Hello everyone!
YAY!! :)
This is your pre week one newsletter. Expect your regular weekly newsletter early next week, and weekly following that.
I wanted to send this out today so that everyone will know how pick-up works on the first week of the CSA, starting Monday, April 1st through Saturday, April 6th.
You'll be receiving a printed version of the information below in your first box, which I hope you'll hang onto and refer to if you have any questions in our year together.
If you're receiving this email, that means you are all registered and set to receive your shares next week, and we look forward to seeing you!
Please see the links on the sidebar for any other questions you may have as we start the year. If you have any unanswered questions, please email me at [email protected] . I try to be very quick at returning emails, but do keep in mind that there will be a lot of questions the first week, and it's great if you can start here for answers.
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 | A couple really, really important notes:
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Those of you who have been receiving meat shares this year should note that the first meat share delivery of the new season is the second week of the CSA, April 8th- 13th.
THE FIRST WEEK ONLY we will label all of the boxes (veggie entree, veggie appetizer, fruit entree, staple share). After that, we expect that you will know what your share looks like and be able to identify what size box you get. Some locations have awesome volunteers to help you and others are self-serve. If you are at a self-serve location please pay closer attention as we count on you to take the correct items.
There are frozen tomatoes in your share this week. PLEASE make sure that you get them at your pick-up. Depending on the location, your tomatoes may be on the side in a cooler, and it is up to you to make sure that you take a bag of them with your veggie share. It's a good practice to always check the list of items (which is posted every Friday by 5 pm) before you pick-up so that you can check to make sure you have everything before you go. This saves us oodles of time in administration trying to re-unite you with missed items.
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| How it all works!
| COMMUNICATION
Each week, you will receive a newsletter from the farm to your email inbox.
It is important that you keep your email address with us up-to-date, so that we are able to contact you, especially in the event of weather cancellations or location-specific updates. You do this by logging into your account on the website and selecting "update account".
The upcoming week's shares (what will be in the boxes) will be posted on Friday afternoon and can be viewed on our website.
We LOVE when members share with us. Send us a family photo or a note, email us a favorite recipe or let us know how your family is managing eating the food in your boxes.
Feedback
A year of sharing our food on the farm is a long-term journey. In order for us to realize a mutually rewarding experience we need to communicate and be open to change. Over the past few years we have learned a lot and we have been working to respond to the requests of members. It is a constant balance for us and sometimes because of the season we have more or less of some things. This will, for some of you, take some time to adapt to. Also, our ability to make shifts is a multi-year turn around time. So if in August we don't have enough celery for example, we will not be able to fix that until the following year. So please provide us with feedback and send it as soon as you think of it. We accept it and appreciate it anytime.
PICK UP: HOW IT WORKS
Our TapRoot Van will deliver your CSA share to the pickup location. Your produce arrives in a box. This box is reused as many times as possible before going into the compost. You are invited to take the box home with you and bring it back the following week, OR you can bring along your own bag or box and leave the TapRoot box for us to bring back to the farm. Here's a video that shows a quick demo of how to fold down the boxes.
At the pickup there will be a list. Please mark yourself off this list or tell the volunteer/TapRoot crew member there. This list has your name on it, phone number, what your share is and any add on's that you have purchased. If there is anything incorrect about what is on this list when you get to your pickup please let us know as soon as possible. If you are not on the list and you should be, no worries, let us know and we will sort it out.
TapRoot Volunteers
The volunteers are members themselves who are committed to seeing local food and supporting our farm and their families by providing their space, their time and their kindness. They are not informed of anything happening with the farm or your accounts any more than you are. For this reason it is very important to us that all members get to their pickups on time and communicate directly with Teri when it comes to your membership/add on's/alternate arrangement for pickups, etc. Thanks so much to our volunteers!
Add Ons
Throughout the year we have different items that you can order each week that will arrive in addition to your CSA share. Right now we now we have honey, flour, cook books, t-shirts, produce, Pie R Squared pies, cider, fruit shares, etc listed. During the summer will have more items like flowers, tomatoes, peppers, dill pickle kits, etc. To purchase you just log in to your member account and select what you would like that is below the list of items that will be in your share. You can then choose to pay with Paypal or with cheque or cash.
