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CSA Farm Share CSA/Farm Market Food Justice Get Involved Local Food

Please excuse our mess while we get a new look!

You can still sign up for fresh, local, farm to family produce, meat and dairy, though! Just click on the link above for more info!

Please share us with your friends, family and coworkers – if they sign up and use your name during sign up, you will earn a $25 referral reward – share early and often! Watch for a shareable social media post.

HERE ARE THE DEALS:

ACTIVE MILITARY/VETERANS/FIRST RESPONDERS- Use our 10% military discount code to save on all CSA shares signing up anytime during the season. Please email with proof of your service for the code, as it has changed. THIS IS THE BEST DEAL FOR YOU if you are Active military, Veteran or First Responder (Police, Fire, EMT).

Descriptions of each share/prices are on the website. All shares except Farm To Family will be pre-bagged using Covid-19 precautions. These are not packed in the most sustainable packing materials – but they are more sanitary. More information is in FAQs and Policies.

Shopping Tips

USE THE RIGHT CODE for your share/s to get the best value. If you are getting the Full share or the Military/Veteran/First Responder discount, when you get towards the end of the sign up process, you will be prompted to enter in the discount code in a field towards the top and the software will subtract it at checkout.

HOW MUCH IS IT?The price shown for a subscription is for the ENTIRE Season for weekly. In order to find out YOUR price, go thru the process like you are purchasing – when you choose your frequency – weekly/biweekly in the drop down menu – your cost will also adjust. It will pro-rate and adjust if you join after we start. If you leave your cart and come back, make sure to clear your cart to avoid duplicate purchase.

Choose SPRING/SUMMER 2023 subscriptions and drop sites.

Home Delivery – This is $10/per delivery and will be auto-charged up front in full for the season when you purchase your share. You will see these on your invoice/receipt. If you choose installment payments this will also be split up.

Weekly shares – Eastern Market and Farm to Family are weekly shares. Everywhere else is biweekly. If you want a drop site or home delivery and want a weekly share, you will go in and create a second biweekly subscription that is a drop site (Farm to Family and Eastern Market are weekly). You may have to log out and log back in to do the second share. Email me if this is what you are doing and I will double check to make sure you do it correctly and make sure your schedule alternates. Email me if you need help.

Other tips/FAQ

Add ons are available for the season or by the time – eggs and all other dairy items, tofu, bread, coffee, honey, pasta and other pantry items, some meats allowing you to customize your share.

Changes – frequency or modifying your share. If you are new, it is good to start biweekly to see how your family does with the volume. Once we get in the season, you may want to change frequency or make other changes – email me so I can advise and help you.

Moving? Partial seasons available for people who may be moving (email for info – don’t sign up online. I will set you up manually.) If you have the slightest thought about moving, let me know ahead of time. Email and I can advise you on how best to proceed. I usually set you up manually.

Installment payments available – 1-4 payment available depending on type of share – the installment schedule is monthly until your share is paid. You will be billed the first portion of your bill the day you join, and then charged every 30 days on about the same date until your account is paid off 2, 3 or 4 installments.

The nature of the CSA model is that members usually pay in full up front for the season, so that money/working capital is available to work with farmers throughout the season – most CSAs do not have payment plans at all. This partnership with you helps keep the fragile farm micro-economy intact and moving. This is even more important this season in this time of pandemic uncertainty – our farmers are really challenged with staying in business so this helps them. In some ways it is like buying stock, and instead of dividends, you receive food. This hybrid installment schedule helps us get payment earlier than later, but still allows you to split it up, so we can continue to work with small farmers.

Seasonal Member Dues – All members will be charged seasonal membership dues that include delivery and administrative costs. DC is $100 for the weekly season, $50 for biweekly season; RVA is $50/weekly season, $25 for biweekly and will be prorated if you join post start. These dues are charged separately from CSA food charges, upon on-boarding. It is charged shortly after you join, to the card on file if you pay via card, or you will be notified of the amount to add to your payment due if you pay via check or cash. See Policies and FAQs for more info.

Financial Challenges – If you need more installments for your payment plan than offered on the website please email us. We want everyone to be able to afford the CSA and we know this year finances are more challenging.

Account Credit rolls season to season. If you have credit with us, the software will look for it, apply it, then charge your card on file the balance.

Payment by check or credit card. Checks should be made out to Farm to Family, and can be mailed or given to Mark. You will be told your member fee so you can add this to your check/cash payment.

Address:

2817 Mechanicsville Turnpike

Richmond VA 23223

Payments by credit/debit cards have a 3.5% surcharge fee which you will be reminded of by CSAware if you choose this payment method. As a small business in an industry with thin margins and high rates of product shrinkage due to limited shelf life, we, along with other CSAs, farms and other food service providers, have chosen to charge this fee instead of raising our prices to cover it. Choose the surcharge fee-free options provided of check, online bill pay or money order to avoid the surcharge. If you pay in this way, we recommend that you also add a card to keep on file to make a la carte add on shopping for small items easier – otherwise you will have to write checks each time for small amounts and I will have to add on your item manually.

Share Donation program – our share donation program is more important than ever this year with record number of families dealing with unemployment and financial challenges. When you hold/put on vacation a share, you have the option to donate. Any missed/forgotten shares you don’t tell us about (message Amina if you are going to miss or forgot or had some sort of mitigating circumstance) go towards our donation program that provides under-served families and individuals with CSA shares and food. You can also donate towards or purchase shares to support our families. Contact us for more information.

