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Frequently Asked Questions
Is everything grown at Spiral Path Farm organic?YES, Spiral Path Farm is a 100% certified organic operation since 1993. topI'm interested in your CSA, but I live outside of your delivery range. Can you still help me?Please check www.localharvest.org for listings of other CSA farms in the USA topWhere can I pick-up my produce?We offer pick-up sites in South-Central PA (both West Shore and East Shore locations), at Spiral Path Farm and at our Farmer's Market stands in Silver Spring, MD and Bethesda MD: topWhat is a Full Share?FULL Share membership is designed for those who enjoy home -meal cooking & love vegetables. We expect the FULL share box to feed a family of 4 or more. Sometimes, the farm experiments with new crops in a season and if the crop is a success, the FULL Share members will receive that produce, even though that crop is not yet listed on the season's harvest chart (i.e. cantaloupes) Depending on the crop, the weather and harvest times, FULL Share members might be the first to receive the first of a new crop coming in, i.e. sweet corn, beans. Usually MEDIUM Share and FULL Share members receive the same produce during the same week, but this does vary; the farm has its own rhythms and we make the best decisions for crop harvests and lots of time at the last minute... FULL Share membership is delivered in a What is a Medium Share?MEDIUM Share membership is designed to feed a family of two, which does depend greatly on amount of time you are involved in home-meal prep and # of vegetable lovers in your household. Medium Share box is 15" x 11" x 6 1/2", about 1/2 bushel. MEDIUM Share members receive 5-8 items consistently each week. MEDIUM Share members will receive less produce, of course, than FULL Share members, but over the entire season, will receive most or all of the harvest chart items, except in the event of crop failure. When we pack the boxes here at the farm, MEDIUM Share members will receive a smaller portion of produce, i.e. med size cabbage for medium members, large size cabbage for FULL member & i.e. less ears of sweet corn, i.e. medium sized salad mix, and i.e. medium sized green beans. To accommodate variety and larger vegetables, selections are divided between weeks at our discretion, i.e. Medium Share members might receive a Butternut Squash every other week and the FULL share members could receive one butternut squash each week. topCan I change delivery sites once I register?Yes, you may change delivery sites any time during season. Please contact us within 2 weeks of the change and preferably by e-mail. We discourage repeated changes. topDo you ever need a new delivery site?Yes, there are times when we seek a new delivery site. For members who are interested in offering their home, church, or place of business as a potential delivery site please contact us to discuss this possibility. Contact Terra: fresh@spiralpathfarm.com for more information topWhat are Central PA delivery days and times?Your CSA box leaves the farm before 6 AM on every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or every Saturday, depending on your chosen delivery site. Silver Spring, MD and Bethesda MD are always Saturday. Central PA CSA delivery days are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. We expect all Central PA deliveries to be completed by 3 PM at the latest! Please begin to pick up your produce sometime after 3:00 pm to allow for deliveries to be completed. Earlier pick up times will be established once the season begins and we will publish pick up times in the weekly newsletter once the truck has made a few delivery runs. Please note: You do not have to be present at the time of delivery. Your produce is chilled before being packed in the boxes, is delivered in a refrigerated truck, and does quite well at our sheltered sites for the remainder of the day. Central PA CSA Delivery Sites - Tuesday:Boiling Springs- Lerew Road Central PA CSA Delivery Sites - Wednesday:Harrisburg # 1 - North 2nd Street - The Movement Center Central PA CSA Delivery Sites - Thursday:Camp Hill # 1 - Near Holy Spirit Hospital How do I know if my site is a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday Delivery?We will be mapping out our truck routes and delivery days sometime in April. We will notify you of your day of pick-up as soon as we have the delivery routes figured . You may change your delivery site at any time topWhat is MEMBER LOGIN?MEMBER LOGIN Iis where you will always find specific details regarding your Pick Up Site, Site Host Information, Directions & Map as well as a calendar of our season Open Farm Days. We do not publish all of these details on the website, but only allow members this info. Members will receive a season -unique password to access membership info. The password and instructions how to use MEMBER LOGIN will be included with