April 15th Barrett's Bucks deadline and CSA balances due

We can’t wait to have you all back on the farm again soon! The farm store opening day will be in early May and the CSA will begin June 8th! CSA member balances are due April 15th, however please contact us if you need to set up an alternative payment plan. While our CSA is sold out for the season, we do have some Barrett’s Bucks memberships available and those purchased before April 15th (minimum $250) will receive a bonus credit added to their account. Details about Barrett’s Bucks memberships and payment options are available here: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/barretts-bucks. As always, the farm store will be open to the public so no membership is needed to shop online or in person. The first crops of the season are two of our favorites, asparagus and tulips! We are also hoping for a strong spring high tunnel harvest of spinach and carrots to carry us through to the start of field crops in late May/early June.

With less than two months to go before opening day we are ready for the official transition to spring next week! Siobhan, our new crew member and Greenhouse Waterer has been diligently hauling buckets of water to the greenhouse to water our growing leeks, fennel and onions. The small greenhouse is almost full, so by the end of the week we will be clearing tractors and supplies out of our second greenhouse to make room for trays of newly seeded fennel, kohlrabi, cabbage, stock flowers, and high tunnel peppers, as well as ginger that arrived from Hawaii last week! Fortunately for us Sarah began her third season with us last week when she returned to the farm to help seed, organize and generally keep up with our March to-do list!

In between outdoor projects this week we are finishing up winter office duties, as well as devoting significant time and energy to progress on our grant funded projects that must be completed by their deadlines this spring. Due to our lease arrangement with the Town of Concord, this was the last year we were eligible for MA Department of Agriculture grants (our current lease ends in 2024 although we do hope to be awarded another at that time!) so we applied for and received two different grants. One of the two major projects is automation of ventilation in our greenhouses and two high tunnels. The high tunnel project is particularly exciting as the controls and low voltage motors will be powered by small solar panels! The other grant funded project addresses food safety challenges on the farm by helping us purchase an enclosed shed for our harvest buckets and additional food-safe storage bins for produce. We are looking forward to having these farm improvements in place for the coming season (our 8th on the property!) and beyond!

Early Bird CSA sign-ups end today!

Today is the last day to secure your CSA spot at the Early Bird price! Tomorrow the online store and paper forms will switch to the full CSA prices. There are just 20 Main Season CSA and 10 Flex/Extended Season membership spots remaining so we anticipate filling up soon. Renewing members please refer to your renewal reminder email or email Melissa (melissa@barrettsmillfarm.com) for your form and on-line sign up link. New member online sign-ups for payment by credit card is available here: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/online-store. If you prefer to pay by check please download and print a sign-up form and mail with your payment to 449 Barretts Mill Rd. Concord, MA 01742.

Barrett’s Bucks membership sign-ups are also now available and will have a bonus credit of 10% added to memberships purchased (minimum $250) before April 15, 2021. The farm stand will open in early May and hours will be Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. 2021 Barrett's Bucks may be used starting in May when the farm store opens and must be used by the end of the season on October 30th, 2021 - funds cannot be carried into the next season. Sign-up forms for payment by check as well as online sign-ups for payment by credit card are available on our website: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/sign-up.

2021 Barrett's Bucks and Early Bird CSA Memberships Now Available

Plans for the 2021 Season are well underway! Crop plans have been made, most of our seeds and supplies have been ordered, and hiring has begun! We are also now accepting 2021 Barrett’s Bucks memberships and CSA Early Bird pricing continues to be available until January 21st, 2021. Barrett’s Bucks, CSA and PYO Flower CSA memberships may be purchased online via credit card or by mailing in a form and check. The online store and forms are both available on our website sign-up page: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/sign-up. Returning CSA members please refer to your recent renewal email for your links to your renewal form and online sign-up page.

Membership options available:

• Main Season CSA (20 weeks): $765* ($795 after January 21, 2021)

• Extended Season CSA (24 weeks): $900* ($930 after January 21, 2021)

• Flex CSA (20 out of 24 weeks): $805* ($835 after January 21, 2021)

• Barrett’s Bucks: Minimum purchase $250 (a 10% bonus credit will be added to purchases made before April 15, 2021).

• PYO Flower CSA: $60 (6 bouquets)

*CSA prices listed are for new memberships.

