Farm shares
The Conservation Foundation’s Green Earth Harvest is an all-organic farming operation which provides healthy, organic vegetables to the community through the sale of “shares”. When you become a Green Earth Harvest shareholder, you are essentially purchasing a portion of the anticipated harvest. You’ll come to McDonald Farm in Naperville (or one of our off-farm pickup locations) every week or every other week to
pick up your delicious produce – from our farm to your table!
Click here to see our Green Earth Harvest brochure, or keep scrolling
"We loved it - it was so nice seeing and knowing where our produce came from. We also liked supporting a local farm and business and appreciated the safety protocols in place during the pandemic. Thank you! " ~ Jamie C.
What's In a Share?
Vegetables
- Basil
- Beets
- Bok Choi
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Celeriac
- Collard Greens
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Fennel
- Garlic
- Garlic Scapes
- Green Beans
- Hot Peppers
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks
- Lettuces
- Napa Cabbage
- Onions
- Peas
- Pea Shoots
- Potatoes
- Radishes
- Scallions
- Spinach
- Sweet Peppers
- Swiss Chard
- Summer Squash
- Tatsoi
- Tomatoes
- Tomatillos
- Turnips
- Winter Squash
- Zucchini
As the vegetables mature and become ready for harvest, there are typically between 8-20 different crops available to choose from each week in your share. The list of available vegetables changes week to week and season to season, depending on which crops are ready to be harvested.
We offer two share size options: Standard and Personal. A Standard Size share is generally suitable for a family of 4 or veggie enthusiasts — you’ll typically select between 8 – 10 vegetable units for a Standard Size share. Our Personal Size share is intended for smaller households and can be the perfect way to start your farmshare experience. You’ll select between 5-7 vegetable units for a Personal Size share. We also offer the opportunity to choose weekly or biweekly pickups, meaning you can come every week or every other week during the Spring, Main and Late Fall Seasons which allows you to customize your share to your needs even further. Some shareholders like to split their share with a friend which is another great way to start out!
when is harvest season?
Spring - SOLD OUT
A limited number of Spring Shares are available, for 4 weeks, from mid-May to mid-June. The spring harvest is comprised of tender spring vegetables grown in our greenhouses. These shares include a variety of salad mix, bok choy, arugula, baby turnips, baby chard, spinach, head lettuce, radishes, and more.
Main - Sold out
Harvest for our Main Season Shares runs for 20 weeks, from mid-June to the last week in October. The largest variety of vegetables will be available during the Main Season – you’ll see all types of greens (kale, chard, spinach, head lettuce, arugula & collard greens), scallions, turnips, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, tomatillos, celery, broccoli, potatoes, cabbage, squash, and garlic, just to name a few!
In addition, we offer “U-Pick” days where you have the opportunity to head into the fields to pick your own extras – cherry tomatoes, ground cherries, peas and green beans!
Fall
We also offer a limited number of Late Fall Shares during the 4 weeks of November, ending the week of Thanksgiving. Items often included are salad greens and spinach; cooking greens such as kale and Swiss chard; broccoli and cabbage; root crops like carrots, beets, rutabagas, and turnips; winter squash such as butternut and pie pumpkins; potatoes and onions.
Veggie Pickups
Most of our shareholders pick up their vegetables at McDonald Farm in Naperville, but we also offer pickup sites in Hinsdale, Downers Grove, Lisle, Lombard and Winfield. New in 2022, we’re piloting a Farm to Door Home Delivery option in a few select zip codes (60440, 60490, 60504, 60532, 60565, 60540, 60563, 60564)
Below are the choices of locations and approximate days & times. The McDonald Farm pickup choices during our Main Season are on Tuesdays or Fridays, whichever works best for you that week (Contactless Pickup is on Fridays only)!
Our McDonald Farm Headquarters in Naperville
10S404 Knoch Knolls Rd.
Tuesdays between 3:00 and 7:00 pm
Fridays between
3:00 and 7:00 pm
(Main Season only)
North American Pizza & Culinary Academy in Lisle _
1970 University Ln.
Planned for Thursdays between 3:00 and 8:00pm
Private Residence in Downers Grove
_
Near Main St. & Ogden Ave.
Planned for Thursdays between
3:00 and 8:00pm
Redeemer Lutheran Church in Hinsdale
_
139 E. First St.
Planned for Thursdays between
3:00 and 7:00 pm
Victorian Cottage Museum in Lombard
_
Lombard Historical Society
23 W. Maple St.
Planned for Thursdays between
3:00 and 8:00pm
Private Residence
in
Winfield
_
Near County Farm Rd. & Jewell Rd.
Planned for Thursdays between
3:30 and 8:00 pm
Choices & Prices
When placing your order, you will have several choices to design the most ideal veggie pickup for you.
You will first select a Season (Spring, Main, or Fall), then which frequency (weekly or biweekly), your pickup location and type (McDonald Farm in Naperville, Contactless Farm Pickup, Farm to Home Delivery, Hinsdale, Downers Grove, Lisle, Lombard or Winfield) and lastly the size of your share (Standard or Personal size).
If you pick up at the Farm during Main Season, you will designate either Tuesday or Friday pickup as your main pickup day to help us plan for our harvest each week.
Spring & Fall Season pickups at the farm are held on Tuesdays and all our off-farm pickups are planned for Thursdays for all three seasons.
Our 2022 farmshare prices will average between $28 – $53 per week, depending on the size, frequency and pickup option you select
2022 Traditional Market-Style McDonald Farm Pickup Pricing:
2022 Contactless McDonald Farm Pickup Pricing:
2022 Off-Farm Pickup Pricing:
(Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Lisle, Lombard, or Winfield)
2022 Naperville Area Home Delivery Pricing:
Purchase your share using credit card or e-check by clicking here or keep scrolling for payment plan options!
The Mutual benefit of the shareholder model
We strive to provide an appealing, ample and diverse supply of organic vegetables each and every week but since nature has no guarantees, we cannot offer them either. The price of our shares is the value we strive to provide during the season, however, as farmers, we cannot completely control the impact extreme weather or other events may have on our harvests throughout the year. If there is a bumper crop, we’ll share it with you but challenging years happen too. We benefit from you paying in advance so we can fund all the planning, seeding and cultivating needed to bring us to harvest season and you benefit from securing an advance share of our delicious, organic vegetables along with all the other experiences offered at our farm!
To help keep the farm financially sustainable, we utilize other revenue sources to share our vegetables with the community. Our intentions are to grow enough produce to amply satisfy our shareholders as well as additional sales to shareholders, restaurants, and the public. It is important for us to note that we never let these other enterprise opportunities encroach on our Shareholders’ vegetable pickups — we always put our shareholders first when considering outside sales opportunities.
payment options
Once you have selected your share with the desired specifications, you can make a one-time payment via credit card or e-check on our website. Payment plans are now a built-in option when purchasing your share (through March).
