FAQs

Sola Gratia Farm is a community-based urban vegetable farm located in southeast Urbana. We were founded in 2012 with the mission of feeding our community, particularly those with limited incomes, while building and enhancing respectful relationships between people and with the land in support of a healthy landscape, water supply and community. As a not-for-profit, our farm is governed by a board and led by our Director and Farm Manager. The land is worked by a team of staff as well as volunteers.

Since 2012, SGF has donated over 25% of its total harvest (over 140,000 pounds) to hunger relief partners in our local area, such as the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, Jubilee Café and Champaign-Urbana Public Health District among others. In addition, we use our farm as an educational space, host community events, and lead local farm-to-school and community gardening-for-good initiatives.

Please direct any questions to us through our general farm email, solagratiacsa@gmail.com.

We’re located at 2200 Philo Road, Urbana, IL – on the campus of St. Matthew Lutheran Church.

“Sola Gratia Farm is a community-based farm dedicated to producing locally-grown, high-quality, natural produce. Responding to the Gospel, the farm is committed to helping those who lack adequate food resources by donating a minimum of ten percent of its produce to support regional hunger programs. The farm promotes healthy lifestyles and community building through volunteering and service, special events and outreach and education programs.”

Sola Gratia Farm grows nearly 50 different types of vegetables in over 125 different varieties! Each week in our CSA and at market, our offerings are a little bit different, and throughout the year we offer a wide variety of greens (lettuce, kale, etc.), roots (carrots, potatoes, etc), summer fruits (tomatoes, peppers, etc.), and herbs (basil, parsley, etc). Some of our crops are only available for a few weeks at a time (i.e. leeks and Brussel sprouts), some make repeat appearances in the Spring and Fall (i.e. radishes and beets), and some are considered more of a staple crop and once they start producing, are available until frost takes them out (i.e. tomatoes and peppers).

For a rough sense of what our offerings will be on a weekly basis, check out this graphic: 2024 Produce Plan

Sola Gratia Farm employs organic production methods that focus on growing quality crops while enhancing soil structure and biology. We are committed to following organic practices in order to protect our workers, customers, neighbors, and our shared environment. However, at this point in time, we have opted not to be certified by a third party and are therefore not “certified organic.” We maintain transparency and accountability about the specific growing practices we use with all our farmer’s market, CSA, wholesale, retail and food assistance customers. This is possible because we are an urban farm and can cultivate close relationships with our customers.

We practice crop rotation to break pest cycles and balance nutrient cycling; use cover crops and organic fertilizers to build healthy soil; and employ integrated pest management techniques such as physical barriers, trap crops, beneficial insects, bait and traps to reduce the need for insecticide use (and then, only with organically approved insecticides). As we’ve grown, we have focused more of our efforts on mechanical methods to keep workers healthy and increase their wages. Our seeds are always non-GMO and organic, as available, for the crops we grow.

We primarily sell our produce through our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. We also sell at several area farmer’s markets:

Champaign Farmers’ Market weekly on Tuesday, 3-6p mid-May through the end of October located at the corner of Neil and Main St., Champaign.

Urbana’s Market at the Square weekly on Saturday, 7a-12p May through October located at the corner of Illinois and Vine St., Urbana.

Champaign-Urbana Winter Farmer’s Market weekly on Saturday (though we are typically only there every other week), 8a-12p November through April in Lincoln Square Mall.

Our produce is regularly available at Common Ground Food Co-op. We also sell to area restaurants and caterers such as Red Herring Vegetarian Restaurant, Piato Catering, and DISH Passionate Catering.

In keeping with our mission, we collaborate with regional food pantries, soup kitchens, and other agencies that make our vegetables available for free to those in need. Our produce is prepared by Daily Bread Soup Kitchen and Jubilee Cafe, and is also shared through Eastern Illinois Foodbank, Wesley Food Pantry, Mobile Market, and our own Free Friday Market.

For those who like to grow their own vegetables, we grow nearly 150 different varieties of vegetable and herb plant starts which we sell at our annual Spring Plant Sale. It is held every year over Mother’s Day weekend and the week after. All starts are non-GMO and grown following organic methods. We partner with local nursery Country Arbors to offer annual and perennial flowers, hanging baskets, and patio planters as well.

