Frequently Asked Questions
about Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center

Who is Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center?
What is the Education Center?
Is Cedar Circle Farm a family friendly place to visit?
What is CSA?
What is in a share?
What is a CSA Farmstand Dollars Account?
Can I use Cedar Circle Farm farmstand dollars at local farmers’ markets?
A Cedar Circle farm CSA share . . .

What is the risk of a CSA?
Do I save money with the CSA?

Can I join after the season has started?
How do I join?
How does the Early Bird payment plan work?
What is your CSA refund policy?

Pick Your Own (PYO)
How do pick-up days work?
Our harvest schedule

What if I can’t pick up my share?
Can I change my pick-up day?

The share is not big enough for my family. Can I get more?
The share is too big for my family. Can I get less?

Why are items sometimes available at the farmstand before the CSA gets them?
Can I trade vegetables that I don’t like for ones that I do like?
What to do with these veggies?

Can I arrange a carpool with other CSA members?
Can you deliver my CSA share to a local farmer’s market?

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Who is Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center?

Since 1990, under the guidance of Farm Managers Kate Duesterberg and Will Allen, Cedar Circle Farm has grown a diversified mix of certified organic vegetables and fruits, flowers and bedding plants. The farm is located off U.S. Route 5, along the Connecticut River, in East Thetford, Vermont on land conserved by the Vermont Land Trust. There are 40 acres in cultivation plus 25,000 sq.ft. under cover in hoop houses. There is a farmstand and coffeehouse on the farm, open May through October.

The farm specializes in selling organic fresh fruits and vegetables at our farmstand, at area farmer’s markets and through our CSA program (Community Supported Agriculture). We also are working to develop systems to produce legumes, grains, and oilseed crops for our region. The on-site commercial kitchen, installed in 2011, produces baked goods for the Hello Cafe’ and minimally processes field crops in to a a variety of jams, salsas and sauces, pickles, vinegars, sauerkraut and other healthy bottled preserves to extend the season and compliment retail sales.

Cedar Circle Farm has established an agricultural education center along with a model organic farming operation. The goals of the Education Center are four-fold:

• to raise public awareness about the importance of locally grown, organic produce;
• to train young and aspiring farmers;
• to increase access of organically grown produce in low-income communities; and
• to create models for farm-appropriate alternative energy strategies.

What is the Education Center?

The Education Center offers guided farm tours by appointment, a self -guided tour, gardening and cooking classes, food preservation and farmer workshops. Twice a year the farm hosts large community festivals, A Strawberry Festival the last Sunday in June and a Pumpkin Festival on the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend. During the Summer months, Field Dinners and Tastings feature the bounty of the farm. Cedar Circle Farm works with schools, community gardens, food advocacy groups and like-minded neighboring organizations to promote healthy communities by building soil, and by growing relationships around food.

Is Cedar Circle Farm a family friendly place to visit?

Yes! We encourage you to visit our beautiful farm and farmstand, and linger at the Hello Café, a coffeehouse complete with wi-fi and farm-fresh baked goods. Bring your family and take our self-guided tour, see our educational gardens, greenhouses, and our fields, meet the farm cats and draft horses, or relax outside in the Adirondack chairs or with your children by the sandbox.

What is CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a partnership between community members and farmers to share in the bounty and the risks of farming. CSA is a style of doing business that supports local farmers selling fresh food directly to members of the community. It minimizes the farmer’s need for the middleman and for often-restrictive bank loans and therefore creates a more resilient local economy and food system. To join a CSA, members make an investment in the spring, when farming output costs such as tools, labor, soil amendments and seeds are high. In exchange, CSA members come to the farm to pick up a share of fresh fruit and vegetables each week throughout the growing season. It’s like a subscription to fresh food!

What is in a share?

Every year is different. Keeping climatic and seasonal limitations in mind, we try to provide you with a variety of produce each week, aiming for enough of each item to feed 2-3 adults. We specialize in seasonal produce that is certified organic, and includes fresh strawberries, blueberries, and a diverse selection of produce that grows well in our northern climate.

Our hope is to both challenge and delight you with the selections. While the season starts and ends with lighter baskets containing crops that thrive in cool weather, mid-summer’s bounty of the warmer crops will make it worth the wait. Larger families are encouraged to supplement their share using the 10% farmstand discount.

As the season changes so does the quantity and variety of your share. Here is a sample of a Summer Share, both Self-Serve and PrePack, in June, August, and October:

• June: arugula, bok choy, green garlic, lettuce, radishes, spinach, strawberries!
• August: lettuce, carrots, onions, green beans, tomatoes, fresh herbs, corn, peppers, eggplant, 10-stem flower bouquet
• October: spinach, rutabaga, carrots , beets , winter squash , potatoes cabbage, onions
• And a sample Fall Share could contain…
  potatoes, choice of: turnips; beets; celeriac, carrots, cabbage or Brussels sprouts, dried beans or frozen strawberries, winter squash, fresh spinach or salad greens, onions, and garlic

What is a CSA Farmstand Dollars Account?

