For most of last year, my first cultivating The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm, I worked alone. A few friends would come and help for the odd afternoon, or drop in for a cup of tea, but generally my only company was the radio. Everything has changed with our new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme.
The idea for Community Supported Agriculture came to the UK from Japan and the USA, hence the acronym that has everyone wondering why on earth I am encouraging them to join the Child Support Agency.
The idea is simple. A group of people (the "community") commit to buy produce from a farmer (me) for a certain period (in our case a year) for a reasonable price, giving them good value food while I enjoy a guaranteed market without the extra work and uncertainty of going out to sell regularly.
Here at The Oak Tree we've taken the community side of our CSA further than most schemes. Twenty-five members share the produce of an acre and a bit, and our volunteer members come and work on the farm in exchange for a reduced price weekly veg box, while "armchair" members pay the full price. Veg box delivery is a community effort too: groups of neighbours take turns to drop off at each other's homes, saving carbon in the process. We also meet up to learn practical skills (such as harvesting wild food) and to just share a meal and have fun!
When myself, and a group of friends from Transition Ipswich, came up with the idea in a pub late last year we had no idea how it would develop. The CSA has been transformational for The Oak Tree as this wonderful bunch of people descend on the farm regularly and do an astonishing amount of work in a relaxed, cheerful atmosphere.
Joanne Brannan runs The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm in Suffolk. Read her previous blogposts here.
