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How does the CSA work?
Well, Laura and her workers do most of the work. We grow and harvest the food and get it ready for distribution to the shareholder families. Shareholders come to the farm, which is about two miles north and west of Mount Vernon, once per week to pick up their share of that week’s garden production. The season lasts 20 weeks and will start either the week of June 6/9 or 13/16, depending on the weather up to that point. The regular pick-up times are Mondays 4:30-7 p.m. and Thursdays 4:30-7 p.m. until the week of Sept. 19/22. After that, everybody picks up at the same time, Saturdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. from Oct. 1 until Oct. 22 or 29. If you decide to join the CSA, you select Monday or Thursday for your regular pick-up night during the summer. We’ll put the vegetables out on tables and in tubs in our big shed. Some things will be washed, although most will still have some field dirt on them. There is a blackboard that tells you the amount of each kind of food that you should take for your share. Here’s where you have to do some work. You go around the room, and sometimes outside on the hayrack, to select and weigh your own share. Be sure to bring your bags and boxes to carry it all home. There will be plenty of vegetables that we have in large supply and less of the things that don’t grow so well. Whatever we have, we share it among everybody. There is often excess of certain crops like leafy greens and herbs (because I like to grow them) that are available for you to take whatever you will need for that week. While we wash a few vegetables like potatoes and carrots, you shouldn’t eat them until you wash them again at home. At this point, we sometimes use pond water to wash the big dirt off the vegetables, but pond water can contain some nasty guys that you don’t want in your stomach. So, WASH EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU EAT IT. PLEASE!!!! There might be a few of those guys still lurking on the vegetables.