Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following was published in the spring edition of All About Her, a regional newspaper insert magazine.

Polly Hieser runs the oldest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in Floyd County and one of the oldest CSAs in the country.  In 1991 she and Ron Juftes founded Seven Springs Farm, named for one of the 7 main springs on the 111 acre property.  “We counted seven and liked the name, so stopped counting,” joked Hieser, who operates the CSA from May until early December, while Juftes runs the farm’s Organic Farming and Gardening Supplies store and catalog.

With a background in horticulture and an interest in homesteading, Hieser first became interested in the CSA concept after meeting Robyn Van En, who started the first American CSA in 1985.  Van En wrote a book on the subject, handwritten, copied and held together with a dime store binder.  “I bought it for $6 and got really inspired by the idea,” Hieser said.

The idea, which began in Europe and Japan, was that community members would have relationships with their local farmers and share the benefits and responsibility of growing food with them.   “In Japan people began noticing that more and more of their food was being imported and that farm stands were disappearing.  They wanted fresh, local food and so asked the farmers to grow it for them in exchange for covering the farmer’s expenses,” explained Hieser, a Virginia native who grew up in Pennsylvania.

Most CSAs in Europe grew out of the bio-dynamic farming movement, which advocates an organic approach to farming that emphasizes the use of manure and compost and excludes the use of artificial chemicals.  Today, the majority of CSAs, including Seven Springs Farm, maintain that degree of quality.

At Seven Springs, an initial CSA membership of 20 people grew to over 100 in the first five years.  Hieser likens becoming a CSA member to buying a magazine subscription and receiving monthly issues in the mail.    Members pay in advance for a portion of the cost of growing the garden, including labor, seeds and compost, and then, depending on whether they’ve purchased a full or a half share, receive one or two bags of fresh vegetables every week throughout the 8 month CSA season.

Weekly bags are filled with six to seven varieties of seasonal vegetables, including lettuce, leeks, greens, green beans, tomatoes, basil, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant and more.   Fall weather brings a variety of squashes and root vegetables for making hearty pots of stew.  If one vegetable fails there are lots of others to harvest, an advantage that small local farming has over mono-crop industrial farming.  “We always have food,” Heiser said.

Non-working and working CSA shares are both available options at Seven Springs Farm. Working members help with planting, harvesting and distributing vegetables at local drop off points in exchange for a lower share price.  Sliding fee prices allow members who can afford it to pay at the higher end of the scale, which helps compensate the farmers fairly and provides some scholarships for low income families who want to participate.   In 2010 the CSA provided a half share to Portable Produce (aka Plenty!), a local community program that distributes food to the needy.

Hieser, who lives in an off-the-grid farmhouse with her West African husband NiiAnang, grows 25 to 30 varieties of vegetables and herbs on 4 – 5 acres.  She employs a part-time farm worker, a bookkeeper and two seasonal apprentices.   Drawn by an interest to learn about growing food using sustainable practices and wanting to experience the country lifestyle, the apprentices live in cabins on the property.

Farming is hard work. The pay is modest, but the rewards are many.  Hieser smiled as she described a CSA member who had dined on farm vegetables and the next day announced ‘I had the best supper last night!’  Another member’s young daughter, who was working in the garden with her family, enthusiastically told Hieser, ‘When you get too old to do this, I’m going to run it for you!’

People are changed by participating in the growing of their food.  Hieser has seen firsthand the therapeutic value of getting hands in the soil.   But it’s the end result of that work that is the most satisfying part of being a CSA farmer.   “I feel so lucky I get to do this,” Hieser said.  “When I see all those bags brimming with beautiful vegetables, it really fills me up.”  ~ Colleen Redman