Consumer supported agriculture
How a local harvest helps grow a community
La Joual Vert owners Stéphanie Leclerc and Andrès Rousseau are busy these days working in their greenhouse and in the field they farm to produce vegetables for their consumer-supported agriculture (CSA) business.
Now in their fourth official year as farmers, they have managed, despite a big learning curve, a major hail storm and a move, to grow their subscriber base from 25 customers in their first year to a possible 180, their goal for this season.
“There are some people that have been subscribing with us all four years,” Leclerc said, pleased to see familiar faces returning.
Rousseau and Leclerc don’t have a traditional farming background. Leclerc has a background in circus performing and theatre. Rousseau studied music and special education.
When they decided to make the change to farming, they spent a year working on other farms, and an additional two years experimenting with crops to see how green their thumbs really were.
Rousseau also enrolled in the horticulture program at CRIFA in Coaticook.
While on a relatively small plot of land not much bigger than a football field, Leclerc explained that La Joual Vert uses bio-intensive practices, using
the soil for the maximum yield while having the least impact.
While large tractors pre-determine the size and number of rows for crops, Rousseau and Leclerc do what they can by hand or with smaller tools.
“We think about what the plants need to grow,” she said, explaining that they can actually get two-and-a-half to three times more production out of the same surface area as a machine prepared field.
“There can be six or seven rows,” Leclerc said, instead of just three. Using carrots as an example, she said that with more planted closer together, the overhanging leaves prevent sun from hitting the soil which keeps it moist and reduces the weeds that grow. “It’s less work for me,” she said. La Joual Vert is a member of Equiterre’s family farm network, providing certified organic baskets of produce for 20 weeks to local subscribers.
CSA essentially lets customers prepurchase a share of a farm’s harvest.
The shares, or subscriptions, become available at the end of February. The baskets of produce are then delivered to drop-off points in the area from June 5Sept.5, with between 8-13 different vegetables in each one.
Leclerc said La Joual Vert produces a total of 40 different vegetables throughout the season.
Rousseau explained that with farming, the majority of the costs associated with the business are up front.
Over 50 per cent of the businesses costs are eaten up before the basket season even begins, Rousseau said, on things like heating, equipment, seeds and plants, and paying their only employee.
While traditionally, farmers would rely on savings or a line of credit for upfront costs and then hope their yields pay off any debts, with the CSA model, customers cover those costs by purchasing their produce in advance.
“We would need to ask the bank,” Leclerc said, but added she prefers to use local money to buy local supplies to make local food.
“They (subscribers) buy a share of the harvest; but they buy a relationship with their farmer,” Leclerc commented, explaining that she enjoys interacting with customers every week.
Rousseau and Leclerc set up their basket drop-offs like a mini market, allowing their customers to choose from among various options each week.
“We don’t want them to have something they don’t want,” Leclerc said.
La Joual Vert sends out an email each week letting subscribers know how things are growing and what’s coming next. They also share recipes, and discuss one ‘discovery’ vegetable each week that people may not be familiar with, along with instructions on how to cook or prepare it.
Rousseau said that during the dropoffs, not only do he and Leclerc get to interact with the subscribers, he often sees them exchanging recipes and chatting with each other.
“They are building a community,” he said.
When asked why customers should trust a circus performer and a musician to grow their food, Leclerc and Rousseau said they didn’t jump into farming blind.
Being part of Equiterre, according to Rousseau and Leclerc, already gives legitimacy to their business, and also allowed them tour other more established farms and benefit from the experience of other people in the network.
They also have regular visits from an agronomist, who has helped in the planning, design and upkeep of the 1.2 acres they tend.
Leclerc and Rousseau said farming has required a vast skill set. “We like the challenge,” Leclerc said. “The first year, there is no extra income,” Rousseau added. “You have to be the plumber, the electrician, the accountant.”
He relied on a Youtube video to change the wheel bearings in his pick-up truck to save money.
When asked the other obvious question, what happens if there is a problem with the harvest, Rousseau and Leclerc had a horror story to share.
In 2015, their second year, they had 75 subscribers when their land was hit by a major hail storm.
“We lost 85 per cent of our harvest,” Rousseau said.
“It was during our 6th week of delivery. We still had 14 more weeks to deliver,” he said, explaining that 75 subscribers had already paid for their vegetables.
They immediately got to work trying to re-seed whatever they could, and tried to nurse crops that weren’t badly damaged back to health, many to no avail.
They also put out a call to other farm members in the Equiterre network. They answered. For 10 weeks, other farmers put aside extra produce so that La Joual Vert could continue to feed its subscribers.
Leclerc and Rousseau also held a fundraiser to buy local organic produce to supply their customers.
It was a challenging summer, according to Rousseau, driving from farm to farm to collect extras, while trying to nurse their own crops, most of which ultimately failed that year.
“It was a big year,” Leclerc said, adding that there were also their two kids, aged two and four, in the mix.
“The subscribers were happy. They’re still with us today,” she said.
When asked if they were insured, Rousseau said the business was too small at the time, and even if they had been insured, it would have taken months to get a payout.
“On Tuesday we got the hail, on Thursday we had to deliver. The only people who could have helped were farmers,” he said.
La Joual Vert had an opportunity to return the favour last year when another farm in Sutton was hit by a similar hail storm.
“We were the first ones to write,” Leclerc said. Rousseau even delivered the produce to the Sutton farm, knowing he would have to spend most of the summer farm hopping to pick up extras, as he had done the year before. 3 months $38.00 (reg. $ 41.57) 6 months $76.00 (reg. $ 81.85) 12 months $146.00 (reg. $155.91)
“That’s the solidarity of the network,” Rousseau said, explaining that the farm members of Equiterre have a culture of sharing and helping each other.
La Joual Vert still has subscriptions for sale. Their goal is to reach 180 subscribers this year.
They are currently renting the land for their business, but hope with enough support to purchase a plot in the next few years.
“We don’t want to buy 150 acres. We don’t need it,” Leclerc said. They would be more than happy with a modest 10acre property, they said. 1 month online $ 7.00 (reg. $ 7.46) 12 months online $42.00 (reg. $82.21)
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