Pakeen Farm: Not Just for Christmas Trees

Many people are trying to “go green” by eating more organic and locally grown foods. It’s a slippery path fraught with conflicting information and increasing dollar signs. But have you heard of a share?

stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In a typical C.S.A. partnership, the farmer agrees to provide a season’s worth of vegetables to the consumer (usually known as a shareholder) at the rate of approximately one bag or box per week. The farm gets the benefit of an early-season influx of cash, and the shareholder gets the benefit of ultra-fresh local and organic produce ready for pickup every week.

We have a C.S.A. farm right here in Canton. Once a week from June through October, members of Pakeen Farm pick up their share of the week’s harvest from the barn located at 109 Elm Street. A full share provides vegetables for three to five people. Pakeen grows typical vegetables such as lettuce greens, beans, cucumbers and squash as well as less common kale, parsnips, and radishes.

For the 2011 season, a full share costs $650 and a half share is $400. Unlike many other C.S.A. partnerships, Pakeen Farm does not require any work hours of their members.

In addition to their share in the week’s harvest, Pakeen Farm C.S.A. members have access to an online community in which they can share information and recipes to cook up the week’s harvest.

While the family-owned Pakeen Farm uses organic farming methods (they do not use any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides) they are not pursuing “organic certification.”

My family had a share for the 2010 season and we really enjoyed the experience. Ours was a Tuesday afternoon pickup, and each week we eagerly anticipated what would be waiting for us in the barn. While some of the vegetables grown at Pakeen were a little out of our comfort zone, they were all wonderful, and we bravely tried new veggies.

My kids happily crunched on green beans right out of the farm baskets. We made pickles with our cucumbers and endless loaves and variations of zucchini bread. My preschooler kept calling it “bikini bread,” and the name stuck. We were all surprised to see actual dirt clinging to the knobby skins of our carrots. Who knew that carrots and radishes aren’t born in plastic bags? Nothing was polished or stickered, everything was natural, all of it was delicious. We ate a little greener, and that is, as Martha says, “a good thing.”

Almost every week there was an unexpected and lovely gift to enchant me: a huge, scented peony, half a dozen rich and delicious eggs, overflowing buckets of dill, mint, and lemon balm, a rustic potted plant of deliciously fragrant pineapple sage, a giant squashy pumpkin to adorn our front porch.

This year Canton residents may be delighted to find some extra produce grown at Pakeen Farm appearing at the Canton Farmer’s Market. They also try to send some extra veggies to the .

New plans include raising pastured poultry for meat this summer and fall, and October may bring the first Pakeen Farm Pumpkin Patch.

The C.S.A. is about filled to membership capacity at this point, but a few more shares may become available in June as the staff at Pakeen gauges how the gardens are performing.

Visit Pakeen Farm online (www.pakeenfarm.com) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/PakeenFarm) for more information, and stay tuned for updates on this hidden gem in Canton.