Frequently Asked Questions
Why do we get so many greens in the spring and so much eggplant in the fall? Why can’t we get apples in June?
When the veggies arrive is up to Mother Nature. Like flowers, vegetables have a season and there’s a time of year when they are ready to pick. They aren’t available year-round like in the grocery store, where they ship from other climates (over many miles and oceans). CSA teaches us how to eat in season. Please refer to the sample box descriptions link here to see what we get when. For a chart listing typical harvest times in our part of the country, click here.
How does the cost of a CSA share compare to grocery store prices?
If you go to a Whole Foods, a local natural food store or farmers market, their pricing is comparable to CSA pricing. Organic items sold at Giant or Safeway are the most expensive of all. What is not comparable is pricing for CSA produce vs conventionally grown produce sold at grocery stores. Though cheaper, conventional produce is grown with chemicals and is increasingly genetically modified (GMO).
With CSA, although a small portion of your share price is going to overhead, most is going directly to the farmers to grow organic food. That is not the case in the industrial food system where shipping and marketing costs are a larger percentage of the price of food. Also conventional food production in many cases has negative impacts on the environment, people and animals.
In 2008, we were part of a Good Morning America segment that showed that buying food directly from local farmers would save you money because of the rise in gas prices. For a more in-depth look at the cost and value of eating locally produced food, click here for Local Harvest’s Sept 25 newsletter.
Which vegetables can we expect?
It varies from season to season and even within the season. Click here for a harvest chart.
How many of each vegetable can we expect?
Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative boxes contain 7-10 items. For example, one item would be a bag of carrots or a head of broccoli.
Is everything organic?
All the vegetables are organic. Some of the fruit is grown using Integrated Pest Management (I.P.M.). To read more about I.P.M, please consult this EPA web site.
Where do I pick up my weekly veggies?
Click here to see the current pickup locations. You must always pick up from the same location. We don’t show the exact locations on the web for security. At the beginning of the season, we will email you the exact address of your pickup location.
We are in the process of adding new pick-up locations. If we add one that’s more convenient for you, you can change your pick-up location up until May 1.
Can I be notified whenever new info is added to the website?
Yes. Rather than checking the site repeatedly to see if anything new has been posted, you can use something called an RSS feed. With RSS, instead of you going to a web site, the web site comes to you, sort of. The RSS feature only applies to the NEWS page of the blog, but that’s the page where you’ll find the weekly list of veggies and any announcements.
Instead of looking for updates repeatedly, only to find nothing new, we’ll notify you only when there IS something new. Watch this 3 minute video on how to set up an RSS feed in plain English. Don’t forget to turn your speakers on so you can hear it.
How do you get those CSA boxes open without ripping the tabs?
Rather than try to describe it, here’s a 45 second video that shows how.
Signing Up
How does online sign-up work?
As you start selecting things (shares, options, pick-up sites, etc.) your selections will appear in the “Summary” area. As you progress through the steps, you will see your entire order take shape.
How do I get back to the signup page from another page?
Depending on your browser settings, this window has either opened up in a separate Tab or Window. Just look for and click on the “Sandy Spring CSA” tab (or window) to make it active/get back to where you were. The same holds true for if you clicked on any link that sends you to page outside the wizard.
How do I make the ‘View Details’ window go away so I can get back to the sign-up screen?
Just click on the X in a circle in the upper right-hand corner of the details window.
The wizard won’t let me click on “Go to next step” or “Continue” — the button is there, but it’s greyed back. Why is that?
This only happens in steps where you are required to select something. For example, you must select a pick-up site in Step 1 in order to progress to step 2, “Share” (you can always go back and edit your selection later, if needed). Other steps requiring action before continuing are Step 2 “Share” (you must click Add to select a vegetable share), and in Step 5, you must check the little box “I have read and accept farm policy.”
How do I add more than one Share or Option?
Click on “Add to order” again. Each time you click on it, it will increment the quantity up by 1.
How do I remove Shares or Options?
To remove a Share or Option, click on [Remove] next to it. If you have more than one of an item, each time you click on [Remove] it will remove one increment of that item. Note that you have to be on the corresponding “step” in order to change (add/remove) that item. Use the “Go back a step” and “Go to next step” buttons and observe the changes in the “Summary” window.
How does the map part of “Choose your pick-up site” work?
The map pinpoints each of our pick-up sites (to the nearest intersection, anyway; we don’t map to exact addresses in order to protect the privacy of our site hosts). It is a standard Google map; you can enter a zip code to find pick-up sites in that area, then zoom in if you like. Click on any ‘pin’ on the map and it will name the site, give you a description of its location… and even allow you to select it as your location, if you like. We will email you to let you know the exact pickup address of your chosen site.
Why do I have to sign in?
With our online sign-up & payment system, you create an account, giving us your contact information. The system remembers your contact info for any future sign-ups, so you don’t have to re-enter everything. As the development of this system progresses, you will be able to do things like log in to your account and review/edit your contact info, your payment status, etc.
Payment-related questions
I’m just curious; how far can I progress through the signup wizard without committing to any payment?
You can proceed all the way into the payment step, including entering your credit card info. Until you click on the final “Complete” button, nothing will be charged, and your order will not be recorded into the system.
But you can relax – even if you somehow signed up and paid but didn’t intend to, no harm done. There are real people at the farm; we’re not a mega-operation with a call center in a distant land. If you messed up, just contact us at the farm and we’ll either fix your order or refund your payment if it was made by mistake.
When will I know that you’ve received my check and I can begin receiving deliveries?
Your check will be deposited into your CSA account within 5 days of receipt. We will notify you via email your pickup point location and your start date.
What if my question isn’t answered here?
If you still have questions after skimming the FAQs, contact Erin. Scroll to the very bottom of this (or any) page to find her clickable email link and phone number.