Just three farming families support New Roots’ 200+ member CSA and weekly deliveries to four Whole Foods locations, and they need your help!

Barter With a Farmer is a new program modeled off of our successful CSA Workshare program, where volunteers help prepare and pack up CSA vegetable bags in exchange for a full share of fresh, organically grown produce.

Unlike the CSA Workshare program, which requires volunteers to come at the same time every week, the Barter With a Farmer program will match you with a farmer depending on your availability. Once the match has been made, you can connect directly with the farmer to negotiate the terms of your labor/vegetable exchange. Scroll to read more about the farmers participating in this program and to fill out an application.

Bashire

Bashire is New Roots’ largest-scale producer, managing over 3 acres of land with the occasional help of his wife Saraphina. Bashire and his family are originally from Burundi and 2022 will mark Bashire’s 10th anniversary with New Roots. Bashire’s most lucrative crop is African eggplant, a variety popular among Sunnyvale farmers market customers.

You can find Bashire at Wheadon Farm 6 days a week, 8-10 hours per day during the busiest time of the season. He is looking for 4 or 5 volunteers to come weekly between the months of June and October. Because Bashire is on the farm most days between 7am and 7pm, he is a good fit for volunteers with varying schedules or limited availability.

Yousif and Hawaa

Yousif and Hawaa are a farming power couple growing on approximately an acre of land. They are originally from Sudan and have been in the United States since 2015. This will be their 4th year farming with New Roots after spending a season as community gardeners in 2018. Work with Yousif long enough, and you might catch him pocketing grasshoppers and other garden treasures to take home for his young children.

Yousif and Hawaa are looking for one or two volunteers to help out on a regular basis in July and August, when their children’s school vacation coincides with peak growing season. A partnership with Youssef and Hawaa would be a good fit for volunteers with availability during the evenings or on Sundays.

Omar

Omar has been with New Roots since 2016 after arriving in the United States from Sudan in 2013. He farms on approximately an acre of land with the occasional help of his daughter, Abeer. Omar is making a comeback after getting a hip replacement in fall of 2021 and could benefit from a volunteer that can take over some of the heavier lifting involved with harvest of crops like cucumber and watermelon.

Please check back for more information on Barter With a Farmer in February, 2025.