Nick first learned about CSAs while studying plant biology at the University of New Hampshire. “Before that, I’d never heard of it,” he says. “I don’t think many people really had.” But his professor, Dr. George Estes, believed CSAs would become a big part of agriculture. “He knew it would be this new wave,” Nick says.

There are now over forty CSAs in New Hampshire. Although most are single-farm, a few, like Local Harvest CSA in Concord, are the collaborative efforts of multiple, separate farms. Some, like Bee Thankful, have pick-up at the farm, giving members a chance to see the new growth and talk to the farmer. Others, like Tracie’s Community Farm, LLC, in Fitzwilliam, deliver right to members’ doors in a number of different towns. Still others, like Meadow’s Mirth Farm in Stratham, have booths at farmers’ markets, where members can pick up their shares and also buy additional products from that or other farms. The Community School in South Tamworth has a CSA worked by students, while members of the Willow Pond Community Farm CSA in Brentwood are asked to put in a few hours of labour, and many other CSAs are just worked by farmers. Shares at the Charmingfare Farm CSA in Candia include admission to the zoo, and Herban Living Farm in Temple is attached to a Bed and Breakfast. Most are organic; others, like Bee Thankful, use Integrated Pest Management, a system in which the minimum possible level of pesticides (organic or non) is used.

But all CSAs share the same basic, and important, idea. At the beginning of the season, a farm receives money in advance, making it easier to buy enough seeds and equipment. In exchange, that farm provides fresh, healthy food grown for taste instead of shipping, and with the well-being of the surrounding area in mind.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be at the farm bright and early again, to move the seedlings back outside, roll up the sides of the high tunnel, pull more rocks out of the new field (it is the Granite State), learn something else from Nick, and continue to enjoy being part of this growing movement.

“Bee Thankful Farm is what is called very rewarding work,” Nick says. “I feel like we’re part of the solution to treading more lightly on the environment, and taking better care of our own bodies.”

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