Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA NEWSLETTER
     Preseason 2014                                                 Like us on Facebook  Visit our blog 
 
In This Issue
Dear Shareholder,

Welcome to the CSA at Waltham Fields Community Farm!  Whether it's your first season or your fifteenth, we are all so excited to see you on the farm next week!  While the weather has been tricky this winter and spring, our farmers have been hard at work planting, weeding, and tending to the crops despite it all!
  
Read on for more information about CSA pickups and other happenings on the farm this spring.
  CSA PICKUPS BEGIN NEXT WEEK!
  
COME ONCE EACH WEEK ON ANY OF THESE DAYS
Wednesday, June 11, 2:00-6:30 PM
Thursday, June 12, 2:00-6:30 PM
Friday, June 13, 2:00-6:30 PM
Saturday, June 14, 9 AM-2 PM
  
  
Any shareholder is welcome to pick up on any of the above days!  You don't have to let us know when you're coming.  Feel free to switch back and forth from week to week if that works best for you, or choose a day and stick to it for most of the season.  We'll be happy to see you whatever day you come to the farm. 

MEET YOUR FARMERS AND TOUR THE FARM!
barn
We'll provide a chance to meet your farmers and have a tour on each of the pick up days during the first week of share distributions. You don't have to do the tour on the same day as you pick up.  Come to any one of these that suits your schedule!  

WHEN:
  4PM on Wednesday June 11, Thursday June 12, and Friday June 13 and 11 AM on Saturday June 14
WHERE:  Waltham Fields Community Farm, 240 Beaver Street, Waltham.  Meet at the Distribution Barn. 
WHO:  Our farmers and YOU!
WHAT:  We'll answer any questions you have about WFCF and our CSA, and take a tour of the fields at the UMass Field Station with our farmers.
BRING:  Friends, children, well-behaved pets on leashes, questions for your farmers, a picnic to eat afterwards if you want, and sturdy shoes to walk around the farm.

 
IMPORTANT SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

 

What's in the Share  
Each week, we'll send out a CSA newsletter on Tuesday letting you know our best guess for what will be in  share, for both the items we're harvesting for you as well as for the pick-your-own. All shareholders need to check in with us in the Distribution Barn before picking up their share.  Our first share will be smaller than usual this year because of the cold spring.  We'll probably have only a few veggies available, with much less choice than we generally have in the shares. Don't worry -- this is just the beginning, and there are many beautiful crops in the fields.  They just need a few more weeks until they're the perfect size for you to eat.  We'll send out your first official CSA newsletter next Tuesday with a crop list and more information for you, so watch your email inbox!

If it's your first time picking up a CSA share with WFCF, let us know when you check in and we'll help guide you through your first pickup.  Always feel free to ask us any questions, anytime.  We're here to help you!

 

Bring Your Own Bags

Please remember to bring bags to the farm to pick up your CSA share!  We strongly encourage the use of reusable bags for all vegetables on the farm.

 

Additional Products for Sale

We're delighted to now be certified by the Health Department for retail sales in our Distribution Barn.  Each week, in addition to picking up the produce coming to you in your share, you'll have the opportunity to buy a range of additional local farm products (eggs, cheese, meat, honey, etc.), as well as some locally-made treats, and farm merchandise. We're working on getting set up to accept credit cards, but might be cash or check only for the first week or two.  Our Distribution Coordinator, Lauren Trotogott, looks forward to featuring some of these products in her What's In the Barn column in each week's CSAnewsletter.  

  
Pick-Your-Own
All shareholders are welcome to pick-your-own anytime during daylight hours, and you don't have to do your pick-your-own when you pick up the rest of your share.  Our pick-your-own system is changing for this season.  This year, each PYO crop will have a number assigned to it.  We'll have a sheet of paper available each week with a map and a list of crops that are available to harvest on it, along with the amount allowed and harvest tips.    Then just look for the corresponding number in the field to pick your own!  PYO sheets will be distributed to you when you check in and will be available during non-pickup hours at the PYO kiosk on the south side of the Distribution Barn. 

If You Need to Miss a Pick Up
If you can't pick up a share one week, send a friend or neighbor to get your veggies and have them check in under the last name of the primary shareholder for your share.  You don't need to let us know they're coming.  They will just check in under your name at the CSA barn.  If no one picks up your share, it will be donated to one of our hunger relief partner organizations. 

Balances Due
All fees were due by June 1st, including share balances and maintaining current membership with our nonprofit organization. If you're not sure if you still owe money for your CSA share or membership, check your email for a notice from our Bookkeeper and Office Coordinator, Rebekah Lea.  Please get your outstanding balance payments to us in advance of the first pick ups next week.

For Those Splitting a Share
If you are splitting a share, please remember that you need to pick up the whole share at one time each week.  It is NOT acceptable for one partner to come at one time and pick up half of the share and another to get the other half later.  You'll need to coordinate with your share partner to figure out how to divide the share up, alternate weeks, etc. 

Dogs on the Farm 
Dogs are welcome on the farm but are not allowed in the CSA barn or in the vegetable fields per health department regulations.  Dogs must be leashed and owners must clean up after them
  
Share Pick Up Questions
More questions about share pickup?  Check out our CSA FAQs!  You can also contact Lauren Trotogott, our Distribution Coordinator - a new year-round position that should help to make this year's shareholder experience better than ever while also relieving some the pressure on our farmers to do all the growing, harvesting, washing, storing and the marketing too!
Quick Links
Waltham Fields Community Farm Staff

Claire Kozower, Executive Director
Marla Rhodes, Development Coordinator
Amanda Cather, Farm Manager
Zannah Porter, Assistant Farm Manager
Alexandra Lennon-Simon, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Lauren Trotogott, Distribution Coordinator
Rebekah Lea, Bookkeeper/ Office Coordinator

Hector Cruz, Assistant Grower
Anna Kelchlin, Assistant Grower
Johanna Flies, Brett Maley, Naomi Shea, Farm Assistants
Martha Dorsch, Farm Stand Assistant
Laurie Young, Field Crew Leader
Rae Axner, Daniel Clifford, Ruby Geballe, Paul Weiskel, Field Crew
Alice Fristrom, Zack Pockrose, Evan Rees, Laura Stone, Weed Crew
Natashea Winters,  Learning Garden Educator
Kimi Ceridon, 4H Club Leader
Matt Crawford, Outreach Market Manager
Cassandra Baker, Alisa Feinswog, Forest Foundation Summer Interns

http://www.communityfarms.org
240 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452