Winter CSA Notes

This is the time of year when the scheduling details for the CSA get a little confusing, so I’ll try to clarify how the logistics work for deliveries, sign-ups, and payments this fall.

There are four more weeks of regular season deliveries — these continue until the week before Thanksgiving. November 19 and 20th are the final delivery days for the regular weekly season. There will be no deliveries Thanksgiving week.

Every-other-week Winter Shares begin December 3rd and 4th. We cut back to an every-other-week delivery schedule because vegetables grow more slowly in colder soil and air temperatures, and we take a lot of the farm out of production to put in cover crops. That said, the flavor of many vegetables improves with cold weather, and we are lucky to be able to grow many veggies through the winter in this climate.

There are seven winter deliveries in all. Scroll down to Announcements to see a full list of winter dates. (Note that these dates will include New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.) Winter deliveries go through the end of February; then we take a two-week break before starting up with the regular weekly deliveries for the 2015 season. Winter deliveries will be offered at all pick-up sites, unless you hear otherwise from us.

So here’s the slightly tricky part. In years past, everyone was on the same payment schedule, but as we have allowed more flexibility for you to use vacation holds and biweekly deliveries, and offered the automatic 4- or 9- week renewals, many of you will have credit that either extends beyond the end of the regular season or falls short of the end of the regular season. This is OK. The easiest way to handle this is just to make a payment when your subscription runs out (or allow your automatic payments to continue). If your subscription will run out at the end of the regular season, you can make a payment of $168 to carry you through the winter. This can be done by writing in the amount below the other options in the payment options screen. If your subscription runs out on a different date and you’d like to be squared up through the winter, you can calculate the number of winter weeks you need to pay for by $24. For instance, if you will still have $24 of credit left when the regular season ends you could pay for 6 more weeks of winter deliveries at $24, or $144.

If you are on an automatic payment every 4 or 9 weeks, you can just let that go through. You do not need to make a special payment for winter. The credit you have at the end of the winter session will carry over into the 2015 regular session in spring. Any discounts we offer next year for early payments of the 2015 regular season will take into account credits you may already have. However, if you do decide to make a special payment for winter, you will not be double charged. The automatic payment only kicks in when your balance reaches $0.

So, to recap, any credit remaining from the regular season will simply be applied to the next winter delivery, and any credit remaining from the winter season will be applied to the 2015 regular season. (If you choose to opt out of the winter deliveries, you can put yourself on hold, and any credit you have at the end of this season will then apply to your next scheduled delivery in the spring.)

In the meantime, we still have four more luscious weeks of regular season deliveries. Enjoy your veggies and have a Happy Halloween!