We do not sell produce on our farm. We encourage folks to visit our local farmer’s markets, where you can purchase from us as well as from a wide variety of our peer producers and other vendors offering produce, meat and eggs, honey, flowers, baked goods, crafts, and other items!

We do not offer any u-pick on our farm, as we grow such a wide variety of crops and want to make sure we are able to harvest and share as much as possible with our CSA members, market customers, and low-income neighbors.

According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap project, 9.5% of people in Champaign County are food insecure, meaning they don’t have access to enough good-quality food to meet their basic health needs. Often, people who are food insecure are less apt to spend limited food dollars on vegetables, which are nutrient-dense but perishable, sometimes expensive, and can be time-consuming to prepare. Our farm addresses this need by donating, on average, over 25% of our harvest each year to hunger relief organizations in our area.

We have a wide variety of partners that we donate produce to in order to make it accessible to those in need in our community. During peak season, we typically have a different organization picking up produce from us every weekday. Some of our partners, like Eastern Illinois Foodbank or Mobile Market, share our vegetables whole, alongside other necessities and cooking supplies; others, like Jubilee Café and Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, cook our vegetables into filling meals that are provided free of charge to those in need. We collaborate and communicate with our partners to make sure we are producing high-quality fresh food that meets our community’s needs and desires. Since 2012, we’ve donated over 140,000 pounds to these organizations!

Our major donation partners include Eastern Illinois Foodbank, Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, Mobile Market, Jubilee Café, and our own Little Free Friday Market, a collaboration with Champaign-Urbana Public Health District that shares fresh vegetables, pantry staples, and hygiene products with our neighbors in the Silverwood and Sunnycrest neighborhoods on a weekly basis during the growing season.

Our biggest development in 2022 was announcing our farm expansion project and beginning the first stages of development. We’re so excited about this opportunity to upgrade our community farm in order to extend our educational reach, enhance our land stewardship, and grow more good food for our community. We also had a great field season in 2022, despite a June-August drought and other challenges with the weather. Our CSA program was bigger than ever and our produce donations are reaching more hunger abatement partners! Top that off with further extensions of our existing outreach and education programs (especially the CU Farm to School and Solidarity Gardens projects) and we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved this year!

For a more detailed rundown of our past year’s activities, see our annual report: 2022 Annual Report

CSA stands for “community supported agriculture” and is a partnership between you as a consumer and us, your local produce farm! Folks sign up with us before the Spring growing season, usually between November and April (or until subscription veggie boxes run out…and they will!) and then get weekly boxes of fresh produce, grown following organic practices, during the growing season. Payment (installment plans available) is at the front end of the season, so seeds, supplies and labor are available when needed. Veggie box pickups are at the farm on Thursdays 3-6p or Champaign Farmers Market on Tuesdays 3-6p. For an extra fee, we can also deliver boxes on Thursdays, but delivery spots are limited, so sign up early if you are interested. In addition to our veggies, we have “add-on” subscriptions of local mushrooms and bread and will occasionally offer on-farm sales of local fruit, eggs, honey and sustainably-raised meat.

When you sign up for a veggie box subscription with us, you are supporting your local economy, committing to healthy eating, trying new kinds of food, eating fresh and in season and saving money.

YES! Many choices! We usually have 5-7 options available for partial subscriptions and 9-11 options for full subscriptions. For instance, when we offer head lettuce, members might have a choice between leaf and romaine or red and green lettuces. We might offer a choice of roots, such as between carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes and kohlrabi. Often we’ll pint up smaller veggies and offer a choice between cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, hot peppers, okra, lunchbox peppers, etc.

We send out a CSA bulletin in advance of the week’s pickup with a rough plan of what should be available that week, plus a few recipes to help with meal prepping. Champaign pickup customers and home delivery customers send their requests to us from this list as well, since we pack those boxes in advance. (Urbana customers will be able to see all the available choices laid out on the CSA line when you visit the farm on Thursday for your pickup). On some occasions, we will have to make last-minute substitutions or changes to what is available to our CSA customers due to changing crop conditions or yields, so it’s important to remember the CSA bulletin is a guide, not a guarantee.

