High Ground Organics

Community Supported Agriculture Program

What Is Community Supported Agriculture?

In Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmers sell fresh organic produce directly to families on a weekly basis. By subscribing to a CSA, you support a local farmer in growing vegetables and flowers in an environmentally responsible manner. In turn, you get to eat farm fresh organic produce, become more familiar with the local cycles and seasons of food production, and often get to know the farmer personally.

What Will You Receive?

The moderate coastal climate here by the Monterey Bay allows us to grow a wide variety of produce. Subscribers receive potatoes, onions, garlic, cucumbers, lettuce, greens, leeks, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, turnips, tomatoes, peppers, radishes, cabbage, beans, peas, and specialty cut flowers. In addition, we arrange with other local organic farms to provide a few popular CSA items that we do not grow ourselves, such as corn, peaches, apples, strawberries, and sprouts.

You can choose either Vegetables-only or a Vegetables-Plus-Flowers share. The weekly box provides enough vegetables for a family of 2-4 and costs $15 per week. A Flower share includes a vibrant bouquet of quality fresh cut flowers each week with your vegetables. The cost is $20 per week.

What are the Benefits of Joining the CSA?

Of course, the best part is getting to eat all the wonderful, fresh, organic food. Many CSA subscribers happily report that their families eat healthier, more varied diets. And they find that the produce is fresher and tastier than the fruits and vegetables they get in their grocery store.

A CSA is beneficial to the farmer too. Since we know in advance how much produce we will sell on a given day, we can plant and harvest accordingly. That means we are not completely at the mercy of uncertain markets, and it means that less food goes to waste. The CSA also provides money up front when we need it to buy seed, compost, and other supplies.

Who Are Your Farmers?

High Ground Organics is operated by owners Stephen Pedersen and Jeanne Byrne, who live with daughter Lydia on a new 40-acre farm just outside of Watsonville, California. We also farm two small parcels of leased land in La Selva and Corralitos.

Stephen is a farmer who really knows his vegetables. Before getting into farming, Stephen cooked professionally for eight years, and his love of vegetables shows in the quality produce he grows. Stephen developed his passion for the farm life during his childhood, when he would spend summers working on his aunt and uncle’s Corralitos farm.

This year, we started our own farm business, after several years farming together with Steve's uncle at the Thomas Farm. High Ground Organics took over the Corralitos Connection CSA from the Thomases this year, and we continue their tradition of providing fresh, local vegetables and flowers to our neighbors in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

How does it work?

The CSA runs for 30 weeks--from May 11 to November 30. Each Thursday afternoon you pick up a box full of produce from one of our drop-off points in Santa Cruz county or Monterey. Drop-off sites may be someone's house, one of our farm sites, or a local business. We drop off the boxes at the site (in a shady spot) and you pick yours up there along with your flowers and a newsletter. The newsletter provides farm news, recipes to help you use your vegetables, and notices of upcoming farm events.

Right now we have pick-up sites in

If you live in another area and would like to have a drop off site nearer to you, please let us know. If it's a convenient location for us and enough people are interested, we will start a new pick-up site.

Yes, I want to subscribe to the CSA and start receiving my vegetables straight from the farm.

Home Page Upcoming Farm Events Seasonal Produce Subscribe Now