Registration is open for the 2015 season of the Community Supported Agriculture project sponsored by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. All UK faculty, staff and students are eligible to enroll in the program, which provides them with a weekly share of fresh, certified organic vegetables from May through October.

Community Supported Agriculture, also known as a CSA, is a subscription-based program where consumers buy “shares” in a farm’s output. Farmers benefit from having a reliable source of funds to help them operate in an economically sustainable manner. Members benefit from receiving fresh, local and affordable produce from growers they know and trust.

UKAg’s CSA project is not a commercial venture. The project is an integral part of the experiential education component of the college’s sustainable agriculture undergraduate degree program. Undergraduate apprentices in the program provide the majority of the skills and labor necessary to produce, harvest and deliver the shares. The farm acts as both a formal and informal classroom, affording students experience in sustainable agriculture practices. All financial proceeds from the sale of produce support production costs and student educational activities, including student study tours and support for conference attendance.

UK CSA shareholders will receive a weekly assortment of produce harvested from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic unit of the Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington from May 28 through Oct. 22. In addition, shareholders will have access to a variety of u-pick crops available on the farm. The produce in the shares will vary according to the time of year, but based on a typical growing season, shareholders can expect to find such items as spring salad mix, radishes, spinach, kohlrabi, turnips, broccoli, cucumbers, basil, corn, melons, onions, squash, potatoes and tomatoes, among others.

When registering, participants can choose to pick up their weekly shares on Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m. EDT in the parking lot of the E.S. Good Barn on campus or from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the UK Horticulture Research Farm.

The number of shares is limited and offered on a first-come first-served basis. Share costs are $616 for faculty and staff and $528 for students. Payment may be made in full at the start of the season or in four separate installments of $154 for faculty and staff and $132 for students.

For more information on the CSA program email uk.csa@uky.edu or go online to http://sustainableag.ca.uky.edu/csa. To join the UK CSA, go to https://www.farmigo.com/join/ukcsa/2015season.

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