Market 3/19, Another Spinach Sale, CSA Shares!
It’s almost spring!! The sun feels so good. Still a little chilly at night and we’re feeling it with our propane bill keeping the propagation greenhouses warm this time of year, but that sun warms us right up as soon as it comes out in the morning. We were slow to get our feet moving from the winter this year but Joe, Rachel, and I are back at it every day now. Most of our days are spent prepping for the plant stand since it’s still a little early for us to start seeding for the fields, but we started our field onions and greenhouse tomatoes on friday and the little seedlings are just starting to poke through the soil. It’s so satisfying when they actually germinate. You’d think I’d be used to it by now but I’m still out there every morning checking on trays waiting to see the first bit of green.
We’re also picking for our farmers markets and we’ve got another big market coming to Cheshire Med tomorrow. We’ve got a ton of greens and spinach will be back on sale $1 off per bag when you buy two or more. We’ve also got some really nice oyster mushrooms from Joe’s Mush-Room and plenty of other greens going to the market. Check out the full list of offerings below.
For folks that cannot make it to Cheshire Med tomorrow, we have a dozen 1lb bags of spinach available to pick up in the barn. First come first serve so email me with how many bags you’d like and we’ll put em aside for you. Bags are $10 each.
The CSA keeps filling up and we’re getting close to capacity at this point. It’s also time for me to put out the call to our members for share donations to the local food pantries. We’ve been doing this for a few years now and the pantries absolutely love having extra fresh produce for their weekly pickups. We work with the Jaffrey Food Pantry, Rindge Food Pantry, and the Fitzwilliam District Nursing Association. If you would like to buy a share for one of these food pantries, the farm will match your donation, so if you buy a half share, we’ll send a full share to the pantry of your choice, and if you buy a full share we’ll send two shares. Please email me if you would like to contribute this year.
Market at Cheshire Med Tomorrow 3/19!
We’ll be in the cafeteria of Cheshire Med on Thursday 3/19 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).
LOTS of fresh greens and storage veggies from our farm this week plus plenty of high quality, local produce from nearby organic 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, and Parsnips
Laughing Child Farm, Organic, Pawlet, VT
Sweet Potatoes
Brookford Farm, Organic, Canterbury, NH
Cabbage, Potatoes, Celeriac and Winter Squash
Orchard Hill Breadworks, Alstead, NH
Bread & Cookies
Elephant Rock Farm, Our Neighbors!
Maple Syrup & Eggs
From Our Farm
Spinach
Salad Mix
Baby Kale
Chard
Hakurei Turnip
Kale
Onions
Oyster Mushrooms
Garlic
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.
