Frequently Asked Questions
about Cedar Circle Farm’s CSA
Who is Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center?
What is CSA?
What is in a share?
A Cedar Circle farm CSA share . . .
What is the risk of a CSA?
Do I save money with the CSA?
Can I join after the season has started?
How do I join?
How does the Early Bird payment plan work?
What is your CSA refund policy?
Pick Your Own (PYO)
How do pick-up days work?
Our harvest schedule
What if I can’t pick up my share?
Can I change my pick-up day?
The share is not big enough for my family. Can I get more?
The share is too big for my family. Can I get less?
Why are items sometimes available at the farmstand before the CSA gets them?
Can I trade vegetables that I don’t like for ones that I do like?
What to do with these veggies?
Can I arrange a carpool with other CSA members?
Can you deliver my CSA share to a local farmer’s market?
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Who is Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center?
We farm 55 acres of conserved land along the banks of the Connecticut River in East Thetford, Vermont. The farm is owned by the Azadoutioun Foundation of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is conserved by the Vermont Land Trust.
Since 1990, under the guidance of Farm Managers Kate Duesterberg and Will Allen, Cedar Circle Farm has grown a diversified mix of certified organic vegetables and fruits, flowers and bedding plants, as well as experiment with new crops for our region such as grains, beans, and oilseed crops.
We aspire to be a source for healthy, organic produce as well as a source for information about organic food and farming for the local community. We believe that personal contact with the people and the land which grew your food is important, especially with all of the recent food scares from the mega-sized industrial farms across the country. We sell our crops at our full-service farmstand, through our nearly 200 member CSA program, at area farmers markets, and to restaurants and schools.
We encourage you to visit our beautiful farm and farmstand, and linger at the Hello Café complete with wi-fi and farm-fresh baked goods. Bring your family and take our self-guided tour, see our educational gardens and greenhouses, meet the chickens and draft horses, or relax outside in the Adirondack chairs or with your children by the sandbox
Guided farm tours and farm-based educational activities are available by appointment.
What is CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a partnership between community members and farmers to share in the bounty and the risks of farming. CSA is a style of doing business that supports local farmers selling fresh food directly to members of the community. It minimizes the farmer’s need for the middleman and for often-restrictive bank loans and therefore creates a more resilient local economy and food system. To join a CSA, members make an investment in the spring, when farming output costs such as tools, labor, soil amendments and seeds are high. In exchange, CSA members come to the farm to pick up a share of fresh fruit and vegetables each week throughout the growing season. It’s like a subscription to fresh food!
What is in a share?
Every year is different. Keeping climatic and seasonal limitations in mind, we try to provide you with a variety of produce each week, aiming for enough of each item to feed 2-3 adults. We specialize in seasonal produce that is certified organic, and includes fresh strawberries, blueberries, and a diverse selection of produce that grows well in our northern climate.
Our hope is to both challenge and delight you with the selections. While the season starts and ends with lighter baskets containing crops that thrive in cool weather, mid-summer’s bounty of the warmer crops will make it worth the wait. Larger families are encouraged to supplement their share using the 10% farmstand discount.
As the season changes so does the quantity and variety of your share. Here is a sample of a Summer Share, both Self-Serve and PrePack, in June, August, and October:
- June: arugula, bok choy, green garlic, lettuce, radishes, spinach, strawberries!
- August: lettuce, carrots, onions, green beans, celery, tomatoes, basil, garlic, corn, potatoes, peppers, eggplant
- October: spinach, leeks, carrots, beets, winter squash, potatoes, brussels sprouts, dry beans
And a sample Fall Share would contain…
potatoes, turnips, winter squash, cabbage, braising greens, onions, garlic; plus our own eggs, dry beans, sunflower oil, or frozen berries
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.
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What is the risk of a CSA?
In essence, farmers are gamblers. Each year is different. Farmers have the very tough job of balancing the health of an ecosystem with the effects on crops of increasingly variable weather and infestations of insects, weeds, and plant pathogens. CSA investors expect a certain yield; they also share in the same risks as the farmer.
In some years, all our crops are very successful and everyone wins. Some years, certain crops may suffer or even fail due to the whims of nature or because, despite our best efforts, we make mistakes. We employ a variety of methods to protect our crops from seasonal whims including intensive planning, growing a diverse selection of crops, practicing regular crop rotation and organic soil management, and using biological controls for insects and diseases.
A CSA member’s capital investment in our farm gains the yield from our fields as nature and the seasons allow. You can trust that our goal is to protect your investment, and ours, by providing a bounty of wonderfully fresh and diverse produce to nourish your family.
Do I save money with the CSA?
Yes. We estimate that for the past six years CSA members averaged a savings of 18-20% over the farmstand or market retail. Additionally, CSA members get a 10% discount on all farmstand purchases beyond the share for the entire season.
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Can I join after the season has started?
Maybe. Contact Kate or Cat at the farm.
How do I join?
- Instant gratification: you can sign up online until all spaces are filled.
- You can download and fill out the form on our CSA brochure and mail it with your payment by check or credit card to the farm. Brochures are available at the farmstand or you can download a brochure.
- You can also sign up in person! The farmstand opens May 1st—stop on by and we’ll sign you right up (until all spaces are sold, first come, first served).
How does the Early Bird payment plan work?
