2019-2020 Winter Share Contract

Here is information about our winter season. We hope you will join us!

WINTER SHARE Overview

Sign-up deadline extended to
Sunday, December 1st.

Please pay ASAP after receiving your invoice.

Shares

• vegetable
• apple 
• cider
• Lewis Waite Farm-only (If you do not want winter produce but want to order from LWF this winter, you must sign up for a LWF-only share, pay the administrative fee and volunteer)

CSA Winter Delivery Dates
Golden Earthworm and Lewis Waite Farm Network have coordinated their delivery schedules.

December 10th – Vegetable, fruit and cider shares and LWF orders
January 7th – Vegetable, fruit and cider shares and LWF orders
February 4th – Vegetable, fruit and cider shares and LWF orders
March 3rd – Vegetable, fruit and cider shares and LWF orders 
April 21st – LWF orders only 
May 12th – LWF orders only 

Distribution Times
Distribution is on Tuesdays, from 4-8PM.
Any produce left at 8pm is donated to a charity.
LWF items are not donated, so you must make arrangements to pick up your LWF items by 8pm.

Distribution Location
The Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Avenue in Forest Hills.
WINTER SHARE details

Winter Organic Vegetable Share – $112
Each box will contain 15+ lbs. of:
Potatoes, Watermelon Radish, Purple Top Turnips, Parsnips, Rutabaga, Carrots, Beets, Leeks, Winter Squash and Cabbage.
If we have a warm December, the first box may include greens from the fields.  Same size as last year! Same planned crops as last year, but may differ depending on harvest. Exact contents to be determined.
4 deliveries @ $28 per box = $112

The vegetables are certified organic, primarily from Golden Earthworm Organic Farm.
Golden Earthworm will supplement their produce with produce from other friends who are Certified Organic family farmers to provide more variety during the winter months. All produce and its source will be identified in the GEOF newsletters so that everything is transparent.

Subsidized Winter Organic Vegetable Share – $75
For the winter share, we have only one subsidized share category, and do not have separate low and middle income shares, as we do during the main season.

Subsidized Vegetable Share qualifications:
family size – maximum gross household income;
1 – $32,000
2 – $44,000
3 – $55,000
4 – $66,000
5 – $77,000

Subsidized shares are given on an as-needed basis, to the extent that we can afford to subsidize them. Family size and income are calculated by the number of people eating the share (whether or not they are related) and those people’s total pre-tax income from all sources, not just salary.  Subsidized shares are given out on the honor system and are subsidized by fellow members’ share price.  We reserve the right to ask for supporting documents. Limit of 1 subsidized vegetable share per family.

Returning members who qualify for subsidized shares receive priority for one week. After that, subsidized shares are given out first-come-first-served.

Winter Apple Share – $29
4 pounds of apples per delivery (same amount per delivery as last year).

Winter Cider Share – $23
1/2 gallon jug per delivery (same amount per delivery as last year). UV Pasteurized.

The apples and cider are from Briermere Farm and are not organic. Briermere Farm practices Integrated Pest Management, in consultation with the Cornell Cooperative Extension. The tree fruit is sprayed with insecticides and fungicides at various points during the season. To reduce the use of chemical insecticides the orchards are close monitored and other pest control measures are used, such as insect pheromone mating disruption. Herbicides have not been used in many years. However, sometimes the weeds get out of control and a rescue treatment has been considered. So far this has been avoided. Briermere Farm’s own leaf compost is the only fertilizer/nutrient source for their fruit crops. No chemical fertilizer is used.

Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras Program
The Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras program is run by Alan and Nancy Brown, of Lewis Waite Farm. Along with Colin Brown, they raise grass-fed and grass-finished beef and pasture raised, GMO free pork on land that is Certified Organic by NOFA-NY. They partner with a number of other farms and small family-run businesses in upstate New York and Vermont to offer a wide array of products fresh from small farms. You may read more about farms and producers and their farms or operations on their website. Their deliveries are year round, but more frequently in the summer, ranging from once a month to twice a month. Each CSA member may order whatever items they like from their wide range of products. Members can also ask them to pre-select items for them in several share type packages. All FHCSA member will receive regular emails from LWF during the season with ordering information. This winter, people are able to be LWF only members. You may be a member and just plan to order from LWFN (and not have a farm share) provided you complete the contract link and pledge to volunteer. All members with farm produce shares may order from LWF. (If you do not want winter produce but want to order from LWF this winter, you must sign up for a LWF-only share, pay the administrative fee and volunteer)

LWF Offerings

• Bread
• Dairy (milk, cheese and yogurt from cows, goats and sheep)
• Drinks (coffee, herbal teas, kefir, sparkling cider, and probiotic drinks)
• Eggs
• Meats (beef, buffalo, chevron, chicken, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, pork, rabbit, and turkey)
• Pantry items (apple sauce, dried beans, chutney, dried grains, energy bars, fresh ground flour, granola, herbal infusions and syrups, honey, jams and spreads, maple syrup, trail mix, mushroom products)

Administrative fee: $1

PAYMENT
As we did last season, payment is via PayPal* or paper check.

