The University City Farmers Market returns this spring for its first full season at University Place, and one of our major vendors has an exciting and tasty offer that we hope you can’t refuse: Get 31 weeks of fresh produce from nearly two dozen area farms, packaged and ready for pickup each Saturday morning from late April through November at the University City Farmers Market.

The Farm at Dover Vineyards is making this service possible by organizing a CSA program with about 20 other growers. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it benefits both customers and growers. Here is the program, as provided by The Farm:

Weekly fresh produce through Community Supported Agriculture

Are you interested in eating delicious, fresh, locally grown produce? Do you want to support small farmers and keep your money in the local economy? Are you an adventurous eater with a love of cooking? If so, our CSA program might be the perfect fit for you!

What’s a CSA?

It is an acronym that stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It’s like a magazine subscription to a farm. Our customers pay an upfront amount for their produce at the beginning of the season and stop by the market weekly to pick up what the farm has to offer. Some weeks, there is a lot of produce, others, not as much. Every week is different, and our offerings change according to availability and the season, but a typical week might be:

• Spring: lettuce, strawberries, carrots, radishes, cilantro
• Summer: tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, potatoes, basil
• Fall: kale, sweet potatoes, jam, cauliflower

Many growers for great variety

We have a great variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and jams and jellies which may be included in our weekly share! In order to keep our CSA shares as diverse as possible, we source produce from other farms as well as our own farm! All farms have their strengths, and we want to bring the best produce to you. When you purchase a share at our farm, you’re not only supporting our farm, but about 20 other local farms as well!

When you pick up your share, you will often get a choice between items! Other times, when availability is tight, we will have your share allotted for you.

Four pickup locations and two kinds of CSA

We have two types of CSA: A traditional season-long CSA, and a shorter Summer CSA.

You can arrange to pick up your produce weekly from 9 am to 1 pm Saturdays at the University City Farmers Market in University Place, or at these other locations:

• 7th Street Public Market – 5-6 pm Wednesdays
• Local Loaf, 300 E. 35th St. – 5-7 pm Thursdays
• Common Market Plaza Midwood, 2007 Commonwealth Ave. – 10 am-1 pm Saturdays

More location details

Wednesday CSA – 7th Street Public Market
The cost (due March 29) is $713, which equals $23 of food per week for 31 weeks, tax included. The CSA will begin April 28 and go until Nov. 24th. Pickup time is 5-6 pm outside the Seventh Street Public Market on 7th St. You might think that this is a lot of produce, but it is basically the amount of produce an average family of four (or just one vegetarian) uses in a week. We can break this up into three payments in March, April and May.

Thursday CSA – Local Loaf
The cost (due March 29) is $713, which equals $23 of food per week for 31 weeks, tax included. The CSA will begin April 29 and go until Nov. 23th (That’s a Tuesday because Thanksgiving is on a Thursday). Pickup time is 5-7 pm at Local Loaf (300 E 35th St, Charlotte, NC 28205). We can break this up into three payments.

Saturday CSA – Common Market
The cost (due March 29) is $713, which equals $23 of food per week for 31 weeks, tax included. The CSA will begin April 24 and go until Nov. 20. Pickup time is between 10 am-1 pm at the Plaza Midwood Farmer’s Market at 2007 Commonwealth Ave. We can break this up into three payments.

Saturday CSA –  University City Farmers Market
The cost (due March 29) is $713, which equals $23 of food per week for 31 weeks, tax included. The CSA will begin April 24 and go until Nov. 20. Pickup time is between 9 am-1 pm at the University City Farmer’s Market at 8929 JM Keynes Dr. We can break this up into three payments.

Summer Season CSA – Applies to all the pickups above
The cost (due May 1st) is $332, which equals $23 of food per week for 14 weeks, tax included. It will begin June 2, 3 or 5 and end September 1, 2 or 4, depending on the pickup location. You can make two payments of $140 in April and May. Depending on the season, you might be able to extend into the fall after your Summer CSA ends.

We do not offer half shares, however, if you would like to split a CSA with someone, you are always welcome to split one of our shares with a neighbor or friend and arrange the division yourselves. We cannot change or alter your CSA option once you begin the season. If you say you are going to split the payment up, you must commit to the option and pay the entire cost.

Who we are

We are a small fruit and vegetable farm located on Concord Parkway South and Poplar Tent Road in Concord. We planted our first crops around 12 years ago on family land and strive to keep agriculture alive in the Charlotte Metro Area.

We grow organically but are not certified. We concentrate on using local suppliers and try to limit our use of off-farm inputs.

We only offer products grown by ourselves on the farm, or from friends’ farms. When we offer products from other farms, we cannot guarantee that they are grown organically, but we can tell you the growing methods of the farmers and about why they would choose to spray what they spray on their product.

We only offer vegetables which are in season, although we are looking at economical ways to extend our seasons.

All of our employees are legal, and we pay them fairly.

Why participate in the CSA instead of just buying produce from the farmers market?

Our CSA customers make our farm possible! We use the upfront payments at the beginning of the year to guide our planting for the whole season. The CSA ensures a great variety of vegetables will be available and it takes a lot of the risk out of farming produce! It allows us to operate more efficiently and cut waste. We pass the savings on to you!

Also, in addition to having access to some of the area’s best produce, you also get discounted rates on parties and events held at the farm and vineyard! Yes, we have CSA perks and dividends that we give out during the season!

Planting Society Information

If you are interested in supporting our farm with a pre-payment but don’t want to purchase a CSA, we recommend joining our Planting Society. Members of the Planting Society purchase what is essentially a special gift card for $100 or more and then use that card to purchase at the farm stand throughout the season. Members get 10% off all purchases (except pork, chicken, and beef). Please contact Elizabeth via the information below to purchase your Planting Society Card and to load it with money.

How To Pay

Space is limited, so please sign up as soon as possible. Make sure to fill out the form at the bottom. Either mail in the paper copy, or use the Google Forms link.

We accept:

• Cash – Bring to 557 Cabarrus Ave W Concord NC 28027 between 9-3 pm M-F or to a market.
• Check – Make out the payment to The Farm at Dover Vineyards and deliver (or mail) to 557 Cabarrus Ave W Concord NC 28027 between 9-3 pm M-F or to a market.
• Venmo – @elizabeth-dover-7
• PayPal – thefarmatdovervineyards@gmail.com (choose friends and family option to ensure that fees are not charged)

Questions:

If you have any questions, or want more information, call 704-782-2117 (office) or 704-794-2033 (cell), or send email to thefarmatdovervineyards@gmail.com.

Please fill out the form and submit it with your payment!

Please include the form below when making payment. We prefer not to take credit cards because of the processing fees; however, if this is the only available method of payment, we can send you an invoice via square for you to pay.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1wmh9OZXDqsglCW0zFecxn7-wNFCozNKiEyOu3t5MeLw/edit