It has grown in popularity so much that the McDougals couldn't handle all of the people coming to their house anymore, and two years ago a second drop-off point was established at the Ryans' house in Rockville Centre. "It got up to almost 100 last year." The drop-off points in Rockville Centre have drawn people from surrounding areas, including Oceanside, Merrick and Valley Stream. "Each year the number has grown," said McDougal. So he spoke with people at Golden Earthworm and found that he would need to get 10 people in his area to agree to sign up to make his house a drop-off point for the produce. "At the time, they only had two drop-offs on the South Shore: one in Massapequa and one in Valley Stream," McDougal said. A little research on Ed's part brought him to Golden Earthworm, and it seemed like a good idea to him and his wife, Sheila. The McDougals joined the program six years ago when Ed McDougal heard about CSA from his high school and college friend, Bill Ayres. Members pick up their produce at their drop-off point and leave the boxes, which are then reused by the farm. Once the produce is ready, it gets shipped every Tuesday. They pay in the winter, so that the farm has capital to begin work in the spring and doesn't have to rely on bank loans. "Often times around the corner."ĬSA members pay around $500 for the produce, which they receive every week for 26 weeks from May through November. "It's really convenient and it's a wonderful relationship to get the vegetables as close to people as possible," Wood said. They started with just 20 members their first year and have grown to 1,600 this year. Ten years ago, Golden Earthworm began with CSA. "So the CSA model made a lot of sense to us." "We started off selling to restaurants and stores, and we really wanted to sell directly to the consumer," said Maggie Wood, owner of Golden Earthworm Farm.
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