After losing one of the country’s largest Community Supported Agriculture programs in bankruptcy, the former owner of Grant Family Farms is getting started again.
Andy Grant says he doesn’t have grand ambitions for the size or scope of the new effort, called "Grant Farms." The CSA offers shares of mushrooms, microgreens, eggs, cheese and fruit, and already has about 100 members. Delivery begins June 17.
“My thoughts are just try to start small and revive,” said Grant who will play a behind-the-scenes role on the effort. Managing the day-to-day operations will be Josh Hall, who says one focus will be establishing community connections.
“Starting from scratch, we need to narrow the scope to see not only what are the things we do good, but what are the things that we do best. That way we can proliferate the way we want to,” he said.
Grant Farms won’t be offering vegetables in the CSA this year but does have community garden plots on a 14-acre “ranchito” Grant inhabits near Wellington. Sixdog will be providing the eggs, having purchased about 7,000 chickens earlier this year.
Other partners Raspberry Hill Farm, MouCo Cheese Company, Windsor Dairy, Hazel Dell Mushrooms, and several orchards on the western slope.
At its peak Grant Family Farms’ CSA had more than 5,000 members. The bankruptcy prompted a complicated unraveling of assets and disputes over land leases and the slaughter of thousands of chickens.
“The sad part is we have lost our family’s farm,” said Grant. “We’re getting past that sadness, we’re rebuilding and ready to move forward .”