membership confirmation letter by early May. topWhat happens if my share is not available at the pick-up site when I arrive?Missing boxes do happen occasionally, for a variety of reasons. If you arrive at your site one day to find that all the boxes are gone, first ask yourself if you are picking up during the correct time frame, and on the right day. When you are sure that your box is truly missing, please contact us as soon as possible and we will make every effort to get your share box to you and keep you satisfied. topWhat if deliveries have begun, can I still join? Are there any deadlines?You may register to join Spiral Path Farm CSA at any time during season. We pro-rate the cost of your membership each week. You must register by Friday noon to receive your first box of produce the following week. However, you may not join one week at a time; registrations are for the remainder of the season. Pro-rated costs are updated and posted at the website weekly. Do you offer any senior or low-income discounts?The discount we do offer is for Early-Bird Registration by April 1. topHow do I sign up?You can sign up in three ways: Can I use my credit card to make a payments for installment planNo, we do not offer credit card payment for installment plan. You must pay by check or cash topCan I pay you with my credit card over the phone??No, we cannot take credit card payments over the phone, only through the website. topWhat is "FOR MEMBERS ONLY" ~Open Farm Day~ ?On selected Saturdays, 9 am to 3 pm, from June through October, we take time from our busy farming schedule to host Open Farm Days at Spiral Path Farm. Open Farm Days are for members only. On Open Farm Days, members can pick in-season strawberries & pumpkins, herbs, and other extra produce from the field, garden, and at our Open Farm Day Market. Open Farm Days provide our members with the opportunity to see the fields where your organic produce is grown and have your family experience a taste of farm life. At each Open Farm Day, we offer complimentary in-season produce on an as-available basis. Dates and details for Open Farm Days for 2010 will be announced during the season in the weekly newsletter, at the website, and in your membership confirmation letter. We look forward to seeing you out at the farm!! topAre the open farm days included in our membership cost??Yes, in that there is no attendance fee to come up to the farm and visit us and see how beautiful our farm is and productive too! We want to share it all with you! On Open Farm days, we offer you the opportunity to Pick-Your-Own herbs and flowers from the CSA gardens. We also set-up a farmer's market, where we offer any available extra produce, free-of- charge, to our members on those days and we expect to divvy it up by setting a few limits and reasonable sharing on our member's part . Family members very welcome. What is PYO?This stand for Pick-Your-Own. You harvest your own produce, herbs, strawberries at the farm topCan I visit the farm at any time?No, we farmers are very busy and need to focus on our many daily responsibilities. We are not able to take time out on any given day to greet/meet our members. We want to make sure we are farming and doing everything to help the produce grow well. However, we DO want to see you and meet with you and share our beautiful farm. Please join us here at the farm on one of our Open Farms Days Can I come to the farm and buy vegetables if I am not a member?No, we do not sell directly from the farm. We recognize just how very rural we are here and off the beaten track and have never set up a farm market stand. We do offer for Members Only one Saturday a month to come to the farm for Open Farm and PYO Day. These Saturdays will be announced in your weekly newsletter and in your confirmation letter upon joining. topDo you offer a gift certificate option?Yes, we do. CSA memberships are an excellent choice for anniversary, wedding, Christmas gift, etc. You would simply register and join and let us know that you'd like us to mail you one of our gift certificate. It easy to do!! topCan a member bring a friend or family member to Open House Farm Days?Yes, you may bring someone along. You and your friend will be able to attend and take home your alloted share amount. topWhat if I cannot attend the Open Farm Day-may I send someone in my place?Sorry-no! Open Farm Days are a member-only perk and you must be present. topCan members share a box?Yes, you can share a membership. You may send 2 different checks to us with one registration form. We ask that the membership be listed under one name only. That membership name will be listed on the check-off sheet at your site. For our records, please provide us with contact information (name, address, phone & email) for all parties involved. We do ask that sharing members do not split their box at the delivery site. Please take your box home and do the splitting