Whip up fresh salsa bursting with sun-ripened tomatoes, blend fragrant basil into homemade pesto, and crunch into crisp cucumbers, sweet peppers, and other just-picked summer favorites. A CSA box brings the best flavors of the season straight to your kitchen — fresh from local farms to your table all summer long!
The Collaborative CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) 2026 Season is almost here – a CSA built by three local Nevada County farms working together to feed our community from June 3rd through October 14th, 2026 with locally grown organic food for 20 weeks!
Meet your hardworking farmers at the pick-up several times during the season from First Rain Farm (Tim Van Wagner), Bluebird Farm (Malaika Bishop) and Starbright Acres Family Farm (Ken and Aleta Barrett).
What is a CSA?
It’s a system where consumers subscribe to a local farm, or in this case, 3 farms, to receive regular shares of fresh, seasonal produce whereby paying upfront or in installments, you support the farmers in their preparation for the farming season.
“This is my second season with the Collaborative CSA, but I have been a part of different CSA’s for the last 27 years. I love that the produce and products are fresh, and farmed near where I live by people that I can interact and build community with at the pickup site or in the community. I enjoy the bread, mushrooms, flowers and meat because the fewer trips to the regular grocery store is a win in my life. I love that I can get almost everything my family eats through the CSA“ stated Tara Kellermann, a happy customer from the 2025 season.When asked what she would say to someone who has never participated in a CSA of why they should join – she said, “You should try it out – or go in with a friend or neighbor. The produce tastes amazing and better than the grocery store, supports our local farmers and community, and I think it is more cost effective too!”
Enjoy nutritious, freshly picked produce from the farms, options for a small or large box, pick-up locations in both Nevada City and Grass Valley and incredible optional add-ons (bread, eggs, mushrooms, meat, flowers, canned goods and more)!
Items available to add-on to your weekly orders:
- Microgreens and Flowers: Bluebird Farm – Enjoy a weekly clamshell of nutrient-dense microgreens from Bluebird farm. Choices ranges from broccoli and sunflower, to pea shoot and a crunchy micro mix! Certified organic. Flower share members will receive the best of what is in season from the 150 unique varieties of flowers growing in our ½ acre field; dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers, snap dragons, marigolds, mums, lisianthus and so much more.
- Eggs: Uova di Scopo – At Uova di Scopo their chickens are fed certified organic whole grain feed free from any soy or corn products. They live amongst their Katahdin sheep flock, foraging on bugs and grasses in a diverse pasture and forest ecosystem.
- Bread: Deer Creek Bakehouse – Savor the comforting crunch of fresh-baked bread from Deer Creek Bakehouse as an add-on to your CSA! Choose between their country sourdough or a rotating cast of “Baker’s Choice” specialty breads-all made with organic and locally-sourced ingredients.
- Mushrooms: Grass Valley Mushrooms – Grass Valley Mushrooms cultivates a variety of gourmet mushrooms for Nevada County, as well as medicinal tinctures, powders, at home grow blocks, and mushroom compost. They aim to mimic the mycelial network and the ecosystem around us by providing fresh medicinal mushrooms and education to the community.
- Canned Goods: Sun and Cellar – They are a craft cannery specializing in the preservation of seasonal heirloom produce. They focus on produce from small organic local farms. By preserving local produce in season, they are able to preserve the freshness and thus the nutritional value and flavor. They use low salt, low sugar and no fillers in any of our products. Sun and Cellar makes all kinds of delicious pickles like beets, carrots and asparagus, jams like caramel pear, strawberry rhubarb and marmalade, pantry items like fire roasted salsa, chili crisp and ketchup, and a huge variety of hot sauces that span the spectrum from mild to real hot.
- Meat: Yuba Valley Ranch – Yuba Valley Ranch is a small, family owned and operated cattle ranch raising the finest grass fed and finished beef in Nevada and Yuba County. You can rest assured that when they say no antibiotics, hormones, grain, or feed lots, they mean it! They partner with local, master craftsmen for the butchering process to ensure you’re getting the best cuts possible.
