Membership
Thank you for your interest in our CSA program. Following are the details regarding membership. If you are interested in joining, please sign and return the Membership Agreement (link found at the bottom of this page) as soon as possible. If, after reading this, you have any questions, please call or email us. We will be glad to answer your questions. Anticipated regular season: Mondays, June 2nd through September 29th, 2008.
Membership fees: The cost for a basic, regular season membership is $450. Harvest Helpers will receive a $50 discount per month of help.
Schedule: We are keeping the number of available member shares at 50. Membership enrollment is accepted on a first come, first served basis. It is customary for members of a CSA to pay for their share of produce in advance. This enables the grower to buy seed and equipment before the season begins, thus reducing the burden of up-front costs for the grower. It simplifies things for us if you make the full payment at once. However, you are also welcome to make payments as follows:
$100.00 deposit: In order to guarantee your participation in our 2008 season, we will need your deposit with the signed membership agreement form returned to us as soon as you are ready to commit. The deposit will be considered your first payment toward membership and is non-refundable.
Remaining balance paid in full by April 30, 2008.
In-town/group delivery option: Monday afternoons between 4:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (300 Wigwam Hollow Road). *Please note that people who are signed up for the delivery option have an open invitation to come to the gardens and visit during the evening as well.
On-site pick-up option: Monday evenings between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at Barefoot Gardens (3300 Bellingham Rd. – call or email us for directions). While here, you are invited to walk around the gardens and pond, cut flowers and herbs, and pick “extras” when they are available. We will be on hand to help, answer questions, and visit with you. Due to parking-space-limitations and for environmental reasons, we encourage you to carpool with other members whenever possible! Likewise, we suggest that you make arrangements with other CSA members to pick up your basket on evenings you are unable to make it out to the gardens.
Season extensions: This year we will again be offering both spring and fall extensions. Either extension can be added to the regular season membership for $75 or $125 for both extensions.
Newsletters: Included in your basket each week is a bulletin that will contain the following information:
- What’s in your basket? In this section, we list the varieties of vegetables that are included in your basket that week. We grow a large number of unusual, locally adapted and especially flavorful vegetable varieties. Varieties that are popular with our CSA members (and your feedback is very important here!) will be those that we will continue to grow in years to come.
- Cooking and storage tips: Each week we will share recipes and/or storage and cooking tips about what is in your basket. Please note that we depend on your ideas for this section as well. If you have a favorite way to use the fresh vegetables that we have in season, please share it with us.
- Garden notes: The purpose of the garden notes is twofold: First, we keep you up-to-date with what is happening in the gardens. This includes growing practices, problems and successes that we may be having with crops, and what is coming up in the weeks ahead. Second, we take a look at bigger issues such as local food movements and the environmental impacts of conventional agriculture that affect our health and landscapes.
Additional Housekeeping Details
Harvest help: Once again, we are offering a $50 discount to members who agree to assist with the weekly harvest. Our weekly harvest takes place on Sunday evenings (5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) each month throughout the season, rain or shine. Harvest helpers will work approximately ten hours during the season, (to be divided into 4 consecutive harvest sessions). Tasks include: picking, digging, washing and prepping vegetables, as well as assembling baskets. Please rest assured that we are willing to work with each member’s abilities! We will schedule interested members according to the information that you provide on the membership agreement form.
Spring extension: In past years we have often lamented the fact that by the time the CSA season starts, our season for spring greens is two thirds over. Spring extension is for those who especially love those early salad greens and are anxious to get an early start on the season. In addition to greens, we also expect to have limited amounts of asparagus available.The spring extension will begin on Monday, April 21 and will run up to the start of the regular season. Pick-up will begin at 6:00 pm. There will be no prepared baskets, newsletters, or deliveries. We will use a pick-your-own format but will be on hand to assist you.
Fall extension: The regular CSA season ends Monday, September 29th. The fall extension will run between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (due to the decreasing amount of daylight as we move into Oct.), on Mondays October 6th , 13th , 20th, and 27th. As with the spring extension, there will be no baskets, newsletters or deliveries during the fall extension and we will use a pick-your-own format. Again, we will be on hand to assist you.
Shared memberships: You have the option of splitting a membership with someone else. This arrangement works especially well if you are a single or if you find it works better for your schedule to alternate weeks with another family or couple. We do ask that families or couples not split the season extensions. Likewise, if you do decide to divide a share between two or more people, we ask you to select a contact person from among you to communicate with us and receive any mailings (electronic or otherwise) that we may send. Furthermore, this person shall be responsible (when applicable) for organizing harvest and/or field help times and dates among you.
Pets: If you choose to bring a pet with you when you come to pick-up, we ask you to keep it in the car during your visit.
Children: We certainly welcome children and encourage you to bring them along when you come to pick up produce or come out to help harvest. However, we do have some potential hazards such as homemade playground equipment and our large pond. We simply ask parents to be responsible for their children while they are here.
Pick your own produce, herbs and flowers: Over the years, we have developed a pick-your-own system for certain crops on CSA nights at our place. Nearly all of the herbs and flowers are available to cut at your convenience when they are available during the season. Likewise, we often have specialty crops (e.g. okra, kale, collards, swiss chard, currant tomatoes) that are available for those who use them regularly. It is also true that we often have surpluses of our principal crops that we make available for members as pick-your-own crops.
Trials of produce and flowers and surpluses: We are constantly running trials of new varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers so that we can improve our offerings in the years to come. Unfortunately, these may not be available in sufficient quantities to share with all members of the CSA. Throughout the season, we reserve the right to identify surplus produce and flowers for our own use and to distribute them as we wish among friends, family, and neighbors once we feel the needs of the CSA have been met.
Bunny Clause: An integral part of the CSA concept involves the sharing of risk. Many things can adversely affect our crops. Rabbits, deer, voles, ground hogs, loose cattle, farmer injury or sickness, heavy rains, sleet, early or late freezes, high winds, vandals, plant diseases, insects, flooding, and/or drought may (and will) affect how much we are able to harvest in any given season. The flip side, of course, is that when conditions are right and there is a bounty, that surplus gets passed on to the members.
Satisfaction Guarantee: We are dedicated to growing beautiful, healthy, and delicious vegetables and herbs. We make every effort to be available to answer questions and respond to member needs. If, for any reason, you are not completely satisfied with your membership please contact us immediately and we will refund your money for the remaining weeks of the season. We look forward to continuing our partnerships with returning members and creating new ones with those who are new to our CSA this year.
~ John Curtis and Karen Mauldin-Curtis
Barefoot Gardens
3300 Bellingham Rd.
Macomb, IL 61455
(309) 254-3254
barefootgardens2003@yahoo.com
www.barefootgardens.org
Downloads:
2008 Membership Agreement (PDF with Acrobat Reader type in form fields)