156 How to Start a U-Pick CSA Operation with Kristen Muehlhauser of Raindance Organics

April 20, 2022 by Corinna

Imagine CSA customers coming to your farm every week to harvest their own share from your vegetable beds.

Yes. That’s the concept behind a U-Pick CSA model. In this episode, I interview Kristen Muehlhauser of Raindance Organic Farm, who has built a profitable farm business off this CSA operation. She shares the pro’s and con’s of getting this kind of program off the ground.

Who is Kristen Muehlhauser?

Kristen Muehlhauser is an organic vegetable and flower farmer, a lover of words and ideas, and a struggling parent of three kids under ten. In 2018 she founded Raindance Organic Farm with a small crowd of stay-at-home parents and their babes sitting around some straw bales in an old barnyard. She is amazed that her family CSA idea has grown into a small business that provides a livelihood for her, supports 6 part-time employees, and feeds a whole lot of folks through the farm’s you-pick CSA, two weekly farmer’s markets, and a weekly grocery store delivery.

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Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:

This podcast was sponsored by Local Line, the leading e-commerce platform for the local food system. Try Local Line for your farm today! Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: DIGITALFARMER2022. Head to this special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

My Seminar “Beginner’s Guide to CSA Add-On Shares” — Want some training on how to build on an add-on share to your current CSA? Take my paid online seminar here. We cover everything you need to think about as you set up your add-ons: what types of add-on shares there are, how to price them, how to find your partner vendors, the pro’s and con’s to think about before you take action, and logistics. We also include a sample vendor contract, pricing guide, and our Fact Sheet template for our CSF partnership.

Kristen mentions the Farmer to Farmer Podcast that first got her interested in U-Pick CSA’s. Here’s the interview Chris Blanchard has with Quail Hill Farms.

The Homeless Garden Project — another U-Pick CSA that is similar to Kristen’s.

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Join my CSA Academy and learn how to fast-track your CSA members to CSA success. Try it out for the first month for $1 using coupon code TRIAL. (After that, the price increases to $19/month). Go to www.mydigitalfarmer.com/academy to see what’s included with the monthly membership. You’ll get access to the resource library I use to help support my CSA members and get them to CSA mastery fast! Use the templates inside to help you build your own Punch List and/or training curriculum this summer. Cancel your membership anytime.

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156 How to Start a U-Pick CSA Operation with Kristen Muehlhauser of Raindance Organics