Can starting a small farm as a non-expert farmer provide enough financial support to justify your effort? That seems like a good question for a vet looking for a lifelong post-military vocation.

Recently, a New York Times reporter who is a member of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable delivery service was assigned to do a deeper study of this growning economic/farming model. His article provides some facts and figures about one New York area farm that is succeeding.

Honey Brook, located in northern New Jersey, is one of the largest and most successful CSAs in the nation. Since 1990, the number of CSAs has jumped from 50 to more than 2,000. Many of them in the New York area have waiting lists for members. The owners of Honey Brook are Jim Kinsel, 50 and his wife, Sherry Dudas, 44. Kinsel used to work for an insurance company and his wife worked for the state agriculture department.They were not raised nor formally trained as farmers.

The farm started small, in 1991, with Mr. Kinsel farming 3.5 acres for 50 local families. After 9/11, membership boomed. Ms. Dudas worked to broaden the farm’s appeal.

Honey Brook sells shares to customers, in exchange for which they get a box of vegetables every week through the growing season, from June through November. The price of a share depends on whether the boxes are delivered to the home or picked up at the farm. Members can also pick their own, during harvest season.

In 2008, the farm sold out, with 2,313 shares, 525 of them delivered. Members paid $600 for delivery of a box share, $604 for a family-size farm pickup, and $358 for an individual share, also picked up at the farm. Ms. Dudas described the price as “a good value,” and said that in 2006 (the most recent calculation) members paying $528 for a family share received the equivalent of produce that would have cost $1,861 at a nearby Whole Foods Market.

Honey Brook first became profitable in 2001 and now provides Kinsey and Dudas with a good living. It was hard work. It took time to develop. It’s located in an affluent region. But it has proven successful.

“Wholesaling for a farm this size is no longer viable, even for an organic farm, but a C.S.A. can work,” Mr. Kinsel said. “We have a customer base who’s affluent and well educated, and New Jersey has shown a commitment to farmland preservation.”