Families and farms working together to support healthy food, land, and communities
Sign up for 2010 season now!
Community Supported Agriculture is a partnership between community members and farmers to share in the bounty and the risks of farming. To join a CSA, members make an investment in the spring, when farming output costs are high, in exchange for a weekly share of the seasons’ harvest at a reduced price. Each week from June throughout the growing season, CSA members come to the farm to pick up a share of fresh fruit and vegetables. It’s like a subscription to fresh food!
CSA Membership at Cedar Circle Farm
CSA Member Benefits
New for 2010!
Sample Weekly Shares
2010 CSA Membership Choices
Summer Self-Serve CSA Share
Summer Pre-Pack CSA Share
NEW! Fall Share
Other ways to support the farm
Subsidized Shares for Low-Income Vermonters
Explanation of pick-up days
How do I sign up?
CSA Frequently Asked Questions
CSA Membership at Cedar Circle Farm
CSA members pay in advance for a weekly share of the harvest. In return you receive fresh organic food for 18-20% less than you would pay at the farmstand or market. The quantity of our weekly shares is generally enough to provide 2-3 adults with fruits and vegetables for a week at a time, with a bit extra of easily stored crops such as potatoes and carrots. The variety and weekly quantities change as the season progresses.
We’ll give you one of our favorite books, Asparagus to Zucchini, with recipes and tips to help you use your produce. For a sample of what a share might look like throughout the season, see the Sample Share Chart below. To accommodate busy schedules, shares can now be picked up between the expanded hours of 1-6 pm on four days each week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. For more information about our CSA, see our CSA FAQ’s available on our website.
A Cedar Circle Farm CSA share:
- is a great economic value.
- reduces your ecological footprint by cutting down on the number of miles your food travels from the farm to your plate.
- supports farmers who take care of their land by growing food in ways that nurture the soil.
- strengthens the health of our community.
- connects you with the food you eat by knowing your farmers and exploring our farm.
- provides an experience to explore new foods and learn to cook with them.
- provides great way to share healthy eating habits with your kids by exposing them early to a variety of local produce.
- is harvested fresh daily, providing your family with the healthiest food containing the maximum flavor and vitamin benefits.
- is certified organic so you don’t have to worry about toxic chemical residues.
CSA Member Benefits
CSA Members will receive a welcome packet in the mail so that you can know exactly what you can expect from your farm. It will include CSA instructions and your CSA Member discount card which enables you to receive 10% off on all purchases including produce, annual and perennial flowers, bedding plants, seeds and garden implements, and our expanded variety of local foods sold at the farmstand.
When the Summer CSA season begins, the week of June 7, we’ll give you a basket to use to carry your share throughout the season and a copy of the book, From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce. Throughout the season, we’ll give you tips to help you use your share, especially for the new or unusual veggies that we love to grow and we’ll invite you to CSA Member Appreciation Days. Email members will receive weekly basket lists and news and crop updates from the farm.
New for 2010!
In response to your comments and suggestions, we have made some exciting changes to our CSA Program.
More choices. We have added options to our Summer CSA, now offering two choices: self-serve and prepacked shares with four pickup days and expanded pickup times. All summer members will receive a free cookbook, From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce.
Pickup options. This is exciting: for 2010 we have created pickup options in Hanover, Lebanon, and Bradford, for a small additional charge. We know how much folks like coming to visit the farm; and yet we also know that week after week it can feel like a bit of a drive… it’s also better for the planet if we can bring baskets closer to a number of families. See the signup form for full details on these new choices for bringing the produce to you. And then you can enjoy leisurely visits on the weekends, enjoying a sit in the sun at the Hello Cafe and adding to your weekly larder from the other local food supplies in the farmstand—and making use of your 10% CSA member farmstand discount.
Fall CSA. By popular demand we added 50 brand-new Fall CSA shares with six pickups: every other Tuesday, from Oct 12 through Dec 21. Additionally, we have instituted a farmstand dollars credit system. This year we continue our partnership with NOFA-VT’s Farmshare Program to provide subsidized shares to low-income Vermonters; and we’re offering an Early Bird Discount and Early Bird Payment Plan Option to those who sign up before March 30, 2010.
Sample Summer Share |
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In June
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In August
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In October
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Every season is different! This is a sample of what your shares might look like.
Here are the CSA Program details for 2010.
Cedar Circle Farm 2010 CSA Membership Choices
Two NEW choices for a Summer CSA
Special! Early Bird Discount and Payment Plan Option Sign up by March 30!
