Shares available at Sankanac CSA

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills announces that shares are available for Sankanac CSA’s 2012 season.

Part of Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, the biodynamic 15-acre garden operates as the 200-member Sankanac CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. 

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer.  Typically a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public which includes a set amount of vegetables or other farm products, based on the harvest.  Participants purchase a share and in return receive seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. 

The gardens of Sankanac CSA, which are organic and biodynamically farmed, are harvested each week, and shareholders can pick up their produce either on Tuesdays or Fridays for 24 weeks.  There are also U-pick crops, including flowers and berries. 

Members can choose to purchase either a full or partial share depending on their personal needs. A full share is designed to feed a family of about four; a partial share to feed a couple, or a veggie-loving individual. The cost for a full share is $750 and a partial is $430.

Sankanac CSA grows a diverse seasonal mix of vegetables, flowers, herbs, and berries and also tends a small herd of mixed livestock (sheep, goats, donkeys).  The head gardener, Todd Newlin, and his wife, Mary, oversee this enterprise with a crew of over 10 gardeners (including individuals with special needs, apprentices, service volunteers, and interns).

The crew is deeply committed to the use of biodynamic methods, which allows them to strengthen the fragile ecosystem as well as provide food of the highest quality to our local community. Activities in the CSA include plant propagation, greenhouse management, pruning, crop cultivation, harvesting, tractor and equipment operation and maintenance, irrigation, livestock management, composting, and making/using the biodynamic preparations.

The group warmly welcomes new members, and does have available shares for the upcoming season. Please email SankanacCSA@gmail.com for more information or to request a share.  

Camphill Cafe Menu: July 6-9

Join us for lunch this week at the Camphill Cafe, open Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 


Entree Special: lasagna with kale* and chard* 


Soup of the week: barley with zucchini*, eggplant*, potatoes, rosemary*, cilantro* and soy. 

*from our CSA garden

CVKH Blog: Phoenixville Area Middle School students grant $1,000 to Camphill Kimberton's CSA

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills recently received a $1,000 grant from Phoenixville Area Middle School’s Help4Others group.


Help4Others, or H40, is a Youth in Philanthropy Group at the Phoenixville Area Middle School. This group of 14 eighth grade students meets once a week to learn more about needs in their community and how people give back. With guidance from their teachers, Gina Keenan and Monica Daley, they reviewed proposals submitted by non-profit organizations and visited sites in order to help them determine how to best distribute funds.

Out of nine area non-profits the students selected, Camphill Village Kimberton Hills received funding to purchase strawberries and supplies for the Sankanac Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Garden. The Sankanac CSA at Camphill Kimberton grows vegetables and produce on approximately 12 acres that feed the 100 village residents and an additional 150 families outside the community. CSA members sign up and pay a fee at the beginning of the year, which then enables the farmer, Todd Newlin, to buy seed, supplies, and equipment. Newlin, along with people with and without disabilities, ready the soil, greenhouses and seedlings. Starting at the end of May and continuing through October, CSA members visit the farm each week to pick up that week’s harvest. Every growing season differs slightly depending on the weather. Buying fresh and local produce has many benefits to personal health and to the environment.

Youth in Philanthropy, now its seventh year at both the middle school and high school, is supported by the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation. The program is intended to help young people gain a deeper understanding of needs, charity and volunteerism within their own community.

Lynn Pike Hartman, vice president of programs at the Foundation, spoke at the award presentation held on Wednesday. Hartman used the analogy of the strawberries purchased for Camphill Kimberton to express to the students how important their work in H4O has been. Just as the strawberries need careful, diligent tending in order to become thoroughly red and delicious, the H4O has been proof that through their hard work they now have evidence of reaping what they have sown.

“If you plant honesty, you reap trust,” said Hartman. “If you plant goodness, you reap friendships. If you plant hard work, you reap success, and if you plant charity, then you reap heartfelt joy. Remember this joy and that you can bring this feeling into your lives every day.”

Other award recipients included The Clinic, Police Athletic League, Good Samaritan Shelter, Mom’s House, PACS, Healthy Start, and the Southeastern PA Autism Resource Center.