Bad Apple Policy
Rarely (and we hope never!) you may find something in your box that is not up to par as far as quality goes. If you do, we ask that you immediately take a picture of the culprit and email it to Teri with your name, delivery location, and the subject "Bad Apple". The following week of delivery, we will make up a special "bad apple" box with your name on it and the replacement (of the same item, or something of equivalent value) will be inside. This will give our crew a gentle reminder to always watch quality, at the same time ensuring that your replacement is looked after and makes it to you.
We need to know right away if there is a quality issue so that we can correct it as soon as possible. Bad Apple requests can only be honored within the week that they happen. It is never our intention that you receive spoiled product, but it is difficult to correct unless we know right away. We thank you for your help in keeping our quality up to standard!
PAYMENTS
Monthly payments are due on the first of each month, from April 1, 2013 to March 1, 2014.
Quarterly payments are due March 1, May 1, July 1, and September 1.
You will receive monthly statements to the email address that you have provided if your balance is over $15. To pay with cash or cheque to the driver, please put the payment in an envelope with your name on it. If you really want to make our lives easier, you can print off what the payment is for (the receipt showing the items or your statement) and include that also.
To pay online, log into your member account on taprootfarms.ca and select "Make Payment" on the right. You can then select the corresponding invoice, or enter any amount into the box provided and click "pay now". It will redirect you to Paypal, where you can either log in to your Paypal account or sign in as a guest with a credit card.
Please call or email if you have any questions!
Vacation
This year you pay for 50 weeks of delivery, which covers an extra week off at Christmas as well as one week of holidays of your choice. You need to email us or log-in to the website to select which week you are skipping delivery.
More Vacation
If you are going to miss more than 1 week of the CSA, the easiest solution is to have a friend or family member pick-up for you in your absence. We are willing to adjust the location to suit their schedule when possible. This saves us a lot of administration and helps to get more people exposed to CSAs, as well as keeps your family and friends in healthy farm goods: a win-win for everyone!
Missed Pick-Up
If you miss a pick-up, your share will get donated to the local food bank or a family in need. We'll be there every week with your share and appreciate if you can make it, too!
Canceling the CSA
We understand that the CSA does not work for everyone. You have until September 1 to cancel without penalty. By then we have planted and harvested many of our crops and need everyone to commit to the year together.
Change your pick-up location
You can change your pick-up location to another one on the list above (provided there is enough space) by emailing Teri.
Permanently (if you move or another location becomes more convenient with your schedule); or
Weekly (if a different location is more convenient for your schedule for just a week or two)
Please give us as much notice as you can to change your location, and specify which one you would like when possible.
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| 2013-14 Locations, Days, and Times:
| - Monday
- Tuesday
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Seaport Farmers Market, Noggins Booth Halifax 2 - 5 PM
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The Loop,1547 Barrington St., Halifax 3 - 6 PM
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Grainery, 2385 Agricola 4:30 - 6:30 PM
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Highland Dr. Store House Butchery, 5544 Kaye Street 4 - 6 PM
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Maple Tree Montessori, 6583 Quinpool Road 4:30 - 5:30 PM
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Edgewood/Oxford United Church 3055 Connaught 4:45- 5:30 PM
- Wednesday
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Noggins Corner Farm, Greenwich 4:00 - 8:00 PM
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Taproot Farms, Port Williams 4:30 - 6:00 PM
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Willow Park, Wolfville 4:45 - 5:15 PM
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Home Delivery, 20 minute radius from the farm 12:00 - 5:00 PM
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Heather Clarke, 1698 Kingswood Lane, Kingston. 4:45 - 5:15 PM
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Nicole and Wayne's, 5246 Chester Rd., Windsor 3:00 - 5:00 PM
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Katherine Hutka, 5 Seawood Ave, Sackville 4:00 - 5:00 PM
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Sandra Winters, 59 Douglas Drive, Beford 4:15 -5:45 PM
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Bloom Greenhouse and Garden Centre, 1421 Hammonds Plains Rd. 4:30 - 5:45 PM
- Saturday
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Prospect Road Community Centre, Hatchet Lake 10 - 11:30 AM
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Emma's Eatery, Eastern Passage, 12:30 PM - 2 PM
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Fall River, Georges P. Vanier Jr. High School, 2:45 - 3:45 PM
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