Langwater Farm has opened registration for its Community Supported Agriculture program through which customers can pre-pay for organic fruits, vegetables and flowers at a discounted price.

The farm, which includes 80 acres of land owned by the Ames family along Route 138, was certified organic last year and is looking forward to another growing season that will serve the Easton area.

“We want to continue to provide the community with good things that we ourselves would like to eat, and help support other farms in the area,” said farmer Alida Cantor at a lecture given on Wednesday at the Ames Free Library where she described Langwater and answered questions from community members.

“The town is very excited about having this farming adventure in town,” said Stephanie Danielson, Easton’s Land Use Agent.  “We’re excited about putting land back into agricultural production as much as possible.”

The farm offers a way for consumers to prepay for organic produce and flowers with its Community Supported Agriculture program, the deadline for which is April 1.

“The program was limited to 60 people last year and we had a waiting list of another 100 people,” said Cantor, noting the farm grew 40 types of vegetables last year.

According to www.localharvest.org/csa, the advantages for consumers include ultra-fresh food with all the flavor and vitamin benefits, exposure to new vegetables and new ways of cooking, and a personal relationship with the farmer who grows their food. 

Through Langwater’s CSA, customers can enjoy a scheduled weekly pickup of farm fresh produce and/or flowers during the growing season.  Options include a whole share ($630) or half share ($350) of produce selected by the farmer, a flexible Farm stand share ($350) which works like a debit card and you select the produce yourself, a Flower share ($100) which includes a fresh bunch of fresh flowers once a week from July to September, and a Winter share ($175) for November and December that includes greens, roots, and winter squash.

The CSA program may be supplemented by other local growers to include produce Langwater does not yet grow including strawberries from Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, corn from Cervelli Farm in Rochester, and honey from a grower in Brockton.  In addition, their apple trees are still young and not producing.

To register for the CSA program, visit  http://langwaterfarm.com/find-our-produce/join-our-csa/.  Langwater will assign consumers a pickup day (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) on which they can pick up their produce at the farm stand located at 209 Washington Street (Route 138). 

Cantor runs the farm with her partner Rory O’Dwyer, and Kevin and Kate O’Dwyer.  Cantor grew up in Washington state but moved to Massachusetts to go to college; Rory and Kevin are siblings and grew up in Sharon; and Kate grew up in North Attleboro.

 The group was chosen by the Ames family after a lengthy application process.

“We have been profoundly pleased with you and very appreciative of you guys,” Fred Ames said to the growers at Wednesday’s lecture of 60-plus people, noting his family was impressed by the young start-up group with a strong business sense.  “Just as you are pleased to be living in the town, we are doubly pleased because it’s our family place.”

According to Langwater's website, the farm belongs to the Ames family and includes 80 acres total (half woods and half fields). Part of the property was originally designed by landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted, the creator of Central Park, and is described by Cantor as “drop-dead beautiful [with] fields gently curving against woods, surrounded by stone walls, dirt roads snaking through the woods and fields and over small streams, all bordered by Langwater Pond on the west.

They called their operation “Langwater Farm both at the request of the Ames family and as a nod to the rich history” from when it was famous for its Guernsey cows and Clydesdale horses.

Since they were young start-up growers, the farm faced a few challenges including no outbuildings (they have since built a greenhouse), lack of equipment (they used 12 five-gallon buckets because they did not have irrigation), and rocks.

 Lots of rocks.

“All those really beautiful stone walls come from somewhere and that’s our fields,” said Cantor, whose love for farming and food comes through in person and in the farm’s Blog.  “The field along [Route] 138 is really rocky…We had rock-picking parties to gather up all the rocks we could and then we would till it up up and it would look exactly the same.”

She said the deer have not been a problem for the Langwater crops though they do often enjoy grazing in the pastures that used to be hayland.

“The deer have been enjoying the stuff we didn’t plant rather than what we did plant,” said Cantor.

The growers say they have a lot of plans for the 2011 season including building two new greenhouses with a USDA grant, planting more crops to keep up with the demand, and will continue to provide wedding flowers. 

In the future, Langwater growers hope to organize Farm-to-Table dinners, testing tours, and hosting school groups.

 For more information, visit www.LangwaterFarm.com; www.facebook.com/pages/Langwater-Farm/160514450654638; follow “@langwaterfarm” on Twitter; or contact langwaterfarm@gmail.com or 508-205-9665. 

 Langwater Farm’s photostream can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/64672054@N00/with/5328558616/