Payment via PayPal: We only accept funded PayPal.
That means you need to either have:

• a linked bank account
• or the funds in your PayPal balance

Sorry, but we can not accept PayPal payment through credit cards.

Payment via check: kindly write your invoice # in the memo of the check, as it facilitates record-keeping. Thanks!

VOLUNTEERING
Anna is our Volunteer Coordinator. For questions about volunteering, email Anna at FHCSAvolunteers@foresthillscsa.com. Also, please make sure that you have this address in your address book so you will receive volunteering emails.

Volunteering Requirement: 3-6 hours, depending on the number of winter members.

3 hours = 1 distribution shift, 3 truck unloading shifts, 2 surplus delivery shifts. There are NO backups! We thank you in advance for taking your volunteering commitment

Our CSA is entirely volunteer-run. All core group members pay for their shares, just as everyone else does. Some members volunteer more than the minimum requirement in order to get certain jobs done, and we gratefully appreciate those who do. The past few winters, we have had a 3-6 hour minimum volunteer requirement, depending on the number of members we have had. To clarify, the volunteer requirement is per member unit that shares one vegetable share. Most shares are shared by two or more adults. One adult may perform all the volunteering for their share, or they may split it up however they desire. However, all adults eating the share are responsible for making sure that their share’s volunteering commitment is fulfilled. If you have extenuating circumstances, please email Anna, our volunteer coordinator, at fhcsavolunteers@foresthillscsa.com .

Volunteer Sign-up Process
Forest Hills CSA uses SignUp.com, an online signup system, to schedule distribution and surplus delivery volunteers and backups.

The volunteer jobs are:

• Truck unloading: The truck is scheduled to arrive this winter at 3pm. Do note, you do not need to carry the boxes any distance, as Golden Earthworm has hand trucks, so you just need to push the hand trucks and then lift the boxes onto and off of the hand trucks. Truck unloading includes setting up for first shift
• Early shift: which may include , and approximately the first half of distribution
• Late shift – approximately the second half of distribution and cleaning up
• Surplus delivery – arrive at distribution at 8pm, pack up surplus, and drive it to a charity (in your own car). Only on GEOF distribution days.
• There are NO back-up positions. Thanks for taking your volunteer commitment seriously!

MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT
As a FHCSA member

• I understand that it is my responsibility to read the Member Guidelines in its entirety before the season begins, so that I understand how distribution and the CSA works. The Member Guidelines will be emailed before the season begins.
• I understand that this is a community project and as such, I agree to fulfill the minimum volunteering requirement for the CSA set by the Core Group (which will probably be 3-6 hours, as decided by the core group), working at the distribution site or the equivalent, as approved by the Core Group.
• I understand that it is my responsibility to sign up for volunteer slots on SignUp.com or arrange for other approved duties; otherwise, in the future I will no longer be eligible for FHCSA membership. 
• I understand that if I do not pick up my (vegetable/fruit/cider) share it will be donated appropriately; I do not expect to have my share saved.
• I understand that I have a responsibility to pick up my LWF order during distribution.
• I agree to keep my membership account information up to date and to promptly notify info@foresthillscsa.com of any changes.
• I understand that the CSA’s primary means of communication is via email, and I will read FHCSA emails and respond appropriately
• If I sign up for a subsidized share, I truthfully meet the income guidelines.
• I understand that I am only a member when my full payment is received before the deadline.

Payments, Refunds & Cancellations

• Requests for refunds by a member prior to the first day of the CSA harvest season will be issued a full refund less a $15.00 administrative processing fee.
• Cancellation by the farm during this period will dictate a full refund to the member for the share price paid.
• From the first day of the CSA harvest season on, we can not refund your share as we have already paid our farmers and we are counting on your volunteering. The Core Group will try to help you find someone from our wait-list who would buy your share. However, it is ultimately your responsibility to sell your share, if you desire, and to notify the Core Group of the new CSA member(s).
• Cancellation by the farm during the season will dictate a pro-rated refund to the member for the remaining weeks of unclaimed produce.
• A $15.00 fee (or the amount charged, if we are charged more) will apply to all returned or bounced checks.

MEMBERSHIP CONTRACT here.

Questions? Please email info@foresthillscsa.com or call Marina at (917) 748-3186.

Thanks!

Marina, Anna and Tom
The FHCSA Core Group