Who is the OSU Student Farm?

We are a four acre farm run by a small group of undergraduate employees and three faculty advisors. We farm to learn about sustainability and agroecology, support student research and educational programming, and educate ourselves and others on what socially just farming and community building means. The vegetables we grow are sold directly to consumers and donated to the on-campus food pantry, the Buckeye Food Alliance. Buying into our CSA means you are directly funding an educational workspace for students and supporting food insecure students in the process.

What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a way for community members to support local food systems by agreeing to regularly purchase produce for a certain timeframe during a season. You pay at the beginning of the season and we provide you with produce weekly or biweekly depending on your preference.  Generally, the price of a CSA share is estimated from the average price for the produce you can expect to receive each week from the farm. This year we are aiming for an average of $35 worth of produce per share per week. What specific vegetables are available each week will depend on the seasonality of the produce.

What can you expect from our CSA?
For eight weeks (September 11th to October 30th), we will be preparing bags of fresh produce from our farm. Before the CSA starts, we will ask each customer to fill out a Google Form detailing their contact information and preferred pick up time. We also have a half-share available, where you will pick up a full share of produce every other week (for 4 weeks out of the 8). For example, you might pick up the first week and then the third week and so on. Please indicate this in the same form!

Bags received earlier in the season will likely have a smaller variety and those later in the season will likely have a larger variety than in this example. Overall, we will aim to provide you with enough produce to meet or exceed a $35/week average. Below you can see a list of what will possibly be available for the whole CSA. This is not a guarantee but should be a solid estimate. Generally you will get between 6-10 different crops each week.

Possible crops:

• Basil, beets, bell pepper, bok choy, broccoli
• Cabbage, cantaloupe , carrots, cauliflower, celery, cilantro cucumbers
• Garlic & garlic scapes, green beans, hot pepper, tomatoes (Beef), lettuce, eggplant, watermelon
• Onion, parsley, radish, microgreens, kale, summer squash, sweet corn, thyme, kohlrabi, sage, snap peas, rosemary
• Winter squash, dry beans, flowers, and collards.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please be aware that, for better or worse, the produce you receive in your bag may not necessarily look like the produce you would see at a grocery store. Our farm is managed by student farmers using organic practices, meaning little to no insecticide, herbicide, or fungicide is used on our crops. While we aim to provide you with produce of the highest possible quality, your produce may have spots or holes, or be oddly shaped. Please know that these imperfections are largely aesthetic, and they do not negatively affect the taste or nutritional quality of our produce. Such imperfections should instead be seen as evidence that our farm is doing its part to support a healthy, well-rounded ecosystem :)

How will I get my bag?
For the duration of our 2023 Fall CSA, members will pick up their share at Room 116 of Howlett Hall, 2001 Fyffe Ct, Columbus, OH 43210. Pickup will occur on Mondays from 6:00-7:30 pm. Please fill out the Google Form mentioned above to indicate your preference for the earlier or later half of the pick-up day, if any. If you are out of town, or unable to pick up your share, we encourage sending an alternate contact to pick up your bag for you. If possible, please contact us beforehand so we know who to expect on pick up day.

In order to cut down on unnecessary waste and expenses, we ask that you please bring one or two reusable bags to take your produce home in (a heavy duty canvas shopping bag would work best). Some weeks may have items that you might like to store in smaller containers or their own bags, like cherry tomatoes or lettuce. We will inform you of weeks where that may occur, but you can always bring extra bags for your produce.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Unfortunately due to limited storage capacities on our farm, we will not be able to hold bags after their scheduled pickup date. If produce bags are left unclaimed by the end of the day, they will be donated to our on-campus food pantry, the Buckeye Food Alliance.  Along similar lines, if you would like to purchase a share to donate, please let us know.

COVID-19 Response:

At the current time of this registration, OSU does not have any COVID-19 mask mandates. The Student Farm will not be requiring masks for employees or customers. If conditions change, we will inform you of extra precautions we will be taking. If you would like additional precaution, please indicate that in your sign-up form and we will reach out to you to confirm details. If you ever come down with COVID or another illness, please reach out and you can have an alternate or we can schedule a contactless pickup.

How will payment work?

The full 8 week CSA share will be paid for in full upon registration. Each share will be worth $35/week, thus 8 times 35 is 280. With a $20 service fee, the total is $300. The half share will also be paid in full upon registration at $35/week with 4 weeks of pickup extended over the full 10 weeks for a total of $150. Payment can be made on the CVENT website with a credit card OR through check by selecting the “Offline/Other” option on CVENT. If the check option is chosen, please bring your check with you to the first pickup. If you would like to include an additional donation to the OSU Student Farm, we are very grateful and ask that you do so through our Fundraising Page. If you would also like to support the Buckeye Food Alliance, please visit their website.

I want to purchase a share!

Great! Please fill out both the CVENT form (payment) and our Google Form (information).

Any Questions/Comments/Concerns?

If you have immediate questions, comments, or concerns please email Sam Lehr at samantha.joyce.lehr@gmail.com or text at (931) 215-5401. Thank you.