Please see the latest update for details on this year’s season
Blessing Falls LLC grows natural, safe, healthy vegetables and fruit using organic methods and practices and delivers the harvest throughout the greater Austin area. Our family farm was established in 2010, each year adding more garden space and different varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, berries, and animals. Partner with us and enjoy the health and taste of natural produce in your weekly farm share conveniently delivered to your home or workplace. Fresh flowers, Grass fed beef, pasture-raised chicken, and pasture-raised eggs from organically fed hens are also available with your weekly order.
“Community Supported Agriculture”, or CSA, means farmers and supporters partnering together for the sake of healthy, nutritious food. Some farms call this a weekly “farm share” or “veggie basket” program. Supporters join as members, paying the farm expenses early in the season when costs are highest. As the crops mature, all members enjoy sharing in the harvest. This community of farmer and members benefits everyone – costs and risks are shared and none of the harvest is wasted but goes directly to waiting members as soon as it’s harvested. You may think of it as a subscription to fresh, natural food. Costs are paid early and the bounty is enjoyed every week. Click here to join our CSA now or continue reading for all the details.
Season Schedule
Spring/Summer Produce: 16 weeks March 29 – July 14
Spring/Summer Flowers: 12 weeks April 26 – July 14
Fall Produce: 7 weeks October 4 – November 15
Eggs, Beef, and Chicken are available every week
Weekly Shares
Members decide if they want a full share or just a half. The full share works well for 3 to 6 adults/teens, while the half share works best for couples and families with only young children. To give you an idea, here are four full shares from a past CSA …
Two Full Shares from early and late Spring 2016
Two Full Shares from mid Summer 2016
For more examples, see our “CSA at a Glance” showing shares from every week of harvest during a previous season. Note these are all Full size shares, with Half size shares generally having half as much produce each week.
The harvest varies throughout each season. Here’s what we’re planning this year:
Spring: asparagus, lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, radish, Chinese cabbage, sunflower sprouts, red and green cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, mizuna, spinach, carrots, cilantro, peas, beets, onions, dill, cucumbers, yellow squash, blackberries, zucchini, green beans, dandelion greens, broccoli raab
Summer: onions, dill, cucumbers, Swiss chard, Malabar spinach, yellow squash, tomatoes, cabbage, zucchini, green beans, cantaloupe, jalapeños, basil, various squash varieties (spaghetti, scallop, acorn), eggplant, watermelon, sweet corn, okra, bell peppers, butternut squash, sunflower sprouts
Delivery/Pickup
We’ll deliver your weekly share to your home or workplace in the north and east greater Austin area – From North Austin to Georgetown; Wells Branch to Elgin; Taylor to Brushy Creek and points between we’ve got you covered. No need to meet us at a specific time and you do not need to be home. If you won’t be home or don’t want to be interrupted just leave an ice chest and we’ll deliver your produce between 9:00am and 5:00pm on your scheduled day. If you’d prefer to pick up your share, we have a pick-up site in central Round Rock near downtown where you can pick up from 2:30pm until 7pm Wednesdays or Fridays. Rise Martial Arts in Pflugerville is a pick-up site Wednesdays from 4pm-8pm. You can also pick up at the farm. Most items you’ll receive will have been harvested within the previous 24 hours. Some are harvested the same morning we deliver so your share is as fresh as possible.
Cost
No price increase – our costs are the same as 2015 and 2016. Weekly cost for a full share is $36 and a half share is $24. Home/workplace delivery is $4 per week and there’s no charge for picking up at any of the regular sites. You can mail us your check or go online and pay with your PayPal account or any credit card.
Ready to Join Us?
Simply fill out this form and we’ll get right back to you with a confirmation and details on how to make your payment.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly can you deliver?
Areas include:
Austin – Domain, Wells Branch, Parmer East areas
Round Rock, Georgetown
Pflugerville, Hutto, Coupland, Taylor, Thrall
Manor, Elgin
Our current pick up sites are the farm (located between Thrall and Elgin), Rise Martial Arts in Pflugerville, and downtown Round Rock. More may be added depending on the locations and schedules of members who join.
Am I guaranteed plenty of produce each week? What if crops fail?
Our goal is to deliver an abundance each week, so that you have plenty and even some left to share with friends and neighbors. However, the harvest can vary according to weather, insect pressure, etc. It could even fail due to a hailstorm or other uncontrollable events. (In 2016 we had a severe thunderstorm with high winds and hail. We had to delay the harvest a couple weeks to let the garden recover and then we resumed deliveries and extended the season for two weeks so everyone received all the shares they paid for.) If the harvest is low on a given week, it will usually bounce back the next. A cold front or storms can affect the harvest but it usually comes back strong. If harvest lags significantly, we’ll supplement shares with healthy, safe, natural produce we’ll buy from other local farmers we know and trust. If we were to have a ruinous failure affecting the whole season such that we are unable to continue harvesting, we will credit your undelivered shares toward the next season.
Can I pick and choose what I receive in my weekly share?
Members do not choose specific varieties for their share but will receive an assortment of whatever is ripe for harvest during the week. We’ll make sure you have enough of a particular variety so you can prepare a whole dish with it. We focus on growing the usual, typical, mainstay vegetables and also some that may be unfamiliar. We publish recipe ideas each week and have more ideas from previous seasons. We trust you’ll enjoy the adventure of trying a few new things each season. In the rare event that you receive something you don’t like or can’t use, please share those with friends.
What other farm products are available?
We have farm eggs, grass fed beef and pasture raised chicken that you can add to your weekly produce share. We offer baked goods and honey on some weeks and are planning to raise holiday turkeys to be ready in November. Our members will be notified when these extra items are available. Simply mail your payment, pay online, or leave it with your delivery cooler to cover the cost and we’ll deliver these when we bring your weekly share.
Can I visit the farm?
Certainly! As a valued member and partner you are welcome to come see your produce as it grows, along with the farm cattle, chickens, and turkeys. During May we’ll have an open farm on a Saturday (date TBD). You’re welcome on other days too – just contact us first so we can be sure we’re on the farm that day. You can always come pick up your share at the farm Wednesdays at 1pm, even if you are normally receiving deliveries, and have a look around while you’re here.
What if I’m not home to receive my delivery?
Simply leave an ice chest near your front door or some other designated shady spot. A medium sized 48 quart chest with a couple freezer packs or frozen water bottles will hold a full share, eggs, beef, and chicken and keep it cool all day and possibly even overnight.
If I am out of town for a week, can I skip my delivery or pickup?
Since the produce harvest keeps coming and cannot be stored more than several days, we cannot skip or defer CSA produce shares. We will gladly deliver your share to an alternative address within our delivery area. Your share could be a welcome gift to a local friend or you could have them pay you for it. We can also donate your produce share to a community food pantry.
Since eggs, beef, and chicken are more easily stored and preserved, we can defer delivery of these. For example, if your weekly order includes a full share of produce, 2 dozen eggs, and 2 pounds ground beef then we could deliver the produce to a friend and keep the eggs and beef. When you return the following week you’d get 4 dozen eggs and 4 pounds of ground beef. So you would not lose any eggs or beef you’ve paid for. Of course, you can have us deliver the eggs and beef to your friend – your choice.
How do members and the farm stay in touch?
In addition to the farm website and Facebook page, we’ll email our members weekly reminders. The email will remind you of your day of delivery and give more details on the items in that week’s share. To contact us you can simply reply to these emails or contact us through the website or call the phone number we make available to all our members.
More questions? Just let us know. When you’re ready to join us, simply fill out this form and we’ll get right back to you with a confirmation and details on how to make your payment.