Summer CSA 2025
Black Earth Gardens + Trowel & Error Farm
Collaborative CSA Share
Thank you so much for your interest in the Collaborative Summer CSA between Black Earth Gardens and Trowel & Error Farm. The Summer CSA is full at this time. Please find the link for our CSA waiting list below.
If you would like to be the first to know when sign ups open this fall, sign up for our email list below.
Note that we will continue to accept SNAP/DUFB for the CSA in future seasons. If you didn’t sign up in time this year but want to be notified about our Fall CSA and other opportunities to Double Up your SNAP dollars at our farms, sign up for our email lists.
You can find Black Earth Gardens on facebook, and sign up for their email newsletter. As always, please feel free to reach out to us at trowelanderrorfarm@gmail.com (Carly) and blackearthgardens@gmail.com (Mari) with questions.
Last year, Black Earth Gardens + Trowel & Error teamed up to provide a collaborative CSA in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. We are thrilled to continue the collaboration into 2025!
About Black Earth Gardens:
Black Earth Gardens is a small-scale, regenerative farm that specializes in growing vegetables, herbs, and fruits of cultural importance to Black and African Diaspora communities in Eastern Iowa, with a focus on dismantling food apartheid and expanding food sovereignty locally. Black Earth Gardens’ owner/operator, Mari Hunt Wassink, has 4 seasons of farming experience. She is trained in diversified vegetable production and agroforestry using organic and integrated pest management systems.
She grew up in Marion, Iowa, and now lives in Cedar Rapids. While volunteering as a working CSA member at Trowel & Error Farm, Mari realized that her love for nature and her gardening hobby were not incompatible with her lifelong pursuit of racial justice; in fact, they are inseparable. Since then, farming has become a ministry, a tool for antiracism, and a healing practice. Mari is thrilled to partner with Trowel & Error Farm again to bring you and your families an abundance of delicious, healthy, sustainable, local produce!
Share contents
Between our two farms, we grow about 50 different kinds of vegetables ranging from favorites like scallions, carrots, and tomatoes to unique offerings like arugula, okra, and swiss chard. Part of sharing the risk with the farmer in a CSA means that we are all – farmers and eaters – subject to nature’s rhythms! So while we cannot guarantee that a particular vegetable will appear in your share in a particular week, here’s an idea of what to expect:
June – spinach, radishes, turnips, bok choy, beets, scallions, kale, snap peas, arugula, lettuce/greens, kohlrabi
July – collards, kale, lettuce, green beans, eggplant, cucumber, carrots, beets, herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil)
August – tomatoes, peppers, swiss chard, zucchini/summer squash, eggplant, cucumbers, garlic, tomatillo
September – tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, leeks, spinach, lettuce/greens
Share options + pricing
Full share, full season (16 weeks): $500
Half share, full season (8 weeks): $265
Early Summer share (first 8 weeks): $265
Late Summer share (final 8 weeks): $265
Early Summer share, half (4 weeks): $140
Late Summer share, half (4 weeks): $140
This season, we are taking a 3 week break in the middle of the CSA (weeks of July 14-28). This will break the CSA into 2 parts: Early Summer (May 19 – July 9) and Late Summer (August 4 – September 23). This opens up new options for members to participate in the CSA.
Full share (16 weeks): The full share is the standard share, featuring between 6-10 different kinds of vegetables each week. The full share will meet the produce needs of a household of 3-5 people. It may also be the right choice for a household of 1-2 people who eat a mostly vegetarian diet or who enjoy preserving extra produce. The full share is picked up weekly and lasts for 16 weeks.
Half share (8 weeks): The half share will meet the produce needs of a household of 1-2 people. Instead of offering two different sized shares each week, we offer every other week pick-up. Folks who sign up for the half share pick up the same exact amount of produce as the full share, but they pick it up every other week instead of on a weekly basis, for a total of 8 pick-ups.
Early Summer share (8 weeks): This share will be picked up weekly for the first 8 weeks of the CSA, i.e. the weeks of May 19-July 9. If you know you’ll be spending most of August on vacation or prepping for back-to-school, or if you just love the roots and greens of early spring but can do without the tomato abundance of late summer, this is the right option for you.
Late Summer share (8 weeks): This share will be picked up weekly for the final 8 weeks of the CSA, i.e. August 4 – September 23. If when you think of a CSA, you think of tomatoes, green beans, and summer squash, and you’re less big on the tender greens and radishes of early spring, this is the right option for you.
Early Summer share, half (4 weeks): This share will be picked up every other week for the first half of the CSA.
Late Summer share, half (4 weeks): This share will be picked up every other week for the second half of the CSA.
We strive to make the CSA accessible regardless of income. We know local food can be prohibitively expensive, so we have come up with the following pricing options for Iowans with low incomes. This pricing is made possible by CSA members who chip in at the beginning of the season:
Full share, full season (16 weeks): $500 $400
Half share, full season (8 weeks): $265 $200
Early Summer share (first 8 weeks): $265 $200
Late Summer share (final 8 weeks): $265 $200
Early Summer share, half (4 weeks): $140 $100
Late Summer share, half (4 weeks): $140 $100
All members paying with SNAP (also known as EBT) qualify to use Double Up Food Bucks, cutting the cost after the above discount in half. SNAP + Double Up Food Bucks pricing is as follows:
Full share, full season (16 weeks): $500 $400 $200
Half share, full season (8 weeks): $265 $200 $100
Early Summer share (first 8 weeks): $265 $200 $100
Late Summer share (final 8 weeks): $265 $200 $100
Early Summer share, half (4 weeks): $140 $100 $50
Late Summer share, half (4 weeks): $140 $100 $50
Due to federal regulations, folks paying with SNAP cannot submit the entire payment for the CSA up front. Instead, folks can use their SNAP card up to 14 days in advance of picking up the share. Full details on how to pay using SNAP and Double Up can be found in the member agreement you will receive after signing up online for the CSA. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions about using SNAP/Double Up, or general questions about pricing, at trowelanderrorfarm@gmail.com (Carly) or blackearthgardens@gmail.com (Mari).
