FAQ

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between a community (that’s you) and a farmer (that’s us). The farm pledges to grow food for the community and the community pledges to support the farm. It is a direct field-to-table relationship, allowing the community to be more in touch with its food source. Members enjoy discounted pricing and first pick of the farm harvest.

There are many ways to buy from us without joining the CSA. You can place an order on the website or by phone. You can visit our farm during our on-farm market hours during the growing season, or find our product on Frederick Fresh Online farmers market.

CSA members pre-order and pre-pay for the food they want throughout the farming season. Members benefit by receiving a discount on their order, and the farmer benefits by knowing how many orders of each item to raise, grow, or make in order to accurately scale production.

Yes! CSA members receive a 10% discount on their orders for the season.

All of the products we raise and grow are available for pre-order through the CSA membership. Take a look at the CSA sign-up form by clicking on the “Become A Member” link to browse the products you may want to add to your order.

CSA orders are picked up by the member here on the farm. We’re considering adding a delivery option for those members ordering a weekly total over a certain dollar amount, but the details are still being worked out. To help us determine if we should add delivery in the future, we are offering free delivery to the 3 highest CSA order totals for the 2023 season. Let us know in the comments section of the CSA sign up form if delivery is something you would be interested in the future.

Our CSA season is 20 weeks long, beginning in the first week of June, and ending in the middle of October. We encourage our members to order enough product during the season to last through the winter months.

Pasture raised animals get a significant portion of their food from organic grass grown in a pasture. This grass is never treated with synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Pastured livestock and poultry are moved frequently onto fresh green grass, which provides landscape healing and nutritional superiority.

Pasture raised meat and eggs have higher nutritional value as compared to conventionally raised products. Not only do they have more of the “good stuff,” they also have less of the “bad stuff,” such as fat and bad cholesterol.  In a 2003 study out of Pennsylvania State University, researchers found that one pasture-raised egg contains twice as much omega-3 fat, three times more vitamin D, four times more vitamin E and seven times more beta-carotene than eggs from hens raised on traditional feed.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “you are what you eat.” We like to take this one step further and say, “you are what you eat…ate.” Our animals are of the finest quality because they eat only the best feed throughout their lives. We source our feed from Ernst Grain & Livestock in Clear Spring, Maryland. Ernst produces high quality, Non-GMO grains grown through sustainable, regenerative agricultural practices. We get a custom blend added to our feed bags which includes industry leading Fertrell Nutri-Balancer for added vitamins, minerals, and direct fed microbials. These special ingredients, such as kelp meal, alfalfa meal, and digestive probiotics, along with fresh pasture forage from our daily moves are the key to our animal’s health, quality of life, and superior final product.

Our animals live outside, in the open air, on fresh grass. This natural lifestyle is the key to maintaining healthy livestock without using antibiotics. The pathogen cycle is broken by moving animals frequently onto fresh ground. The only time our animals come inside is during the cold, windy, and wet winter months of December through March. During this time we house them in a greenhouse on 12-18 inches of woodchips, which composts their manure and again breaks the pathogen cycle.

We never use any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers on our farm. All of our produce, and our pastures, are grown through chemical free organic practices. We’re not organic certified, but we don’t feel the need to be. You can trust that our food is grown organically because it’s the food we eat for ourselves. With multiple people in our home having digestive and auto-immune diseases, we cannot ever compromise our natural growing practices without also compromising our own food source.

We are an open farm, meaning anyone can come anytime to see how their food is being raised and grown. We believe that the more people are educated about their food the more likely they are to choose healthy, regenerative agricultural practices. That being said, we are a for-profit genuine working farm. We may not be able to interact for long as we go about our duties, but we hope you’ll come see us to learn how real, nutritious food is raised and grown. Any farm tours will be listed on the website.

We’ve worked hard to provide a fun environment for people of all ages. Many customers bring their family along so the kids can enjoy seeing the animals, or playing on the swings or in the sandbox. That being said, we are a working farm, and there are a few things to be aware of. Our farm animals are livestock, not pets, and may peck or bite if you get too close. Most of the animals are contained in electric fencing which will provide a shock if touched. The best policy is to look and not touch the infrastructure or animals unless one of the farm staff is with you and directing you otherwise.

We have a camper trailer located on the farm that we rent out via AirBnB. This is the best way to really experience everything Stone Pillar Farm has to offer. On the website’s main banner click on “Stay With Us” to learn more about this opportunity and book your stay.

We’re working on some farming and food production workshops to offer during the season. These opportunities will be listed on the website where you can register for the event.