What does Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) mean?

Being a part of a CSA means investing in a local farm. In return, you receive a share of the farm’s production.  This share can be a variety of things including meat, dairy, produce, honey, eggs, and more.  At River House Farm, our CSA shares primarily consist of vegetables and fruits. CSA members provide payment up front and commit to receiving a weekly basket of produce for a number of consecutive weeks throughout the season.

As a CSA member at River House Farm you ARE a part of the farm.  In our weekly CSA newsletter we share updates about the farm, farmers, local foods events and work trade opportunities at the farm.  We’ll share storage and cooking tips for the bounty in your share as well as our favorite seasonal recipes.

Why support local agriculture?
A good place to start is that local food is delicious, nutritious and the bedrock of community oriented change. Try an heirloom tomato fresh off the vine compared to a tomato shipped to a grocery store from California or South America, and the difference is remarkable. If you read popular literature on food politics, or watch a documentary about the industrial food complex in the United States, it seems obvious: the health, economic, environmental, and political benefits for sourcing food locally are as compelling as they are interconnected.

Picking up your vegetables right at the farm where they are grown offers you the unique opportunity to watch the fields develop over the season.  You can stop by and chat with your farmers about how to use fennel or tell us about your grandmother’s okra recipe.  It’s a chance to become a part of a community centered around eating seasonally with connection to the land where your food is grown and the people who are growing it.

It’s also an opportunity to put your dollars directly back into the local economy here in Greene County.  Instead of sending your money off to a faceless corporate office at Food City or Ingles, you are supporting hardworking folks building a business in the place that you call home.  Unlike the volatile nature of food costs in the grocery store due to labor laws and fluctuating costs of fossil fuels you are paying ONE price for your weekly basket and it will never change it’s value.

What’s in the Basket?

This year we are growing over 250 varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs.  Please visit our “What’s Growing 2017” page for a full list of the varieties you can expect to see rotate through your basket each week.

Each week the basket contains a selection of roughly 7-10 seasonal items.

Organic farming can have it’s ups and downs.  That’s the beauty of eating seasonally.  We might lose a specific type of kale to harlequin bugs or aphids but at the same time we may have an incredible bumper crop of sweet red peppers or cherry tomatoes.   We strive for each weekly basket to represent the vibrancy of the season offering raw leafy greens alongside dense cooking greens, root vegetables among flowering herbs, savory and sweet nightshades among crisp cucurbits.

How do I get my basket?

We offer easy and convenient pickup at Rural Resources Farm in Greeneville, TN.   We don’t offer delivery or additional pick up locations because we are 2 farmers and in order to grow the diversity and quality of produce we desire, our time is best spent here at the farm and not in our vehicles.  We are able to keep our fuel costs and therefore the cost of the baskets down this way.

Baskets are available for pickup Thursdays after 1 pm at Rural Resources Farm, 2870 Holley Creek Road Greeneville, TN  37745.  This means your basket will be available in our walk-in cooler after this time.  Any baskets NOT picked up by Saturday morning will be donated to a local family, friend or neighbor.  We can make need based exceptions if another commitment or an emergency prevents you from making it there by Saturday morning.  Please communicate with us via phone or email & we’ll hold your basket for you.

Meet your Farmers

I hope you enjoy this picture of us after being caught in a torrential downpour on James Island, SC  last fall.

We are Severian Simmons and Melissa Rebholz.  We both hail from the Northeast but met 2 years ago in the magical mountains of Hot Springs, NC.  We’ve been making plans and sharing dreams about food and farming ever since.

We have a combined 10 years of farming experience under our belts.  We are constantly experimenting and learning and it’s our passion for growing the highest quality produce organically that takes us out into our fields day in and day out.

When not farming, Severian can be found digging for rare records and wheelin’ and dealin’ in vinyl online.  Melissa is a trained Chef and is usually thinking about food, cooking food, talking about food, writing about food or eating when not in the field (growing food)

Our Growing Philosophy

At River House Farm all of our fruits and vegetables are grown without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  All natural, all the time.  We feed our soil via soil amendments, compost, mature manures and the use of cover cropping.  We want to leave the place we pour our hearts into someday in better condition that when we found it.  We employ the philosophy that you simply cannot take from the earth without giving back in return.  We grow companions, cover crops and weeds alongside our main crops and let the symbiotic relationships in nature guide us.

2017 CSA Share Options

Full Season CSA Share :: May 18th through September 28th
$500 ((20 consecutive weekly baskets))
With this share, you will receive a $25 weekly assortment of our freshly picked & naturally grown vegetables. You’ll get to enjoy a wide range of spring vegetables and the diversity of early, mid & late summer crops.

Full Season CSA with Fall Extension Share :: May 18 through December 7th
$750 ((30 consecutive weekly baskets))
This 30 week share runs the gamut! It begins mid May with all of the exciting first greens of spring, and leads all the way up to winter storage vegetables for your holiday meals. This all inclusive CSA share allows members to experience a wide array of fruits & produce, and is a wonderful way to participate in the ever changing subtleties of eating seasonally.

Fall Season CSA Share :: October 5th through December 7th
$250 ((10 consecutive weekly basket))
With a fall share, you get 10 weeks of the best produce fall has to offer. Think cabbages, root vegetables, winter squashes, sweet potatoes & kale. All your holiday side dishes will be covered!

Flower Share Add-On :: June 8th – September 21st.  

$160 {{16 consecutive weeks}}  Receive a weekly fresh flower bouquet for your home in addition to your vegetables, fruits and herbs.

**EARLY BIRD SPECIAL**Sign up for a full season PLUS fall extension by March 15th to receive 1 FREE month of flower share.  That’s 4 gorgeous fresh flower arrangements for your home.

Payment options for CSA membership include
Check or Money Order.

Checks and Money Order memberships can be mailed to::
Melissa Rebholz
1739 Browns Bridge Road
Greeneville, TN  37745

When sending a check or money order for a CSA Share to the farm please include your contact information:  Name, Mailing Address, Email Address and Telephone Number.

Please include the name of the share you are purchasing  [full season, full season plus extension, fall extension only] and whether you are adding flowers to your share.

We will contact you when your payment is received to confirm your subscription.

Thank you for supporting local agriculture and your local farmers.  Not only do your dollars fuel our growth as a business and help support our future dream of buying our own small farm/homestead, but your support fuels our heart and soul.

For additional inquires regarding our CSA program please contact Melissa Rebholz via email at melissarebholz@gmail.com or via telephone 718.387.7530 (cell)