“Man is in the garden to dress it and to keep it”
– Genesis 2:15
Live Power Community Farm is an association of involved consumers and dedicated farmers. The farmers provide a weekly basket of fresh, high-quality, and vegetables in season while the shareholders
commit their financial and volunteer support for a minimum of one growing season (many families have been members for over a decade). Distribution varies by location: Covelo members come to the farm on Mondays after noon; on Tuesday is a delivery to Willits members; and Ukiah members receive their produce on Thursday afternoons.
The season runs from May through Thanksgiving. Some grass-fed beef and lamb is separately available to member households, and the farm has grown also to work as a cooperative with some other organic family farms to provide members in some communities with optional shares of blueberries and olive oil. The farm supports members in the communities of Covelo, Willits, Laytonville, Redwood Valley, and Ukiah in Mendocino County.
We are blessed with an active volunteer core group of 10 to 20 members who help organize membership, distribution, communications, website development, member surveys, general meetings, and on-farm
work days. The core group also serves as a research and advisory council for farm planning and program development, farmland acquisition and conservation, making business decisions, and fundraising. Members who wish to become more involved in the farm and take on a more committed or particular role in the farm are encouraged to join.
Obtaining one’s food through a community farm rather than a market requires a different approach and consciousness. Members give input about varieties and quantities to the farmer so that the planting plan can be tuned to the needs of the community. Learning how to utilize food that is local and seasonal can challenge new members because the preparation, preservation, and storage of food that comes straight from the land is much different than deciding on a menu and then shopping for it. Our bi-weekly newsletter offers recipes, suggestions for storing and preparing the food, as well as current news from the farm.
CSA cookbooks with recipes for all the different vegetables are also available from the farm.
Members of our CSA farm share risks with the farmer. Crops may yield less than expected due to variations in weather such as too much rain or an early or late frost. By the same token, an unexpected bounty will be enjoyed by all. The shareholders provide the economic support for the farm through thick and thin, thus creating a cooperative economic system embodying ecological and social purposes that can reach beyond bottom line economics. The CSA movement has been defined by its concern for the small family farmer, by the desire to keep these farmers as a part of our heritage both now and in the future for our children and grandchildren. CSA shareholders gladly accept this risk and actively shape the future.
