CSA: Alagaesia Farm, Fibers, and More!

We are very excited to offer an opportunity that allows anyone to enjoy the pleasures that come from growing your own fiber and having your own farm! You don't even need to move in order to do it!

Being a vendor at the South Bend Farmers Market has allowed me the chance to meet a lot of people, many live in the city. One thing I have been asked by several of them is if I offer any type of CSA. What is a CSA you ask??? CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. What it does is allow consumers to take an active part in getting the products they desire to the point of harvest. They do this by investing up front in shares of the farmers crop/product and then they get those products over the course of their subscription (usually over a year but sometimes shorter plans are available). For example, shares in a dairy farmers CSA might allow the shareholder a certain amount of quarts of milk per week. I had never heard of any alpaca farms taking part in this. After a lot of planning, we designed 3 different options to offer for our 2011-2012 harvest.

What we hope to foster and grow is an appreciation for farming and home grown products by offering the chance to be a farmer to anyone that wishes to be. As the saying goes...No Farms=No Food (or fiber!). In losing farms, we lose the seeds for tomorrow...literally! We also lose the skills to farm and create. We encourage any of our shareholders to come and visit us and the alpacas that their fiber is from. Working is not required but fun is a must!!! Option #1 -we are offering "Yarn Loving" shares where you will get 2 pounds of standard handspun or millspun yarn from our alpacas. You can choose the colors from the available fleeces harvested. Generally this is most all of the 22 alpaca colors!

Option #2 -we are offering "Spinners Passion" shares where you will get 2 pounds of washed and carded batts of our alpaca fiber. You will be able to choose which colors you want from the available fleeces harvested. This also will generally be any of the 22 natural alpaca colors.

Option #3 - this option is for the person that loves alpacas and their fiber but isn't one that wants to spin/knit/felt/etc. We are calling this option the "Alpaca Experience" shares. We are only offering 2 of these a year! This option allows the shareholder to name one of our cria (babies) and watch him/her grow it's first year by coming out to the farm and visiting. This shareholder will also get a gift certificate for our farm store for $150 in purchases!