CSA Production, Packing and Planning

Anna Raines and her family started Rains and Sun Hilltop Farm in Independence, KY, in 2013 – a 13-acre certified organic farm growing food for their community through two local farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares. The Rains and Sun crew delivers weekly CSA shares to 100 local residents, so their crop planning starts with the commitment to providing those CSA customers with fresh-picked, seasonal vegetables.

Join this OAK Farmer Field Day to learn Anna’s strategies for satisfying customer needs while building farm systems of efficiency, profitability and environmental stewardship. We’ll visit Rains and Sun’s two acres of produce, tended by Anna and her 4-person (mostly part-time) team with minimal-till practices, broad crop diversity, intentional crop rotations and cover crop use, and an array of tunnels for covered production. Anna will also share her new packshed designed for efficient CSA packing and produce storage.

Any interested farmer or allied professional is encouraged this field day: registration is required. Funding for this project was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant AM200100XXXXG144. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.