The surprise wasn’t that they were going to buy a weekly share of a little fruit and vegetable farm outside of Camas. The surprise was, they couldn’t afford not to.

“My goal is: no Safeway,” Heidi Graves, of Washougal, said this week. “We will make it happen one way or another.”

With their five children, the Graveses are hoping to get all their produce this summer from two sources: their own garden and 6 Acre Farm, one of Clark County’s growing cadre of postage-stamp-sized farms that sell produce directly to consumers.

As rising fuel prices and record-breaking droughts and floods have bred a crisis in the global food market, some of those farmers say they find themselves making an unexpected pitch to customers: They’re a bargain.

“CSAs were a growing movement before this,” said Anne Lawrence, owner of Storytree Farm in the Glenwood area. “But with food prices going up … it’s a good deal.”

Here’s how the share farms, called community-supported agriculture or CSAs, work: Customers pay between $400 and $1,000 for a guaranteed share of whatever the farm produces through the summer. The food comes once a week in a box or sack, usually for about 20 to 25 weeks.

For $500, the Graveses have bought one of the 12 shares offered by 6 Acre Farm, four miles from their home. They’ll pick up the share each Tuesday.

“It’s a chunk of money up front, but in the end we’re really saving money,” Heidi Graves said.

Scrambling for shares

Five new CSAs launched this year in Clark County, and most others expanded their production. But they can’t keep up with consumers.

“Money has come in the mail from people I’ve never met,” marveled Kate Rae of Battle Ground, owner of Red Basket Farm. She started selling $500 shares two years ago, mostly to acquaintances at first, and hasn’t raised prices since.

Paula Korell, who started 6 Acre Farm this year with her husband, Scott, said she was startled by the response after their Web site appeared on localharvest.org, a Web site that lists small farms. She hurried to post their information on the site by New Year’s Day.

“We were sold out within six weeks,” Korell said.

If you’re hoping to save money with a CSA, Rae said, there’s one rule: eat everything you get.

“I think we are a good buy, if the people use everything and don’t waste it,” Rae said.

If you can’t manage that, she said, you can probably get similar food for less at a farmers market.

Luisa DePaiva of Purple Rain Vineyard in Brush Prairie, one of the few CSAs that still had shares available, said she’s rolled out two new services this year: front-porch deliveries and installment plans. Both make things easier for consumers accustomed to grocery-store shopping.

Full shares of Purple Rain’s long 34-week season sell for $986. Half-shares go for $493.

Because CSAs are a tiny slice of the food market, supermarkets and natural food stores don’t see them as true competitors.

“They don’t do enough business to hurt the grocery retailer,” said Scott Kooistra of Vancouver, owner of the IGA store at St. Johns Boulevard and Fort Vancouver Way. “That is a specialty market.

The people there aren’t so much price shoppers as they are quality shoppers. They want the freshness, the local and quality and they are willing to pay a bit more.”

Whole Foods, the upscale market that emphasizes its own fresh and local produce, does see competition from CSA farms around the state.

“We definitely find that CSAs are competitive in terms of pricing,” said Vicki Foley, spokesman for Whole Foods in Seattle. But she said some farms’ food fails to meet Whole Foods’ quality standards.

A grocers’ spokesman said direct-to-consumer farms have a competitive advantage over grocers: they’re free from many regulations.

“They’re not policed like the industry is in terms of food safety and food handling,” said Joe Gilliam, president of the Northwest Grocery Association.

Farming prices rise

Like all farms, CSAs face rising costs.

“We have the highest minimum wage in the U.S.,” said Lyle Stanley, owner of Gee Creek Farm in Ridgefield. “It’s hard to compete with the largest producers in Mexico and California. Fuel is high.

Everything is high: compost, lime, manure. I just bought lime at $6 a 50-pound bag. It was $3 before.”

But CSAs are shielded from other factors driving this year’s food prices: chemical fertilizers and pesticides and shipping costs from California, Chile or China.

“When you buy it, it was harvested that morning,” said Brenda Millar-Stanton, who owns Rosemattel’s CSA near Battle Ground. “No miles on it. No chemicals.”

She estimates the weekly $20 to $25 worth of produce her 60 customers purchase probably would cost between $40 and $60 at a natural food store.

“My prices are 20 percent under quality food pricing,” she said. “At the peak of the season, when we have the bounty, our price is 50 percent less.”

This year, CSA subscribers have one more advantage: they locked in prices months ago, when farming costs were still lower.

Some CSA farmers said they don’t know what they’ll do about their prices next year as their cost of seed, soil amendments such as green sand, rock phosphate, bone meal, blood meal and lime continue to rise along with fuel.

Others said they’ll probably hike prices.

But any price rise they might make won’t be easy, said Nola McPherson of DanDee Farm Naturals.

“It’s difficult for us to raise our prices,” she said. “It’s not so hard for a store. They never have to meet their customer and look them in the eye.”

