Every day is Easter - at the Blue Egg Farm.

Farmers markets are wonderful — as long as you aren't the farmer. "You've got to harvest all the produce, pack up the coolers and trucks, drive an hour into the city, spend all day at the market, drive an hour back to the farm, and then you still have hours of chores waiting for you when you return," gripes Pete Ricci, market manager for Beriswill Farms in Valley City.

Across the country, small farmers are looking for a more sensible way to get their products into the hands of appreciative home cooks, and many are turning to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Members of a CSA make a financial commitment to the farmer early in the season, thereby covering the costs and reducing the risks associated with small-scale farming. In return, members receive weekly "shares" of wholesome fruits, vegetables and, increasingly, eggs and poultry.

"Years ago, if people living in major cities like Boston wanted to get fresh produce, they would front money to a farmer who would set aside a piece of land," explains Ricci. "The members would help work the land in return for a share of the crops."

Today's CSAs can vary widely, from programs that require money up front and physical participation throughout the growing season, to those that allow weekly payments and forego manual labor. Some require members to pick up their share at the farm, while others select mutually convenient drop-off points. Regardless of the arrangement, CSAs promote responsible stewardship of the land, place more money into the farmers' hands and supply their members with a bounty of healthy, local and sustainably raised food. Talk about a win-win-win situation.

Current estimates place the number of United States CSAs at 1,500 and growing.

"Having a CSA is just the easiest way to go," says Barbara Foose of Blooming Patches Farm in Newbury (216.276.1715). "I'm basically running my farm myself, and with marketing, tending the crops and running a farm stand, I have no time to travel to farmers markets."

Foose works on land that her grandparents purchased 65 years ago. Like most small-scale farmers, she uses no herbicides or pesticides, and favors heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables over modern hybrids. She initiated her CSA program last year with approximately eight members; this year she already has commitments from 30.

Foose requires $300 in the beginning of the season (early May), which buys members weekly shares of whatever's ripe. In addition to greens, potatoes, berries and other veggies, Foose offers eggs, honey and home-grown chestnuts.

Known locally for their prized blue chicken eggs, Kathy and Dan Breychak run the Blue Egg Farm in

Columbia Station (440.667.0551, blueeggfarm.com). This year will be the couple's second running a CSA program and, like Foose, they have witnessed explosive growth.

Depending on their level of commitment, members of the Blue Egg CSA will receive organic fruits and vegetables, poultry eggs and meat chickens. The eggs, which come from heirloom-breed Araucanas, come in beautiful shades of blue and green. The only trouble is finding them.

"The chickens are free to run around the yard," explains Kathy Breychak. "So you have to continually find their new egg hiding areas. Every day is like an Easter egg hunt at the farm."

When I caught up with Mick Prochko, third-generation farmer of Covered Bridge Gardens in Jefferson (440.862.1682), he was checking on his pecans — in Arizona. "We own four acres of pecan trees in Arizona," Prochko explained via cell phone. "And it looks to be a great harvest."

Covered Bridge's CSA program, which also includes fruits and vegetables from nearby Peter's Creek Farm, is in its third year. In that short time, membership has skyrocketed from just nine original participants to this year's anticipated 100. Members pay either $15 per week for a small share, or $25 per week for a large share, suitable for a family of four. Shares are picked up at farmers markets in Lakewood and Shaker.

"These are the absolute freshest veggies you can buy," promises Prochko. "They are sustainably grown and picked the day of or day before you receive them."

Slightly different from a traditional CSA, the program at Beriswill Farms (330.350.2486, beriswillfarms.com) includes product from numerous Ohio farms. But the end result is a weekly share boasting tremendous quality and variety. Members pick up their shares, which run $125 per month, at the farm, which also sells all-natural beef and poultry.

Like pretty much every CSA, members of Beriswill Farms' program may get variety, but they don't get choice. "Nah, we don't give people choices," Ricci says. "It'll drive you nuts."

For more info visit localharvest.org/csa.