Member Handbook

Welcome to the Denison Farm CSA

Last year, Denison Farm CSA consisted of a group of around 420 members. This season we anticipate the same and look forward to providing families in the Capital Region with locally grown, certified organic produce. We are farming 26 acres of Certified Organic vegetables, melons, herbs, and cover crops in the most sustainable and ecological way we can. Denison Farm is currently USDA Certified Organic by PCO and participates in NOFA’s Farmers’ Pledge. Please look online at the USDA Organic and NOFA-NY websites to learn more about both organizations. We hope that your weekly CSA pick-up will be one of your Summer and Autumn highlights. As with any season, some crops will flourish while others will be less abundant. We offer to you the fruits of our labor and ask you to understand and share some of the responsibilities and risks.

Included here are guidelines and instructions to help clarify the process. Please don’t hesitate to email or call with any questions you might have.

Handbook PDF Version

Hours and Sites

Shares will be distributed each week at the various sites listed below:

Wednesdays from 4:00-8:00pm:
Albany, Ballston Spa, Burnt Hills (4-6:00pm), Clifton Park, Colonie, Delmar, Denison Farm in Schaghticoke (2:00-8:00pm), Halfmoon, Guilderland, Niskayuna, Round Lake, SABIC, Saratoga Springs, Troy, Queensbury (3-6:00pm), and Vischer Ferry

CSA members must pick up their shares at the site that they have selected on the membership agreement form. We are not able to make switches from one site to another due to the number of families involved. This guideline is necessary to avoid any miscalculations and to maintain planning and harvesting efficiencies.

Please be respectful of your CSA site. If you are picking up at a member’s home, a store, or at a church, we ask that you leave the site picked up, clean, and tidy. We encourage you to help straighten out the returned boxes or pick up any stray debris.

*Please note that all shares not picked up at either by 8:00 at a host site will be donated to either the local food pantry or to the Squash Hunger program.

Check-In

Please check your name off on the list under the correct date each week. A clipboard for the vegetable share with all of the members’ names will remain at each site. Please email or call me immediately if your name is not on the list. We will also have displayed at each site a listing of the vegetables in your share along with any farm updates.

Bags and Boxes

In an effort to re-use and recycle, we ask that you return the boxes the following week. The boxes are easy to break down so that they lie flat and thus pile easily at the distribution sites. Click here for a video demonstrating the technique of breaking down a box. We also recommend bringing your own bags and unpack your CSA box right there.

*Remember the TABS when assembling or breaking down the boxes. The tabs get tucked into the slots. If you grab the flaps of the box and pull, the tabs tear. Then the boxes can no longer be recycled for later use. Please pile the boxes neatly in the designated spot.

Recipes

Recipes will appear in each newsletter and are available on our website. We would love to put together a Denison Farm Cookbook. Please let Justine know if you are interested.

Storage

It is best to wash all of your vegetables right before using. Store most vegetables (greens, leeks, cabbage, celeriac, carrots, beets) in the crisper of your refrigerator (about 40 degrees).

Not-yet-ripe tomatoes will ripen on a windowsill.

Potatoes, onions, garlic, and winter squash do well in a cool, dark place (50-60 degrees). Be especially careful to keep potatoes away from the light. If they are exposed to light, the flesh may turn green near the surface. Do not eat this part; it is toxic.

Perforated plastic bags work well for scallions, cooking and salad greens, beets, leeks, celeriac, and carrots (without tops). Regular plastic bags don’t breathe and may encourage spoilage. Close your bags loosely without pushing down or cramping your vegetables.

Missed Pick-Ups

We harvest each week for the exact number of CSA Members at each site. If you do not pick up your share, food may be wasted. We suggest that if you are not able to pick up your share that you offer your box to a friend, neighbor, family member, or co-worker. Any share not picked up will be donated to either a local food pantry or to the Squash Hunger program.

Pets

For the safety of everyone working, visiting, or picking up a share and for the well-being of our own pets, we recommend that all of your faithful dog friends stay at home or in the car.

Splitting a Share (Share Partners)

For those who want a bit less produce, we suggest that you find a friend, neighbor, family member, or coworker to be your share partner. The easiest way to split the share is to take turns with your partner, each picking up your shared CSA box every other week. Call it your every-other-week CSA! If you cannot find a share partner, please click here to fill out our Share Partner Request Form, and we will try to help. Once share partners have been connected, we ask that one member be the primary contact who fills out the CSA sign-up form on behalf of both parties and provides their share partner’s name and email address in the space provided on that form.

Book Keeping

Full payment at the time of ordering is very helpful to us because many of our costs are up front, and we appreciate your support! However, we are happy to offer the option of installment payments by check. We suggest that you pay in three installments: 1/3 at the time of ordering, 1/3 due April 1st, 1/3 due June 1st. If you select to pay in installments, please take care of your share payments and make notes of what and when you have paid. As farmers, we want to focus on your vegetables and will rely on you to take care of your own accounting.

Children At The Farm

Denison Farm can be a wonderful place for families to come and take a walk. We ask that Parents supervise their children at all times. Please be aware that we use electric deer fencing and that equipment must be off limits to all children. An adult or parent must accompany children when visiting the fields or if walking to the creek. Please contact us before you plan a visit with your children.

Working Members

Working Members are required to work a total of 8 hours during the season. We work Monday through Saturday from 7:00 – 4:00.

We recommend that you come several times and work in the morning. But we are flexible and will welcome you most anytime that fits your schedule. We also suggest that you call to confirm the night before you plan to come out to the farm. For example, we might agree that you come on June 23 in the afternoon – but it turns out that severe thunderstorms are predicted and everyone has quit for the day. Or perhaps Brian is out on the tractor doing a very important planting so that you get lettuce in late July and won’t be around to work with you.

Here are some tips when coming out to the farm:

Wear comfortable clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.
Boots are a good idea, for you may get muddy. Wearing layers is recommended so that you can adjust to the ever-changing temperatures and weather. Rain gear and extra clothing may also come in handy.
Gloves are suggested for those with sensitive skin and hands.
If you use sunscreen and bug repellent, please bring some along with you.
Remember your water bottle and nutritious snacks/lunch.

Reading Resources

From Asparagus to Zucchini: The CSA Cookbook
Greene on Greens, Bert Greene
Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford
Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon
Putting Food By (on canning, curing, pickling, etc.), Greene, Hertzberg, and Vaughan
Root Cellaring, Mike and Nancy Bubel
Stocking up, Carol Hupping and the Rodale Food Center
The New Laurel’s Kitchen, Robertson, Flinders and Ruppenthal
The Simply Grande Gardening Cookbook, Jean Ann Pollard
The Victory Garden Cookbook, Marian Morash
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison
World of the East Vegetarian Cooking, Madhur Jaffrey
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Radical Homemakers, by Shannon Hayes
Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
Four Season Farm Gardner’s Cookbook by Barbara Damrosch and Eiot Coleman

Justine’s Favorite: Farmer John’s Cookbook (The Real Dirt On Vegetables), John Petersen