Food Guide: Fall CSAs

If you're at all familiar with the spring Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scramble – after a long winter, consumers jump for farm-grown produce – you'll be thankful to know there's another chance to access farm-fresh produce this fall. Plenty of area farms extend their CSA shares through the colder months, featuring the best-of-the-best selections of squashes, pears, apples, and more.

Don't miss out on the chance to eat farm-fresh this fall! Find your share for the season at one of these local farms, offering everything from produce to bread to fresh-pressed apple cider.

New to CSAs? Check out our explainer!

Harvie Farms Pittsburgh

Even in the dead of winter, Harvie Farms delivers farm-fresh and local goods to consumers across the city. Harvie operates as a sales and distribution platform for area producers, connecting Pennsylvanians to farms across the state with the click of a button. It’s a highly customizable CSA model, which means you’ll want to use everything in your box. (And you don’t have to worry about a squash overload!)

Shares come in a handful of sizes and branch out beyond just produce. Over the fall season, find locally-made apple cider, freshly baked goods from bakeries like Wild Rise Bakery and Mediterra Bakehouse, coffee from city roasteries, fresh eggs, flours, cheeses, and locally-raised meats.

Sign-ups are ongoing. Take a look at their platform and see what fits your needs!

A sampling of produce and more from Harvie Farms. Photo courtesy of Harvie Farms.

After the Fall

This summer, a longtime community staple, Kretschmann Family Organic Farm, celebrated its last harvest. Its legacy lives on through Don and Becky’s daughter, Maria Kretschmann, daughter of the founders, and her After the Fall Cider brand. The second-generation orchardist takes a fruit-forward approach to one of the most well-known crops of her family’s farm: apples.

Though focused on hard ciders, Maria also runs an apple CSA. Sign up and receive four pounds of farm-fresh apples per week as the farm cycles through their various varieties of organically-grown apples.

Maria Kretschmann at After the Fall Cider. Photo courtesy of After the Fall Cider.

Who Cooks For You Farm

2021 marked the 13th growing season for first-generation Who Cooks For You Farm, located in Armstrong County. The farm, well known for its overflowing tables of produce at local farmers’ markets and as a supplier for many city eateries, is also known for its abundant CSA program.

Sign up for their fall share and receive 7 boxes of their one-size-fits-all CSA throughout the season. Produce ranges from winter squashes to leeks to cabbage and much, much more. The farm also offers coffee, mushroom, and fruit add-ons. Sign up here!

Fields of Who Cooks for You Farm. Photo courtesy of @whocooksforyoufarm

Earth Farm

Situated on almost 90 acres of farmland in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, Edible Earth Farm is a highly diversified operation that follows four principles: quality, choice, connection, and innovation. Shares in their CSA are hard to come by, but there’s been a stroke of luck for those of us looking for fall produce: open spots.

Sign up for their buy-down CSA model, which farmer Johnny Parker says is “100% free choice.” Members get to choose the make-up of their boxes – the farm offers over 200 items – picking from everything from mushrooms, cheese, and salmon to rutabagas and ginger. The open spots in their fall CSA will go fast – snag yours today!

Produce from Edible Earth Farm. Photo courtesy of Edible Earth Farm.

Driftwood Oven

Though not a farm, Driftwood Oven runs a monthly bread share that’s well worth a mention. For $30, you get a loaf of bread from the sourdough bakery and pizzeria each week, each risen with a sourdough culture and mixed with organic grains.

No two weeks are the same. Some loaves will be typical, sandwich breads – think whole grain, seeded grain, or cinnamon raisin – others will be fun, unique styles like focaccia and potato loaves. Don’t forget to add a cinnamon roll or two to your Saturday loaf pick-up! You won’t regret it – they’re ooey, gooey, and all-around delicious.