CSA FAQ
- What is CSA?
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CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a business model for local farms selling food directly to their community—a partnership between community members and farmers to share in the bounty and the risks of farming.
Members make a financial investment in our farm in the winter or spring, when input costs are high (in order to fund necessary tools, labor, soil amendments, and seeds for the season) and income is low between the growing seasons. In return for their investment, CSA members enjoy savings on fruit, vegetables, baked goods, meals, plants, and bouquets.
The CSA model reduces a farm’s need for middlemen and often-restrictive bank loans during the lean months, thus creating a more resilient local economy and food system.
- GENERAL CSA // I have gotten a traditional CSA box in the past. Which CSA do you recommend?
- GENERAL CSA // Are there Early Bird benefits?
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Yes! The 2025 Early Bird Deadline is March 1, 2025. Sign up and pay in full by this date to receive the following benefits:
- Produce Plus CSA Card — An extra 10% off all Cedar Circle-grown produce for the entire calendar year, on top of the 10% discount on spending credit. After the deadline, from March 2 to June 1, 2025, the bonus produce discount is reduced to 5%.
- PYO Bouquet CSA — Receive a FREE guest pass! Bring a friend in August to pick their own 25-stem bouquet at no cost.
- Native Perennial CSA — Snag a coupon for 30% off one purchase of plants (annual & perennial) in 2025.
- GENERAL CSA // Do I have to pay online, or can I use cash or a check?
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If paying with cash or check is easier for you, that is totally fine! Either way, please sign up through our website. Feel free to give us a call during business hours and we can help walk you through the process. We can also help you purchase your CSA in the farmstand (May to December).
- GENERAL CSA // Can I use my CSA card to buy another CSA or to pay for educational programs?
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Your card can be used to buy anything we sell in the farmstand, greenhouses, café, or at our booth at the farmers’ markets, but cannot be used to pay for education programs.
- CSA CARD // What are the benefits of a CSA Card?
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First and foremost, you’ll save money when you use your CSA Card for purchases at the farm, café, and farmers’ markets! All CSA Cards come with a built-in 10% discount on spending credit. For example, a Basic Card with $250 in spending credit only costs you $225.
Additional benefits for 2025 Card members are:
- Produce Plus CSA Card — A bonus produce discount, access to member-only sales, the ability to reload your card throughout the season, early access to our PYO fields, and weekly emails with harvest updates, recipes, and more.
- Basic CSA Card — Access to member-only sales and the ability to reload your card throughout the season.
- CSA CARD // What produce do I get with my card and will there be a pickup list?
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One major benefit of our CSA Card option is that you can choose any products you want, in whatever quantities work best for you. Whether you stock up on your favorites a few times per season or come in weekly for your regular shopping, the choice is yours!
- CSA CARD // After I sign up, where and when do I get my card?
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Our CSA Cards are virtual! There’s technically a physical card and number attached to your membership, but you don’t need to have the card with you in order to use it.
That said, our CSA registration system requires manual processing during business hours, Monday to Friday. It takes time for us to process your order and load the card. Please feel free to call 802-785-4737 or email growing@cedarcirclefarm.org to make sure the funds are available before coming to the farm to use it.
If you had a CSA card in the past, we will add the value you purchased onto your existing card when you sign up for a new season.
- CSA CARD // When and where can I use my card?
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You can come to the farm anytime we’re open and use your flexible, debit-style CSA Card to purchase anything we sell in the farmstand, greenhouses, and Hello Café. You can also use it at our farmers’ market booths in Norwich and Lebanon.
Bonus: You don’t even need to have the card with you––our CSA Card system is all virtual! We’ll simply look up your name at the register and deduct from your CSA Card balance.
- CSA CARD // What if I use up all the money on my card?
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The ability to reload your CSA Card is a benefit available to 2025 members. To continue reloading your card in increments of $225 and to gain access to other benefits of the CSA program in 2025, you will need to renew through our website or in the farmstand before June 1, 2025.
2025 Members: Ask a farmstand staff member to “add value” to your card. They’ll know what to do!
- CSA CARD // What if I don’t use up the balance on my card by the end of the year?
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While we do encourage you to use up all the funds on your card by the end of the calendar year, we understand that it’s not always possible. Your remaining balance does roll over to the following year; however, CSA member benefits expire at the end of each year.
To gain the benefits of the CSA Card program in 2025, including exclusive member-only sales and the ability to reload your card throughout the season, you will need to renew through our website or in the farmstand before the signup deadline (June 1, 2025).
- CSA CARD // What if I go away during the summer or I’m not able to come in for a week or two?
