Vines festooned with golden, heirloom “Meraviglia di Venezia” romano beans.
Click here to enroll in our Main Season Summer CSA
CSA Overview
Our mission is to provide you with the freshest, most flavorful, chemical-free produce possible. Every week we assemble a tasty, well-balanced assortment of the various items that we are harvesting that week. Subscribers share in the risks and abundance inherent to farming. Certain crops may be delayed or fail, due to weather or wildlife, while others excel. A complete harvest failure is very unlikely. However, individual crops do regularly fail—cool summers bring lots of broccoli and few tomatoes, for example, emphasizing the importance of crop diversity.
What Subscribers Get:
Early in the season, allotments will be on the light side, containing largely greens and salad goodies. Into the summer, you will find more variety, and shares should include among others, basil, broccoli, beets, carrots, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and squash, as well as greens and lettuces. Just for fun, our subscribers can expect a number of exotic crops, like Artichokes, Cipollini Onions, and Japanese Eggplant. However, the bulk of the weekly boxes will consist of more traditional staple vegetables like Broccoli, Lettuce and Cooking Greens, and sweet Carrots. See our Crop Schedule for a better idea of what crops to expect throughout the season. See the chart below for sample harvests for an idea of how much produce to expect each week.
We harvest most of our produce less than 24 hours before you get it—some items like sweet corn, herbs, and delicate greens are harvested that very morning and throughout the pickup day. Subscribers can expect a great deal of variety from week to week, as we try to ensure that no-one gets tired of eating the same thing every week. (Visit our blog archive for last year’s weekly share contents and news.)We no longer print a weekly newsletter. Instead, we publish a blog. The weekly posts include a list of what produce is included in the share for that week, news and photos from the farm, and recipes to help you in cooking anything that might be new or unusual. Occasionally there are extra posts to read as well.
We offer three share sizes. Small Shares consist of 7-10 items per week and feed 1-3 adults, while Large Shares generally contain 14-18 items per week and feed 3-5. Our Mini Share consists of 5 items per week, and is a good fit for single people, or those who eat out often or want to supplement their home garden. Summer CSA begins in mid-June and continues through October, for a total of 20 weeks..
By signing on with our farm for the season, you play a direct role in sustaining local agriculture, ensuring a healthier, tastier future for all of us—your family and our community.
How Much Produce Will Be in the Shares Each Week?
(Remember, this is just a representation. Actual weekly harvest will vary from week to week, and with weather conditions.)
Each week we will strive to include at least one item from each category in the above list each week. See the chart below for an estimate of what quantity to expect in the weekly boxes.
SAMPLE June HARVEST
SMALL SHARE:
1 bunch Spinach • 1 crown Broccoli • 1 pound Snap Peas • 1 head Heirloom Lettuce • 1 bunch Green Onions • 1 bunch Arugula or Garlic • 1 bunch Fennel or Beets • 1 bunch Pea Shoots or Mint
LARGE SHARE:
2 bunches Spinach • 2 crowns Broccoli • 2 pounds Snap Peas • 1 head Heirloom Lettuce • 2 bunches Green Onions • 2 bunches Arugula or Garlic, or one each • 2 bunches Fennel or Beets, or one of each • 2 bunches Pea Shoots or Mint, or one each
PLUS:
U-Pick Cut Flowers and Herbs
SAMPLE August HARVEST
SMALL SHARE:
1 head Cauliflower • 1 pound Green Beans • 1 pound Tomatoes or 6 Squash Blossoms • 1 bunch Carrots • 1 bunch Sweet Onions • 1 pound Summer Squashes • 1 pound Cucumbers and Dill • 1 bunch Chard or Basil • 1 Radicchio or bunch of Purslane
LARGE SHARE:
2 heads Cauliflower • 2 pounds Green Beans • 2 pounds Tomatoes or 12 Squash Blossoms • 2 bunches Carrots • 2 bunches Sweet Onions • 2 pounds Summer Squashes • 2 pounds Cucumbers and Dill • 2 bunches Chard or Basil, or one each • 2 Radicchio or bunches of Purslane
PLUS:
U-Pick Cut Flowers and Herbs
SAMPLE October HARVEST
SMALL SHARE:
1 head Savoy Cabbage • 1 pound Shelling Beans • 1 pound Tomatoes • 1 pound Carrots • 1 pound Potatoes • 1 “Sugarloaf” Winter Squash • 1 head Endive or bunch of Beets • 1 head Radicchio or bunch of Turnips • Leeks or Garlic • Italian Parsley or Lettuce
LARGE SHARE:
2 heads Savoy Cabbage • 2 pounds Shelling Beans2 pounds Tomatoes • 2 pounds Carrots • 2 pounds Potatoes • 2 “Sugarloaf” Winter Squashes • 1 head Endive and • 1 bunch of Beets • 1 head Radicchio and 1 bunch of Turnips • Leeks and Garlic • Italian Parsley and/or Lettuce
PLUS:
Pumpkin Patch
Fruit
We don’t grow much fruit on our farm—yet, but we have a lot of friends who do. We also serve as a drop-off point for a fruit-only CSA from Collins Orchards in Selah. (On-Farm pickup only.)
Other Subscriber Benefits and Perks
• FREE U-Cut Flowers from our Cutflower Patch at the farm and U-Pick Culinary Herbs;
• FREE visits to the Sunflower Patch (late August);
• Self-guided tours and farm animal visits;
• Free pumpkins from our U-Pick Haunted Pumpkin Patch in October;
• FarmKids Club
Back to Our Subscription Program
Study our Crop Schedule below to find out what you might be able to expect each week.
If you have any questions, please send an email to shelley@whistlingtrainfarm.com.
Whistling Train Farm 