If you have never participated in a CSA, here are some frequently asked questions:
- What if I am gone for a week? You can give your box to a friend and have them pick it up for you. You don’t need to tell us in advance, or you can let us know and we will donate it.
- We understand that life gets busy and many people travel in the summer, for that reason we allow you to skip up to twice a season at no cost if you let us know by Sunday before your Wednesday pick up! You will receive a credit that you can cash out at the end of the season, use for a second box in a week when you will need more or roll over to next season.
- How do I sign up for add-on shares like bread, meat, mushrooms etc.? Once you buy your veggie share, you will be given the option to add-on extra items such as bread, eggs, canned goods, mushrooms, flowers, microgreens, and proteins.
- Do I get to choose what is in my box? Our farmers curate a balanced mix of veggies (with some fruits and berries) that changes seasonally throughout the growing months. However, we do offer weekly options of things to add to your order. For example, if you sometimes want bread but don’t want to sign up for the whole season, that will be a weekly option. Or when things like tomatoes or blueberries are in abundance, we will offer the option to add more to your order.
- What if I am the only person in my household or I just don’t eat that many vegetables: We offer a regular and small-sized box offering. The regular has 8-10 items, the small 6-7 items per week. If this is still too much, you can consider buying with a friend and picking up your boxes every other week so that you can keep up and not waste food.
Also watching our culinary videos and recipes can give you ideas that will help you maximize the use and storage of your veggies. If all else fails, you can make a soup at the end of the week and freeze it for winter. If you have a larger household and need more than one box, you can also buy a regular and small box. - What if there is something in my box that I don’t like? Having a CSA is a great opportunity to try new vegetables and expand your palate. That said, if there is something you know you won’t eat, you can put it on the sharing table for someone else to take that loves what you do not and you might find something you love on the table to take in exchange!
- What if I don’t know what to do with one of the items in the box? We provide recipes in our newsletter each week to help inspire you with new ideas on how to cook the veggies.
- What if I don’t have the funds to pay for the whole season up front? We offer a payment plan where you can pay in 4 installments rather than all at once. To use installment payments, check the “Pay over time” box on the right-hand side during the final step of checkout and you will be all set.
- Do you accept EBT/WIC? Not yet, but we are working on it.
- Can I change my box size or cancel part way through the season? Yes. While our farmers do plan their cash flow around the pre-sales of veggie boxes, if at any point you are not satisfied with the boxes or it is just not working out for you, you can change your box size or cancel and we will give you a refund for the boxes remaining in the season.
- What if I forget to pick up my box? If you give us your email, we will send you a reminder on pick-up day. Our pick-up sites are open from 3:30 – 9pm on Wednesdays. If you forget to pick up your box, it will be donated on Thursday.
- How does ordering weekly additions work? Our farmers sometimes have specials on boxes of tomatoes for canning etc. and many of our add-on vendors will be offering one-off purchases of products weekly. For example, you can occasionally sign-up for bread or flowers. Pick-up is every Wednesday between 3:30-9pm at First Rain Farm (19832 Rector Rd, Nevada City) and 3:30 – 9pm at Starbright Acres Farm (12575 Polaris Dr, Grass Valley). We’ll text you each week before we harvest, and you’ll have until that week’s cutoff time (9am Friday) to add extras to your order for the following week.
- Will I know what’s in my box in advance? Keep an eye on your email as we send an email every Friday with next week’s anticipated harvest.
- Are your veggies certified organic? Yes, Starbright Acres, First Rain Farm and Bluebird Farm produce are all certified organic through CCOF We occasionally buy produce to increase the diversity of your boxes. The partners we buy from include Feeding Crane farm, Fog Dog Farm, and Super Tuber farm who are all certified organic and Raven’s Eye Farm is registered organic.
- All our add-on vendors have been carefully selected. For details about the individual practices of each add-on vendor please read their descriptions here.
The CSA begins June 3, so join today and lock in 20 weeks of fresh food for you and your family! Collaborative CSA | Weekly Farm Boxes