Courtesy of James K., Virtually Green, San Francisco, CA
Is there one or more people in your area who might back up your offerings of your CSA box? In other words, who are farmer friends who’d be willing to sell at or near cost to you the veggies you need to make up any weekly shortfall in your CSA box distribution? In lieu of cash for these shortfall veggies you might be able to balance the favor with veggies you had in excess, or do some other favors in return. If it was mostly or entirely cash veggies shortfall transactions would should plan to keep an adequate cash reserve during your harvest season to buy what you needed to make up any box shortfall. At the end of the season hopefully all or most of the cash reserve would still remain and could then be released and treated as true income.
Also, is there one or more local people (perhaps same people as above) who can mentor you in operating a successful CSA?
Having a backup for delivering shortfall veggies, and mentors, can go a long way towards helping you not feel crazy or stressed, and to deliver a reliable high-quality weekly CSA box your first harvest season.
