Last week was a big one for harvesting eggplants and melons, just like the week before. It’s been a great year so far for both, in terms of yield and taste, especially the melons, and you’ve probably tasted. If you missed it, here’s the scoop on how we harvest both. And it was a big week for the flower crew too, but it’s always a big week for the flower crew. The everyone in the field is almost exclusively focused on harvesting crops, with some weeding and tractor work mixed in, and the irrigation team has plenty to do, setting up and maintaining drip tape, and moving sprinklers. The winter squash are up and some are starting to set fruit. Before we know it, we’ll be focusing on getting other fall crops in the ground, whether by direct seed or transplant, but we aren’t to that point yet.
Those of us in the shop and office handle selling, washing, packing, and transporting the produce. Additionally, Paul was on the news, with some footage of the fields, and our crews at work. You can watch and read the coverage focusing on the ongoing battle about allowing Organic Certification for hydroponic and aquaponic operations and the Real Organic Project certification and consumer education work that we’re involved in.
In the CSA side of the office, I’ve been processing a lot of skip requests (as makes sense during period of high summer travel), signing up new members from our waiting list, and fielding various questions and inquiries. Based on some recent feedback from our site hosts (including our Farmers Market teams) and various questions and issues that we’ve received via phone and email it seemed like a good time to go over a couple of the CSA protocols. Even if you’ve been with us for a long time, or just joined last week and recently read all of the information we shared with you, please read it over again, just to make sure we’re all on the same page.
Scheduling and ordering:
Many people are back to traveling and we’re happy to accommodate skip or donation requests but please don’t forget to tell us with enough advance notice. You can submit a skip or donation request in your online account, or you can do the same via email or phone. We request four days advance notice and if emailing or calling, please provide your full name and the exact dates you want to skip (instead of referencing “this week” or “next week”), and site location. If you happen to know your account number, then we can know that we are making adjustments for the correct person. We have a surprising number of CSA members with the same, or very similar names
Special orders or renewals should also be requested four or more days before your pickup.
Even if it is less than four days before, if you will not be able to pick up your box, please let us know. We may be able to skip your box, but at the least, it’s helpful to let site hosts know if they’ll have an extra.
If you have not set up an online account yet but would like to, please let us know.
Picking up your box:
If you receive the Full Belly Beet the day before your pickup (almost always sent out by late morning), it means you have a box and/or flowers. If you don’t receive it, it means that there isn’t anything scheduled for you.
Before taking anything, please check the sign-in sheet to see that your name is on it, and what you have this week. If your name is not on the list, do not take anything and contact us instead, either by email or by phone, so we can figure out what the situations is.
Once you take your box and/or flowers, please sign or initial next to your name. We may not get the sign out sheet back for more than a week so if you have messages to convey to us (dates you want to skip, missing items, etc.) please email or call with that information; do not write it on the sheet. Please bring a pen with you in case there isn’t one at your site.
Take a complete box; do not open other boxes or exchange produce between boxes. If your site has a swap box, great! Otherwise, please take all produce with you from your box.
Please leave the box at the site and just take your produce and/or flowers.
If you are sending a friend or family member to pick up your box while you are away, please share all of the pickup information and procedures with them.
Please continue to practice social distancing when picking up your box and allow everyone plenty of space.
When picking up flowers, make sure that the stems of the remaining flowers are still in the water for the subsequent flower pickups.
Communication:
If there is any problem with your box, or any issue at the pickup site, please let us know as soon as possible. We are always open to feedback, negative or positive, about your experience in the CSA, as well as recipe ideas and anything else you want to share. We aren’t always able to make changes to address each piece of feedback that we receive, but we do share it with the rest of the partners and farm leadership and appreciate the connection with our CSA members.
When emailing us, please use csa@fullbellyfarm.com and when calling, the best number is (800) 791-2110. Other farm numbers don’t reach us directly, thus increasing the chance of something not working correctly.
Thank you for reading this long list! The majority of the time when someone doesn’t get their box, it’s not a result of theft but instead accidental pick-ups by other CSA members. Given how many boxes, flowers, and special order items we send out each week, the number of issues that come up are pretty low, but it’s always disappointing when someone doesn’t get their box, and we want to honor your skip requests and get you your special orders on the day that you request. Hopefully these reminders help us and you minimize those disappointing events.
Elaine Swiedler (CSA Manager) & the rest of the CSA Team
