Frequently Asked Questions
WHEN do 2024 Shares BEGIN? And When do they END?
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Yearly Shares - One calendar year from when your share starts. When you sign up, let us know when you'd like to start and if we have the supply, we're happy to accommodate. Most members choose to start their Yearly Shares with the summer season, but it doesn't have to be that way. No matter when it starts, each Yearly Share includes both Summer & Winter Shares.
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Summer Shares 2024 -
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Madison Area, Middleton, Cross Plains, Mazomanie = Wednesdays June 5 - Oct 30.
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Muscoda area = Fridays June 7 - Nov 1
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Spring Green = Saturdays June 8 - Nov 2
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Winter Shares -
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Madison Area, Middleton, Cross Plains, Mazomanie = Wednesday Nov 6 - May 28
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Richland Center, Muscoda = Fridays Nov 8 - May 30
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Spring Green = Every Other Saturday Nov 9- May 31
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SHOULD I Get a Full or a Half Summer Vegetable Share?
If you eat a lot of vegetables or you like to preserve for the winter, then choose the full-size. It will have 8 to 12 items each box - a mix of the standard vegetables most people are familiar with along with a few that are not as common. The half-size box has 5 to 8 items each box. Generally these boxes have more common vegetables.
DO I Pick Out What is in My Share Each Week?
Your share is pre-packed with seasonal produce from the farm.
IS Everything in My Share CERTIFIED ORGANIC?
YES, all the vegetables are certified organic.
Our farm ground has been USDA certified organic since 2015. There are occasions when we “buy in” vegetables from other farms — if we have a crop failure, another farmer has a bumper crop, or we just need to supplement our harvest. When we do this, we always let you know, and purchase from other certified organic growers.
While we use organic practices to raise our animals, evaporate syrup, and extract honey,
we are NOT certified in those areas.
WHAT IF I Have to Skip My Scheduled Share Pick Up? Can I Switch My Pick Up Date?
We're happy to accommodate your schedule whenever we can.
Every Other Week boxes can be moved to the week before or after.
Every Week Shares are a little trickier, but there are things we can do. We may be able to tag it on the end of your share schedule, enlarge your next share, or substitute other items to replace the value. Other possibilities include designating a friend, neighbor, or relative to get and use your box or store it for you, or choosing to donate it.
That said, it's easier to deal with these changes when you let us know at least a week ahead. But no matter when it happens, check with us to see what the options are. We understand that unforeseen things happen and will help problem-solve on how to deal with it. 😊
I FORGOT to Pick Up My Share! Can I Still Get It?
Short answer is maybe.
As soon as you realize, please contact us by phone or text so we can let your drop-site manager know and make arrangements - if possible.
If you don't contact us or the manager doesn't realize a box hasn't been picked up until the next morning, it may be given away (especially if it is during extreme weather.)
CAN I Send Someone Else to Pick Up My Share if I Can't?
Sure! That's up to you.
CANCELLATION Policy
We'd rather not end any share before it's scheduled end date however, we offer a money-back guarantee.
If you are for any reason dissatisfied with your membership and wish to cancel, if you move out of the area, or cannot finish your share, please communicate this as soon as possible. We will arrange a refund on a pro-rated basis.
HOW D0 I Pay?
You can pay either in full, in half, quarterly, or monthly by credit card, Paypal, check, or even through FairShare CSA Coalition's Partner Share program for those with lower income.
Paying with Credit/Debit Card
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In Full - choose that option at checkout. (We use PayPal as our secure credit card processor but you don't have to have a PayPal account to pay with a credit/debit card.
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Installment - choose whether you'd like 2 Payments, Quarterly, Monthly when ordering, and I will set up the appropriate recurring billing for you. When you receive your email invoice, you can pay directly from it with your credit/debit card. (Or change your mind and send a check if you wish.)
Paying with Check (mail to: Stacey Feiner, My Fine Homestead, 32727 Byrds Creek Valley Dr., Blue River, WI 53518)
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In Full - send to the above address.
