3rd Generation Southbury Farm Offers CSA This Season

Daffodil Hill Growers of Southbury announces this season they will be offering a CSA, community supported agriculture. A CSA is an agreement where people purchase a “share” in the farm for the season and receive a box of vegetables each week for a certain number of weeks during the growing season. Benefits of belonging to a CSA for the consumer include getting the freshest local vegetables within hours of being picked. Also knowing where your food comes from and being able to visit the farm where it was grown. Value is another benefit for shareholders during the height of harvest time you will most likely receive extra items that are over and above what your share is priced at.”CSA fosters a sense of community, getting to know the other members at pickups and the farmers’ who in this case are a family “says Sara Blersch. Everyone chips in and has a part of the farm they are responsible for. Sara over sees marketing, crop planning and day to day office operations. Her Mom Kathy is responsible for greenhouse operations and decisions making, her Father Dave keeps their tractors and implements in working order. Husband Dan over sees irrigation system, field planting and the logistics of where the crop gets placed in the field along with insect and disease scouting. Sara’s sister, in-laws and other family members are known to pitch in from time to time along with their crew of Vo-Ag students that make the farm run smoothly.

Daffodil Hill has planned their CSA to run for 18 weeks, beginning in June and going until early October. In June a share could include some of the following: greenhouse cherry tomatoes, lettuce, summer squash, spinach, cilantro, kohlrabi, kale, swiss chard, radishes or salad turnips. A mid-summer share could include some of the following:  heirloom tomatoes, Asian eggplant, peppers, cabbage, basil, cucumbers, summer squash, baby beets or turnips, and some type of bunching greens. While a fall share could include some of the following: potatoes, the last of the eggplant and peppers, broccoli, spinach, radishes, scallions, lettuce, salad mix, bunching greens, winter squash, and beets or carrots. CSA Members will receive a weekly email with what is included in the box that week, how to best treat the produce when it comes home and recipes to try. Pickup will be at the farm located on Horse Fence Hill Rd, in Southbury on Monday evenings from 3pm – 7pm.  

Daffodil Hill Growers represents the third generation of farming for the Blersch family. At a time when milk and eggs were delivered to homes, Frank Blersch was a poultry farmer with an egg route that stretched from Southbury to Bridgeport delivering fresh eggs to businesses and homes. The farm was established in Southbury in 1949 when the Blersch family moved their poultry operation from Stratford to the current location on Horse Fence Hill in the South Britain section of Southbury. Frank and Josephine had two children neither of which made farming a career but their son David helped his father in the family farm until establishing his own Southbury business, Chainsaws Unlimited. Dave and his wife Kathy had two daughters, Sara and Laura that grew up on the Horse Fence Hill Farm, and after college Sara was drawn to farming. Daffodil Hill Growers with the support of her parents was established in 2006 with one tiny greenhouse and a desire to grow high quality unusual plants. The business grew from there adding more greenhouses and eventually moving away from the wholesale to retail, selling at farmers’ markets.

“We needed something that would fill the season between the end of annuals and the start of mums and perennials just weren’t cutting it “, says Sara Blersch. Initially growing vegetables was a way to fill part of the season, focusing on mostly heirloom tomatoes the demand for Daffodil Hill Growers produce grew. “I think the demand for fresh local food is something we underestimated in the beginning “, Dan Slywka, Blersch’s husband offered. Today the bulk of the business is vegetables, this season they have a planned 4.5 acres in production. Daffodil Hill Growers also sells produce they grow at 3 local farmers’ markets, Southbury, Newtown and Bethel. Their greenhouse is open from May 3rd until the end of June on Saturdays and Sundays for plant purchases including annuals, perennials and vegetable starts.

Those interested in more information or to sign up should visit their website www.daffodilhillgrowers.com and click on the CSA information page.