As a member of Full Harvest Farm, LLC’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) family, we want you to know about our CSA program and how we run it.
The following information describes:
-what you can expect during the season,
-produce in your box,
-how our pickup sites work,
-your rights and responsibilities within our CSA,
-how to solve those problems that do occur (no matter how much we try to prevent them).
What to expect:
Full Harvest Farm’s 2023 CSA program runs for 18 weeks, from June 28th to October 25th.
Shares are packed Wednesday morning and delivered on Wednesday afternoon so you get your food as quickly as possible.
Most of our members choose to receive a weekly box of produce, others choose delivery every 2 weeks.
Our goal is to provide you with a variety of fresh, seasonal, USDA certified organic produce, all of which comes from our farm. To this end, we grow 40+ kinds of vegetables throughout the season. Variety is the spice of life.
It is also our goal to educate you about the food in your box. Our weekly newsletters will list what‘s in the box that week. New Stuff will be detailed underneath. Each new item will be explained with nutritional details, storage information, and at least one recipe that uses it.
You will likely find one or more vegetables you've never tried before in your boxes. Our members often comment on this, saying they're glad they had the chance to try something new, and how good it tasted.
As part of our educational goal, we want to show you that imperfect produce is perfectly edible. Expect to find oddly-shaped peppers, 2-legged carrots, double tomatoes, smiling beets. Mother Nature does not give us 100% perfect vegetables, farmers sort what Mother Nature gives us into categories. We give you more categories than you’ll find in the supermarket because there is nothing wrong with some of them. Waste not, want not.
The produce in your box:
We plan to put about 8 different items in our CSA boxes each week. We don’t want to overwhelm you with too much variety, or too much of any kind of vegetable. When the next box arrives, the previous one will have been eaten, ideally. In the real world, that doesn’t always happen, so be prepared to freeze or share leftover items.
Most of the produce in your box has been washed to remove the worst of the dirt, and keep it fresh, like lettuce, spinach, chard, etc. Some may not be washed at all: potatoes, garlic, storage carrots. It is up to you to wash ALL your produce before eating it, and store it properly for maximum shelf life.
Most vegetables should go into a plastic bag and into your refrigerator ASAP—but not all. We give you tips on storage in the weekly newsletters.
If you feel that any of the items you receive are not lasting a reasonable amount of time, or arrive damaged, please contact us. We can help with storage tips and replacement, if necessary. If the problem is ours, we will do our best to fix it. We want you to be happy with your produce.
How Our pickup sites work:
Each site is located under a roof out of the sun and rain. Most are private homes, some are businesses. Each one is unique and requires a little different approach.
Every pickup site is set up in the same way: Couple and Every-Other-Week Couple Shares are on the left, Family and Worker Share-Family Shares are on the right, the Choice Box and Signin Sheet are in the middle.
That said, the Farm is a little different because it's inside our barn, but Farm pickup site members will get those details when they sign up.
Couple and Every-Other-Week Couple Shares are marked with a sign placed on or near the stack. Family Shares have a sign similarly placed.
A Signin Sheet is attached to a clipboard and placed between the 2 Share sizes at every pickup site, usually on a table. It lists everyone who is getting a box that week, and the kind of Share they’ve purchased. Please initial the space to the right of your name.
If your name is not on the Signin Sheet, we did not pack a box for you that week and you should not take one.
We highly recommend Every-Other-Week members write down their exact delivery dates on their calendar, Smartphone, iPad, etc. so you come on the correct day. All your delivery dates are detailed in your Farmigo CSA account so you can look them up at any time.
All the site managers check the Signin Sheet every Wednesday evening. If you don’t initial and there’s an unclaimed box at your site, you’ll probably get a text or phonecall from your manager wondering if it's yours.
Every site has what we call a “Choice Box". This box is used for members to “share” any vegetables they don’t want. You do not need to put something in to take something out. Sometimes, the farm will bring extra, or not-quite-perfect vegetables for members who wish to take some more, or extra vegetables from our farmer's market. Those will also be found in the Choice Box. Help yourself!
It’s possible the site manager will not be at your pickup site when you get there, so take a minute to look the area over, spot the boxes, the signs, the Choice Box, the clipboard with the Signin Sheet attached. Once you’ve taken a good look around, most of your questions will be answered.
Directions: Map programs have improved considerably in the 20 years since we started our farm, so finding your pickup site's address should be easy.
