While most of the crops will be picked for you, some of the more labor-intensive crops are Pick Your Own (PYO). These include blueberries, raspberries, flowers and herbs.
There will always be instructions about how to pick and how much is in your share on chalkboards in the fields. Please looks for these boards before you begin picking. PYO in the field is by volume, in dry pints and quarts. When we post PYO quantities, we will tell you what the volume is (e.g., a half-point of raspberries, or a pint of blueberries).
PYO Times
If you have a Summer or Back to School vegetable share, you may do the pick-your-own portion of your pickup on your designated pick up day and/or on the following day (Wednesday for Tuesday sharers; Saturday for Friday sharers). This policy assures us that PYO crops will have adequate growth time and be available for everyone. PYO can be done any time during hours that the farm is open (Tuesday & Friday 8-7; Wednesday & Saturday 8-5). Flowers and herbs, which are located outside the deer fence can be picked any time.
If you have a Flower and Herb Share, you may harvest your herbs and flowers on Tuesdays or Fridays from 10am-7pm, or on Saturdays from 8am-12pm. These are the hours during which staff will be available to provide instructions about what is available to harvest, to check in sharers, and to answer questions.
What to Bring
Please bring dry half pint, dry pint and dry quart clamshell containers to pick your own crops into. The quantities you can pick each week will be posted under the pickup tent and in the field and will be given in half pints, pints, or quarts. Pint and quart containers from supermarket berries (including a 1-pound strawberry container) are perfect for this purpose. Please do not use the clamshell containers that greens are packaged in; they are not a pint or quart size.
Take Only Your Share
Please pick into containers rather than into a bag. It can be very difficult to estimate a “pint” or “quart” in a plastic bag. The amount of PYO is carefully calculated by your farm staff so if you pick an extra pint or quart, ‘eat’ your share in the field and then bring (another) pint or quart home, or harvest more flowers than are in the week’s allotment, this impacts everyone. Please honor this essential component of your CSA community and your commitment to sustainable agriculture.
Limits on PYO
Occasionally, you will be asked not to go into the fields because the crops are wet. Picking crops when they are wet spreads diseases that are in the soil when water or soil splash up onto leaves. Although we understand it can be inconvenient to come back another day it it is necessary to keep our plants healthy.
In case of severe weather, the farm staff will post on social media any changes to pickup times, including PYO.
Children and PYO
Children love to pick their own food, and they are most welcome to accompany you in the fields. Please do not send your children to pick on their own unless they are at least 12 years old and have experience harvesting.
