CSA: A 2022 Recap and What Lies Ahead

As we wrap up the 2022 CSA season, we want to say THANK YOU for being a valued CSA member. In the world of farming, we always say no two growing seasons are the same, and that stood true once again this year. A cool and wet spring lead us into a hot and dry summer. Crops on average were later than normal, but with the fall weather we have been having, we have been able to extend our harvest just a little bit longer. Fingers crossed the rest of October stays nice!

Not only did the weather throw us for some loops this season, but like every other industry, we faced a pretty substantial labor shortage and our costs of production reached their highest point ever. While these are challenges that make our days a bit harder and a lot more stressful, it makes us evaluate our processes and create smarter ways of doing our work.

It was a challenging season, but there were many highlights as well:

• We sold out of CSA shares for the 2022 season!

• We were able to double our capacity for CSA Farm tours and bring 1200+ people to the farm for tours over two weekends in July, allowing more of you to learn more about local food production.

• Our CSA packing crew had their best season ever. While we do miss an item in a share here and there, the number of mistakes was drastically lower than last season. We couldn’t do what we do without this incredible crew.

Once again, our CSA community is amazing! We were able to donate over 250 CSA shares to local food shelves throughout the season. Not only were we able to donate shares that you all designated as donations, but we also made weekly produce donations to several organizations to continue serving those in need. We hope to be able to continue donations through the end of November with things like apples, onions, potatoes, and winter squash. Food insecurity is increasing rapidly, so we just want to thank you for helping us continue to assist organizations serving individuals from a variety of backgrounds.

What’s in store for 2023?

As we took a look back at 2022, we had the thought of eliminating the Mini Share to help streamline some processes and add some cost savings to the CSA program. Before we made any decisions though, we wanted to hear from all of the current Mini Share members. We heard you! Current Mini Share members love their CSA boxes, so we will be leaving the program as is with the Family Share and the Mini Share.

While we are leaving the program fairly similar, we are making the difficult decision to eliminate some of our pickup locations that require extra staffing or have had small numbers over the past two seasons. This isn’t an easy decision as we want to keep the program as convenient as possible for our members. As you go to renew your membership, if your pickup location is missing, this would be the reason why.

2023 CSA Sign Up:

Early Bird pricing will be in effect through December 31st, 2022. Prices will go up for 2023, but to what extent, we aren’t quite sure yet. We are waiting for some projected costs for the 2023 season and once we have those, we will do some extensive number crunching. We will be 100% honest that we are not making any extra money with price increases, simply just trying to cover the increased costs of production.

The Family Share price is currently $540 and the Mini Share price is $432 until December 31st. Shares did sell out for the 2022 season, so we highly recommend signing up early to save your spot and save a little bit of money! At this time, registration is only open for 2022 members renewing their shares for next season, but we will open the 2023 season to the public on November 1st.

Overall, the structure of the program will remain the same. Family shares will continue to receive a minimum of 7-10 different types of fresh produce each week, while Mini shares will receive less quantity and a little less variety. We plan on continuing to experiment with different crops and varieties in order to continue bringing you a wide variety of produce offerings in your weekly share.

Thank you all for your support and for continuing to choose Untiedt’s as your local food provider.

Jenna Untiedt