Welcoming Back the Sun, Market Thur. 2/5, CSA Signups
The days are getting longer! Can you feel it? Following up on the Persephone Period from the last newsletter, February 1st was the first day with over 10 hrs of sunlight since November 8th. The end of the Persephone Period is also a turning point following the solstice where sunlight hours get noticeably longer with each passing day. From the winter solstice until the end of the PP (12/21-2/1) we gained 1 hr and 1 minute of daylight over the course of 41 days. Between now and the end of February we’ll gain another hour in only 28 days, and then by the third week of March we’ll have gained an hour in only 21 days! Ah, I love this time of year. Joe and I have been prepping the greenhouse for the first seeding of ‘26 and we’ve all been enjoying the sunlight and (relatively!) warm days.
We’ll be at the market tomorrow morning with lots of greens from the tunnels, storage veggies, eggs, bread, and maple syrup. Check out the section below for the full list of our offerings and info on where to go.
The CSA has been filling up which is awesome! Thank you so much to all of our members that are signing up early, it really makes it much easier to have the CSA full before the spring rush starts so I don’t have to focus on it. We’re over 100 members for the season and we’re aiming for 185 total for this year. Space is filling up quick so don’t delay! More info below.
2026 CSA Shares
The CSA is the best deal we offer on our produce and spots will be limited again this year. Each year we aim to return 10% of the intial value of the share to our members in the form of farm fresh fruits, veggies, herbs, and flowers. PYO flowers, beans, peas, and herbs for CSA members are included as a part of the share.
The season this year will run for 18 weeks from Wednesday, July 1st to Saturday, October 31st. Full 18-week shares and “Flex” 9-week shares are available. Flex share members pick any nine weeks out of the eighteen week season to collect their share. We are adding a second pickup day for shares this year on Saturday mornings from 9:00am to noon. Members do not need to establish a pickup day for the entire season and can pickup on Wednesday or Saturday depending on what works best for your schedule each week. Both pickup days, Wednesdays from 1:00pm - 7:00pm and Saturday mornings from 9:00am - noon, are “Market Style Pickup” which means our members pick out exactly which veggies you want rather than the farmers packing a box for you (we’ve all got different taste!).
Each week we pick at least 15 unique varieties of vegetables and members choose 8 items to make up their share. We regularly offer bonus 9th and 10th items like herbs, garlic, or veggies we have an abundance of that do not count towards the 8 items in your share. PYO does not count towards your eight share items an Over the course of the season we grow more than 40 different veggies for our CSA shares! We prioritize vegetables that can be included in shares and enjoyed on a weekly basis. Our favorite share items are: Carrots, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Salad Greens, Melons and Watermelons, Fresh Herbs, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Onions, Peppers, Corn, Garlic, Cabbage, and Radishes. Veggies are picked fresh, washed, and properly stored for best quality once they make it to your kitchen.
There will be a few changes to the CSA this year as we are always trying to improve shares for our members. The biggest change is that we are not offering delivery CSA shares any longer. If you received delivery last year you should have already gotten an email letting you know our reasoning, but if you have any questions please let me know. Another is that we will not have eggs and bread as an add on for CSA shares, however we will still have eggs and bread for sale in the farm store during pickup. We are also looking into inviting other bread and pastry vendors on Saturday morning pickups.
The last change is that we will no longer be accepting card payments for CSA shares this year. Unfortunately the processing fees for the CSA became too much for the farm to handle and we did not want to increase the price of shares to cover processing fees. Shares must be paid by check. We offer payment plans for members and only require a 20% down payment due upon signup, but the remainder of the checks must be filled out, postdated, and mailed to the farm with the down payment to be confirmed for your share. Please see the image below for information on how to pay for shares.
Market at Cheshire Med Tomorrow 2/5!
We’ll be in the cafeteria of Cheshire Med on Thursday 1/22 from 10am - 2pm. The cafeteria is downstairs and you can access it from the main entrance and go downstairs or by driving around to the back entrance (there is construction around the back entrance but you can still access it).
We’ve got a great array of fresh greens from our farm and storage veggies from our farm and other local farms, bread and cookies from orchard hill, and eggs and maple syrup from our neighbors in Fitzwilliam! At the market this week we will have:
From Local Farms
Picadilly Farm, Organic, Winchester, NH
Beets
Carrots
Winter Squash
Red Fire Farm, Organic, Montague, MA
Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes
Orchard Hill Breadworks, Alstead, NH
Bread
Cookies
Elephant Rock Farm, Our Neighbors!
Maple Syrup
Eggs
From Our Farm
Salad Mix (lettuce, spinach, baby kale mix)
Chard
Cabbage
Hakurei Turnip
Kale
Onions
Radishes
Garlic