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One of the best perks of our CSA Card is its flexibility—it’s totally fine to skip weeks! While we love seeing you every week or even every day, you can use the card whenever it is most convenient for you.
- BOUQUET CSA // When does the PYO Bouquet CSA begin?
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In 2025, the Summer PYO Bouquet CSA starts on July 11.
- BOUQUET CSA // How many weeks long is the CSA? When does it end?
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The PYO Bouquet CSA runs for 9 weeks in 2025, from July 11 to September 11. Members get to pick an extra bouquet in August, when the flowers are abundant.
- BOUQUET CSA// Why doesn’t the CSA start earlier or end later in the season?
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All of the annual flowers in our garden are started from seed each year and planted out after the risk of frost passes. This means the flowers do not begin to bloom substantially until mid July. And, while many blooms can thrive into the fall, our cropping practices include getting our fields cover cropped for soil health and winter soil protection—meaning, our fields need to be cleaned out and seeded to cover crop by the end of September. We end our CSA in time to allow for this.
- BOUQUET CSA // How many stems can I pick each week?
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As a PYO Bouquet CSA member, you can pick 25 stems per week.
- BOUQUET CSA// Can I pick herbs and flowers?
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Yes, PYO Bouquet members can alternate between picking 3 bunches of herbs or 25 flower stems each time you harvest. No need to tell us which ones you pick!
- BOUQUET CSA // Is there anything I should bring from home when I come to the farm to pick my flowers?
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If you have scissors and a bucket or other receptacle for your lovely blooms, we recommend bringing them with you! If not, we’ll have some available in the farmstand.
- BOUQUET CSA // What if I can’t make it to the farm every week?
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We cannot pro-rate the cost of the CSA, but you can have someone else pick for you! Make sure they know to check in at the farmstand, and to give us the name associated with the CSA. You may be able to pick extra flowers later in the summer when our crop is bountiful, but please check in with one of our staff first!
- DINNER CSA // When does the Friday Night Dinner CSA start?
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The Summer Share begins on the last Friday in May (May 31, 2024). The Fall Share starts the first Friday in November (November 1, 2024).
- DINNER CSA // When are the dinner pickups?
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Dinner pickups are on select Fridays after 2:00 p.m. until the close of business. In 2024, meals delivered to Lyme can be picked up at the Lyme Country Store after 3:00 p.m.
- Summer Share members pick up their meal on the last Friday of every month from May to October.
- Fall Dinner Share members pick up every Friday from the first week in November through mid-December, with no pickup the week of Thanksgiving.
- DINNER CSA // What if I can’t make it to the farm during business hours on Friday, the pickup day?
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That’s no problem! It’s great if you can call or email to let us know that you can’t pick up your share on Friday, and we’ll hold the share until you can get to the farm during business hours. Of course, the meal is the most fresh on the day it is made, but most will last for about a week before spoiling.
If you don’t pick up your share on Friday and we haven’t heard from you, we’ll give you a friendly reminder call on the weekend.
Note: In November and December, the farmstand is only open Thursday-Sunday. If you can’t make it to the farm by Sunday evening, please contact our Kitchen Manager to make alternative arrangements for pickup.
- DINNER CSA // What if I will be out of town for a week? Can I get a refund?
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While we cannot offer refunds or prorate the cost of the Friday Night Dinner CSA, you can have someone else pick up the dinner for you!
- SOUP CSA// When does the soup CSA start?
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Sunday, November 2, 2025.
- SOUP CSA// When can I pick up my soup?
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Sundays at the farmstand, during business hours, from November 2 to December 14, 2025. Note that there is no Soup CSA pickup the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
- SOUP CSA// What if I can’t make it to the farm during business hours on Sunday?
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Contact the Kitchen Manager (gail@cedarcirclefarm.org) to make alternate arrangements.
- SOUP CSA// What if I will be out of town for a week? Can I get a refund?
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If notified in advance, we can package your soup so that it is freezer safe. You can then use it whenever you are in town. We cannot issue a refund; however, you can have someone else pick up and enjoy the soup in your absence.
- NATIVE PLANT CSA// What plants will I receive in my plant CSA?
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We are seeding over 55 species of plants native to New England and will make selections for you based on what is thriving and healthy, prior to your pick up. This ensures that CSA members have access to the healthiest, largest native plants that we’ve grown each season.
- NATIVE PLANT CSA// Where are the plants in my share native to?
- NATIVE PLANT CSA// Are the native plants in my CSA grown with pesticides?
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All of the plants in our native plant CSA are grown from seed from reputable native plant companies and/or wild collected locally and grown with only organic approved inputs.