AUTUMN Season commencing 27th of February 2024
– ORDERS OPEN
Southern Harvest Association’s (SHA) multi-farm produce box scheme is now available for pick-up at:
- Fyshwick (ACT) Tiuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons
- Higgins (ACT) – Thursday evening
- Gowrie (ACT) mini hub – Tuesday evening
- Weston (ACT) mini hub – Tuesday evening
- O’Connor (ACT) mini hubs – Tuesday evening
- Bungendore (NSW) – Thursday evening
- Michelago (NSW) – Wednesday evening
- Queanbeyan East (NSW) – Wednesday evening
- Hackett mini hub (ACT) – Wednesday evening
- Kambah (ACT) mini hub – Thursday evening
- Braidwood (NSW) – Thursday afternoon
- Delivery is available in some areas for an extra $5.50 charge.
We are continually taking expressions of interest for subscribers and volunteers in additional locations. Under current consideration is sites at ANU, Googong, Ainslie, and Lynham. Please let us know if you think there is potential for a site near you. For us to activate a new site we need 10-15 subscribers and 1-2 volunteers.
Mini hubs are groups of up to 10 people who live near to each other, sharing the responsibility of picking up the produce and taking it to the hub. The hub is usually the home of one of the subscribers where the produce can be left for pickup in a safe and protected location.
ABOUT THE SCHEME: Our produce box scheme follows the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, and aims to, as directly as possible, connect Farmers and Eaters. Subscribers are asked to commit to the thirteen week season and purchase in advance, a share of the Farmers’ produce. They then receive fruit, vegetables, herbs and nuts as they are harvested, often the day they are harvested, each week for the season. In the leaner months preserved fruit and vegetables may also be provided to supplement the fresh supplies. Consumers commit to supporting farmers through the season and share the ups and downs of food production.
Southern Harvest is committed to facilitating this link between Farmer and Eaters by aggregating local produce, to provide a greater variety than one small farm could sustain, while expanding market opportunities for small farmers and ensuring they receive fair retail prices for their food.
The scheme commenced in the Summer of 2017-18 and we are excited by the ongoing growth and potential. We have seen an amazing variety of produce over the past three years, and the sustainable growth of our of local farms and food community. Subscribers have enjoyed the opportunity to sample new and often unfamiliar vegetables while learning about seasonal food production in their region. As the produce is direct from the farm it is as fresh as could be possible, and as we prioritise regeneratively grown, clean and chemical free produce, it can’t get any better.
The produce costs (options listed below) are paid direct to the farmer. We believe that farmers should be paid the true cost of their food and be supported to bring us fresh, nutritional food while caring for the land they farm. Southern Harvest Association is a farmer led, volunteer run, not-for-profit organisation and therefore we ask consumers to directly pay the costs of administration and contribute towards produce for the volunteers who work to facilitate the scheme. This cost is 35% of the produce costs. For every 15 subscriptions we can provide a standard size produce box to a volunteer. Any subscriber who can volunteer for 2-2.5 hours of packing and/or distribution, then gets credited the cost of a standard box that week.
Produce options:
- Standard box $43.20 – a minimum of $32 of produce, usually 8-10 different types of produce valued at $2-4 each, mostly vegetables with 1-2 items seasonal fruit;
- Half box $21.60 – a minimum of $16 of produce, usually 4-6 different types of produce valued at $2-4 each, mostly vegetables with 1 seasonal fruit item;
- Extended box $54 – as for the standard box with an extra 2-3 types of produce of fruit or vegetables (subscribers choice), minimum of $40 produce;
- Double box $86.40 – twice the standard box;
- Double Extended box $108 – a double box with a 4-6 types of produce fruit and/or vegetable extension.
Added extras such as veggie staples like potatoes/onions/garlic, meat, eggs, bread, milk, cheese, pickles and preserves, honey, muesli, pasta, chai, handmade soap and shampoo bars, herbal teas, olive oil, fresh herbs and spices, nuts, and kombucha are available for order separately. These will be packed with your fresh produce box and ready when you pickup. Availability of some products may vary with pick-up locations due to storage and food handling constraints.
* IMPORTANT NOTE: From Summer 2019 all subscribers were asked to pay a one off coolroom levy. In the past, we struggled to cover the costs of coolroom storage through the increasingly hot summers. Therefore, we have now, with the proceeds of this levy, almost finished building our own facility at Canberra City Farm. We ask that all participants of the Produce Box Scheme help us to continue to finance this project, and future projects that contribute to regional food security.
Stage one was ready for the Autumn season 2020, with our first container coolroom up and running, and was the reason we had the capacity to open two new locations. With the price restructure for Winter 2020 the levy amounts were reduced. The stage two container was moved on to site during the Winter season and supplied a dry store for items such as potatoes and pumpkins. Having this facility at Canberra City farm was also integral to our ability to continue to function safely with the added COVID hygiene requirements of the past year.
The next stage, occurred Summer 20/21 and saw the two containers levelled and covered with a roof. This gives our volunteers and workers some very appreciated protection from the elements. We hope soon to finish with a small water tank to collect water from the roof and feed into a wash station, permanent internal shelving and dividers, a small office space at the back of the dry store and outdoor steps and gravel/paving.
The levy payment includes a year’s Southern Harvest Individual Membership and varies according to box size as follows:
- Half box = $24.22
- Standard box = $48.44
- Extended box = $66.77
- Double box = $96.88
For more information you can check out our Current Produce Box Handbook or to order your produce box, contact our produce coordinator Ruth by filling in the form below