Free delivery
In an effort to eliminate the barrier of transportation to CSA pick up, we are offering optional free delivery exclusively for members paying at the reduced rate and/or with SNAP/DUFB. Further detail about the free delivery option can be found in the CSA Member Agreement you will receive after signing up for the CSA.
Payment plans
If the up front cost of the reduced rate CSA is unaffordable, please note we are always happy to work with members on putting together a payment plan. Additionally, if you have any questions or concerns about pricing, please do not hesitate to reach out. There may be funds available to help bring the cost down further if the above pricing is still not affordable for your household.
Pick up location options:
Trowel & Error Farm, 4811 Melrose Ave, Iowa City: Mondays from 5:30-6:30pm
Feed Iowa First, 1506 10th St SE, Cedar Rapids: Tuesdays from 5-6pm
The CSA will last for 16 weeks. The first pick-up will be the week of Monday, May 19, and the final pick-up will be the week of Monday, September 22. We will have a 3 week break in the middle of the CSA, i.e. no pick up the weeks of July 14-28. This break will help free us up to focus on weeding and planting in July to ensure bountiful harvests for the second half of the CSA.
More details about pick-up procedures are outlined in our member agreement, which you will receive after signing up online. Please feel free to reach out with any questions about picking up your CSA share.
Working members volunteer at Trowel & Error Farm for 2 hours a week in exchange for a full CSA share.
If you are interested in joining as a working member, please send an email to Carly at trowelanderrorfarm@gmail.com with a brief explanation (3-5 sentences) of why you are interested in participating as a working member.
Thank you so much for your interest in the CSA. The CSA is full at this time.
Summer CSA FAQ
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The form a CSA takes varies from farm to farm, but typically a CSA involves a shared risk between the farmer and the eater. The eater offers financial security to the farmer by purchasing a “share” at the beginning of the season, when farm purchases need to be made but there is little income on the farm. In return, the eater receives a weekly box full of the farm’s seasonal bounty, a sense of community, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing the source of their food. Food farming can be a challenging endeavor. The farmer is tasked with growing 50 different crops in an unpredictable environment. The CSA model helps farmers by providing a stable market for their product, and it helps eaters by connecting them more closely to their food source, and offering fresh, healthy, locally-grown produce!
Excellent question! Part of sharing the risk with the farmer means that we are all – farmers and eaters – subject to nature’s rhythms! So while we cannot guarantee that a particular vegetable will be in your share in a particular week, here’s an idea of what to expect:
June – spinach, radishes, turnips, bok choy, beets, scallions, kale, snap peas, arugula, lettuce, kohlrabi
July – collards, kale, lettuce, onions, green beans, eggplant, cucumber, carrots, beets, herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil)
August – tomatoes, peppers, swiss chard, zucchini/summer squash, eggplant, cucumbers, garlic
September – tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, broccoli, potatoes, garlic, leeks, spinach, lettuce/greens
We are not certified organic. However, we have always utilized organic practices, and we will continue to do so. We will never spray inorganic chemicals, utilize synthetic fertilizers, or do anything else that would violate organic standards. See this page for more information on our practices.
The short answer is, no. We believe that one of the foundational principles of a CSA is that the eater is acknowledging and sharing in the risk of farming with the farmer. But fear not! We will do everything we can to fill boxes with diverse abundance each week. In the event that we lose a crop, we will simply pack the boxes with another crop to make up for that loss. Risk mitigation is just one of the perks to growing 40+ crops!
Unfortunately, we cannot reimburse folks who miss the weekly pick-up. If you’re headed out of town, consider having a friend or co-worker pick up your share that week. Or let us know you’ll miss a pick-up and we can donate your share to a local food pantry.
If you will be out of town for an extended period of the summer, our CSA might not be the right choice – or you might consider one of the partial share options (more info under the “share options and pricing” tab above).
In 2025, we we are offering more share sizes and options than ever before. Please see the “share options and pricing” tab above for a full breakdown.
Unsure if you should get a full size or half size share?
You should consider our full share option if one or more of the following applies to you:
- You and/or the folks in your household eat a lot of vegetables!
- Three or more people will be sharing the CSA.
- You cook frequently.
- You enjoy preserving excess vegetables for later use (canning, freezing, pickling)
You should consider our half share option if one or more of the following applies to you:
- You participated in the full share last year and loved the fresh veggies, but had a hard time using the whole share each week.
- You live alone or share a household with one other person.
- You and the folks in your household enjoy cooking with fresh vegetables, but you eat out and/or are out of town frequently and wonder if the full share might be too big.
Yes! We accept SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks for the CSA. Rather than pay for your entire share up front, you’ll pay when you receive your share. For further details, please see the “pricing for Iowans with low incomes” tab above. If you have any questions at all about using SNAP and Double Up to pay for your CSA share, please reach out to us at trowelanderrorfarm@gmail.com (Carly) or blackearthgardens@gmail.com (Mari). We are happy to answer any questions.