Community Supported Agriculture Program | Sequatchie Cove Farm

What is a CSA?

CSA – Community Supported Agriculture – is the deliberate reciprocal relationship between a farm and its surrounding community. A group of people willingly gather around a farm and support the farm’s budget for growing high quality food using socially and environmentally responsible methods that conserve and uphold the integrity of the farm’s land and resources – from water to soil to plant to animal to human. The farm in turn commits to bringing that group of people its best quality produce on a weekly basis for a given number of weeks throughout the growing season. The CSA members, or “shareholders”, share in the risks as well as the bounty of the given growing season, providing a direct link to the source of their food, as well as a meaningful relationship to local agriculture in their community. It is a “win-win” scenario – a farm provides people with nourishing, seasonal, fresh food, and those people’s direct support allows that farm to thrive and continue responsible stewardship of the land.

Sequatchie Cove’s Land Stewardship

Our produce is grown by hand from seed to harvest, using only organic & biodynamic growing methods that meet or surpass the national standards. From sowing the seeds & cultivating the garden to harvesting the crop and bringing it to you, we care for our land and its resources with utmost respect. Our growing methods improve and maintain soil quality, enhance biodiversity of microbial, plant & animal life, conserve water & fossil fuels, and beautify the landscape. Varieties are chosen for taste & nutritional quality, and are harvested within hours of delivery to our CSA members.

The CSA vegetable garden is just one aspect of our highly diversified, holistically managed community farm offering a broad spectrum of locally & responsibly produced food including eggs, pork, beef, shiitake mushrooms, fruits, flowers and herbs.

Benefits of becoming a CSA Shareholder

• Building community / developing important relationships
• Weekly access to local, high-quality, organically grown produce – and eating with the seasons
• Access to all of Sequatchie Cove’s farm-raised products – eggs, beef, pork, plants, and flowers will be for sale at each drop-off as they are available throughout the season; special orders & bulk orders for meats can also be arranged for convenient pick-up.
• Supporting your local economy – 95% of food consumed in Chattanooga is shipped in from elsewhere. Those dollars are also on the next truck out of town!
• Education on how your family’s food is produced, where it comes from, what it costs to produce, and who is responsible for producing it ( most want to know about the moral integrity of the family’s doctor, child’s teacher, what about the family’s farmer?)
• Social and Cultural renewal – by rediscovering our relationship to the land and each other, we can all thrive!
• Weekly ‘farm news’ informing shareholders about the week’s produce selection, recipes & preservation tips, events & festivals, upcoming harvests & activities and more!