Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the mid-season survey. There was a great deal of praise for the quality and quantity of the produce in the weekly shares, as well as much appreciation of our wonderful crew and the welcoming environment that they create at the farm.
This response was typical: “What do I like? The abundance & amazing quality of the food, the kindness & help of the staff, the recipe ideas in newsletter.”
While we love the praise and compliments, we are especially interested in knowing about questions or concerns so we can try to address them. Below is a summary of our responses to some concerns that came up repeatedly.
PYO Hours
The PYO days are limited in order to give the crops time to ripen between the Tuesday and Friday pickups. What you may not know is that you can do PYO on your pickup day or the next day. Tuesday sharers can do PYO during pickup hours or all day Wednesday. Friday sharers can do PYO during pickup hours or all day Saturday.
The flower and herb gardens are open for PYO any time, even when the farm is closed, since they are outside the electrified deer fence.
Pickup Times
We know that having pickups begin at 2 pm is a challenge for some sharers. Pickups are in the afternoon because we need the morning to harvest the food that will be in that day’s share. Since we have very limited storage space, and no refrigerated storage, the vast majority of the pickup must be harvested the day it is distributed. This means that your share is always very fresh.
Cell Phone Use
Many of you commented on how much you enjoy the peace and tranquility of the farm and the feeling that your time at the farm is a brief respite from daily life. To help preserve these qualities and make everyone’s experience pleasant and relaxing, please refrain from using your cell phone in the fields or under the pickup tent. If you have to take a call, please do so in the parking lot. Thank you for your cooperation.
Fairness
The farm operates on the honor system. The allotted share is carefully calculated by the farm crew in order to ensure that everyone gets their fair share. It is distressing to everyone when sharers take more than their allotted quantity, whether under the pickup tent or while doing PYO. Please respect our community by weighing and counting carefully and using the right size containers for PYO. If you are unsure about something, please ask a crew members or a fellow sharer.
Cilantro
For those who are looking for the Cilantro we have good news: a new bed of cilantro just opened this week. Enjoy.
Getting Involved
We asked what you would do if you were to get involved at the farm, but because the survey is anonymous, we can’t follow up with you individually. If you have specific ideas for ways to get involved at the farm, please email news@stearnsfarmcsa.org and we can start a conversation.
A few of you mentioned making donations to the farm–those are always welcome. You can send a check to the farm or email Board president Peter Doherty at president@stearnsfarmcsa.org to discuss the farm’s needs.
That Pesky Messy Corner
A number of you mentioned the corner of the pickup tent where we store the bags and containers we collect to help sharers who forget to bring their own. We know that corner can get messy, and we would appreciate your help in keeping it tidy. If you drop something, please, pick it up. To help keep that area more organized we would appreciate a donation of one or more plastic bag storage sleeves.
Website Improvement
Thank you for pointing out that the pickup days/hours are not easy to find on the website. That has been fixed: we have added a “Farm Hours” button on the top bar of the website, which can be accessed from every page.
To address some of the other questions that emerged from the survey we will be running a “Question of the Week” feature in upcoming issues of the newsletter. We truly appreciate your feedback and support.
