Shares for Farm and Local Pick Up
At the farm, we offer Community Supported Agriculture shares to nearly 300 households. Our harvest season runs from June through Thanksgiving, and shareholders can join for either a twelve week or a twenty-five week share of the harvest. Share pick up days are Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-7pm, and Saturdays 9am-1pm. Shareholders come for the share once a week, and can come whichever day is convenient in any given week. We also deliver pre-boxed shares once a week to central locations in Greenfield, Keene, and Brattleboro.
Our shares contain eight to nine different crops each week. Picadilly shares are designed for one household, and feed 2-4 people on average. Shareholders who come to the farm can choose their eight to nine items “Mix and Match” style. Here’s how it works: we bring in the day’s harvest, with anywhere from 15-30 different crops in the mix. Shareholders choose what they’d like, within a few parameters that we define, customizing the share each week to their own tastes. Some crops may be limited, while others abundant, depending on the week and weather.
The entire share is grown on our family farm, and is certified organic. The harvest changes as the season progresses, from tender spring greens, sweet strawberries and crisp carrots; to mouth-watering summer melons and tomatoes; to crisp autumn broccoli and sweet roots and squash. We take special attention in our planning to grow an abundance of the “basics” all season long, with a well-varied smattering of less common crops. Though the New England harvest season typically rises to a brilliant crescendo in the late summer and fall, we plant our fields with a view toward a steady season-long harvest, and a consistent share size, all season long. Every fall, we take the opportunity to reflect on the year’s lessons, including feedback from shareholder surveys, so as to then tweak our growing plans for the coming season.
In addition to the share we harvest for you, we also plant a shareholder Pick-Your-Own Garden. This one-acre field features green beans, peas, herbs, cut flowers, cherry and paste tomatoes, edamame, hot peppers and strawberries. We do invite all shareholders to come out to the farm to enjoy the Pick-Your-Own Garden, and to join us for farm potlucks and harvest days.
Every Saturday morning, we email a weekly newsletter to shareholders, listing and describing what is in the share. We include farm news, recipes, and ideas for using the less common veggies in the share.
All of this adds up to a pretty lovely share of the harvest, and we hope you’ll join us! As a shareholder, you support every aspect of operating our farm – from paying a living wage to ourselves and our farm crew, to caring for the soil with the long view in mind, to growing our food with organic and other best practices. Thank you!
Share Options for 2014
The Full Season Share runs twenty-five weeks, from the beginning of June through Thanksgiving. The cost is $525-$675, paid on a sliding scale. We ask that shareholders pay $575 or higher, unless you are low income. We have several payment options, detailed on the sign-up form below, with the intention that share is paid for in full by July. We offer the subsidized end of the sliding scale for sign-ups through March 1, 2014.
The Summer Share runs twelve weeks, from the end of June through the middle of September. The cost is $275-$350, sliding scale. We ask that shareholders pay $320 or higher, unless you are low income. We have several payment options, detailed on the sign-up form below, with the intention that the share is paid for in full by July. We offer the subsidized end of the sliding scale for sign-ups only through March 1, 2014.
The December Share includes two pick-ups of a pre-boxed share, for $80. Each of the two share distributions fills a 1 1/9 bushel box. Shares are available for pick up on the farm, or in Keene at The Work’s Cafe. Pick up dates are Thursdays, December 4 and 15, 2014. We email a newsletter from the farm with each share, including information about the vegetables and our favorite recipes for serving them up. We harvest each crop as it is ready, for distribution and for storage in appropriate conditions. The precise mix of veggies that fills each box depends on the weather conditions, both throughout the growing season and in the fall.
Frequently Asked Questions about Picadilly Farm Shares
Can we share a share with our neighbors? We design our shares with one household in mind, and are now suggesting that each household buy their own share. Our share distribution style at the farm allows us to work hard to bring every last bit of our harvest to our shareholders. Surplus and “seconds” abound. With so much bounty, it is tempting for shareholders to say it is “too much” for one family. We want to encourage shareholders to think differently about the share. Rather than a set quantity of food, think about the share as your household’s literal SHARE of the harvest. Think of it as sharing the risk and reward with your farmers. Think of it as having what you need. We realize that there are plenty of reasons to share a share – single person households, people who travel a lot, etc. If you do share a share among households, please do so with attention to one consideration: we ask that shareholders take the entire weekly share in one visit to the farm – please do not come to the farm and take a partial or “half” share. Please come to the farm together, alternate pick-up weeks, or split the share at home. We will generally list the share in our database under one name and address, though we are happy to email the weekly newsletter to multiple people for each share.
What if I miss my share pick up? At the end of our CSA share pick-up days, surplus harvest is donated to area hunger-relief organizations. If you are unable to pick up your share in any give week, you may certainly send a friend or neighbor to the farm in your place.
Can I have a Mix and Match share if I pick up off the farm (in Keene, Greenfield or Brattleboro)? We send a pre-set box to shareholders at off-farm pick up sites. These shares include our pre-determined mix of 8-9 items, plus a Pick-Your-Own item for half the season (or more). Off-farm shareholders are always welcome to pick up a Mix and Match share of their choosing at the farm, and to harvest from the Pick Your Own garden, whenever you are able and can let us know before the boxes are packed.
Can I do Pick-Your-Own if I usually pick up off the farm (in Keene, Greenfield or Brattleboro)? Yes! In any week, you may come to the farm for the PYO. You may also pick up your share at the farm, instead of receiving the pre-packed box, just by emailing Jenny by Monday evenings.
Sign-Up link: Shares at the Farm