there. topCan I order smaller quantities for a single person?We suggest that you try the medium share or perhaps splitting a medium share with a friend/co-worker, neighbor topDoes Spiral Path Farm offer any Pick-Your-Own opportunities?Yes, MEMBERS- ONLY PERK. In the beginning and middle of June for strawberries free of charge. Dates TBA and for members only . Also, available for PYO @ Open Farm Days and as available: herbs, flowers, and other abundant produce topIf I go on vacation, how do I deal with my box?With so many members, Team Spiral is unable to keep track of everyone's vacation times. But we can offer suggestions: Try to have a neighbor/friend/family/co-worker pick up for you. This can either be a freebie to them or work something out between each other. If you cannot find anyone to pick up your share, consider sharing it with the delivery site hosts to have for themselves or their friends/family/chairity. Be sure to call your host site first and let them know! topCan we choose which veggies are in the boxes?No. We offer a variety of fresh, all-organic produce in season. Every box is packed with the same selection of produce, according to what is being harvested that week. All boxes are packed identically according to share size. topWill my produce be good quality, clean etc?The quality of your vegetables is determined by a variety of factors. At the farm, we strive for bumper crops of all produce each time, even though we know this is not possible all the time. Almost everything delivered in the boxes is harvested within 48 hours of its arrival of delivery to your chosen pick-up location. We harvest as early in the day as possible, and immediately transport the vegetables into our Packingshed washing area. Most vegetables are then washed with cold water and moved into the coolers for storage. We have several different coolers set at different temperatures & humiditeis to keep each vegetable/fruit at its optimum temperature & humidity requirement. Once we deliver your vegetables, it's up to you to pick-up within your pick-sites hours, generally 3pm to 8 pm. Despite our best farming efforts, we mayalways have a few crops that do not flourish in the weather and pest conditions of that season. This is all a part of Mother Nature's great balancing act. Some seasons, we will grow star crops, one which do stellar and produce abundantly. As farmers, this is our aim, although we know that each season could see also a few B minus crops or even a crop failure. That is why we grow many different waves of the same crop. For instance, we seed tomatoes 5-7 times throughout the season to try and get peak crops at all times and to also spread our risks. In no way do we feel that it is acceptable to put vegetables of poor quality into a membership box. Try as hard as we may, sometimes things slip by our quality control during packing and washing of the produce. We are human and we do make mistakes. If you are not satisfied with the quality of the produce that you have received, please contact the farm and we will try to rectify the situation. topWhat would I do with vegetables that I don't use enough of or like?Many of our members have been pleasantly surprised to try our recipes with new vegetables, which they previously had never considered. If there are still some vegetables that you don't like, you can share them with family/friends/co-workers. If there are too many vegetable dislikes on the harvest chart, Spiral Path Farm CSA may not be for you. We cannot custom pack boxes per individual tastes. topDo we still need to wash the vegetables we receive from Spiral Path Farm?Yes. although, all vegetables have been washed and sorted in the packing house, it is still a good idea to wash at home. Some of the root crops, such as beets/carrots, may need extra rinsing, although all are pre-washed. topWhat is The Community Bulletin Board??This is a webpage on our site for members to network with other members and area organic farms through listings. click on About CSA's & Organic, then click on Community Bulletin Board. If you are a member or area organic farm and interested in listing your farm or "green" business on our bulletin board, please e-mail us and request the community bulletin board application. topCan you help connect us to other local organic growers for fruit, eggs, cheese, meats?Please click on Community Bulletin Board topDo any extra vegetables go to food banks?Yes, since 1996, extra produce is given to Project Share Foodbank in Carlisle. In addition, after the close of our farmer's Market stand in Silver Spring, additional produce items are donated to area foodbanks and or shelters. topDo you recycle boxes - is that sanitary?We do re-use the membership boxes repeatedly. We take care to keep all of your produce safe both with organic inspections and food safety inspections. Each week we use a new liner in each box.The liners are bio-degradable. top |