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Installment - You can send all of your check payments using the current date for the first one and dating subsequent checks accordingly. OR choose whether you'd like 2 Payments, Quarterly, Monthly when ordering, and I will set up the appropriate recurring billing for you. When you receive your email invoice, you can send a check. (Or change your mind and pay directly from it with a credit/debit card.)
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Place your order to save your spot & choose the Partner Share option with ordering. Then apply with FairShare. Their office will notify us when you are accepted and send us payment.
WHERE Do I Send My Check/s?
Mail your check (made out to My Fine Homestead) to
Stacey Feiner, My Fine Homestead, 32727 Byrds Creek Valley Dr, Blue River, WI 53518.
HOW Will I Know What's in My Share Each Week?
Each share week, I'll email a "This Week's Plan" listing what we anticipate will be in the week's share.
This list will be at least 85% accurate, as there may be last minute changes as we harvest (almost always the day before delivery) and see exactly what is ready and how much quantity we have.
Then I send out a newsletter on Wednesday that includes a labeled photo of both the Vegetable & MES shares along with reminders about where to store each veggie, common uses for that veggie, whether you can freeze it, recipes, and farm information and happening.
HOW Do I Know What to do With the Items in My Share?
The newsletter will have information & recipes to help you be successful at using the vegetables in your share.
We also have a private Facebook group that we encourage you to join (it is in no way required though) where members can share cooking ideas, recipes, photos, kitchen tools, and discussion about preparing food.
CAN I Come Out and Visit the Farm? Maybe Even Help With Harvest?
Volunteering is not part of your CSA membership, but we welcome you to visit the farm and even participate in whatever jobs are happening at the time! If this sounds like something you'd like to do, be sure to let us know.
WHAT Does My Share Come In? A Box?
In 2020, we switched from packing Vegetable Shares in boxes to paper bags with a plastic liner
that you keep and don't return to us. We plan to continue that practice.
If your food will be in your car for a while after you pick it up, we recommend bringing an insulated bag or cooler to keep the share in until you get home.
If you have a MES share, it will be packed in an insulated box.
We do appreciate if you return MES packing materials and egg cartons back to your drop site the next time you pick up so we can clean & reuse them. Some also return paper bags but that's optional. If you can use them, feel free!
We strongly recommend that you take your MES items home fairly quickly after pick up and store the items correctly in either the fridge or freezer to preserve their quality.
I AM Composting More of the Food in My Share than I Expected at the End of the Week! Is That Normal?
When you come to the end of the first week or two, you may find that there are some veggies in your box that you just never got to, or that you don’t like. And they end up getting tossed.
This can seem like a waste of food, and you may feel guilty about it. We encourage you to expect the fact that no matter how great you are at eating veggies, you will almost certainly compost a certain portion of your share once in a while. Sometimes just because your life gets busy, and you aren't able to do your best job using everything in your share.
And if this is the first time you've participated in a CSA, or eaten seasonally, it's absolutely normal and often unavoidable depending on how much time you have to devote to it and also how motivated you are.
There's a learning curve to eating fresh perishable food seasonally.
But the good news is that it isn't magic.
You can and will learn practices that will make you better at preparing, preserving, and ultimately eating foods that will nourish you and those that you feed whether that's every day or at a special potluck. But, it will take a little time to learn those practices and develop helpful habits like keeping an inventory of what's in your refrigerator. The most important thing you can do is keep with it, accept that there will be weeks you do better and weeks you don't and will end up throwing out more than you're comfortable with.
That being said, if you find that it’s happening a lot, we encourage you to find friends or neighbors to share with until you get the hang of using your share. Just forgive yourself and stick with it. Diligence will pay off and you will soon realize you and/or your people will be eating more vegetables on a regular basis.
And that's when you know you are doing it right!
MORE QUESTIONS?
Email stacey@myfinehomestead.com or call Stacey at (608)588-5153
