Mushroom CSA
Boreal Woods runs a year-round CSA program, offered seasonally in winter, summer and fall.
When you join our Mushroom CSA, you'll receive a weekly share of our freshest mushrooms, about 2-3 delicious varieties per week, for 12-15 weeks (depending on the season).
We'll share cooking tips and recipe ideas for varieties you may not be familiar with, and may include some special items periodically, such as dried mushrooms or mushroom powder. CSA members also receive discounts on grow kits to grow your own mushrooms at home!
What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. While every CSA program is a little different, they all create a direct, mutually beneficial relationship between farmers and their customers.
In our CSA, members pre-purchase 3-4 months worth of mushrooms at a time. This removes much of the guess-work when we are planning and purchasing materials, stabilizes the cost of growing and helps us produce far less waste. Our CSA members are the sole reason we are able to grow year-round! In return, members receive a weekly share of our freshest mushrooms, selected before we pack for restaurants, stores or farmers markets.
Joining a CSA is a great way to support a local farm, know exactly where your food is coming from and get to know the people growing it!
2024 Summer CSA
Sign up now for our 2024 SUMMER CSA and receive a weekly supply of fresh mushrooms for 15 weeks, starting in mid-June!
When you sign up below, you'll be asked to pay in full for the entire 15-weeks. If you'd like to set up a payment plan instead, please contact us! We're happy to accommodate as best we can.
Share Sizes:
Full Share | $288: 1 pound/week (3 varieties each week)
Half Share | $144: 1/2 pound/week (2 varieties each week)
Pickup Locations:
1. Tuesdays | 5-6pm at Southside Community Farmers Market
Located at 24th Ave. & Rickert Street, across from the JP Jones Center in South Fairbanks.
2. Tuesdays | 12-8pm at Boreal Woods Mushroom Farm (Ester)
We are located on Old Wood Road, about a mile up the Old Nenana Highway in Ester. This pickup will be self-serve and you can pickup anytime Tuesday between 12-8pm — our most flexible pickup option!
3. Thursdays | 5-6pm at Beaver Sports
3480 College Road, outside in the parking lot.
Please read before signing up!
CSA Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I forget to pickup? Can I pickup later?
Most people forget to pickup at least once, however, it's very difficult to rearrange pickups for individual people. If we don't hear from you in advance and you miss a pickup, we cannot guarantee we will have them for you or be able to arrange an alternative pickup.
We try to donate mushrooms that aren't picked up to Bread Line and the Food Bank, so they will not go to waste!
I'll be out of town/have a meeting/know in advance that I can't make it to one of the pickups. Can I pickup extra mushrooms the following week?
Since the growing process starts months in advance and we plan our growing around the number of people who are signed up for the CSA, there usually not extra mushrooms available on any given week to make up for missed pickups.
If you let us know in advance, we're happy to arrange an alternative pickup the same week at our farm in Ester. You can also always have a friend or family member pickup for you!
I don't like a certain mushroom variety. Can I choose the varieties in my share?
While you can't pre-order specific varieties, there are typically several combinations to choose from each week. When you pickup, let us know if there is something you don't like - we can't guarantee we'll be able to but we'll try to accommodate as best we can.
That being said, one of the great parts of a CSA is getting to try things that are new to you and experiment with different ways of cooking, so we encourage you to step out of your mushroom comfort zone!
How do I cook all of these different varieties?
We have cooking tips & meal ideas for most of the varieties we grow.
There are also infinite resources online for cooking with different varieties of mushrooms. We do a lot of Google-ing for recipe ideas and inspiration. Two mushroom-specific cookbooks we have and use are and Cooking with Mushrooms by Andrea Gentl and the Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook.
If you ever have questions about a specific variety, just email us!
Are these "magic" mushrooms?
If we had a dollar for every time we've been asked this question...