CMHA Healthy Harvest Farm

Healthy Harvest offers an opportunity to be involved in the local farming community in a supportive, low stress work environment for those affected by a mental illness. A variety of vegetable crops are grown by organic methods and sold on site on an honour box system. This program runs Monday to Friday from 9-1. Produce is available via honor system from July through October. Land is available for individual garden plots.

There are opportunities for people to volunteer, make a donation or become involved in this community project.

Welcome to Healthy Harvest Farm! We hope this info sheet will answer your questions about the Veggie and Fruit Box subscription program that we are offering this year. Thank you for your interest in supporting employment for people living with mental illnesses.
Q. What are my options for box sizes and prices?
A. You have two choices. You can either choose a $30 box, ($600 subscription) which would be suitable for a family of more than two people, or a veggie loving couple, or a $20 box, ($400 subscription) . This box is more suitable for a single person who loves veggies, or a couple who may not eat as many veggies. The $30 box would have at least 10 items in it, and may include more as the season progresses. A bunch of radishes, a pint of berries, a big head of lettuce, a bag of kale, any one of these would be considered one item. A $20 box ($400 subscription) would have at least 7 items in it, but the items or bunches may be smaller in size.
Q. How do I pay for my box?
A. You can write a cheque or a money order for either $600 or $400, depending on the subscription your choose. Please make the cheque or money order out to "CMHA" and write "Healthy Harvest Farm Box" in the memo space. Please mail the cheque or money order to the CMHA Healthy Harvest Farm Box Program c/o New Horizons Clubhouse, 3178 Second Avenue, Port Alberni BC V9Y4C3. Include your contact information, ie name, phone number, email, and address so we can get a receipt for you and be able to easily contact you. You may also include any special requests about preferred delivery times and dates. Although we cannot guarantee all requests can be met we will try to make this as convenient as possible for you.
Another way to pay would be to bring a cheque or money order in an envelope to the Office of the CMHA at the New Horizons Club House at the above address. Please mark the envelope clearly with "Healthy Harvest Box Program", and include a sheet of paper with your name, address, phone number and email on it, and drop it off with Dianne. You can also come out to the Farm at 4890 Beaver Creek Road, across from the Co op gas station. Drive to the left of our small cedar sales building, and park in front of the house. You will see a greenhouse in front of you and there is someone usually around the greenhouse. We are normally there from Tuesday through Thursday from ten am to four pm. Please make sure you give the envelope to either Connie or Aaron. If you contact us first at connieathealthyharvestfarm@gmail.com we can anticipate your arrival.

Q Why do I need to pay in advance?
A. Our main goal is to provide as much employment as possible for people living with mental illnesses. We do not have funds to do this without your early monetary support. We also need to purchase seeds, fertilizers, and pay for our fields to be plowed. These are all expenses that are incurred before the food can be grown. Our box program is based on a widely used system known as Community Supported Agriculture. This program helps farmers by helping with start up costs and by incurring a small portion of the risk every farmer takes in growing your food. Our director at the Farm has many years experience growing food, and we do not anticipate any problems, but everyone knows that some years are more suitable for farming than others. You will always get the minimum amounts in your veggie box and in a good year you will get more! Please share the bounty with family and friends and let them know if you are pleased with our program. Please let us know if you are not!
Q. When is payment due? Are there any payment plans?
A. The most beneficial situation for us is when people subscribe right away, due to the investments we need to make in workers and supplies to get the farm into production. It is important for us to pay our workers a fair wage while they are growing your food and to purchase supplies as soon as possible so that you get the best possible value for your money. We would also like to make this food box as accessible as possible, so we will accept a half- half payment plan where half of the funds are paid in advance of the first box by post dated cheque or moeny order, dated before May 15, and the second half of the funds before week ten. Alternatively we will accept a series of 5 post dated cheques in advance starting, for instance on May 15th and then the 15th of June, July, August, and September. We are also considering a weekly payment option. Please contact us for more details.

Although there is not currently a deadline we will cut the box program off at 30 boxes since we want to make sure each subscriber gets a generous return on their investment. There is quite a bit of interest in this program, and the money has already started to come in.

Q. Where and when will I be picking up my box each week?
A. One pick up location will be at the Farm on Beaver Creek Road, and we are considering another pick up location at the Hospital. The third may be at the New Horizons Clubhouse. If there is sufficient interest in a certain area of Port Alberni, or you can offer us a pick up spot we can consider adding another one. Some of these decisions will depend on the final number of subscribers as well as their locations. Pick up may be Thursday in one location and Friday in another if we pre sell a lot of boxes. When the final number of box orders is in and we find out what areas of town our supporters live in we will make our final decisions. We want this to be convenient for you, but also it needs to be realistic for us. We welcome your input to help make this work for all of us. Boxes will begin to be ready for pick up the second week of June and run for 20 weeks.


Q What if I am away on holidays?
A. You can contact us to arrange for someone else to pick up your box, or you have the option of postponing up to two weeks of boxes until after the anticipated end of the box program, which would normally be mid October. You would then receive boxes for two additional weeks, (ie until early November) .

Q. What can I expect to find in my veggie box?
A. In the early boxes there will be lots of leafy greens, and some radishes, turnips, and beets. Later on there will be cabbage, and broccoli, and in mid-summer we will provide you with warm weather veggies like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and possibly some berries. We are busy planting carrots, onions, and leeks as well, and have a great crop of garlic and herbs coming for mid to late summer boxes. We are planning to do lots of squash, and some pumpkin as well. Trickier crops to grow ( like melons) may provide you with a nice surprise at some point in the summer. That is part of the fun of the boxes is that you may get something you did not expect, or something you may have never tried before. We will include recipes in every box for anything unusual, as well as some new recipes for some old favourites.
Q. Why can't I just pick up veggies at the roadside stand?
A. You can, but our box customers are our preferential customers. They will get special, high value items we have that the roadside stand customers might never see. The veggies and fruits in your box will also come out cheaper than buying them at the stand. It would be rare to get 10 items that have been organically grown even in the grocery store for under $30,and those same items will cost more individually at our stand. Remember that your food will be picked fresh that day or late in the day on the day before, so will be super-fresh. We may provide our box customers with larger bags of specialty greens, and also add bonus specialty items like grapes, melons and large bunches of herbs, depending on what we have that week. In general, our box customers will get the freshest and best items. It is also important to remember that we are providing employment for people that are living with mental illnesses. By providing funds in advance, rather than picking things up cash and carry later on you provide jobs for people now, and these workers can then have some measure of work and job security while they are working hard to provide you with great food.




Q. Where can I find out more information and ask specific questions not covered by this list?
A. Just email Connie at connieathealthyharvestfarm@gmail.com or check the Facebook page we have set up at https://www.facebook.com/pages/CMHA-Healthy-Harvest-Farm/456691667762862