If you pick up at our farm, you might have a problem. Google Maps accurately places us (at this time) at the corner of Cty. S and Crooked Rd. Some older GPS programs can not find our farm, or they direct you into the next county. If you remember the Farm is located at the corner of Cty. S and Crooked Rd., you should be able to find that on an actual map. Altho it's fun to enjoy a nice drive in the country.
Pickup times are particular to each site and are determined between the site manager and the farm. We take into consideration when we are likely to arrive at that particular site, and how late the manager wants to leave it open.
Chuck and I do our best to organize the routes so we get there by the time the site opens. However, due to unforeseen circumstances of traffic, weather, vehicles, personnel, etc., we may not make it. We'll do our best to contact the site manager ASAP, and let them know when we are likely to arrive so they can pass that information on to you. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and hope you understand that we can not promise to be in a certain place at a certain time every week. That said, we will do our best to get your box to you, even if it's a little late.
Your rights and responsibilities:
As a CSA member, it is your right to:
- receive fresh vegetables that last a reasonable amount of time.
- receive all the vegetables listed under Contents in the weekly newsletter.
- have your box automatically saved for you for 24 hours from the time your pickup site closes if you forget to pick it up.
- find your vegetables inside a reasonably clean wax box.
- be contacted in a timely manner if there's a delay in delivery.
- be able to access your CSA account in Farmigo.
- know the exact details of your pickup site, especially the address.
- know your site manager's name, their phone number and email address.
- contact Chuck or Terry when you have a question or problem.
- receive instructions on how to use your Farmigo CSA account.
As a CSA member, it is your responsibility to:
* remember to pick up your box.
* pick up your box during the times requested for your pickup site, especially if the weather is very hot or likely to freeze.
* contact your site manager in a timely manner if you forget to pick up your box, and arrange another day or time to get it.
* abide by the guidelines for your pickup site, and treat it with respect and consideration. By and large, CSA members tend to be respectful and considerate types, and we have rarely had any complaints.
* unfold your wax box and return it regularly to your pickup site. Even better, unload your produce into your own container, unfold your wax box and leave it at your pickup site.
* place your box on Hold in your Farmigo CSA account when you go away and don't want us to pack one for you. You must do this by the Sunday before that week’s delivery. If you miss that deadline, email Terry by 8pm on Tuesday to Hold your box that week.
* read and save emails from the farm. These will contain information on scheduling changes, ordering extra produce, Work Days, etc. A special "CSA" folder in your email will help you find them.
* read, save and use the instructions Terry sends you on how to use your Farmigo CSA account and updates to same.
problems and how to solve them:
Know what size box you’ve purchased. All of the pickup sites have signs that indicate where the Couple/Every-Other-Week Couple boxes are and where the Family/Worker Share-Family boxes are. We keep those signs in the same spot from week to week. It’s very important that you pick up the correctly-sized box. Here’s how you tell:
The Couple box is in a 5/9 bu. (bushel), white, wax box with light blue lettering. It says “Fresh Vegetables” on the long side and is short and wide.
The Every-Other-Week (EOW) Couple box is in the same 5/9 bu., white, wax box with light blue lettering. EOW boxes will be stacked with the weekly Couple boxes and contain the same produce in the same amounts.
The Family box is in a 3⁄4 bu. (bushel), white, wax box with white, green and red lettering that says “Farm Fresh Vegetables” and “Quality Produce” on the long side and includes a picture of vegetables. It is tall and narrow. A Family box contains about ⅓ more vegetables than a Couple box.
Occasionally, someone leaves with the wrong-sized box. This usually occurs on the first day when folks are new to the program and/or the pickup site, or when someone new is picking up the box. If you’ve paid the extra money for that Family box, you sure don’t want to take a Couple box home. If you forget, the signin sheet details which Share you’ve purchased, so look there as a reference, or, if someone else is picking up your box and needs a reminder. The same-sized boxes are stacked together, Couple Shares on the left, Family Shares on the right, and there's a sign next to each size. It’s important to know this information for yourself, because many of the site managers come to the pickup site after work, and they may not be there to ask.
If you arrive and the wrong-sized box is all there is, and all the rest of the names on the signin sheet have initials by them, take it. If it's smaller than the Share you paid for, email the Farm. We'll credit you for extra vegetables, or send you more with next week’s box. If it's larger than the Share you paid for, take it and lucky you. We'll find the Family Share member who has your smaller, Couple Share and make it right with them.
If you’re an EOW member who comes on the wrong week, your name will not be on the signin sheet. That means we did not pack a box for you. If you take a box anyway, you’ll be leaving with someone else’s Share, someone who has been looking forward to that box for 2 weeks, and isn’t scheduled to get another for 2 more.
