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We are a Network of Community Supported Agriculture Farms Across the UK

Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between farmers and consumers.

Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between farmers and consumers in which the responsibilities, risks and rewards of farming are shared.

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Pitch Up! is on its last push with a November 30th

Pitch Up! is on its last push with a November 30th deadline for applications.

Over 12,000 acres of land area is available from Cornwall to Scotland via Pitch Up! - a growing national farming movement that matches sustainable and regenerative farms offering land, raw materials, investment and expertise with like-minded businesses and start-ups, including CSAs.

The aim is to create a circular community that feeds each other – where someone’s waste is another person’s key resource.

The Pitch Up! scheme now includes six farms and is open to businesses at all stages of their journey.

Find out more and download the Applications Guidance at pitchupandgrow.com – and follow @pitchupdandgrow

Irrigation options can be daunting! It's easy for

Irrigation options can be daunting! It's easy for market gardeners to spend money on the wrong kit, which is exactly what we want to help CSA farms avoid. So our irrigation guide, a collaboration between the CSA Network UK, the @organicgrowersalliance @farmingthefuture_ and @seedsovereignty is now available for purchase for £7 including postage from our website (link in our bio)

If you're looking for a job in Community Supported

If you're looking for a job in Community Supported Agriculture, a few of our members farms currently have openings:

💚 @caetancsa in the Gower is looking for a project manager
💚 @canalside_community_food in Leamington Spa is looking for a lead grower and manager
💚 @farnhamcommunityfarm, well, in Farnham, is looking for a grower
💚 @chagfordcsa, just off Dartmoor, is looking for an assistant grower
💚 Knockfarrell Produce in Dingwall, Scotland, is looking for a Horticultural worker

Please share with anyone you think might be interest and comment if you're a CSA farm with a vacancy!

What does the Community Supported Agriculture Netw

What does the Community Supported Agriculture Network UK do?

We're a small organisation, working hard to support CSA farms, both directly and through advocacy.

And we're a tiny powerhouse pushing the CSA movement forward, for the good of the grower, the earth and the local community.

Thanks for being here. By following, liking, commenting and sharing, you're a part of the work we do.

#smallfarming #localfarmers #communitysupportedagriculture

We're just back from @theorganicgrowersgathering a

We're just back from @theorganicgrowersgathering and it was great to meet so many enthusiastic people who are working so hard to grow healthy food. Thanks to the organizers for a great event!

We got to meet many of our members and had a Community Supported Agriculture meetup to talk about what the future of the CSA model could be via a fun game facilitated by our network coordinator, Suzy Russell.

As sponsors, we also had a couple of talks. One by Jo Hunt of Knockfarrell Produce on the economics of CSA and another by Dan Burston of @schoolfarmcsa and Andy Dibben on crop planning for uncertain times.

It was also a chance for the team and board members to meet in person, and let our hair down!

Along with lots of CSA info, we also ran badge making on our stall and asked folks to add a song to our "pack shed playlist" which we'll put together on Spotify soon.

We could do with a few more songs, though. Any lively ones to share? 🎵

Thanks for summing up Community Supported Agricult

Thanks for summing up Community Supported Agriculture so well, @lushgreensbristol! Looking for your local CSA? Have a look on your website or comment here and we'll link you up.

PS: Our members newsletter goes out tomorrow so it's a particularly good time to join the network if you haven't yet. Our general newsletter goes out at the end of the month too 💚💌

PPS: If you're considering starting a CSA for your farm, we still have spaces on our online course, Grow Your Own CSA, starting Oct 1st!

September is here - the end of the silly season is

September is here - the end of the silly season is in sight.
You can just imagine the farm quieting down.
So thoughts turn to next year!

It's less than three weeks for the first session of our online startup course, which covers all the essential topics involved in getting your CSA off the ground.

Over twelve sessions, you'll have the opportunity to learn from experienced growers and organisers sharing their hard won knowledge about the realities of running a CSA, led by Tom OKane of @caetancsa

Topics include:
🌻The basic principles of CSAB
🌻Business planning and finance for your CSA
🌻Land and site
🌻The CSA Network, CSA types, funding
🌻CSA legal structures and logistics
🌻Crop planning
🌻Marketing and memberships
🌻Planning permission
🌻Tools and equipment
🌻Volunteers, trainees and schools
🌻Extending the season, storage and the hungry gap
🌻Food equity and social links

The course is one of the ways our network supports Community Supported Agriculture in the UK. We want to see as many growers and organisers as possible starting their CSA projects feeling well supported.

The link is in our bio.

PLEASE SHARE so others can benefit from this valuable opportunity 💚

It's almost time for the tomatoes to be taken out

It's almost time for the tomatoes to be taken out of the polytunnels, ready for winter crop planting. 🌱

So you may have A LOT of beautifully tenced tomatoes headed your way if you get your veg through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) veg box scheme.

