For three decades, we’ve offered a popular Winter CSA Share. We continue the tradition now, more than 25 years later, as a way to keep our crew busy and employed year-round, and to offer our loyal customers a wholesale price on a local diet. Everything in the box is grown by us right here and is certified organic. It’s a box-style CSA: we pack a well-balanced selection of seasonal ingredients into a box for you once a month, for all six months of Maine winter – November through April. It’s full of winter storage vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, beets, carrots, leeks, garlic, onions, parsnips, celeriac, squash, cabbage, rutabagas, radishes. We add in greens when available like kale, braising greens, spinach, salad mix, or pea shoots, though every year is different and greens may not grow well enough to appear every month. You’ll also get recipes, storage tips, and a letter from the farm with each box.

Pickups are once a month, on the second Saturday of the month. You have four options for pickup location:

• Here at the farm
• At the Damariscotta Y
• At a private home in Boothbay
• At the Portland Farmers’ Market

How To Sign Up – 3 Options:

• Bring a check made out to Goranson Farm for $350 to any of our markets or the farm stand. We also need the name of the person whose share it will be, and a good email address, written legibly, so please include that if you are dropping it off. If you are paying a person at the market, cash works well too.

• Mail a check to our farm:

• For your convenience, you can also sign up and pay online above, though the farm will pay about $12 in processing fees per share for electronic payments.

FAQ

What makes our Winter CSA different?

It’s unique in many ways!

• It was one of the first Winter CSAs in the state.
• It runs for the full Maine winter, November through April, not just for the fall or a few months.
• It’s all grown by us and certified organic. We don’t buy in food from other places to fill your box.
• It’s grown, picked, cleaned, and packed by our year-round, full-time crew, and helps us maintain these real jobs in our rural area.
• It’s grown in amazing, healthy soil that we’ve spent our whole lives taking care of. We practice a 7-year ley rotation with intensive cover cropping and reduced tillage to feed our very special soil, and we believe you can taste it.

How big are the shares?

We’ve always called it an overflowing bushel box, though now we pack the shares into reusable totes. It’s about $58 worth of our vegetables at wholesale prices per month, though the months earlier in the season will be heavier than the later ones when not as much is in season. One share is a good amount for one vegetarian who cooks most meals at home, two omnivore adults who cook most meals at home, or a family of 4-5 who cook a couple of big meals a week.

Can I change my pickup day?

To some degree, yes. If you aren’t able to make your usual pickup date and location, we can leave your box for pickup in our farm stand here in Dresden for a few days. It’s always best for your vegetables to keep them refrigerated and properly stored, so avoid leaving your box for too long. If you typically pick up in one location but want to change it to another, you can email us the Monday or Tuesday before pickup, and we’ll re-route your box to the location you say.

Does it have to be me picking up every time?

Nope! The person who picks up just has to know who’s name the share is under. We have several people who split a share and alternate pickups between two households.

How many greens will I get in my share?

Some! Last winter our CSAers ended up with pea shoots, spinach, braising mix, mesclun, and kale for various pickups. But there’s no guarantee of greens in our Winter Share. Since it’s priced based on wholesale rates, and because salad greens production can get very limited in cold and dark weeks, we are not able to make any promises. You can always grab a bag of our greens if they are available for retail when you pick up your share at the farm stand or Portland farmers’ market.

What if I missed signup?

We will keep the shares on sale while supplies last and pro-rate the price based on how many months are left in the season if you sign up after the November pickup. Typically we cut off signups in January as our stores begin to dwindle to guarantee supply for our existing members.

Can I do add-ons like meat and eggs, or extra vegetables that I choose?

No. Our Winter CSA is structured with what we produce and lower prices for you in mind rather than as a personal shopping service. Custom packed shares would increase our labor costs to get them to you, and therefore increase your cost. We do offer eggs, dairy, bread, meat, honey, maple syrup, and more in our farm stand, which is open during share pickups.