Welcome to NWPA Growers CSA. Thank you for signing up for a season of tastiness with us! It's called community supported agriculture (CSA) because by signing up for a season of local farm products you, as part of our community, are directly supporting our group of little farms so we can plan our season, reduce waste, and feed you the groceries you like the most fresh from the farms.
We've adopted a web portal known as "Harvie" because the team there has designed a system that lets you customize your farm share each delivery, pay gradually throughout the season, and rearrange your deliveries as needed. If you're a new member, Harvie will be sending you a series of training e-mails over the next little while. Please take a moment to look them over, or save them for your first delivery week when you're ready to start swapping!
In the meantime, here's a few quick notes and links that you'll find helpful as we go through the season. If they don't all make sense now don't worry, that series of training e-mails will help explain them more gradually. This is a collection of FAQs that I like to make sure everyone is aware of going into the season.
- E-mail is our primary means of communication, so please make sure you've linked your order to an email address where you'll see messages. (Check your junk to ensure the training series doesn't end up there). Every time you get a customization e-mail, we'll be packing a box for you unless you log in and change something. We also use e-mail if we have to alter delivery details due to weather or some other delay so it's important that you'll see them.
- Each delivery you can expect two e-mails from Harvie:
- "Time to customize" will let you know what we've pre-filled in your box. Should you want to swap anything now's your chance, just click the link. The e-mail will let you know the customization time window, and when customization closes so we have time to harvest and pack up your boxes. If you decide you need to cancel, reschedule the box, or pick it up at another spot, now's your final chance to do so.
- "Your box is on the way" will be sent 1-2 days before delivery to let you know exactly what we've packed for you as well as the details for your chosen pick-up location. Your final payment for each delivery, if applicable, will be charged at that time.
- Is your phone number on file the best way to reach you on delivery day? We'll use that number if it looks like you've forgotten your veggies or if there are any issues with delivery, so a cell phone is usually best.
- You can log into Harvie at any time to do things like edit your preferences, reschedule a box by either changing the date or location for pick-up, update your contact information, and see your payment history.
- There's a handy FAQ page here for Harvie which covers topics like setting your preferences, swapping items after your box has been pre-filled, adding extras or putting your box on hold. It is a little bit of a learning curve, but trust me it's totally worth it! Follow along with the training e-mails and it's easy to get comfortable with the system.
- Preferences are what Harvie uses to fill your box, so if you find you want more or less of a certain item, just tweak your preferences as we go through the season. If you love or like something, you're more likely to get two of that item before getting something that's just "I'll eat it." You'll never get items that you mark as "Not for me." If you're not a big fan of the whole computer thing, just set your preferences and relax, we'll pack your veggies based on that. If you're a returning member, you will want to update your preferences because we are adding more products.
- To customize week by week, you get to swap items and Harvie's got a handy step by step explanation of swapping. Note that there's a spot on the left where you can see the amount that your card will be charged if you've swapped above the value of your box. If you don't want to pay more, just change out one of your items for a lower priced one or select "not for me," although I recommend just setting your preferences instead so you get more of what you want filling automatically!
- Adding "Extras" is the second step of customization, for when you'd like to buy a little more. We offer lots of local farm products besides veggies, and this is usually where you will find them. Harvie shows you what's left over after filling everyone's boxes. First come first served on any extra produce!
- You can customize as many times as you like until the customization window is closed, so if you change your mind just log in and adjust your order. If you want to check what's currently in your box go to My Shares.
- Your credit card on file will always be charged when you get the "Your box is on the way" e-mail. There's a simple explanation of the payment plan here, and you can always log into Harvie and choose "My Deliveries" to see what amount will be due each delivery. The amount will be based on whether you're on the payment plan, or paid in full, if you swap above your value, or if you choose to purchase extras and will be updated while you customize your box. If you choose to pay by check, you will still want to have a credit card on file for extras. Neither Harvie nor I have access to your credit card info. We use a third-party processor, Stripe, for all credit card transactions.
- Take a moment to check "My Deliveries" to re-arrange them around any planned holidays or vacations. Depending on your payment plan, you can either hold/reschedule deliveries OR skip them when you will be away. Change location is for just that, change date applies if you're keeping the same location and only changing the date. There's a full explanation of how to rearrange your deliveries here.
- If you order cold items (meat, cheese, etc.), you will find it in the cooler bag labeled with your name. Please check the packing list on your box to see if you have cooler items each week.
- If you've got a question about Harvie or can't figure out how to do something, the Harvie team is here to help either with their chat system in the web portal or by e-mail at support@harvie.farm . They've got someone monitoring their e-mail even on weekends and they're awesome, friendly people quick to reply with answers! They have full access to your payments, rearranging deliveries last minute, and the web portal in general.
- I (Amy Philson) am your primary contact at NWPA Growers. We are a non-profit farmers cooperative that is owned and operated by the member farms. My family's farm is part of NWPA Growers, and I am also General Manager of the co-op. I am your primary contact throughout the season if you have any questions about your CSA membership. You've got our quality guarantee, and we're always happy to give you a credit if something slipped through quality control! Our focus is on good food and getting you the best of what our farm has to offer. We also love fan mail ;).
- For delivery day dilemmas, you can call or text me at 724-300-3540. Email is always good, but I may not respond immediately if I'm not at my desk.
On behalf of all of your NWPA Growers farmers, welcome and we can't wait to feed you!
Enjoy the tastiness,
Amy Philson and the NWPA Growers crew