While 2020 was a challenging year due to the pandemic and a serious drought, it had many bright spots, including a supportive customer base and great crew members. Memberships purchased over the winter of 2019/2020 gave us the financial resources to adapt quickly in the spring as pandemic conditions worsened. We were able to purchase a new canopy tent for CSA distribution, as well as many portable hand washing sinks, touchless soap dispensers, gloves and other supplies. Crucially, we were also able to hire more crew members to help before we even had a single vegetable for sale! Our field crew and shopkeepers rose to the challenge of the pandemic and kept everything clean and safe for each other and our customers throughout the season, while also working out in the field in all kinds of weather to plant, weed, and harvest.

In 2021 we will keep many of the changes made to store and CSA distribution in 2020 while also increasing flexibility whenever possible. The CSA will remain under the outdoor tent and we will continue member pick-up day selection with an hour reserved for seniors each day, but each time slot is a longer window to allow for more schedule flexibility. The handwashing stations outside the store, CSA and PYO fields will stay. Field capacity limits will also stay, but now that we have seen what we can handle under pandemic circumstances, we have added back in some popular PYO options like tomatillos and an extra succession of beans and sunflowers. We will keep the online farm store ordering system in place for contactless pick-ups, as well as to allow for ordering of popular items for later pick-up times. The inside of the farm stand will be reopened in order for customers to be able to select produce themselves, but of course with safety measures such as masks, handwashing, and capacity limits.

The farm store will open in early May and the CSA will begin June 8th! Farm store hours will remain the same, Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm with CSA pick-ups scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. We are looking forward to seeing you all back on the farm then!

December Pop-up this week!

Lately we’ve been hard at work on our crop plan for the 2021 season, but this week we will be taking a couple of days away from planning in order to harvest the rest of our high tunnel greens and prepare our remaining storage crops for sale at the end of the week. Items must be ordered in advance online - there will be no same day in-person sales. We will pack orders ahead of time and have them available for contactless pick-up at the farm stand Saturday December 19th, 10am-2pm.

Ordering will open online Wednesday, December 16th at 2pm and will close Friday, December 18th at 6am. To place your order starting Wednesday at 2pm, visit our online ordering site: https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Once items have sold out, they are automatically removed from the website.

We will have the following available (until they are sold out):

• Salanova lettuce mix (from the high tunnel)*

• Spinach (from the high tunnel)*

• Curly kale (from the high tunnel)*

• Red Cabbage

• Carrots

• Beets

• Yellow storage onions

• Shallots

• Leeks

• Potatoes from Atlas Farm in Western MA (certified organic)

• Popcorn on the cob

• Raspberry vinegar infusion and Raspberry jam from Silferleaf Farm in Concord (certified organic)

• Double Bee Honey (from hives on the property)

*Please note the seasonal water in our wash station has been turned off, so greens have not been rinsed. We always recommend washing produce no matter how clean it looks, but we just want to give a heads up that the greens may require more washing than usual!

2021 CSA Sign-ups open to new members Tuesday, December 1st!

We will begin accepting new memberships for our 2021 CSA this Tuesday, December 1st!

There are three membership options, the Main Season CSA (20 weeks), Extended Season CSA (24 weeks) and Flex CSA (20 weeks of your choosing out of a 24 week season). All CSA options begin June 8th, 2021. More details are available on the CSA page of our website: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/csa. PYO Flower memberships are also available (picking begins mid July)! 2021 Barrett’s Bucks memberships are not yet available - we will begin accepting Barrett’s Bucks memberships in January 2021 as we are currently working to better integrate our Bucks program with our point of sale and online ordering systems.

Early Bird CSA pricing

• Main Season CSA: $765 ($795 after January 15, 2021)

• Extended Season CSA: $900 ($930 after January 15, 2021)

• Flex CSA: $805 ($835 after January 15, 2021)

• PYO Flowers: $110 for Large CSA (12 bouquets), $60 for Small CSA (6 bouquets)

New members may download and print a sign up form to pay by check (download here) or pay by credit card from the following link: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/sign-up. Forms and payment by check (deposit or payment in full) may be mailed to 449 Barretts Mill Rd. Concord, MA 01742. We are continuing to accept renewals as well! Returning members please refer to our renewal reminder email for the relevant links for your membership pricing (renewals cost $10 less than new memberships and do not include a CSA bag). PYO flower sign up form is available for download here or for online purchase in our online store (http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/online-store).

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