Early Birds are very helpful to the farm. To show you just how much we appreciate early payment, those who sign up for any of our CSA member options before March 30 receive a discount and can spread the payments into three equal installments at no extra charge. Make the first payment when you sign up on or before March 30, and make the second and third payments on April 30 and May 30. Details on Early Bird payments for each type of membership are listed on the CSA signup form.
Summer Self-Serve CSA Share
$465 by May 15, 2010
20 weeks, June 7–October 18
Early Bird Payment Plan: 3 monthly payments of $150 (1st payment must be received before March 30, 2010)
This option is the optimal way to support and experience the farm, connect with seasonal foods, and have the most opportunity for choice. Throughout the season we’ll provide you with a weekly list of what is available for your share. On your preselected pick-up day, you come to the farm with your bag or basket and use the CSA list to select your own share of freshly harvested produce from the farmstand displays. This self-service CSA will include plenty of choices (for example, between kale and chard, or among potato varieties) and some crops that will be pick-your-own (PYO) such as berries, peas, beans, flowers, and pumpkins. If you don’t have time that day to pick-your-own, we’ll give you a coupon to be used by the CSA member later or that can be exchanged for a lesser amount of the same product that we picked for you.
Summer Pre-Pack CSA Share
$525 by May 15, 2010
20 weeks, June 7–October 18
Early Bird Payment Plan: 3 monthly payments of $170 (1st payment must be received before March 30, 2010)
This is the perfect choice for the adventurous eater with a busy lifestyle. The No-Fuss CSA provides you with a pre-packed basket of seasonal vegetables that we choose for you. Your share of the harvest will be picked and ready for you every week on your preselected pick-up day. The content will parallel that of the Self-Serve Share, but you won’t have to choose among greens or other varieties, and you won’t have to pick your own anything. Just show up and we’ll hand you your share, no wait, no fuss, no extras.
NEW! Fall Share
$185
6 pickups: Every other week from October 12–December 21
Extend your season with our brand-new Fall CSA Share. The Fall Share provides enough seasonal, storage, and cold-hearty crops to take 2-3 adults through the holidays. Twice per month you come to the farm on Tuesdays to pick up a basket of storage crops such as onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and other root crops, as well as fall greens, frozen berries, winter squash, and some other local products. We provide you with recipes to help you use the items in your share. There are a limited number of fall shares available; first-come, first-served.
Other ways to support the farm
Do you want to support the farm and a CSA is not right for you?
Try our new alternative to CSA membership, become a Farm Friend and save 10%! Farm Friends receive $500 worth of credit for investing just $450! We’ll send you a Farmstand Dollars Card which you can use to draw down on your account throughout the season on all farmstand purchases. Replenishment Dollars can be purchased at the farmstand in any quantity throughout the season.
Farm Friends can be email members! Throughout the season we’ll send you a weekly email with news and crop updates from the farm, share new recipes, and we’ll invite you to CSA Member Appreciation Days throughout the season. We’ll also let you know of any special PYO opportunities that arise.
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Subsidized Shares for Low-Income Vermonters
Cedar Circle is a member of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont’s Farmshare Program. CSA shares are available to low-income Vermonters from participating farms at half the cost. Eligible Vermonters pay 50%, and the farm and NOFA each pay 25%. Last year, your contributions to NOFA’s Farmshare Program enabled CCF to grow wholesome, fresh, organic food for four local CSA families. Thank you! Let’s see if we can do even better in 2010.
To find out if you are eligible for a subsidized share, contact the NOFA-VT office at 802-434-4122 or visit their website for more information.
Anyone can support the Farmshare Program! To make a contribution to Farmshare:
- Check the Farmshare donation box when you sign up online for a Cedar Circle Farm CSA membership.
- Make a donation online using PayPal (just look for the NOFA-VT option; no order required).
- Make a donation by check of any amount, payable to Cedar Circle Farm and write Farmshare in the memo portion of the check; you can mail your check to Cedar Circle Farm, 225 Pavillion Road, East Thetford, Vermont, 05043, or drop it by the farmstand.
Explanation of pick-up days
For your convenience, weekly shares can be picked up on your regularly scheduled pick-up day between the newly expanded hours of 1-6 pm. When you sign up for your share, we’ll ask you to choose a first and second choice for pick-up day: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. There is a limit of 50 pick-ups per day, and pick-up days are first come, first served, so sign up early!
For information about changing your pick-up day or any other questions about your CSA membership, see our CSA FAQ’s brochure available online.
Frequently Asked Questions about CSA
For more information on our CSA, see our CSA Frequently Asked Questions.
How do I sign up?
- Our first choice is that you fill out this form on our brochure and mail it with your payment to the farm. Brochures are also available at the farmstand.
- For your convenience you can sign up online.