No CSA/veg boxes in 2026! Why?
It is with deep sadness that we have to announce that there will be no veg box CSA at Upper Ballaird Farm in 2026. After months of work by the dedicated CSA members committee and Philipp we must admit defeat. We did not reach the necessary number of members to make the offer viable. This may be confusing to some of you who heard that we did have the minimum amount so we shall give a chronological account with some conclusions below.
When Louise left Upper Ballaird Farm Coop it was evident that things had to change. As you can see from previous posts on this website we were confronting an existential situation. Louise was a central pillar that stood besides Philipp in the founding and early years of Upper Ballaird Farm Coop. Our veg offering was at the core of what we were working to establish in the valley. It embodied our commitment to regenerative farming, localisation of supply chains, agroecological principles and vision of food sovereignty for Scotland. Louise and I had not managed to put that offering on sustainable footings by the end of 2025 and with Louise leaving hard questions needed answering.
Philipp successfully reached out to the members for help and the committee was born. The volunteer workload of keeping the CSA going was spread across more shoulders and it showed that there was life in the CSA to go forward. After their efforts, including on farm open days, online communications, much financial planning, etc. we put out an informal signup form. Some people signed up at the open days in person, many online. When we were pushing that form we got more members than we had hoped for and went into planning phase.
Through the financial planning we knew we needed a significant amount of help from the members community to make it work. Harvesting, packing, and distribution were meant to be covered mainly through volunteer contributions and for a few weeks the focus was on ensuring that we had enough volunteer support to produce the veg and get it to people. After that work we concluded that it was very tight but doable if people honour their commitments.
Meanwhile, Philipp went to look for the required staff to help us ensure we got plenty high quality veg to share with the members. We were very lucky and found two people (one person 1 day/week and one person 2 days/week) who would help us through the peak season. Philipp was planning to volunteer his time and maybe start taking a salary for 1 day a week from mid-summer when one of the staff members were to become unavailable. We promised them the positions.
With everything required in place we opened signups and asked the people who had already signed up informally to make a £50 downpayment and sign up, formally this time, for the season. Philipp started crop planning, bought £500 worth in seed, £600 worth in compost, and £300 worth in substrates for sowing and potting on. We were excited for the year ahead.
We noticed quickly though that downpayments were slow. When we approached people for the formal signup, we had 76 people/families/parties signed up informally (wanting 50+ boxes per week). We decided to offer boxes only fortnightly as we had set ourselves a maximum of 40 boxes per week to ensure we have enough polytunnel space for high quality boxes and because of the tight margins with regards to volunteering contributions. Offering everyone a fortnightly box would have led to 38 boxes per week and we knew that if we have a drop in numbers we could go back to members and offer an upgrade to weekly boxes to those that wanted them.
After the first weekend we had 16 boxes a week. We were worried but decided to wait till the end of the week, as people may be away the weekend and not get to things immediately. By Friday that week we were still only at 18. From 76 parties we dropped to 36. We then sent a reminder to those who had not signed up formally yet and offered those that had the upgrade to weekly boxes. Over the coming weekend (13-15th Feb) we received a few more new signups and some upgrades to weekly boxes. However, by Monday morning we were still only at 24 boxes/week. Philipp then took the decision that being 16 boxes/week short of our financial scenario is too much risk.
At those numbers something that was already only possible due to significant volunteer contributions by members, the committee, and Philipp became totally unfeasible. We called the prospective staff members and gave them the bad news today and after publishing this post move on to refund every customer who had signed for the season. Please ensure that you are signed up to our newsletter to hear what our plans are moving forward. Whilst it will take a while to digest this disappointment, we have not given up on selling our regeneratively grown veg to people living in our area.
So sorry to hear this. Was looking forward to our veg box but sadly not to be. Thank you for explaining the details of why you had to come to this decision. You must be terribly disappointed after all the effort you and the volunteers put in.
Very sad to hear that it has not come through. I hope there might be some way to get something done this year and I am still up for supporting where I can and volunteering time
I am so sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having
I was looking forward to getting my veg box and hopefully helping out as a volunteer .
I signed up and paid £50 up front however I can understand that perhaps not everyone can afford that payment and perhaps a smaller amount over a longer period might work better ..
I shall come and buy my veg and hopefully helping to encourage family and neighbours to do the same
Best of luck for the future
Im hoping that when everyone hears of this it will encourage more people to sign up ..
I was so looking forward to being involved and enjoying a regular box of veg ..
I’m sure you will get a positive outcome
Best of luck
I am so sorry to hear that this venture is not going ahead. I was looking forward to having local veg and will be happy to sign up again if there is an option to do so in the future.