Our CSA Farmstand Dollars Account allows you to shop, any day, all season at your convenience. It is truly a full choice CSA. This debit card option represents a 10% discount at the farmstand and greenhouses. This year it can also be used for farm classes and events such as Dinners in the Field. An investment of $450 buys a $500 debit card, or $225 buys a $250 debit card—while supporting Cedar Circle Farm in the same manner as our Summer or Fall CSA Shares. Replenishment dollars, in increments of $250, can be purchased at any time throughout the season.

Can I use Cedar Circle Farm farmstand dollars at local farmers’ markets?

Unfortunately, our current technology does not support using farmstand dollars cards at area farmers’ markets.

A Cedar Circle farm CSA share . . .

Is a great economic value . . . Reduces your ecological footprint by cutting down on the number of miles your food travels from the farm to your plate. . . .  . . . Supports farmers who take care of their land by growing food in ways that nurture the soil. . . .  . . . Strengthens the health of our community . . . Connects you with the food you eat by knowing your farmers and exploring our farm . . . Provides an experience to explore new foods and learn to cook with them . . . Provides a great way to share healthy eating habits with your kids by exposing them to a variety of local produce . . . Is harvested fresh daily, providing your family with the healthiest food containing the maximum flavor and vitamin benefits . . . Is certified organic so you don’t have to worry about toxic chemical residues.

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What is the risk of a CSA?

In essence, farmers are gamblers. Each year is different. Farmers have the very tough job of balancing the health of an ecosystem with the effects on crops of increasingly variable weather and infestations of insects, weeds, and plant pathogens. CSA investors expect a certain yield; they also share in the same risks as the farmer.

In some years, all our crops are very successful and everyone wins. Some years, certain crops may suffer or even fail due to the whims of nature or because, despite our best efforts, we make mistakes. We employ a variety of methods to protect our crops from seasonal whims including intensive planning, growing a diverse selection of crops, practicing regular crop rotation and organic soil management, and using biological controls for insects and diseases.

A CSA member’s capital investment in our farm gains the yield from our fields as nature and the seasons allow. You can trust that our goal is to protect your investment, and ours, by providing a bounty of wonderfully fresh and diverse produce to nourish your family.

Do I save money with the CSA?

Yes. We estimate that for the past eight years CSA members averaged a savings of 18-20% over the farmstand or market retail. Additionally, CSA members get a 10% discount on all farmstand purchases beyond the share for the entire season.

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How do I join?

1. Instant gratification: you can sign up online until all spaces are filled.
2. You can download and fill out the form on our CSA brochure and mail it with your payment by check or credit card to the farm. Brochures are available at the farmstand or you can brochure.
3. You can also sign up in person! The farmstand opens May 5, 2012. Stop by and we’ll sign you right up! (until all spaces are sold, first come, first served).

How does the Early Bird payment plan work?

Early Birds are very helpful to the farm. Sign up for any of our CSA Member options before March 1st and spread out the payments into three equal installments at no extra charge. Make the first payment when you sign up on or before March 1, and we’ll bill you for the April and May payments. Details on the payments for each type of membership are listed on the CSA signup form.

What is your CSA refund policy?

If you are disappointed in the quality of our produce, or if we are at fault for a missed share, we will make sure that you are compensated.

We do not give refunds or credits for missed or forgotten shares. We know that occasionally things happen that will prevent you from picking up your share. In this case, please plan ahead to make arrangements with us so that we do not harvest your share in advance. We cannot replace forgotten or missed shares the following week, please arrange for pick up in the same week that you missed a share.

Canceled shares will be refunded for the pro-rated value of the share at the time of cancellation.

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Pick Your Own (PYO)

We offer special PYO opportunities to CSA members for some crops such as strawberries, blueberries, herbs, pumpkins, and flowers. Our CSA Bouquet Share is entirely PYO. PYO offers the greatest economic and educational benefit and it’s a really fun family activity! We realize though that it is not ideal for those with busy schedules, so we offer alternatives for those who cannot afford the time to harvest the day they pick up their share.

If you cannot pick on your prearranged CSA pick-up day, you may either come back at another time to PYO within the season of the particular crop, or take a smaller amount from the farmstand of the same crop that we picked for you. It is the responsibility of the CSA member to make sure that you get your share of PYO crops before that crop season ends.

We will occasionally have to close a PYO patch due to picking conditions or inclement weather. For up to date picking conditions, stay posted to the PYO box on the homepage of this website or check in at the farmstand.

How do pick-up days work?

