Our Winter Subscription of Leafy Greens is the result of a successfully trialed CSA program we did last year. Now we are growing tasty red & green Buttercrunch lettuce, the most sought after lettuce and favorite from our trials. You can have fresh, locally grown leafy greens from October through February! This is the best way to eat fresh food, know your grower and where the food is grown.
Leafy Greens Box
With a full share of a 5 month subscription, you will receive 4 heads of Buttercrunch lettuce per week. That’s 21 weeks of hydroponically grown lettuce from our production greenhouses at approx. $2/head. We harvest the day before your scheduled weekly pickup at our Aurora location for the freshest lettuce you’ll find from October through February.
Too much for you to consume in a week? Ask a friend or family member to split a subscription with you for the most economical way to get your greens. A few subscribers last year had fresh leafy greens for their pet rabbits and turtles to enjoy! Another option is to purchase a half share, or 2 heads of lettuce a week.
Leafy Greens Delivery
Let us take care of getting your fresh lettuce to you. For about $7 a week we’ll delivery your lettuce direct to your door. The delivery fee includes a cooler to keep your greens from unfavorable temperatures. All you need to do is have the cooler on your porch on your assigned delivery day. Delivery is within our local area: Naperville, Aurora, Oswego, Montgomery, Sugar Grove, Batavia, North Aurora, Warrenville, Wheaton, Glenn Ellyn, Lisle, Bolingbrook, Plainfield.
How to Subscribe
Subscribing is at your fingertips on thegrowingplace.com. Once in our website Shop’s CSA Program simply click on the item you’d like to order. You will find the Leafy Greens Box $180, The Leafy Greens Box – Half Share $100, and The Leafy Greens Delivery $150. The total cost is up front for 5 months of weekly harvests.
Preferences will be considered for pickup days and times at the Aurora location where the greens are grown. There will be no pickups scheduled for The Growing Place Naperville location. Delivery days will be assigned and regular arrival times will be approximated once the route is planned.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program
Each subscriber will hold a share (or half share) of the Leafy Greens bounty that is produced hydroponically from October through February. You will receive a newsletter and reminder emails. If you sign up for the delivery service, the lettuce will be delivered weekly to your door and placed in the cooler provided. Compare to grocery store prices of greens grown out of state from October through February. Try a sample this September, available at both our Naperville and Aurora locations, for quality and taste.
Hydroponic Benefits
Dave Szymanski, our Leafy Greens Grower, lists the benefits of using hydroponics over the winter to grow your greens. “For one, the plants are grown locally in our Aurora greenhouse, so you know the source from where your food grows.”
Imagine a gutter, and on the gutter are the plants. We have a stock tank where the water is fed up and dispensed into these gutters and lays a film of water with nutrient solution into the gutters. This runs through the root system of the plants. It then goes back down to a return into the stock tank and cycles through again. Dave says “Plants grown hydroponically are not susceptible to bacteria found in soil that may have sitting water or wastewater in it.”
In addition, a hydroponic system allows for speedier turnover of produce. Edibles that take 8 weeks to grow in soil will take 6 weeks in a hydroponic system. Also know that we go through a sanitation process every time we harvest. Tools and equipment are cleaned. And while we are not certified organic, we only use products approved for organic growing. Our seeds and cuttings are organically grown and non-GMO.
Customer Satisfaction
Salena from last year’s pilot program said, “We just wanted to tell you how much we LOVE the leafy greens. We have commented multiple times that the greens we get from our subscription are more flavorful than any other greens that we purchase in the stores.”
“The ability to get fresh during our off season months is a blessing. Such a JOY to have beautiful fresh produce during the off season months. You put a smile on my face every time I picked up my bag. Thank you. What a ray of sunshine you have been in these challenging days.” ~ Sherry
