Ort Farms CSA: Weekly Shares from a Long Valley Family Farm

Sep 7

3 min read

A CSA share at Ort Farms is a reserved piece of the harvest — not a mystery grocery box from somewhere else. You pay for the season. The farm plants and picks. On Thursday you come to Long Valley and take home vegetables (and some fruit) that were harvested that day.

Ort Farms started the CSA in fall 2011 so neighbors could know the source of their food. The farm has been in Long Valley for generations and grows dozens of vegetable varieties for the market and for members.

How this CSA works

You buy a share before the season. That money helps cover seed, labor, and field work while the crop is still in the ground. In return you pick up a weekly portion of what is ready.

Weather, pests, and a heavy picking week all show up in the box. That is the deal, stated plainly: members share the risk and the surplus with the farm.

Ort Farms does not hand you a sealed carton and send you home. At pickup you get a list for that week. If you will not use an item, you can take a second of something you will use, as long as it is on the list and still available. That is the practical difference from many CSAs.

Share sizes

The farm offers three options:

Share	Typical weekly varieties	Best fit
Full	About 13–15 items	Households that cook a lot, or two neighbors splitting
Half	About 9–12 items	Smaller families or lighter cooks
Personal	About 6–8 items	One or two people

The full share is the one they describe as family-sized. Current season pricing lives on the CSA signup page (they have advertised a full share in the low-$50s per week; confirm the live number before you pay).

What actually shows up

Contents follow the field, not a supermarket planogram.

Early season examples they publish: asparagus, greenhouse tomatoes, lettuce, radish, beets, greens, herbs, strawberries.

High summer: beefsteak and grape tomatoes, zucchini, squash, beans, peppers, eggplant, corn, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, basil, blueberries, peaches or nectarines, melon.

Fall: apples or pears, winter squash, carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, cider when they have it.

Some fruit in the share — peaches, nectarines, apples, sugar plums, blueberries — is marked as locally sourced, not necessarily grown on Ort ground. Vegetables are the farm’s core. They grow 40-plus vegetable varieties and are not certified organic; they describe natural and sustainable practices, including Rutgers soil testing.

If you only want strawberries every week or never want kale, this is the wrong program. If you will cook what June and September actually produce, it fits.

Season, pickup, payment

Season: Typically early June into fall (the farm has described both an 18-week and a 21-week frame, with an option to run toward November). Confirm the current year on the FAQ before you budget.

Required week off: Every member skips one pickup for vacation or a week you simply cannot use the food. You do not pay for that week.

Pickup: Thursday afternoons at Ort Farms in Long Valley. Use the CSA tent and the weekly list. Address on farm materials is Bartley Road (they list both 25 and 2 Bartley Road — same farm complex). Park for a longer stop if you are also going to the market or Community Area; the spaces by the market doors are short-term.

Pay: Online through their CSA portal, or in person at the market. They have offered pay-in-full or three card installments (historically March / April / May). Checks have been accepted for in-full payment.

Member extras they list:

10% farm-market discount during the CSA season (issued after final payment or at first pickup)
Occasional member farm tour and picnic
Seasonal discount notes for on-farm events
Recipes at pickup and a member newsletter

None of that replaces showing up on Thursday.

Who this is for (and who should skip it)

Join if you cook most weeks, will use odd vegetables, can do Thursday pickup or split a share with someone who can, and want a short line from field to sink.

Skip if you need the same five items every week, travel most Thursdays, or expect certified-organic labels. Buy from the Farm Market instead and take only what you want that day.

A cooler in the car in July is not optional. Corn and berries do not enjoy a hot back seat.

Make pickup a farm stop

Thursday can be ten minutes. It can also be market extras, cider donuts, homemade ice cream, and the Community Area if the kids came along. Festival weekends are a separate ticket if you enter pick-your-own areas. The CSA tent is still a member pickup.

Join the current season

Start on the farm’s CSA page, read the live week count and price, then enroll or ask at the market.

Ort Farms CSA25 Bartley Rd., Long Valley, NJ 07853(908) 876-3351CSA details and FAQ · Join