Farm policies are created by the Board of Directors in close consultation with the Farmer.  Our policies are designed first and foremost to protect the health and sustainability of the farm, staff, and sharers and to ensure fairness to all sharers.

Pick Your Own (PYO):

You may pick your own crops portion on your pickup day and the next day (Wednesday for Tuesday sharers, Saturday for Friday sharers).  You may PYO crops any time the farm is open.

Dogs at the Farm

Dogs are not allowed under the pickup tent, in the fields, or otherwise near any food crops. Please leave your dog at home on pickup days. On other days, dogs must be leashed at all times, and you must keep them out of the fields (and any other areas, such as the herb gardens) where we grow our food.  This is a GAP (good agricultural practice) policy.

Safety around Farm Machinery

Please be mindful when farm machinery is being used. Driving tractors around people can be difficult. Please keep children away from the machinery, and step far away from tractors should they be driven where you are picking in the fields.

Splitting Shares

You are permitted to split a share with someone, but we require that all who receive split shares also register as Members of Stearns Farm and follow our guidelines for share splitting.  See the share splitting policy.

Cell Phones in the Fields

To help maintain the peace and tranquility of sharers’ time at the farm, please refrain from using your cell phones in the fields and under the pickup tent. If you must take an urgent call, please do so in the parking lot. Thank you for your consideration.

Switching Pickup Days

Sharers may request no more than three switches per summer season. In order to ensure we can accommodate your request, please observe the following procedures.

  • Email Farm Manager Ember Fleming at farmer@stearnsfarmcsa.org by Sunday evening of the week you wish to switch your pick up day. The farmers harvest Tuesday’s share beginning on Monday morning. The advance notice ensures they harvest the correct quantity of vegetables for each distribution, so nothing goes to waste or runs out.
  • You may not carry over your pickup to the next week. Tuesday sharers must pick up their share on Friday of the same week. Friday sharers must pick up on Tuesday of the same week.
  • Although we do our best to accommodate emergencies, if you are unable to give at least 24 hours notice that you would like to switch, we prefer that you ask someone to pick up your share for you. If you are unable to send someone else to collect your share, the farmers will try to work with you to find a reasonable solution. However, once your share has been harvested, we cannot store it until the next pickup day.
  • If you are going to be gone for an entire week or more,  please ask someone you know to pick up your share when you are not available. Otherwise, we will give it to one of the food rescue organizations we donate our extra produce to.

Membership Policies

For an complete explanation of how membership at Stearns Farm works see our membership FAQs.

If you have questions about any of these policies, please contact the President of the Board at president@stearnsfarmcsa.org.

Updated on April 4, 2019