Because we grow such a large variety of veggies, we know our members will inevitably get something in their box they won’t be familiar with. Our staff and volunteers are always available at the time of CSA veggie box pickups and at market to share cooking ideas! We also offer cooking classes to our members to explore food prep, cooking and preservation methods to make the most out of the season’s bounty!

You can sign up on our website: http://www.solagratiacsa.com/produce/ We offer multiple veggie box subscription sizes, pickup options, and add-ons (such as bread or mushrooms, for an additional cost), which are all listed on our site. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about the signup process!

Payment is typically expected at the time that you sign up, but installment plans are available. Please reach out to us if this would support you in purchasing a subscription.

There are several ways that you can support us through monetary donations!

-Donate the cost of a CSA subscription! We donate between 20% to 30% of our produce each year to our hunger relief partners, and that is in part made possible by our awesome supporters offsetting production costs. One way that you can support this mission is by donating the cost of a CSA subscription during CSA signups: https://www.solagratiacsa.com/produce

-Donate to support our expansion campaign! We are in the process of expanding and investing in the next iteration of our farm operation to allow us to grow more varieties of food (including fruits and nuts), extend our donation and education programs, and take better care of our land. We’ve raised about 2/3 of the funds needed to make this project a reality so far and are so grateful to all of our supporters and champions for their help!

Help Us Grow!

Donating isn’t the only way to support our farm. You can also:

-Shop from us at market! This is a great way to get our veggies if you would prefer not to commit to a CSA subscription. We can also accept WIC, Senior, and LINK coupons at all farmer’s markets we attend. We would love to meet you!

-Volunteer on the farm! We love to have folks join us in the field or wash/pack building for some fellowship, exercise, time outside, and to help us make our farm as productive as possible. We have a great volunteer crew and would love to have you join us!

-Shop our Annual Plant Sale, our biggest fundraiser! It is held every year over Mother’s Day weekend and the week either before or after. We grow nearly 150 different varieties of vegetables and herbs at the farm for the sale- all non-GMO and all grown following organic methods. We also partner with a local nursery to offer annual and perennial flowers for your garden beds as well as hanging baskets and patio planters.

-And of course, we always appreciate folks sharing baked goods or coffee…farming is hard work!

We occasionally accept in-kind donations of lightly used tools (hand tools, equipment, etc.) or supplies (pots, fencing, etc.) if they are appropriate for our operation. If you have items that you would be interested in donating, please reach out to our Farm Manager at solagratiafarmmanager@gmail.com and inquire. Please do not drop items off at the farm without contacting us first.

We offer tours of our farm to educational groups, our partners, and our community. Community tours will be posted on our Events page, so look there for upcoming opportunities! If you are interested in scheduling a tour for a club, youth group, or other organization, please reach out through this tour interest form: Sola Gratia Farm Tour Interest Form. Please be aware that we are not always able to schedule farm tours for everyone who requests them due to how busy our season is and rapidly changing conditions at the farm.

We do! We host events at the farm and at other locations throughout the year to build community through collaborative learning, work, and fun. Events range from Farm to Table dinners to Yoga on the Farm, our annual Plant Sale to kids’ fun days, community farm tours to dance nights! We frequently advertise upcoming events at CSA pickups, farmer’s markets, and on our website at https://www.solagratiacsa.com/events.

We have also hosted events for or in support of other organizations or individuals in the past! If you would be interested in holding an event on our farm, please reach out to us at solagratiacsa@gmail.com.

You certainly can! Check out our volunteer opportunities here. As a community farm, we try to engage volunteers in every aspect of our operation. If you enjoy getting dirty, you might be interested in fieldwork: planting, weeding, and harvesting. If you prefer not to spend too much time in the sun, you might be interested in what we do in rinse/pack: rinsing, sorting, and packaging vegetables. And if you enjoy directly serving your community members or working with kids, you might enjoy volunteering to help with our CSA distributions, Plant Sale, or summer day camps. There are many possibilities, and we would be honored to have you on our farm!

