Farmshares
The Conservation Foundation’s Green Earth Harvest is an all-organic farming operation that provides nutritious, 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.
"We loved it - it was so nice seeing and knowing where our produce came from. We also liked supporting a local farm and business. Thank you! " ~ Jamie C.
What We Grow
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 will be between 7 – 15 different crops available to choose from each week. The vegetable options change week to week and season to season, depending on which crops are ready to be harvested.
Our farmshare program is completely customizable; not only will you always select the exact vegetables you’d like to take home, you’ll also chose the size and frequency of your share.
We offer 2 different sizes of shares: Standard Size (larger) and Personal Size (smaller).
- A Standard Size share is generally suitable for a family of 4 or veggie enthusiasts. You’ll typically select between 8 – 9 vegetable units with this share size.
- 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 – 6 vegetable units with this size share.
You’ll also choose between weekly and biweekly pickups, meaning you can pick up every week or every other week during the season, allowing you to further customize your share to best match your needs. Some shareholders like to split their share with a friend, which is another great way to start out!
We offer a limited number of Sampler Farmshares, which include 5 pickups during the Main Season. You decide which five days you’d like to stop in to pick up a share during the 20 week season!
when is harvest season?
Spring Greens
A limited number of Spring Greens Season shares are available, for 4 weeks, from mid-May to mid-June. The spring harvest is comprised of tender spring greens grown in our greenhouses, which often include a variety of salad mixes, bok choy, arugula, baby turnips, swiss chard, head lettuces, radish, and more.
Main
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, and collard greens), scallions, turnips, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, tomatillos, leeks, radish, potatoes, cabbage, squash, and garlic, just to name a few!
And, as a shareholder bonus, we offer U-Pick days where you have the opportunity to head into the fields to pick your own extras: unique cherry tomato varieties, ground cherries, peas, and green beans (and, yes, snacking as you go is a requirement)!
Late Fall
We offer a limited number of shares during our Late Fall Season, which begins directly after our Main Season and ends the week of Thanksgiving (a 4-week season). Items often offered in this season include delicate salad greens and spinach, cooking greens such as kale and Swiss chard, broccoli and cabbage, root crops like carrots, beets, and turnips, winter squash such as butternut and pie pumpkins, and potatoes and onions. It’s the season to stock-up for the winter!
Veggie Pickups
Farm pickups during our Main Season are on Tuesdays or Fridays – come on whichever day works best for you that week. Farm Spring and Fall pickups are only held on Tuesdays.
While most of our shareholders pick up their vegetables at McDonald Farm in Naperville, we also offer pickup sites in Hinsdale, Downers Grove, Lisle, Lombard, and Winfield. Farm to Door Home Delivery is also offered to these select zip codes: 60189, 60440, 60490, 60504, 60517, 60532, 60555, 60565, 60540, 60563, 60564.
Below you’ll find all of our pickup location options and the approximate days and times of the pickups.
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 2:00 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 you head to our farmshare purchasing website, you will have a few options to choose from to create a farmshare that works best for you.
- You’ll first select a Season, then the frequency (weekly or every-other week), your pickup location, and then the size of your share (Standard or Personal size).
- If you pick up at the Farm during the 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 and Fall Season pickups at the farm are held on Tuesdays and all our off-farm pickups/deliveries are planned for Thursdays for all three seasons.
Our 2023 farmshare prices average between $28 – $56 per week, depending on the size, frequency and pickup option you select.
2023 Traditional Market-Style McDonald Farm Pickup Pricing
2023 Contactless McDonald Farm Pickup Pricing
(includes a packing fee)
2023 Farmshare Sampler: Five Main Season Personal Size Pickups
2023 Off-Farm Pickup Pricing
(includes a packing and delivery fee)
Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Lisle, Lombard, & Winfield
2023 Naperville Area Home Delivery Pricing
(includes a packing and delivery fee)
Have a few more questions? Visit our FAQ page for the answers!
Ready to secure your share of the harvest? Purchase your share now.
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 offered when purchasing your share.
Connect With Us
You are always welcome to contact Green Earth Program Coordinator Sheryl Fasone with any questions about Green Earth Harvest. Email her at sfasone@theconservationfoundation.org or call her at (630) 428-4500, Ext. 154.
