Horner said. “I’m able to get labor in sooner because I have more money to pay them, and that helps me tremendously.”
CSAs have been gaining in popularity over the past few years as more consumers make an effort to buy food locally. Localharvest.org, a website that aims to connect consumers with local farms, farmers markets and CSAs, boasts of more than 4,000 CSAs nationally, including more than 100 in Maryland.
Horner started his CSA last year after talking to some other farmers who ran CSAs that he knew through farmers markets.
“It’s just a new way to expand our customer base,” Horner said. “We’ve done the wholesale business for like 35 years, and when I decided to come back and work on the farm, it was just a way to expand and diversify.”
Go out and get a copy of this Sunday’s Carroll County Times and learn more about CSA programs in Maryland. Then sign up for our 2012 Community-Supported Agriculture Program by filling out this online application… CLICK HERE!
