About CSA | Subscription Details | Sample Boxes & Feedback

2009 Subscriptions Are Now Available
For Vegetables, Meat and Eggs

About Our CSA

New For 2009
Next year, the farm will be converting to a complete CSA. We will no longer sell at the Naperville Farmer’s Market. All vegetables, eggs, chickens, organic beef and pork will be sold through our CSA program. This means all food produced on the farm will be distributed through our weekly boxes. We feel this will be a much more efficient way to distribute the food, save time and energy, and allow us to concentrate more on growing the food you have come to love. We have added 2 more weeks to the main season vegetable CSA bringing it up to 22 weeks instead of 20. Plus, we are offering an early spring and late fall option. The egg share is still available and we have added a once a month Meat CSA. Finally, half shares are available for those of you who can’t use a full share.

There are several share options available for vegetables, eggs, and a meat share. Click here for CSA options and pricing.

What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?
Community Supported Agriculture is a local community supporting local agriculture. A local farm offers prepaid subscriptions or shares for a weekly box of fresh food. For us, that means chemical free vegetables, organic meat and eggs. The community wins because local people receive high quality food grown closer to home. The food is picked fresh and ripe and not transported long distances to reach your table. This means higher quality food for you and less fuel spent getting it to you. The farm wins because prepaid subscriptions help reduce the risk of farming. A prepaid subscription is your investment in our farm. This agreement is the foundation of a CSA program. In good growing years, your box will be fuller but when the weather doesn’t cooperate, crops can be damaged and your box may not receive as much of that particular food. No money is refunded in leaner years and we don’t ask for more payment if more food is distributed.

What are the Advantages of Purchasing a Subscription for a Weekly Box?
The most important advantage is the quality of food you receive. The vegetables that go in the boxes are picked the night before or day of the pickup or delivery. Unless you are growing yourself, you can't get anything fresher. We follow organic growing practices so your food is NEVER sprayed with harmful chemicals of any kind. In our own household, we prepare 95% of our meals. We know what it means to have fresh, high quality ingredients and the difference it makes in nutrition and flavor. Your boxes are filled with tomatoes that have ripened on the vine and potatoes that have just been dug. What a difference that makes! Each week the box will contain a newsletter telling you the activities and happenings on the farm. It will also include a list of what is in the box, preparation ideas and delicious recipes using ingredients from your box that week.

Another advantage of purchasing a weekly box is your investment in a locally owned sustainable farm who is not contributing harmful chemicals to the environment. Our goal is to use growing practices that are in harmony with the soil, wildlife, water, and air. Your investment in our farm allows us to continue producing high quality food that bears no burden on our environment. It keeps the earth clean and your food local: just where it belongs!

Vegetable Reference Guide
This online guide includes a description of each vegetable and herb we plan to include in the weekly boxes. It gives you advice on storage, preparation instructions and valuable nutrition information. If you are ever in doubt about what a vegetable is or how to keep it fresh, you will always have the online reference guide to help you. Vegetable Reference Guide

Back to Top

Subscription Details

How much quantity and variety will I receive in a box?
Our weekly boxes are a half bushel and we aim for no less than 6-7 items in each box. Variety depends on time of the season and we choose what goes in the box each week. Flexibility is very important as you will most likely receive vegetables you have never prepared or eaten before. We do provide a weekly newsletter that will describe each vegetable you receive and give preparation/storage instructions. Boxes start out in June with less variety due to cooler temperatures. Early boxes contain lots of greens, radishes, green onions, cabbage and broccoli. By July and August, you will see tomatoes, peppers, beans, fresh basil, summer squash and more. Quantity is for fresh eating from week to week. It is not our intention to provide enough to can or freeze. Weekly box examples from 2008 are provided below.

When Does the Program Begin and End?

How Does the Egg Share Work? What if I have to Miss A Week?
The egg share gives you one dozen per week for the Main Season. For the Spring and Fall Egg shares, you will receive 2 dozen eggs with each of the two deliveries. If you need to miss a week, notify us ahead of time so we don’t deliver the eggs. You can then makeup the missed delivery another week or have a friend pick up your delivery instead.


What Is Included In A Meat Share? How Often Is The Meat Share Delivered?
Each Meat Share will include 2 chickens (whole or cut up), ground beef, a cut of beef (roast, steak, stew meat or other) and one cut of pork (chops, bacon, sausage). Each delivery will include the chickens and ground beef but the beef and pork cuts will vary according to what is available. You can opt out of pork and receive only beef and chicken. The chickens are raised here on the farm. They are pastured chickens supplemented with certified organic grain. The beef is grass fed and raised by Trail’s End Organic Farm – a certified organic farm near Putnam, Illinois. Pork is raised on our farm and by Organic Pastures – a certified organic farm near Eureka, Illinois.

Meat Shares will be delivered once per month.