Here are a few ideas for how to make the most of this bumper share of the harvest! 🍅🍅🍅

Will you be doing any of these? Any more to add?

🌸 Golden tips from three of our member farms ab

🌸 Golden tips from three of our member farms about running a flower CSA 🌼

Save for later!

1. @hookheathflowerfarm:

"A bouquet begins with careful planning—starting on a spreadsheet the year before.

We map out weekly bouquet recipes well in advance to ensure that each week’s bouquet during our 13 week CSA is balanced, offers variety, and is slightly different from the previous week’s arrangement.

By planning the ideal mix of flowers and staggering planting times, we aim to provide unique and thoughtfully composed bouquets throughout the CSA season."

2. @petallicaflowerfarm:

"It's good to time crop planting so there's plenty to harvest throughout the whole season."

3. @yorkshireedibleflowers:

"Choose flowers you love to grow and have in your house rather than what florists would buy as your members will love the slightly unusual varieties."

🌷If you run a flower CSA, what would you add?

🌻And if you get a flower CSA subscription, what do you love about it?

📷 Images in order from the farms above

It's Zero Waste Week and Community Supported Agric

It's Zero Waste Week and Community Supported Agriculture can make a huge contribution to reducing waste in the food system.

If you're a CSA farm, here are a few points to share with your members. But this isn't all! Tell us what your farm is doing to reduce waste 🥕🍎🥬🌻

Knockfarrel Produce is a croft-based market garden

Knockfarrel Produce is a croft-based market garden, 20 miles north of Inverness, led by grower Jo Hunt.

They are looking for 1 or 2 full-time growers interested in entering into a 5 to 10-year business partnership or lease with them, to live and work at Knockfarrel.

For the past 14 years they have been growing 81 different types of fruit and veg at 58 degrees north.

They have all the physical resources needed: organic-certified land in good condition, polytunnel and Keder growing space, lots of tools and equipment and premises including packhouse and on-site accommodation.

They also have 200 super-supportive local families who have helped our CSA-box scheme to thrive, plus local wholesale and market customers too.

They are now inviting expressions of interest from growers to join a partnership or lease with them, to take over veg production on the croft from the start of the 2025 season.

You will need at least a couple of years' experience of organic veg production, plus some small business management skills. You will also need some working capital to bring into the business.

If you would like to register interest and receive more details, please email Jo Hunt on info@knockfarrel.com

Community Supported Agriculture gives growers a ne

Community Supported Agriculture gives growers a network of people who care about them, the food they're growing and the land they're tending.

If you're interested in starting a CSA, we want to see you well looked after.

You don't have to "go it alone" and you *can* avoid making at least some expensive mistakes along the way.

This is why we're running the online Grow Your Own CSA course, starting on October 1st.

For this week only we're offering a payment plan (50% now and the balance is due on Sept 27th). Details in our stories.

Please share if you want to see CSA farms thrive across the UK 💚

Sometimes you’ve got to laugh! It’s that tough

Sometimes you’ve got to laugh! It’s that tough time of year where growers risk burning out. The days are long and it’s not humanly possible to get everything done.

Community Supported Agriculture is about committing to being in it together so here’s some funny veg from a few CSA farms to remind you that you’re not alone.

You’re part of a network of humans who are working ridiculously hard right now to bring fresh, high quality food to the households around them.

If you’re one of the people committed to buying food from your local farmer, now is a great time to cheer them on - and maybe smile at any funny veg that makes its way into your share 😄

Thanks for the funny veg:

@soul.farm in the Falmouth area of Cornwall
@norwich_farmshare in Norwich
@fieldfare.csa in Laurence Kirk, Aberdeenshire
@farnhamcommunityfarm in Farnham, Surrey
@frithfarming in the Beverley & Hull area of Yorkshire

PS: Which one is your favourite? 😉

Doing good in the world requires financial sustain

Doing good in the world requires financial sustainability.

That's why we champion Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a model. When local people commit to buying produce, farmers can focus on what they do best!

Thanks for sharing your story with us, @blackhillscsa!

We're running a 12-week online Grow Your Own CSA course from October to December, covering everything you need to know to start your CSA.

Book your place through the link in our bio and come join us!

#communitysupportedagriculture #smallfarming #sustainableagriculture #agroecology #communityresilience

So... Anyone have some good suggestions on what to

So... Anyone have some good suggestions on what to do with courgettes? 😊

Ready to farm with care for the whole food system,

Ready to farm with care for the whole food system, from the soil 🪱 to the humans 💚 in your local community?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) keeps the social movement central to agroecology.

We want to equip you with everything you need to make your CSA startup a viable business rooted in commitment, belonging, mutual trust and openness.

Bookings are open for our 12-week online Grow Your Own CSA startup course, starting in October, led by @caetancsa's Tom O'Kane! Link in the usual place ☝🏽

📷 @plotgatecommunityfarm, @tomnahamarketgarden, @gibsidecommunityfarm @simshillsharedharvest

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