CSA FAQs

Organic produce grown with love and care

CSA Frequently Asked Questions

The following is a list of some of the frequently asked questions or potential situations that you may encounter when joining our CSA that we have compiled over several year. Some of this information comes directly from the CSA Member Agreement that you should read before signing up for a share.

  1. What will my CSA share be packaged in?

We deliver CSA subscriptions in blue Rubbermaid containers that we have pre-packed for you. The cost of these containers is not included in your subscription price and remain the property of the farm. It is your responsibility to return the empty (and wiped clean would be nice!) bin to your CSA pick up location each week when you are picking up your subsequent week’s share. At the beginning of the season if you will be assigned three bins. They will be coded so we know which bins are assigned to you. If you lose a bin, you will be charged a $20 replacement fee or you can replace it yourself…that’d work too.

Although we will do our best to keep packaging to a minimum, the use of plastic to package up greens and some other crops is unavoidable. If you are dead set against plastic, you can provide us with reusable produce bags. We use paper bags where possible for items like potatoes.

  1. How do I manage my Farmigo account?
    You can sign into your account through the link on our website “Manage Your CSA Account” or here: https://csa.farmigo.com/account/sideroadfarm

-Check your balance
-Put your deliveries on hold
-Check your payment history

  1. Whoops, I can’t get into my Farmigo account. If you can’t get into your account (either because you don’t remember what it is or if I set it up for you), send us an email and we’ll reset your password for you.
  1. I am going on vacation…what do I do with my share for the week? You can put your share on hold for two weeks during the season. Your account will be credited for the week(s) that you put on hold up to the value of 2 weeks of delivery. You can use the credit to purchase farm produce from the farm store (flowers and veggies but not meats or products not produced by us) or you can double up your bins at some point to make up for the missed week. To put your share on hold you would sign into your Farmigo account and enter your vacation schedule using the “CSA hold feature”.
  1. Crap! I can’t pick up my share today. What do I do? You are responsible for arranging to pick up your produce. If you are unable to pick up your share, please try to have a friend or neighbour pick it up for you. As a last resort, please call Amy at 705.446.5503 if something comes up on the day and you can’t pick up the share. Please don’t just leave your bin and not tell anyone that you can’t pick it up….that just leads to confusion. If something happens and you really can’t get to it we usually end up gifting it to the host of the CSA pick up location.
  1. I’d really like some extra _____________ (eggs, salad, flowers, etc.) this week. How do I get those delivered? CSA customers have access to our online web-store, which features add-ons such as eggs, extra greens and flowers. Items in the web-store are subject to availability and will depend on the season. We  also feature products from other producers on the web store.
  2. Do I need to wash the veggies? This is completely up to you. We do wash some of the produce, particularly if it comes out of the field really dirty. We always triple wash and then dry salad greens, and we will usually rinse the dirt off beets, carrots, and parsnips. Some other veggies like potatoes, we’ll bag up fairly dirty because they will last in storage much longer that way. We don’t use any chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides) on our produce, and we take food safety very seriously…however, the choice to wash or not wash up to you.

  3. Wow, I got a really crappy veggie this week.  We certainly never want you to receive items that are low quality so we feel it’s really important that you pass on any comments or feedback if a CSA item is not up to snuff. Your feedback may clue us into a need to change our management of certain crops. Bottom line is, if you’re ever unhappy with something, (which we really hope doesn’t happen), tell us.
  4. I have a balance left over at the end of the season. Can I put it towards the next? When you put your CSA on hold, the value of the delivery that you missed is credited to your account. We allow you to miss two weeks worth of deliveries in a season. If you do not use that balance before the end of the season we unfortunately cannot roll that over to the next season. It is up to you to remember to use your balance before the end of the season.
  5. Can we come see the farm? We love showing off our work and we certainly hope that all of you feel welcome to come visit the farm and meet us (perhaps for the first time) at some point during the season. That being said, farm tours can be time consuming and difficult to fit into a busy summer schedule. If you would like to come for a tour please get in touch ahead of time and we’ll try to sort something out. You’re welcome to volunteer too if you like. Remember the CSA farm tour/potluck in October. It’s a good time to come out as well.
  6. How do I customize my CSA share?
    Members can customize their vegetable boxes based on what is available from the farm any given week. In order to do so, you will need to log into Farmigo using your account information.Farmigo Account LoginOnce you have logged into your account you will be able to access the “Store” feature during the set “open” hours.  You can access the Store by clicking on the “Store” button at the top right of your screen. The online farm store is open between: 

    • Tuesday at 9 am – Thursday at 11 pm for Saturday pick ups
    • Friday at 9 am – Sunday at 11 pm for Tuesday pick ups

    You will not be able to access the online store outside of those hours.

     Once logged into the store, you will be able to see the box that we have created in your “cart”. You can edit this box by either adding or subtracting from what we have chosen based on what is available in the store. Note that you do not have to edit your box if you just want to stick with what we choose.

    The Farmers Choice Box is worth 30 credits weekly (the equivalent of $30). Note that you can go above 30 credits weekly, but not below. If you spend more than 30 credits at the farm store, then you will start to rack up a balance, which can be paid by cheque, cash or e-transfer at your convenience (you don’t need to pay weekly…feel free to rack up a balance).

    Items available for credit include veggies, eggs and flowers. Meat and other products that we offer from other producers (i.e. honey, chocolate and coffee) are available in the store but you can not use credits to pay for them.

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