What If I Need to Miss a Week?
You need to notify us before we deliver your food that you are canceling. Once the food is delivered, it is your responsibility to pick it up. If, however, you notify us ahead of time and the food is not delivered, you do have the option of making it up in another week. You can take 2 boxes in one week or have a friend pick up while you are away. Missed boxes must be made up during the regular 22 week subscription period.

Delivery or Pickup Options
Food can be picked up at the farm on Wednesdays from 1-6 p.m. We also have drop spots in Peoria Heights at the Options Center located on Prospect, the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church located at War Memorial & Sheridan, and in Naperville on Fridays.

How Do I Sign Up?
Shares for vegetables, eggs, and meat are available until sold out. Subscriptions can be purchased online or by sending payment directly to Broad Branch Farm, Ltd. at the following address. Before mailing, print out the subscription form, fill out all information, sign and return to the address above along with your payment.

Rural Route 1, Box 44
Wyoming, Illinois 61491

What is the Cost For Each Share Option?
The table below explains all the share options for vegetables, eggs and meat.

• A deposit will reserve your spot for each option you choose.
• Payment in full is due by March 1st, 2009

Back to Top

Sample Boxes and Feedback

Weekly Box Examples From 2008
It's very helpful to see actual examples of boxes we provided in 2008. Keep in mind that you receive a box every week so it's important to enjoy your food on a daily basis so you're ready for the next one. Click here to view the 2007 newsletters included in each weekly box. Newsletters provide more detail regarding the list of vegetables in the box, recipes, and farm happenings.


Week 2
Greens Blend
Leaf Lettuce
Radishes
Garlic Scapes
Radishes
Parsley

Week 7
Lettuce
Parsley
Carrots
Broccoli
French Sorrel
Cherry Tomatoes

Week 14
Leeks
Potatoes
Carrots
Roma Tomatoes
Slicing Tomatoes – Red and Yellow
Red Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh Basil
Eggplant
Cucumbers

Week 18
Greens Mix
Parsley
Onions
Leeks
Peppers
Baby Turnips
Winter Squash var. ‘Delicata’
Cabbage

Food Feedback – See What Our Customers Are Saying About Our Vegetables, Eggs, and Chickens
These comments are a direct result of our customers eating very fresh, flavorful, nutritious chemical free food –REAL FOOD! What a difference from those flat tasting limp store bought vegetables, pale eggs, and watered down meat. There’s absolutely no comparison and our customers tell us we “spoil” them.

“Since I received my first dozen eggs, my daughter no longer allows me to purchase store bought eggs. The yolks are so yellow and taste is far better than even the organic ones in the store.”

“My wife and I tried one of your organic chickens for dinner today and we thought it was fantastic tasting, as well as moist and tender! Can we get the chickens from you all year long!”

“We just wanted to tell you that the baby cauliflower from yesterday's market was the best cauliflower we'd ever eaten! (And between us we have over 100 years of cauliflower-eating experience, so you can trust our judgement) We still have 2 heads left, but I wish there were more....Thanks for all your fine labor and for bringing Earth's bounty to us.”

“I can’t live without your eggs!”

“The day after we picked up our boxes, we had the most simple but the best lunch there is. Homemade bread with fresh sunripened tomatoes, mozzarela cheese, fresh basil, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Just amazing, all sun and flavour, I (could) eat it everyday, a little of Italy in the Midwest.”

“My husband and I were gifted with our weekly boxes this summer by our daughter. I can't tell you how much we've enjoyed the experience. It has changed our lives...we have eaten vegetables and greens that we've never eaten before and find that it's inspired us to make other healthy choices in our diet and lifestyle. Thank you!”
“The zucchini you guys bring is some of the best we've ever had EVER and so now it's our new addiction. Have you seen the sad ones in the store? Poor things.”

“We want to thank you and Brian for providing such a wonderful service with the weekly veggie box. This is our first year and we have been more than pleased. We've been able to try several new veggies as well as several new recipes. We look forward to every new box and appreciate all your hard work at the farm!”

“Wow! That was the best spinach I’ve ever had – that Wyoming soil!!! It lasted through yesterday and tasted as fresh as 9 days ago.”

“Just a quick note to say how much I'm LOVING my weekly boxes. It’s so much fun seeing what will come each week, and it is all so incredibly delicious. I can't recall when, if ever, I've eaten a turnip cooked, much less raw, but I followed your advice and I'm eating them raw like apples. Fantastic!!! And what amazing parsley -- I put it in an omelette and it was fabulous. I can't wait till next week's box!!”

“I just wanted to tell you how wonderful Wednesdays are. You have probably heard this a thousand times - - but your vegetables are awesome. I am always in a good mood on Wednesday, cause I know my vegetables are coming.”

“It's 10 degrees on a dark winter evening, but I'm fixing fresh, dark-green locally-grown organic broccoli for dinner!
Thank you. We're glad there are people in the world like you.”

Back to Top