Farm-ily,
This is it, the moment we envisioned when the snow fell outside the Farm office and spring plantings existed only in spreadsheets. Seeds were sown months ago for crops that will become your meals and be gone faster than you can say "leftovers"! It's hard to find the right words for the excitement of the first week of CSA. Imagine it as a party we've planned since February; the decorations are up, and we're on pins and needles waiting for the first guests to arrive.
As I write this, the weather is gorgeous, but Spring has been fickle so far. Lots of rain has resulted in lettuce fields surrounded by moats, and some extremely muddy farm dogs. We are grateful today for both the sun and the ruby-colored strawberries basking in it.
For many of you, this will be the first week of the 2019 CSA season (some with bi-weekly schedules will start the following week). For a few, it will also be your first season as a shareholder in Willowsford Farm! For all of us, members and crew alike, this will be our first distribution using Harvie's customized share system.We've entered our harvest data and let the software sort and assign your shares. If you haven't set your preferences yet, think about doing so before Week 2 so that you can take full advantage of this cool feature. For an even more personalized experience, you'll have until 6:00 AM the day before your pick-up to log in online and swap any share items for other available crops, or to add extra produce. Please keep in mind that the season for us is just beginning; we're proud of the variety we have to offer for Week 1, but you'll continue to see more options for substitutions and extras as spring moves into summer.
At both the Farm Stand and the Boat House, your CSA pick-ups will be "market style". This means we'll set up a display of all the items headed for your homes, similar to what you might see in the produce department of a grocery store. Each pick-up will have a designated "host" on site (either a member of our crew or one of our amazing volunteers) in case you have questions or need assistance. You can use a smart phone to access your share list in your Harvie account, or use the printed sheet your host provides, to collect your assigned items from the display. It's important to remember that our customized system may mean that the display contains an item that is not listed in your particular share. Everyone's share is different! Please be sure to take home only the items on your individual share list. Everything sent to our pick-up sites is carefully counted, so we cannot accommodate changes after the online customization period has closed.
In the event that something prevents you from retrieving your share during the allotted pick-up time frame, we will bag your items and take them to Willowsford Farm Stand, where they may be picked up during business hours the following day. Please let us know to expect you by emailing farm@willowsfordfarm.com. If we don't hear from you within 24 hours of the pick-up time frame, your share will be donated to a local food bank. The Farm Stand address and hours are:
Willowsford Farm Stand
23595 Founders Drive
Ashburn, VA 20148
Tues/Wed 2 PM to 7 PM and Sat/Sun 9 AM to 2 PM
The fields and beds are calling, Farm-ily, so with that we'll say goodbye until Tuesday, when the season truly begins.
Eat well and be well,
Ashley, Collin, John, Lex, Nate, James, Rory, Alexandra, Julia, the Black Dog Squad and its honorary brindle members, and hundreds of busy spring chickens