If you arrive and find no boxes at the pickup site, call Terry or Chuck at the Farm immediately (262 673-6760): we may be able to find your missing box. If we can’t, we’ll pack and deliver another one to your home, credit you for it, or schedule an extra box on another week. EOW members: make sure your name is on the signin sheet first.
Remember, phone Terry or Chuck so we can find the best solution to your situation. A phone call will get you a much faster response to a problem that needs to be solved quickly. Thank you for your help on this one.
It is your responsibility to unfold the CSA box so it does not rip, lies flat and can be easily stored for pickup the next week. In 2013, our talented, Waukesha pickup site manager, Wendy, shot a short video with her eldest daughter Madeleine, showing how to unfold our wax boxes.
It’s quick and easy to do. Here are written instructions: flip the opened box over, place your hand on the center edge of the short side of the box and look for the crease: it’s about halfway from your hand and the short edge of the box. Slide towards the short edge of the box: the section will bend upwards along its crease and the ends should slip out of their holes, freeing the short side completely. Do the same to the other short side. Straighten all the sections, top and bottom, enough so that the box can fold naturally along its vertical corners. Most pickup sites have a large box you can put your unfolded wax box into for storage. If you can unfold your box without tearing any of the tabs or holes, you’ll be a hero to the packing crew.
If unripped and clean, we can reuse these boxes several times in the course of the season. Food grade wax boxes cost about $1.75+ per box. Yes, they do. We save money and trees by recycling these.
other information:
Plastic pints and quarts: We often give you produce in pints or quarts. They are not very substantial, so crack or break easily and are not readily reusable. If you choose to return these to your pickup site, we will bring them back to the farm, wash those that are in good shape or throw away those that aren’t. Please do not bring any other containers to your pickup site.
Newsletters: I post the newsletter on our website Tuesday evening: https://fullharvestfarm.com . Then, I email everyone and include a link to that newsletter in the body of the message. If you lose the email, you can always go directly to our website, chose "Newsletters" from the "CSA" dropdown menu, and find the one you want. And a whole lot of others.
If you have the kind of email that might file messages from the farm into your Spam or Trash folder, please take whatever steps necessary to ensure that our emails go into your Inbox. If your email address changes, please update it in your CSA account or let us know ASAP. We send out emails to our CSA members as a group thru the CSA software. The subject line always starts with "Full Harvest Farm: ".
Terry writes the newsletter, and likes to include recipes and stories from CSA members. One year, her request for kale recipes resulted in 10, delicious ones copied from a member’s magazine. Other folks are creative cooks who develop recipes on their own and generously share them with us. Parents often tell stories about how their children now eat vegetables they’d never touch before—we really love those! Sometimes, we even get pictures, like the little tyke in his carseat with a half-eaten pear in each hand! With your permission, we add these items to our newsletter.
Farmigo allows members to schedule a Make-Up Box themselves, as long as it is within the 18-week schedule. If you're an EOW member who wants a Make-Up Box on a week when you don't normally get a box, Farmigo allows this too.
How Farmigo Charges Your CSA Account: Farmigo's software deducts the weekly cost of your Share from the amount you paid at midnight on delivery day. The cost is deducted ONLY when a box is delivered. When you put a Hold on your Share, nothing is deducted for that week, because no box was delivered. When you schedule a Make-Up Box, the weekly cost is deducted when your Make-Up Box is delivered. If you put a Hold on your Share but do not want a Make-Up Box, you'll have credit in your CSA account. You can use that credit to purchase extra vegetables, a Winter Storage Box, as a credit towards next year's Share, or we can send you a check.
We’ve found that arranging for a friend to use your box when you can’t makes a nice gift and lets someone else experience fresh, organic vegetables for themselves. Please give your substitute specific instructions on the size of box they should pick up, where it’s located at the site, where to look on the signin sheet to double-check the size, and where to initial, as well as the name and phone number of your site manager. Also, please email your site manager with the name of your substitute, the date(s) they’ll be picking up your box, and the substitute’s phone number. This way, if there’s a box mixup, the site manager has a name and phone number to use for verification. The name and phone number is kept private.
Late or Forgotten Pickups: If you need to pick your box up very late, most site managers will be able to accommodate your schedule as long as they know what you need. On those rare occasions when you have a conflict, an emergency, or it just slips your mind, please contact your site manager ASAP to arrange a time for you to pick up your box, even if it's the next day. Your manager will automatically put it aside, under cover but not refrigerated, for 24 hours, so you have time to get it. Most site managers will also email, text or call you to remind you your box is still at their site. Some pickup sites have a specific place they put boxes that are not retrieved on Wednesday. That information will be part of your pickup site's details, available in your CSA account. If you do not contact your site manager by 7pm on Thursday, you forfeit your box and the manager can do what they like with it. When you pick your produce up late, the farm does not guarantee the quality of your vegetables.
