CSA FAQ

WHEN DO THE VEGGIE BOXES BEGIN?

In 2024, we plan to start mid-June. This will continue for 18 weekly deliveries.

SHOULD I GET A STANDARD OR LARGE BOX?

If you are new to the program, we recommend getting the standard size box. The majority of our customers use this size. If you know you consume a LOT of vegetables or you like to store things away for the winter, then choose the large box. The large box is exactly twice the amount of veggies as the small box. Once we sell out of regular full-season memberships, we offer a limited number of 4-week “Sampler box” memberships, where you can try out the experience with 4 weeks in a row of scheduled boxes.

DO I GET TO PICK OUT WHAT I WANT EACH WEEK FOR MY BOX?

Yes and no. The “core” box is pre-packed for you at our packing house. This usually consists of 6-8 base items that you would consider staples as well as our featured veggie of the week. After you claim your box, you then have the chance to take whatever you want from our “extras” or bonus bins at no extra charge. You can also order pre-order additional items from our online store which we will bring to your pick-up site.

NOTE: The first weeks of the CSA have much ligher boxes than normal. This is to be expected. Don’t freak out! You’ll have heavier boxes as the season goes on to make up for it.

WHAT IS GOING TO BE IN MY BOX EACH WEEK?

To help answer this, please grab our Vegetable Harvest Calendar. This PDF gives you a good idea of our plan for what will go into your box each week. This is not 100% accurate since we can’t “force” Mother Nature to have exactly what we want on a set date. But it gives you a rough idea of when certain veggies are in season, and how often we hope to give you them.

IS EVERYTHING IN MY VEGGIE BOX CERTIFIED ORGANIC?

Everything except the sweet corn.

Our farm has been USDA certified organic since 2016. There are occasions when we “buy in” vegetables from other farms — for products that are cost-prohibitive to grow (for instance green beans). When we do this, we always purchase them from other certified organic growers.

Our sweet corn is grown by our parents David and Cindy Bench, who are conventional growers known for their top-quality sweet corn. Their hybrid seed is a non-GMO variety. Sweet corn will always appear on the bonus tables so you can decide whether to pack it into your box or not.

WHAT IF I GO ON VACATION AND HAVE TO MISS MY BOX PICK-UP? CAN I SWITCH MY PICK UP DATE TO EARLIER IN THE WEEK? WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS MY BOX? CAN I GET IT LATER?

Yes. If you are going to be on vacation, you can switch your pick up site. You must give us 5 days notice so we can make the necessary changes to our packing system.

Another popular solution many of our members use is to have a friend pick up the box for the week. As for what happens if you “miss” your box?… It depends. If you are able to reach us via text prior to the site closing, we can hold your products and take them back to our farm, where we will hold them for 24 hours. If you fail to contact us before we close the site, your box will be donated to a food bank associated with that site upon our departure. We generally bring back at least one missed box regardless — just in case. So give us a call if you missed the window. You might be lucky! We do not credit your account if you miss a pick-up.

CAN I SEND SOMEONE ELSE TO PICK UP MY BOX IF I CAN’T BE THERE?

Yes! If you cannot pick up your share yourself, simply send a substitute! All they have to do is give us your name.  Your substitute will not be allowed to take home the actual container – just the produce inside. So tell them to bring some bags to transfer the produce into.

IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER ON PICK UP DAY, WHAT DO I DO?

We define “inclement weather” as severe thunderstorm, hail, tornado warning, scary lightening storms – anything that would prevent us from safely standing outside. If it’s dangerous to leave your house, stay home. If you come to the pick up site and we are not there, you can assume we have headed for shelter. We will contact you via email with alternate delivery details.

CANCELLATION POLICY

We offer a money-back guarantee. If you are for any reason dissatisfied with your membership and wish to cancel, or if you have to move out of the area and cannot continue your share, please communicate this as early as you can.  We will arrange a refund on a pro-rated basis.

HOW DO I PAY?

We ask you to pay a deposit of 50% down once you sign up. The first check should be sent after sign up. The remaining balance can be sent to us before June 1. You can send us both checks — pro-rated for the date you want us to cash them. You can also pay via cash or ACH bank check. If you need to break up your payments into more disbursements, that is totally fine. Just post-date the checks for the dates you want us to cash them. Sampler shares must pay in full at sign up online via credit card.

DO YOU TAKE CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS FOR THE VEGGIE BOXES?

Sampler Veggie boxes are paid for via credit card in our online store. Regular full-season memberships are paid for via personal or bank check, or cash.

WHERE TO SEND YOUR PAYMENT

Full payment is due by June 1st. Mail your check (made out to Shared Legacy Farms) to 3701 S. Schultz Portage Rd, Elmore, OH 43416.

HOW WILL I KNOW WHAT’S IN MY BOX EACH WEEK?

Each Sunday, we will email you the contents of your box for that week, along with your newsletter. This list is usually about 75% accurate, but there are almost always changes, especially since we have multiple harvest nights. This list will include reminders about where to store each veggie, common uses for that veggie, and whether you can freeze it.

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THE VEGGIES YOU GIVE ME?

One of the strengths of our CSA is teaching you how to cook the CSA way. We have developed a roadmap to CSA success, based on research of our CSA “Masters.” This roadmap will be shared with you during the season to guide you to becoming confident in the kitchen.

You’ll learn the checklist of basic cooking techniques you need to master, what kitchen tools are a must for CSA success, how to store your produce to keep it from spoiling, and common vegetable “exit strategies” if you get overwhelmed with too much of a good thing.

Part of your membership includes access to our Membership Academy — an online school we’ve created inside of Teachable.com, where we stash all our archived video and ebook content, so you can learn how to use the food we grow anytime.

We also have a CSA coach and dietitian on staff named Cadie Jardin who provides you with meal plans each week, using the veggies from your box. She is also the community manager of our private Facebook group.

CAN I COME OUT TO HELP YOU HARVEST SOMETIME?

Volunteering is not required as part of your CSA membership. We offer our customers the opportunity each week to come to our farm and help pack our boxes during our CSA harvest times. We pack Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-8 PM. This is completely optional. But we welcome your help! It makes the harvest go so much faster, and it gives you a chance to see how our operation works and develop a sense of ownership with our farm.

WHY DO I NEED TO CLEAN MY BINS?

Washing and sanitizing the boxes is an important step we take each week to insure that your produce is safe to eat. With over 400 boxes to fill each week, it is very costly for us to pay someone to scrub bins that are caked with dried-on dirt. We ask you to help us out by pre-rinsing the bin before you return it.

I AM COMPOSTING MY FOOD AT THE END OF THE WEEK! IS THAT NORMAL?

When you come to the end of the first week or two, you may find that there are some veggies in your box that you just never got to, or that you don’t like. And they end up getting tossed into the compost pile. This can seem like a waste of food, and you may feel guilty about it.

We want to encourage you to expect the fact that no matter how great you are at eating veggies, you will almost certainly compost a certain portion of your share this summer. It’s unavoidable. That being said, if you find that it’s happening a lot, we encourage you to find friends or neighbors to share with. We plan to teach you lots of “exit strategies” this year to help keep this from happening too much. As a last resort, we invite you to leave some of your unpopular varieties in the extras box at pick-up for someone else. It will take some diligence on your part to eat your share. But it can be done!