Teaching Diversified Organic Crop Production Using the Community Supported Agriculture Farming System Model

ABSTRACT An organic garden operated as a community supported agriculture (CSA) venture on the New Mexico State University (NMSU) main campus was begun in January 2002. Students enroll in an organic vegetable production class during spring and fall semesters to help manage and work on the project. The CSA model of farming involves the sale of shares to members who receive weekly assortments of the farm's output. This is the first organic garden on the NMSU main campus, the first organic vegetable production class, and the first CSA venture in southern New Mexico. This article focuses on the main class activities, how the class has evolved, and future challenges. In particular, the article explores how the class operates within the context of a functioning organic CSA farm with teaching, research, and extension objectives that sometimes are in conflict.