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About the Farm
Native Son Farm, in Tupelo, Mississippi, is a twenty acre, multi-location farm run by Will and Amanda Reed. Breaking ground on a 3/4 acre garden in 2010, Will and Amanda began farming with the intention of building a community based around a naturally grown farm. With lots of hard work, perseverance, and help from friends and family, the vision has grown to include 20 acres on two locations feeding over 200 Mississippi families in 2015. Native Son Farm became certified Naturally Grown in 2011 to ensure to customers that their food is grown without the use of synthetic substances and in a manner that promotes soil health and natural methods of pest and weed control.
About the Farmers
Will Reed, a Tupelo native, became interested in farming while living off the grid in California in 2006. After graduating from Humboldt State University in 2009, Will moved back to Tupelo to begin Native Son Farm with the intention of changing the food and farming landscape of the area. Will loves farming, food and his family. He is Board President of the Mississippi Sustainable Agriculture Network (MSAN) and is one of the State's leading practitioners of organically minded vegetable production.
Amanda Reed grew up off the grid in Thetford, Vermont. As a child, self-sufficiency and living off the land were basic family values. This instilled in her an interest in farming for production. She met Will at Humboldt State University where she received a degree in Childhood Development. After graduation, she joined Will in Tupelo to begin Native Son Farm.
Will and Amanda are joined on the farm by a full-time farm crew and their daughters Magnolia Jane and Juniper Rose.
Certified Naturally Grown
Native Son Farm is Certified Naturally Grown. This certification ensures that your produce is grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, or genetically modified organisms. Native Son Farm is committed to growing produce that is safe and healthy for you and your family. Learn more at the Certified Naturally Grown website.
Community Supported Agriculture
If it's any fresher, it's still in the ground!
Started in 2012, Native Son Farm was one of Mississippi's first CSA farms and, serving nearly 300 families in 2015, it is now the largest in the State. Our knowledge of sustainable vegetable production in the Deep South combined with our fantastic crew and continued investments in land, equipment and infrastructure allow us to produce bountiful harvests of beautiful produce for our members week after week. Our amazing CSA members are the backbone of our farm; we take great pride in our partnership with and commitment to our CSA shareholders each season.
What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a commitment between families, individuals, and farmers. CSA members buy into the farm as members at the start of a growing season and in exchange receive a weekly or bi-weekly share of the farm's harvest.
What are the benefits of joining Native Son Farm's CSA?
Members receive access to the highest quality, ultra fresh, Certified Naturally Grown fruits and veggies and can be assured that produce from Native Son Farm is free from chemicals, synthetic pesticides and synthetic herbicides. In addition, members have an opportunity to know their farmers and build a community around environmentally friendly food and unique farm experiences such as strawberry picking, honey harvesting, and tomato tasting.
Shared risks, shared rewards:
Agriculture is risky business, in a way, and each season is a roll of the dice. When you sign on as a shareholder in the CSA, you are agreeing to share in the risks and rewards of the farming season. We take our CSA very seriously and take many precautions to make sure that your CSA boxes are filled week after week. In our four years of operating a CSA, we have dealt with months of record rainfall, childhood cancer, herbicide damage (from a neighbor), and an F-3 tornado and have never missed a CSA distribution. Through the use of multiple growing sites, crop diversification, deep water wells and our 8 greenhouses, we have many safeguards in place to prevent crop failures. As a CSA member you may find yourself paying closer attention to the weather and gaining a greater understanding of the way that seasonality and our local climate affect your food.
Where are the CSA pick-up sites?
Native Son Farm offers CSA pick-ups in Tupelo and Oxford. Tupelo CSA pick-ups are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2-6pm at the Native Son Farm farm stand, located at 3811 Mt. Vernon Road. Oxford pick-up is on Tuesday afternoons at OXCM.
What is it like to pick up a share?
Your farmers are on site to guide you through the contents of your box, provide you with cooking tips, and update you on the latest farm happenings. The CSA pickup experience provides members with an opportunity to know their farmers and develop community relationships.
What's in the box?
Experience the joys of seasonal eating. Each week you will receive 7 to 10 items of freshly harvested produce. Typical produce changes throughout the seasons.
What does it cost?
In the Tupelo market, the cost for the 2016 Spring/Summer Full Share (20 weeks, weekly pick up) is $560. The Half Share (10 weeks, bi-weekly) is $315. The Tupelo Fall CSA cost is $350 for a Full Share (12 weeks): there will be no Half shares. The Oxford Fall Share is $360. In addition, work exchange opportunities exist. To find out more about work exchange please email nativesonproduce@gmail.com.
When and how do I sign up for a CSA Share?
If you would like to sign up to receive a Share, please fill out the form below and we will be in touch with payment information. Using the Comments section is very helpful if you have specific questions. For more general information contact us via email at nativesonproduce@gmail.com or call Jana Eakes at 662-523-0781.
What if I wish to purchase your produce, but am not ready to commit to a CSA membership?
Your first step is to sign up below to receive our farm newsletters, which will share information about what we are doing on the farm as well as when we are open to the public. We often have extra produce for sale in the Tupelo Farm Stand during CSA pick-up days. We also sell extra produce at the OXCM (Oxford MS) on Tuesdays. In addition to these opportunities, we frequent the Oxford Mid-Town Market on Saturday mornings during peak season, as well as the Tupelo Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.
Our Vision
Mississippi is a place abundant in the natural resources necessary to grow good food with fertile land, ample sunshine and plenty of water, but paradoxically we are dying from a lack of quality nutrition. As a firm believer in grassroots change, I feel that the answer to the health crisis that we are facing is to be found in the creation and proliferation of profitable, local, organic vegetable farms. My long term goal is to provide 1% of Tupelo's population with local, certified naturally grown vegetables 32 weeks out of the year, year after year, through a 400 member Community Supported Agriculture program. Please know that when you shop with Native Son Farm, your food dollars are going to support:
-A replicable model of sustainable vegetable production for other Mississippians to follow.
-Stewardship of our soil, water and local environment.
-A living wage for our local farm crew.
-The freshest, most delicious and nutrient dense food that you can put on your dinner table.
-The betterment of our farm and vegetable production practices.
-The ability of a local, family, non-toxic vegetable farm to exist in your community.
-A place where you and your children can learn about local food and seasonal eating.
-The money that you are spending re-circulating in our community.
-Your health and quality of life!
The Farm Stand
The Farm Stand on Mt. Vernon Road serves as the pick-up site for Tupelo area CSA members. It is open during the season (roughly mid-April through August, then October-December) on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 2pm-6pm. The Farm Stand is also open to the public for sales when our produce is most bountiful, and our most popular item, the Tupelo Tomato, is readily available. Exact dates cannot be predicted, so please keep watch on our Facebook page and Instagram and Twitter accounts for updates. Additionally, you can join our newsletter for Farm Stand updates by subscribing below. Or, just pop in to see us during CSA Pick up - we welcome you to come in and have a look around at what we are doing.
Farm Stand Address: 3811 Mount Vernon Road, Tupelo, MS near Barnes Crossing Road.
Contact
Email: nativesonproduce@gmail.com
Phone: 662-678-3497
Farm Photo Gallery
It's the last share of the season! Check out storage tips to make you your share last for months, news from the farmer, and recipe ideas to keep you cooking into the New Year!