Weekly volunteer opportunities are available during the week. We also host monthly Weekend Workdays on the farm during the season. A Weekend Workday is a great opportunity to volunteer for those with especially busy schedules, as they’re outside of the workweek for just 2 hours. You’ll get to work with a group of 12-15 other volunteers to knock out some of our big on-farm projects, like onion planting, mulching, or cleaning up an area of the farm.

You must be 16 or older to volunteer during our weekly volunteer sessions, and 14 or older to volunteer without parental supervision at a Weekend Workday. With parents present, we welcome volunteers 10 and above at Weekend Workdays as well.

Join our volunteer email list to get regular updates about regular volunteering opportunities: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIZfOQavfiLn3rz1sX4E9IRLN0Clt0bg4teEzVI-TREqkieA/viewform

You can also sign up to attend a Weekend Workday: https://www.solagratiacsa.com/volunteer

We are part of a coalition of local organizations that leads Solidarity Gardens, an initiative that began in 2020 to increase the amount of fresh, high-quality food being produced in Champaign-Urbana by supporting community members in growing food for themselves and their neighbors. We have provided educational and coordination support as well as donating seeds, starts, and other supplies for use in community and private gardens. This project is a collaboration with Cunningham Township, Channing Murray Foundation, Urbana Park District, and other organizations. Over the past three years, we have helped grow and donate over 11,000 pounds of Solidarity Gardens produce!

For more information about Solidarity Gardens, check out the website: www.solidarity-gardens-cu.org

In July 2020, we began a project to increase access to healthy, local food and agriculture education opportunities in Champaign-Urbana schools. Throughout 2020 and 2021, we worked with Urbana School District 116 and Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to put together a Steering Committee of over 50 school community members and survey an additional 400 on their experiences and opinions of Farm to School programming. From these efforts, we developed a Farm to School Planning Report and Action Plan and have worked with our collaborators to create new garden spaces at several schools and expand Farm to School programming districtwide. In 2022, we supported the school district in hiring a part-time Farm to School Coordinator and creating Garden Coordinator positions for each school garden! We are currently working on increasing access to Farm to School curriculum for teachers. We’re very excited by the direction that this work is going and the impact we are able to have on young people through this project.

For more information about our Farm to School efforts, visit the C-U Farm to School website: www.cufarmtoschool.weebly.com

For the most up to date information about our expansion, please visit our Expansion page: https://www.solagratiacsa.com/help-us-grow

Until 2022, all 15 acres we farmed were leased, preventing us from wisely investing in expanded production and more advanced, longer-term regenerative farming practices. In order to continue to serve and respond to our community’s needs and participate effectively and efficiently in innovative community partnerships, we needed to invest in the next iteration of our community farm. In 2022, we purchased 29 acres of nearby land including 22 tillable and 7 non-tillable acres and began developing an expanded, more sustainable, more effective production farm space to help us provide for our community into the future!

This project will: 1) Secure long-term financial sustainability and sales (CSA, retail and wholesale), food donations (>15,000 lbs/yr), outreach/educational work (engages 500-700 ppl yearly), employment rate (15-20 ppl/yr), relationships with 25+ partners (donation, resource and skill-sharing, and educational) and additional commitments to our community; 2) Support long-term ecological sustainability as proper investments allow us to mitigate and improve resiliency in the face of climate change-induced weather events; 3) Expand offerings as a community farm with investment in additional crops including perennial fruits and nuts, both increasing revenue stream, diversifying offerings and addressing food insecurity; 4) Allow expansion of educational programming including targeted demonstration, skills training and development, and onsite outreach/education activities and events.

For the most up to date information about our expansion, please visit our Expansion page: https://www.solagratiacsa.com/help-us-grow

We aren’t moving quite yet! Our primary farm site will still be at 2200 Philo Road. We’ll continue to hold CSA pickups there and host tours and events onsite. In fact, we are planning to redevelop the 4 acres we farm at that location into a demonstration and education farm that will be even more accessible to our community.

Our new land is only ¼ mile away from our existing farm, and we’re working diligently to develop it. While this process is ongoing, we ask that you don’t visit the new land without permission.