Early Birds are very helpful to the farm. Sign up for any of our CSA Member options before March 30th and spread out the payments into three equal installments at no extra charge. Make the first payment when you sign up on or before March 30, and we’ll bill you for the April and May payments. Details on the payments for each type of membership are listed on the CSA signup form.
What is your CSA refund policy?
If you are disappointed in the quality of our produce, or if we are at fault for a missed share, we want you to be compensated.
We do not give refunds or credits for missed or forgotten shares. Cancelled shares will be refunded for the pro-rated value of the share at the time of cancellation.
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Pick Your Own (PYO)
We offer special PYO opportunities to Self- Serve CSA members for some crops such as strawberries, blueberries, peas, beans, herbs, pumpkins, and flowers. PYO offers the greatest economic and educational benefit and it’s a really fun family activity! We realize though that it is not ideal for those with busy schedules, so we offer PYO coupons for those who cannot afford the time to harvest the day they pick up their share.
PYO coupons can be used any time through the season of a particular crop, or can be exchanged for a smaller quantity of the same item that we have picked for you. It is the responsibility of the CSA member to make sure that PYO coupon(s) are used up before that crop season ends. We cannot honor any trades for missed PYO opportunities after the season has gone by.
We will occasionally have to close a PYO patch due to picking conditions or inclement weather. For up to date picking conditions, stay posted to our website or check in at the farmstand.
Some of our CSA share choices include crops that are PYO, others choices do not. For details on our CSA membership choices see our current CSA membership brochure available online at www.cedarcirclefarm.org .
How do pick-up days work?
We can accommodate 50 member shares per day, four days a week; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Upon registration, CSA members choose a pick-up day: This will be your regular pick-up day throughout the season. We’ll do our best to accommodate your first choice on a first-come, first-served basis. We will confirm your assigned pick-up day in our CSA Member welcome letter that we send out in the spring. We expect you to pick up your share by 6pm on your scheduled pick-up day, each week.
Our harvest schedule
Shares are harvested in the cool of the morning on CSA pick-up days and are then washed, prepped, and chilled to be ready for your pick-up by 1pm. Shares are ready Tuesday-Friday by 1 pm and can be picked up anytime before 6 pm (when the farmstand closes).
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What if I can’t pick up my share?
If you will be away on vacation, or if you cannot pick up your share for any reason, please arrange to have a friend or a neighbor pick up your share and enjoy the week’s bounty. Any changes to your pick-up day must be made a full week in advance.
Can I change my pick-up day?
Yes, if you let us know a week in advance. When you pick up your share, let the farmstand crew know of any changes in your schedule for the following week. If necessary, you can call the farmstand or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), too.
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The share is not big enough for my family. Can I get more?
Our shares are designed to be enough vegetables for 2-3 adults for week. You can expand the size of your share by purchasing extra of just the items you need at the farmstand. CSA members receive a 10% discount on all additional purchases made at the farmstand, not just vegetables. We recommend that CSA members with larger families buy two shares.
The share is too big for my family. Can I get less?
We encourage smaller families to find someone to split a share with. Use our Members Seeking bulletin board in the farmstand to locate another interested family.
Although we wish it were so, we realize that CSA membership isn’t for everyone. Now you can become aFarm Friend and purchaseFarmstand Dollars! It’s like a gift certificate that you buy in advance and is equal to a 10% discount at the farmstand. For more information about Farmstand Dollars, visit our website or check in at the farmstand.
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Why are items sometimes available at the farmstand before the CSA gets them?
When harvest capacity allows we give CSA members preference. However, many crops tend to start and end in trickles and in those cases you will see new crops available for sale in the farmstand before we can harvest enough to supply all of our nearly 200 CSA members. This is when your 10% CSA member discount really comes in handy!
Can I trade vegetables that I don’t like for ones that I do like?
Trading vegetables is not usually equitable for the farm. We want you to get the most from your CSA share and value the experience as an excellent opportunity to try new vegetables and diversify your diet. If you are not sure how to prepare a certain vegetable, ask our knowledgeable and creative staff for help! We think you’ll enjoy experimenting with the recipes we provide you. We recommend that you donate unwanted produce to a friend, a neighbor, your local food shelf, senior center, or faith establishment.
What to do with these veggies?
We’ll provide you with recipes and tips to help you get the most out of your CSA share. We are building a recipe archive online to help you search for more recipes. We think you’ll enjoy experimenting with the recipes we provide you.
Over the years many members have thanked us for the opportunity to try new vegetables and for inspiring diversity in their diets and we are proud of that. We like to grow veggies that are hardy to our climate without intensive inputs. Many greens, roots, fennel, and kohlrabi fall into this category. We have found that diversity in our field crops is just as important as diversity in our diets. Diversity in diet strengthens our bodies. Diversity in crops strengthens our ability to resist crop failure, and covers our butt when failure comes. It also provides for extended seasons and diversity in insect populations on the farm.
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Can I arrange a carpool with other CSA members?
We are very supportive of CSA members making connections and working together to reduce their carbon footprint. We encourage you to use our Members Seeking bulletin board at the farmstand to find other CSA members to ride share with. If you tried that and need additional help finding someone nearby to you, contact Cat.
Can you deliver my CSA share to a local farmer’s market?
No. We’re sorry, but given that we staff a permanent farmstand, it is not feasible for us to deliver CSA shares as well at this time. Besides, we really want you to come to visit us often and share the experience our beautiful farm.