Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. In many instances, especially during the peak of the season, your weekly box will contain a greater than normal quantity and assortment of vegetables so that you can take part in the experience and reward of a bountiful harvest. One of the greatest joys of farming is seeing one’s labors in cooperation with nature, produce a vast field of lush, green thriving vegetables, and we hope to share this reward with you.
Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. We work to maximize the diversity of our product offerings and will avoid over delivery of any one product. But just as members share in the risk of crop failure, they will also enjoy the benefits of a crop surplus, where certain items will be le` on a ‘CSA only’ table free of charge for members on pick up days. A crop surplus can occur for a variety of reasons, but usually (at least at March Farm) this happens when inclement weather is either occurring or forecasted for the days leading to and on CSA share pick up days. For example, a rainy weekend will keep most ‘pick your own’ patrons out of our blueberry field. That leaves us with a surplus of berries that need to be picked before over ripening occurs. In this event the ripest berries would be harvested CSA pick up morning and offered to members free of charge in addition to what would normally be included in their share for that week. CSA members will also benefit from a variety of “perks” throughout the season, reserved for CSA members only. When these perks are offered they will be highlighted on the weekly CSA email.
Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. When crops are especially abundant, we pack as much as possible into your share. However, we don’t want to overwhelm our members or deliver so much produce that it goes to waste. When we feel that members have received enough of certain crops, we will handle the surplus by setting it out for members to take (first come, first serve) or donating the extra produce.
Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. At a minimum, there should be 8 to 10 different varieties of produce to select from each week to fill your box. In addition to our CSA, our farm sells to restaurants, grocery stores, local schools, and/or wholesale distributors. Although production is not segregated, our CSA receives FIRST priority. Only after filling our CSA share will the remainder be sold to our other markets. Depending on availability, canning vegetables will be made available at wholesale pricing with 48 hour notice.
Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. Vegetable Shares Our farm is exclusively a CSA farm and all our vegetable production is planned for the CSA. When crops are especially abundant, we will encourage you to take more than what will fit in your share basket. Sometimes we will handle surplus items by marking them as “unlimited”. Even if your share basket is already full, you may take additional items from the designated unlimited items in any quantity. These items are intended for members’ household use only, not for resale. We hope members will utilize these surplus items for off season preservation (canning, freezing, ferments, or dehydrating). Pre-paid Eggs From time to time, an egg surplus may occur. In the event of a surplus situation, eggs will be available for purchase by members at our regular price (currently $5/dozen) before they are offered to non-CSA members.
Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. The possibility of surplus exists and when harvests are abundant, extra items will be packed in your share or brought in bulk to the pickup site for your selection. As in the past, there is the likelihood that you will have extras to can, jar, freeze, and dry some of the abundance for later use. Freezing pesto in ice cube trays, jarring salsa, freezing tomato sauce, cut up squash, and making pickles are such possibilities. For serious preservers, larger quantities of surplus may be available at an additional cost.
Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. We will always strive to remain within the 5-7 item range, making sure that the shares average out to be an approximately $20 value each week. We will aim to only add extra items to the share if we came up short in previous weeks, or if we have an extreme surplus. We do not want to overburden our members, have food go to waste, or lose money from the farm by not recouping the costs that went into growing the vegetables.
Sharing in the Reward of Crop Surplus. In the case that crops are especially abundant during certain times of the season, we may ask if you’d like to receive a surplus of produce that week, especially if there have been other weeks where production was low due to weather/pests/etc.
