Community Supported Agriculture

We are a collective group of farmers and gardeners inspired by the examples of The Catholic Worker, Gandhi, and many others. Our community seeks to create an environment in which everyone can participate in growing, distributing, and eating good quality food. We are committed to service: to our workers, to the land, and to the hungry. We are not certified organic, but we grow our food according to the organic standards.

There are three main places our food goes: to our CSA, to our workshares, and to donation sites throughout our community. Occasionally, we sell things like garlic to Wheatsfield Co-Op.

The Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) model is a committed relationship between an eater and a grower. You pay upfront join our CSA for a whole growing season, and we will bring good food to you every week.

How Does It Work?

• May – October – approximately 20 weeks
• Approximately $25/ week =$500
• We also can do a sliding scale for those in need, or half shares for those who eat less.
• In farming, many of the costs are early in the season, and much of the income is at the end, so we ask that when possible, the whole amount be paid at the beginning
• If you are unable to pay all at once, please contact us by phone and we will come up with a payment plan that works for you.
• We are also asking our members to volunteer on the farm for 3 hours at some point in the season. If you are unable to work, the share cost increases to $525.

the chart below isn't comprehensive, but this will give you an idea of what might be in your box. As the season progresses, there are more and more veggies available.

Full Vegetable Share

Every week on Tuesday or Friday afternoon you will receive a box of fresh fruits and veggies. Boxes vary throughout the season and include things like greens, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and sometimes a more daring vegetable for fun. Many weeks include herbs and berries. You will also receive a weekly newsletter with stories from the farm, recipes, and tips for storing and preserving your veggies. A full share is a bountiful box filled with enough vegetables for 2+ people to eat all week long. If you are a smaller household, you may benefit from preserving some of the vegetables you receive, finding someone to split your share with, or inviting friends over for dinner during the peak season! 2025 Price: $500

Workshares
Work 3 hours a week in exchange for a full share of vegetables. The WORKSHARE shift is 7am-10am either Tuesday or Friday, from mid-May through early October. Click here for more information.

Half Vegetable Share - Returning Members Only
We have a limited number of smaller vegetable shares available to our returning CSA members. Due to the extra work it takes to manage half shares during our harvest and packing shift, we are not able to make half-shares widely available. If you are a smaller household or don't eat a lot of vegetables, we encourage you sign up for a full share and find a friend or neighbor to split the cost and food with. 2025 Cost: $300

Flower Share
We're excited to offer a flower CSA this season! We love nourishing our community with healthy food, and offering flowers gives us another way to nurture and nourish: through beauty. The flower share option can be added on to the vegetable share or purchased by itself. A flower share includes six deluxe bouquets: 2 per month in June, July, and August (specific dates TBD). Flower shares will be available for pick up at Wheastsfield Co-Op on Fridays. 2025 Cost: $150

Gift Share
We accept financial donations (of any size) to help us distribute food to those in need. In addition to making donations to local food banks/soup kitchens, gift shares are provided directly to families in need. Please contact us if you would like to give toward this effort or if you or someone you know would benefit from a gift share.

Extras (for extra cost)

• We will occasionally have large harvests of certain crops (tomatoes, greens) that we don't want to burden the people that normally get our deliveries with. If you're interested in a larger amount of certain crops, let us know and we might be able to grow it for you.

We are thrilled to have visitors, whether they are coming to share their skills, to help out for a bit or are just passing through and would like to meet us and eat a few meals with us! We should be out here on the farm from about April to October. Tuesday, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays are the days we are almost always available. Please call first and we will make sure someone is on the farm and not off running errands or wandering in the woods by the creek.

Mustard Seed Community Farm
366 W Ave.
Ames, IA 50014
978-471-8414
mustardseedbee@gmail.com

Directions to the farm
Although we have an Ames address, our farm is about 10 miles north and 5 miles west of Ames, and this sometimes confuses GPS or internet directions. We are in Boone County, on W Ave, just a half mile south of E18 (130th St).