We can accommodate 40 member shares per day, four days a week; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Upon registration, CSA members choose a pick-up day: This will be your regular pick-up day throughout the season. We’ll do our best to accommodate your first choice on a first-come, first-served basis. We will confirm your assigned pick-up day in our CSA Member welcome letter that we send out in May. We expect you to pick up your share by 6pm on your scheduled pick-up day, each week.

Our harvest schedule

Shares are harvested in the cool of the morning on CSA pick-up days and are then carefully washed, prepped, and chilled to be ready for your pick-up by 11 am.  Summer Shares are ready Tuesday-Friday by 11 am and can be picked up anytime before 6 pm (when the farmstand closes). Prepacked shares are not ready until 1pm.

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What if I can’t pick up my share?

If you will be away on vacation, or if you cannot pick up your share for any reason, please arrange to have a friend or a neighbor pick up your share and enjoy the week’s bounty. Please make any changes to your pick-up day a full week in advance so that we can adjust our harvesting schedule.

Prepacked Summer shares that are not picked up within 24 hours of your usual pick-up day will be donated to a local food shelf unless other arrangements have been made with our staff.

Regular Summer shares that are not picked up on your usual pick-up day can be picked up at a later date. Please note that we can not guarantee a full selection for you if we were not aware of the schedule change.

Fall shares that are not picked up on the Saturday pick up date can be packed in to a box for you and will be stored for you to pick up at a later prearranged date. Please note that we need to hear from you in advance or your box will not be packed.

We cannot replace forgotten or missed shares the following week, please arrange for pick up in the same week that you missed a share.

Can I change my pick-up day?

Yes, please let us know a week in advance. When you pick up your share, let the farmstand crew know of any changes in your schedule for the following week. If necessary, you can call the farmstand or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), too.

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The share is not big enough for my family. Can I get more?

Our shares are designed to be enough vegetables for 2-3 adults for week. You can expand the size of your share by purchasing extra of just the items you need at the farmstand. CSA members receive a 10% discount on all additional purchases made at the farmstand, not just vegetables. We recommend that CSA members with larger families buy two shares.

The share is too big for my family. Can I get less?

We encourage smaller families to find someone to split a share with.

While it is the ideal model for our farm, we realize that the subscription style membership of CSA isn’t for everyone. To better accommodate the needs of families of all sizes, we created a CSA Farmstand Dollars Account in 2010. Our CSA Farmstand Dollars Account allows you to shop, any day, all season at your convenience, receiving a built-in 10% discount on all products available in our farm stand and greenhouses including farm classes and events such as Dinners in the Field. A member’s investment of $450 buys a $500 debit card, or $225 buys a $250 debit card — and supports Cedar Circle Farm the same as our Summer or Fall CSA Shares. Replenishment Dollars can be purchased at any time throughout the season.

Farmstand Dollars are a perfect match for gardeners and small famillies. They make a great companion to our Fall CSA and Bouquet CSA shares.

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Why are items sometimes available at the farmstand before the CSA gets them?

When harvest capacity allows, we give CSA members preference. However, many crops tend to start and end in trickles and in those cases you will see new crops available for sale in the farmstand before we can harvest enough to supply all of our nearly 200 CSA members. This is when your 10% CSA member discount really comes in handy!

Can I trade vegetables that I don’t like for ones that I do like?

Trading vegetables is not usually equitable for the farm. We want you to get the most from your CSA share and value the experience as an excellent opportunity to try new vegetables and diversify your diet. If you are not sure how to prepare a certain vegetable, ask our knowledgeable and creative staff for help! We think you’ll enjoy experimenting with the recipes we provide you. We recommend that you donate unwanted produce to a friend, a neighbor, your local food shelf, senior center, or faith establishment.

What to do with these veggies?

Sign up for our e-newsletter to receive weekly recipes and tips to help you get the most out of your CSA share. Anyone can sign up! Look for the sign up box toward top of any page on the site, on the left side of your screen. Check out our online recipe archive to help you find just the right recipe.

Over the years many members have thanked us for the opportunity to try new vegetables and for inspiring diversity in their diets. We are proud of that! We hope your family will benefit from expanding the variety in your diet too.

In addition to the usual crops like corn, lettuce, and tomatoes, we like to grow veggies that are hardier to our climate without the intensive inputs needed to grow many of the foods we are used to. We have found that diversity in our field crops promotes optimal health and maximum resistance to disease and pest infestations in the same way that a diverse diet strengthens our bodies.

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Can I arrange a carpool with other CSA members?

We are very supportive of CSA members making connections and working together to reduce their carbon footprint. We highly recommend carpooling and have found that these relationships work best when members have arranged them. If you’re having a hard time finding someone to carpool with, let us know and we’ll try to help you connect with other members.

Can you deliver my CSA share to a local farmer’s market?

No. We’re sorry, but given that we staff a permanent farmstand, it is not feasible for us to deliver CSA shares. Besides, we really want you to come to visit us often and share the experience our beautiful farm.

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