- Will I get enough vegetables for my family each week?
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That mostly depends on the size of your family and how much and what you normally eat.
If you have a small family and don't normally eat large quantities of veggies, a regular
share might be too much. If you have a large family or eat lots of vegetables a regular
share might not be enough.
In the beginning of the season, in early June, you will mostly get salad stuff. You
will probably have to purchase some vegetables from elsewhere. But later on in the season
- July through September - you will have a lot of different veggies and lots of some of
them. The end of the season will probably taper off again, once tomatoes, peppers, cukes,
etc are done for the year.
- Will there be strange vegetables in our share?
- Again, that depends on your family and how they normally eat. Some people eat a great
variety of kinds of veggies, Others only eat lettuce and green beans. You have to judge
whether this is right for you based on how your family already eats. There will be a few
less common vegetables like kohlrabi, swiss chard and kale. There will be pink and purple
and green tomatoes as well as red ones, and the same for peppers - they come in lots of
colors and I like to grow a great variety. If you will only eat red tomatoes, green
peppers, zucchini squash and russet potatoes, probably a CSA is not right for you.
- I want my kids to eat more vegetables. Do you think CSA will work for us?
- That primarily depends on what ages your kids are. If they are toddlers and you have
made a practice of introducing lots of different kinds of vegetables already, then CSA
might be a good fit. On the other hand, if your children are pre-teens or teens and only
eat french fries you aren't likely to get them to eat kale 3 times a week in June and
October. Some families eat a wide range of foods and others don't. Whether you can change
the eating habits of even the adults in the family is something you have to consider
before you make a commitment to CSA.
- How will I know how to prepare some of the vegetables I'm not familiar with?
- We plan to start shareholders off with a cookbook called From Asparagus to Zucchini
from the Madison (Wisconsin) area CSA group MACSAC. You will find many of the vegetables
we grow in that book, with suggestions and recipes. We also have a regular newsletter
with more hints and recipes.
- Where will we pick up our vegetables?
- Possibly here at the farm, or at the farmer's market. All pick up locations will be
in Genesee Co. We do not plan to distribute CSA shares outside of our area. For instance,
in 2006 we had several shareholders in Grand Blanc and they pick up at the Grand blanc
farmers market on Sundays. We do need to have more than one distribution day each week,
so that some shareholders get their share on Tuesday, for instance, and some get theirs
on Thursday. How many distribution days we have depends on how many shareholders we
have.
- Do we have to pay for our share all at once?
- No, we can make some arrangements for up to three payments, as long as all is paid
before the first distribution.
- What if we don't pay all of the share fee?
- If you don't finish paying the full share fee, we can either refund most of your money
or distribute to you for part of the season, stopping your shares after your money has run
out. Things do happen that are unexpected and cause you to change plans. We understand
that. But we also have to take the whole CSA program and our farm into consideration
before we give back any money. If you signed an agreement and we have ordered supplies
with that money, we can't refund it all to you . We don't want to be hard nosed and
callous about refunds, but you have to read your agreement carefully and be willing
to abide by it before you make a payment towards your share.
- What happens if we are going on vacation for 2 weeks?
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You need to let us know when you will be gone and have someone else - a friend or
relative - pick up and use your share while you are gone. Before you sign the agreement
you need to think realistically about whether you will be away a lot over the course of
the summer and fall. If you normally go up north every weekend all summer, plus spend 2
weeks away over the fourth of July or other time during the summer, can you manage a
weekly pickup of vegetables? Certainly you can't sign up for a Thursday or Saturday
distribution if all of your weekends are spent away.
The reality of CSA is that vegetables are perishable and it is the shareholder's
responsibility to be there at a certain time to get them. We the farmers promise you the
freshest produce. If we deliver and you aren't there (and it's not an emergency situation),
the fault will be yours if the veggies spoil or wilt or totally go to waste.
- Will we ever get more vegetables than we can use in a week?
- Yes! Unless you have a large family or a lot of parties. You need to be prepared to
either put some of it away in the freezer (and learn how to do that properly) or otherwise
use it up. You can arrange to share with someone else when you have more than you can eat
or share a share on a regular basis. However, we will not divide a share for you. That is
your responsibility. A half share is available if you are afraid of getting too much
food.
- Will we ever get produce from farms other than yours?
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Yes, we will probably supplement our produce and give you some variety if we can by
purchasing some local organic apples, blueberries or other fruit if we can get them. We
might also supplement in the early weeks with some non-perishable locally produced organic
foods.
If we find a good deal we may take orders for organic strawberries, asparagus or
cherries from elsewhere in Michigan but those would have to be paid for separately.
- What if I sign up for a working share and can't work every month?
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There are many ways to work around here and not all are actually in the field.
Everything helps, so you could put in a day at the farmers market with me - 6 hrs would be
almost 3 months of work requirement. You could help with our newsletter from home,
gathering recipes and helpful hints to go in it. Don't assume you can't get a work
requirement in, ask what you can do besides work in the field.
However, if you paid a working share and signed the agreement, and have neither done
any work nor talked to us about how you could plan your work requirement, the we will
probably cut off your share by September or ask you to pay the remainder of the fee for
a non-working share.
- Will there be herbs in our share?
- We do grow several herbs and some of these will be available from the farm at any time
or on occasion with your share. You probably won't get an herb every week in the regular
share but at least once a month you will get something. However, any time you are at the
farm, for your work requirement or to pick up your share, you are welcome to cut your own
from any herbs ready at the time.
- Exactly what vegetables do you grow?
- Want the whole list? Salad greens including lettuces in great number, arugula, kale,
mustard, endive, beet and chard greens; greens for cooking including swiss chard, kale,
mustards, and others; broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi; cucumbers and melons
(keep your fingers crossed for the melons); summer squash in every shape, size and color
I can find; tomatoes and peppers in many colors and sizes - many of them heirloom
varieties; eggplant and potatoes; green (and yellow and purple) beans, snap and snow peas;
sweet corn; winter squash and pumpkins; beets, carrots and onions; maybe radishes and
turnips. Herbs will include parsley, cilantro, chervil, dill, basil, chives, oregano,
sage and maybe some others.
- Is it possible to get larger quantities of some vegetables to can or freeze?
- Yes, of some things. But I need to know before time to plant. It is helpful to know
early so that I have enough seed on hand of vegetables you want extra of. If it's green
beans or tomatoes it shouldn't be a problem. But I would need to know in March if you
want loads of broccoli because I have to start those inside. So if canning and freezing
is something you would like to do, definitely let me know on the survey sheet so that I
can be sure to plant enough.
- What if I can't make it to pick up my share?
- Shares will be available here at the farm in a cooler for about 24 hours after the
pickup time. If you can't get to the pickup you can still get your share within that
time period. However, some vegetables may not keep well even for that amount of time so
you will possibly lose those. If there is not an emergency and you have not made
arrangements ahead of time to change days or have someone else pick up your share,
you will just be out that week's share. It is the responsibility of the shareholder to
pickup just as it is our responsibility to produce the vegetables and have the share
available. If you miss pickup on a continuing basis you will not be allowed back next
year.
- What if it's a bad year and your farm doesn't produce enough for all of the shares?
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If it's a total loss we might be able to refund part of the share money. But the
community supported part of CSA means that the shareholders support the farm even in
problem years. We will do our best to produce enough for everyone. In lean production
periods, the harvested amount will be divided among the shareholders.
We are gradually making changes to our farm that will help keep our production up even
in bad years. We are looking at an irrigation well, for instance, and hope to be able to
do that in 2007.