What is Green Fire Farm?
Green Fire Farm is a family-owned and operated certified organic farm in the Cowichan
Valley. DeLisa is the lead farmer and Jana takes care of administration and communications
(among other things). Our mission is to engage with local communities and help rebuild
regional food systems by producing high quality food, stewarding ecosystems, and building
knowledge and skills.

What is CSA?
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a program offered by regionally-focused farms to
build direct connections with the people who eat their food. The concept has been around for
four decades and is seeing a resurgence with food system concerns highlighted by the current
pandemic. CSA members pay for their share of the harvest in advance of the growing season,
helping the farm to cover important up-front costs like seeds, other inputs, and labour. CSA
members share in the risks of production (e.g., the potential for lost quality, quantity, or
diversity of produce due to climate or other factors) and in return, receive the highest quality
and best selection of the harvest.

What type of CSA program are you offering and when?
We are offering a 17-week classic CSA program, which provides you with a farmers’ choice of
fresh produce selected from our harvests each week during the main growing season, from
mid-June until the first week of October. This is when we have the widest selection of
vegetables and fruits available. We provide our CSA members a better dollar value over the
season than if you were to buy the produce at our farmers’ markets.

How will I get my produce?
You will pick up your produce at one of our depots during a specified time window. We may
be able to offer home delivery in select areas for an additional fee. The pick-up/delivery days
and locations in South and Central Vancouver Island are as follows.
• Victoria area: Tuesday afternoons at neighbourhood depots. Home delivery may be available in select areas.
• Cowichan Valley: Tuesday afternoons with on-farm pick-up. Home delivery may be available in select areas.
• Nanaimo area: Sundays at the Cedar Farmers’ Market.

What kinds of vegetables and fruits can we expect?
We grow a mix of certified organic vegetable and fruit crops carefully selected to match our
farm’s unique growing conditions. Our aim is to provide healthy, tasty, colourful, and
comforting foods, and our crops for 2021 include the following.
• Green vegetables and salads: arugula, spinach, seasonal salad greens mix, pea tips,
little gem lettuces, kales (baby and fall full-size), broccolini, Romanesco cauliflower, cabbage
• Vegetables that are really fruits: sugar snap peas, shelling peas, cucumbers (snacking,
salad, and pickling), beans (summer snap, edamame, fall shelling), cherry tomatoes
(rainbow of colours and sizes), summer and winter squash, zucchini
• Actual fruit: strawberries, west coast cantaloupes, canary melons
• Root crops: beets (red and golden), carrots, radishes, salad turnips, potatoes (early and main season)
• Aromatics and herbs: basil, dill, fennel, bunching and Italian salad onions

How many items will I get each week?
We usually provide 5-7 different items each week, with a balance from the categories listed
above. During the main season (July through mid-September), you can expect more diversity
in each box and from week to week. During the shoulder seasons, you can expect larger
amounts of fewer items.

What are the costs and how do I sign up?
Our 2021 CSA will be 17 weeks long and your membership will cost $595, which is $35/week.
You sign up by filling out this form.
After we receive your form, we will send you a confirmation email (not immediately, but as
soon we can). To secure your spot, we require payment within 24 hours of receiving the
confirmation email from us. We appreciate full payment when you sign up, but if that is not
possible, the payment can be made in two installments, one at sign-up ($297.50) and the
second one by April 30th ($297.50).

How will I stay connected?
We send out a newsletter each week that outlines what is in that week’s Harvest Box,
information about any unusual items, recipe ideas, and news about what is happening on the
farm. We can also be reached by email, text, or phone if necessary. It’s always an added
pleasure when we get to meet our customers at the pick-up locations. Public health
restrictions permitting, we hope to be able to offer an on-farm social or educational event for
CSA members in 2021.

What if I am going to be away?
If you are going to be away for one of the weeks, the easiest solution is to find a friend or
family member who can pick up your box, either for themselves or for you. However, if you let
us know at least one week in advance that you are going to be away, we can make up one
week’s worth of produce with a similar value of produce at the end of the season. We can
only do this for one week over the season, however, as crops are carefully planned to provide
a steady amount of produce.