How to Join

Here’s a list of Clark County community-supported agriculture farms:

Creative Outlet Nursery & Farm
11602 N.E. 192nd Ave., Brush Prairie.
Shares: Full share is $500 and a half-share is $275.
Season: 23 weeks from mid-May through October.
Pickup: At the farm or Battle Ground Farmers Market; group drop sites are arranged, delivery available.
Contact: 360-608-2137, creativeoutletnursery@gmail.com, creativeoutletnurseryandfarm.blogspot.com.

DanDee Farm Naturals
503 N.E. 257th Ave., Camas.
Shares: Sold out, waiting list available for 2009; $700 for a full share, $360 for a half-share.
Season: 25 weeks from mid- to late May through October or mid-November.
Pickup: At the farm.
Contact: 360-834-7472, dandeefarm@comcast.net, dandeefarmnaturals.farmnotebook.com.

Dee Creek Farm
2402 Little Kalama River Road, Woodland.
Shares: Sold out, waiting list available for 2009; $350 for a full share.
Season: July to October.
Pickup: Delivery locations in Woodland and Vancouver.
Contact: 360-225-9711, admin@deecreekfarm.com, deecreekfarm.com.

Farm Girl Foods
12101 N.W. 17th Ave., Vancouver.
Shares: $600 for a full share, $300 for a half-share.
Season: Late May or early June through mid-December.
Pickup: 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the farm; delivery available for $5 within a 15- to 20-mile radius from
1:30 to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
Contact: 208-631-1424, annclemon@yahoo.com.

Garden Delights
15417 N.E. Parkinen Road, Brush Prairie.
Shares: $500 for a full share, $275 for a half-share.
Season: 20 weeks beginning June 3.
Pickup: Tuesdays at the farm.
Contact: 360-892-4479, gardendelightherbs@netzero.net.

Gee Creek Farm
1606 N.W. 215th Circle, Ridgefield.
Shares: $500 for a full share, $275 for a half-share.
Season: 22 weeks, from mid- to late June through November or early December.
Pickup: At the farm.
Contact: 360-887-0463, info@geecreekfarm.com, geecreekfarm.com.

Hidden Oasis Farm
5410 N.E. 229th Court, Vancouver.
Shares: Sold out, waiting list available for 2009, a full share is $860.
Season: 40 weeks, March through mid-December.
Pickup: Delivers door to door.
Contact: 360-256-6896.

Hunters’ Greens
1116 N.E. 156th St., Brush Prairie.
Shares: $440, $75 for a flower share, $100 for a winter share.
Season: 20 weeks, June to October.
Pickup: At the farm, 100 block of West 28th Street, and Fisher’s Landing Park and Ride at 164th Avenue and Highway 14.
Contact: 360-256-3788, greens@huntersgreens.com, huntersgreens.com.

Purple Rain Vineyard
21313 N.E. 147th St., Brush Prairie.
Shares: $986 for full share, $493 for a half-share.
Season: 34 weeks from May 2 to Dec. 17.
Pickup: Delivers to Vancouver, Battle Ground, Brush Prairie.
Contact: 360-256-8658, info@purplerainvineyard.com, purplerainvineyard.com.

Red Basket Farm
23804 N.E. 182nd Ave., Battle Ground.
Shares: $500 for a full share, and $250 for a half-share (pick up every other week). Flower shares available for $100.
Season: Late May to October.
Pickup: At the farm, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Contact: 360-687-7030, bkaterae@comcast.net.

Rosemattel’s CSA
10311 N.E. 72nd Ave., Vancouver.
Shares: $600 for a full share, $350 for a half-share.
Season: 23 weeks from May to October.
Pickup: Battle Ground Farmers Market, Ridgefield Junction.
Contact: 360-576-9767, otbgsm@yahoo.com, rosemattelscsa.com.

Storytree Farm
6227 N.E. 124th St., Vancouver.
Shares: Sold out, waiting list available for 2009; $550 for a full share, $300 for a half-share.
Season: June to October.
Pickup: At the farm.
Contact: 360-576-7139, csa@storytreefarm.com, storytreefarm.com.

6 Acre Farm
1036 SE 283rd Ave., Camas.
Shares: Sold out, waiting list for 2009; $500 for a full share, $275 for a half-share.
Season: June to October.
Pickup: Tuesdays at the farm.
Contact: 360-834-7000, 6acrefarm@comcast.net.

What’s A Share?
Here’s one week’s share at Hunters' Greens in Brush Prairie, toward the end of the 2007 season. This year, the farm’s 20-week season sold for $440.

• 2 pounds tomatoes.
• 2½ pounds tomatillos.
• ½ pound french filet green beans.
• 2 pounds white potatoes.
• 1 pound broccoli or 1 pound baby summer squash.
• 3-4 medium to small cucumbers