Currently out of town/uncertain of return but don’t want to miss out – Email Amina on how best to proceed for your situation.

Questions? Email farmshares@thefarmbus.com or call Mark at 804-397-7337.

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What’s in the CSA Share 5/6+7 Oysters and Clams!!

Hello members – Happy May!!  sadly rutabagas have gone away…till next year. 

This week we have oysters and clams for our Meat/Full customers – if you don’t want the oysters/clams and have NOT opted out – please send me an email as soon as you can. Otherwise you will get them. This is especially important for our home delivered members as we will not be able to swap them out.  If you are having them home delivered, PLEASE make sure you have a cooler with ice pack for them to keep them fresh as we can’t guarantee their freshness once they leave our icy coolers. Thank you! 

For those of you interested in cooking at home with your kids, or learning a few super easy delicious vegan dishes for yourself, the Sarno Bros. Wicked Healthy Food have made their Wicked Healthy Kids online cooking classes free. I love these guys – and what they are doing for plant-based meals. You will probably see a lot of their recipes here bc they are really innovative and make vegan cooking fun and exciting. 

Here is the preview menu of what we think will be in the share for 5/6+7. Remember the menu may change between now and when you actually receive it due to weather, product availability. We will try to let you know any major changes by email, and also post on our Facebook page, Facebook group, and on Instagram. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns!  

PRODUCE * indicates small share. Produce is from Flores Family Farm (George, Omar and family) Hague, Va.

  • StrawberriesAgriberry – Hanover VA – These strawberries are full of flavor! That’s one of the benefits of sourcing strawberries locally! make small batch strawberry balsamic jam
  • Maitake Mushrooms* AM Fog, Afton, VA – Maitake is perfect for grilling vegans and meatless Mondays. Here are BBQ Maitake Skirt steaks from Wicked Healthy
  • Garlic Scapes* – Garlic scapes are the tender stem and flower bud of a hardneck garlic plant and will probably have a curly coil to them. Use them just as you would garlic — so they are perfect for stirfries, pesto, and marinades. Here is a guide to them. 
  • Kale – try goat cheese lemon pasta with kale! ; kale goatcheese tart; kale caesar salad
  • Asparagus* -roasted asparagus with walnuts and goat cheese
  • Arugula – make pesto, put on pizza with mushrooms and your garlic scapes,  or sautee. we like to freeze pesto in ice cube tray to have for later! arugula is good to use early in your share, as it is pretty delicate. 
  • Bombolini Pasta*- Richmond.   Fresh pasta cooks in a flash – usually 2 minutes or less – so follow directions carefully and err on the short side of timing.  Do not multi-task or walk away from pasta cooking or you will overcook it and be sad. Try this Mushroom. Garlic, Pasta Recipe
  • Bok Choy -Otherwise known as Chinese white cabbage is a staple ingredient in Asian dishes. The tender dark green leaves and crisp off-white-colored stalks provide a nice fresh crunch. The greens have a spinach-like taste with a very mild bitterness. I like to add them to my veggie kimchi, or I like to roast them. Roasted Bok Choy or try bok choy in vinegar oyster sauce; or vegan pho with bok choy and mushrooms and garlic why not! 
  • Spicy Salad Mix – For a sweet and healthy salad, add strawberries, chopped walnuts, red onion, and goat cheese. Top with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Its delicious!
  • Salted Virginia Peanuts – Virginia Peanut Company, Franklin, VA – oh these are so ridiculously addicting….I am not even going to give you recipes bc you are going to eat them out of the can. If you have a peanut allergy, let me know so I can sub you out. 
  • Chamomile – this is always one of our faves. You can make cake, ice cream, syrup, tea…and more

OYSTERS + CLAMS

Rappahanock oysters and clams –  Topping, VA Check our facebook group for the video I made on how to open them, but please wear gloves. Here are some recipe suggestions Grill themOven roast or try one of these . Clams – Here’s how to roast, grill, steam and chowder them. Your oysters will be in a lightly tied plastic bag — when you get home, open the bag a little more so they can breathe, and put them in a cool part of your fridge. Please use your clams quickly as they are fragile. It is also good to use your oysters as soon as possible for best fresh flavor, as they are hardier, they will be ok in your fridge for a few days if you don’t get to them.  When you are ready to prepare your shellfish – look them over carefully and discard any that may be open. 

ALT MEATS for those of you who opted out of the oysters/clams. If you have not done this, let me know ASAP, otherwise you will get oysters. 

BREAD

  • Billy Bread – Rustic Sourdough — This is the famous Billy Bread!  Don’t distress if it starts to get hard before you can eat it all, although it is easy to eat it all at once – it is so delicious. Here are some ways to revive and  use leftover sourdough bread. 

DAIRY

  • Cheese -chevre – Goats R Us, Blackstone, VA – Robin and John have been with us as farmers for many years and we love their delicious creamy cheese. It freezes well if you aren’t going to eat it right away. Here are some ways to get you started with your goat cheese. 

TOFU —Twin Oaks, Louisa, VA.  As so many of you are getting the incredible Twin Oaks tofu (available here – best tofu ever! ), I’ve decided to add in a tofu recipe. Here is an easy roast tofu with veggies.  And there are a lot of recipes on the Twin Oaks site 

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