Change of Pickup Site: If you find that a different pickup site works better for you than the one you first chose, or you move, you may certainly switch sites. You’ll know within the first few boxes whether the site is a good choice. You can make both temporary and permanent pickup site changes in the CSA software. If a temporary change is what you want, simply go into your CSA account when you want to switch and make the change. We print a fresh signin sheet every week for each pickup site, so all you have to remember is to go to the new site to get your box that week. It's your responsibility to make this change and remember to change back.
Ordering Extra Produce: We often have extra vegetables available for you to order, like arugula, peppers, tomatoes, winter squash, etc. We’ll let you know via our weekly newsletter or special email message, what we have, what it costs, what date you must place your order by, when we can deliver and in what quantities you may need to order (Ex: 1/2 lb. of arugula, 10 lbs. of tomatoes).
Extra Produce like this is posted in our WebStore thru Farmigo. Ordering is easy: sign into your CSA account and follow the steps to order what you want.
Your order will be delivered to your pickup site in a separate box or bag labelled with your name and listing the items purchased. We usually place these in the center of the table, near the Choice Box.
There are two ways to pay:
1. by Zelle. Use this email address: fullharvestfarm@yahoo.com . We'll send you a confirmation email when we post your Zelle transfer to your CSA account.
2. by check: make a check out to Full Harvest Farm, LLC, and snail mail it to the farm. Our address is at the top of every newsletter. Please, never leave a check or cash with your site manager. We like to keep all financial arrangements directly between the member and the farm.
You may also order extra vegetables that we don’t specify. If we have it, we’ll send it along. To place an order like this, please email the farm at: fullharvestfarm@gmail.com. Please include your name, your pickup site, the produce you want and amounts by the pound/bunch/piece—if you know. Use the produce in your box as a guide. Example: beets are bunched, potatoes come by the pound, lettuce by the head, etc. If you don’t know, ask. We’ll need to have your order by Monday, noon, so we have time to pick it and deliver that Wednesday.
We want you to be satisfied with our produce, your pickup site and our CSA program in general. If you have any problems with your box, the produce, the pickup site, etc., let us know ASAP. Altho we do our best to minimize them, mistakes sometimes occur. When they do, we want to correct them. We can give you more produce the next week, a credit to use for Extra Produce, or find another solution that satisfies everyone. This is how we keep you happy when you’ve received an overripe melon, or a perfect-looking tomato that’s black inside. But, we can’t fix it if we don’t know it’s broken. And we want to fix it.
Contacting the Farm: When you contact the farm by phone or email, please identify yourself with your first and last name, and pickup site. Ex: “Susan Smith from the Wauwatosa pickup site” or “Gary White, picking up in Delafield.” If your communication has to do with your box, please tell us what size box you’ve purchased. This helps us efficiently fulfill your requests, solve your problem, and generally minimize mistakes. We have over 200 members, so trying to figure out who “Jo” is, at “waterbaby@wi.rr.com”, or “John” who called to report a missing Couple box but left no phone number, presents a bit of a challenge to a harried farmer. Many thanks.
Here is our contact information:
Terry Vlossak or Chuck Frase
Full Harvest Farm, LLC
7112 County Rd. S
Hartford, WI 53027
Farm phone: 262 673-6760
fullharvestfarm@gmail.com
Reminder: If you haven’t already done so, please create a folder in your email program for CSA messages. Call it “Full Harvest CSA” or something similar. Save all communications from the farm to this folder. That way, everything will be easier to find should you wonder just when Farm Day is, or which newsletter that great coleslaw recipe was in.
Work Days: Occasionally, we will schedule a Work Day and invite CSA members to help out on the farm with specific tasks. Here's how they go: Work Days usually take place on certain Sunday afternoons as needed. Work Days usually start around 1 or 2pm and go for 3-4 hours, or until we’re done. We’ll email you with an announcement a few days beforehand with the date, task, start time, equipment or items to bring. Those usually include gloves, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle and possibly a tool or 2 (labeled with your name, of course). If you can come, please reply with your name and the number of people in your party. We appreciate your help around the farm, and, you get a chance to see our operation and have a hand in how your food is grown. Thank you!
We welcome your opinions and suggestions on how we can do this better.
