2023 Barrett’s Mill Farm CSA GUIDE

CSA Schedule

The 2023 CSA starts June 7th. CSA pick-ups are on Wednesdays from 11am – 6:30pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm. The farm store is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but the CSA is not open those days.

The Main Season CSA ends October 21st. The Extended Season and Flex CSAs end November 18th.

Pick-ups and Check-in

Members may pick up their CSA vegetables once per week* and have the choice of coming to the farm on Wednesday or Saturday. You do not need to come on the same day each week. The CSA includes crops that are already harvested and set out under the canopy tent for you to choose from, as well as a pick-your-own component. When you arrive to pick up your vegetables, please check in with the Shopkeeper at the CSA tent.

Hand washing stations will be provided at the CSA tent and at the PYO field gates. For better food safety, we ask that everyone wash their hands before entry into either.

*If you are a Flex CSA member, you may pick up your CSA for 20 weeks of your choosing out of a 24-week season. You may use one pick-up per week.

Your vegetable bag

Each new CSA membership will receive a Barrett’s Mill Farm CSA bag. Returning members, please bring along your bag from last season. If you need a new bag, they are available for $10. The overall size of one membership is what reasonably fits inside the canvas CSA bag (you should still be able to comfortably carry it with the handles fitting over your shoulder). Please write your name in your bag and bring it with you each week to pick-up. If you forget your Barrett’s Mill Farm bag, we will provide one for you to fill and then transfer to another bag to take home.

Each week we aim to have a nice variety of crops to choose from in the CSA distribution area. Please check the CSA chalkboard to find out what items are limited. If an item does not have a limit you may take the amount you’d like that fits inside your CSA bag. The shopkeeper will provide you with separate containers for pick-your-own crops. These do not have to fit inside your bag.

Please wait to process your vegetables (for instance taking the tops off bunched vegetables) until you get home. We are not set up to deal with customer vegetable scraps at the farm, but if you are interested in composting, there is a drop-off composting pilot for Concord residents, and there are several local companies that offer curbside compost pick-up!

If you would like a pre-packed bag, please email the Shopkeeper (shopkeeper@barrettsmillfarm.com) the day before and we will have one ready for you.

We will email out a newsletter each week with a list of crops that will be available, as well as one or two recipe ideas. This information is also posted weekly on our blog at www.barrettsmillfarm.com/blog. If you are not receiving the emails, please check your spam folder or try resubscribing. The newsletter sign-up is available in the footer of our website, as well as on our blog page.

If you can’t make a CSA pick-up

The best option if you can’t make a CSA pick-up on Wednesday or Saturday during a particular week is to have a friend pick up for you! Our Shopkeeper will be happy to guide them through the CSA pick-up process. Unfortunately, if you miss a week, we cannot provide extra vegetables for you another week. Our field plans (and therefore the amounts of vegetables available for harvest each week), are determined over the winter. If you are unable to pick up your share in a given week, know that your vegetables will go to a good cause! We donate extra vegetables on a regular basis to Boston Area Gleaners.

Pick-Your-Own

The pick-your-own fields will be open to CSA members on Wednesdays and Saturdays during CSA pick-up, as well as Thursdays and Fridays during farm store hours 11am-6pm. Pick-your-own fields will be closed in late October or after the first frost.

We plan to a have a set amount of crops available for picking most weeks. You do not need to put your pick-your-own items inside your bag, as they are in addition to the bag of veggies. These crops will be listed on the chalkboard along with the amount that is available for picking and any special picking instructions. There is a map next to the board showing PYO locations, and we will also label crops out in the field. If something does not have a sign in front of it, it is probably either not ready yet, or it is not available as pick-your-own. If you ever have a question about where to go or how to pick something, please don’t hesitate to ask the Shopkeeper!

We encourage members to do their picking on the same day that they pick up their other vegetables. However, if you find yourself short on time on a Wednesday pick-up or there is inclement weather (pick-your-own is closed during thunderstorms), you may return on Thursday or Friday during farm store hours. On Thursdays and Fridays please check in with the farm store shopkeeper before going out to the fields. If you are unable to pick at all during a particular week, pick-your-own crops are usually available for purchase in the farm store as well.

Sharing a CSA membership

If you are splitting your CSA bag with another household, the best option is to alternate pick-up weeks. We do not have half-sized CSA bags, so the entire pick-up for a membership must be done at one time. Any limits in the CSA distribution and the pick-your-own still apply to shared memberships, so it is up to you to work out how you would like to divide up those crops. Additional quantities of vegetables are available for sale at the farm stand if you would like more.

Please communicate and coordinate directly with the person or household with whom you are sharing, as we are unable to keep a separate tally of which household has picked up.

Children on the farm

We hope you will enjoy spending time here with young family and friends. Please note that children must be supervised by an adult while on the farm. In the PYO fields, please help guide younger family and friends in proper picking and in staying on walking paths. For safety reasons, please keep them away from the barn and farm equipment. For everyone’s safety, please do not walk beyond the white barn, as there are tractors and other vehicles going back and forth there.

Pets on the farm

For food safety reasons, as well as the comfort of all our members, pets are not allowed in the CSA tent, farm stand or the vegetable fields. Leashed pets are welcome in the front yard of the farm stand, as well as on the walking trails around the Barrett’s Mill Conservation area.

Parking

Please park in the spaces in front of the farm stand and red barn. Overflow parking is available behind the red barn. Please be careful driving in this area as it is sometimes an access point for the pick-your-own fields. Staff parking is along the driveway past the white barn, so please leave this area for their vehicles.

Thank you for supporting the farm and helping to make this season a success!

Contact us

Email: melissa@barrettsmillfarm.com or lise@barrettsmillfarm.com