summitspringsfarm.net

Our winter travels officially began today.  This morning, I drove Sonya down to the train station in Portland for her journey to Kripalu in western Mass.  She’s taking a 2-day yoga workshop there and has been very excited about going!  Meanwhile, Lydia and I are here at the farm for another couple of days before we pick Son up and proceed south…stops in Connecticut and Washington D.C. are planned before the long haul down to Florida for Christmas.  I plan to blog here every now again to keep folks updated on our progress and note any interesting farm-y/food-y stuff we run across…stay tuned!

While we’re gone, Kate will be here keeping an eye on the place.  If you’d like eggs, call the farm at 998-2196.  Kate will be answering the phone if she’s here and checking for messages when she’s not.  Also, she’ll be driving down to Portland next week for the next installment of the Monument Square winter farmers’ market.  That’s on Weds. 12/23 from 11 AM until 1 PM.

For our CSA members, don’t forget that the deadline for signing up for next season is Jan. 1.  After that, we’ll be opening up to those on our waiting list and to the general public.  We’ve already heard from a number of folks, and we thank you for renewing your membership and supporting the farm!

From all of us:  May you and yours have a happy and healthy holiday season!

Sonya has recently sent an e-mail out concerning our new approach to CSA memberships at farmers’ markets next season, and I wanted to get that info. up here on the blog and elaborate about it some more.  Next season, we will not be offering “traditional”, boxed CSA shares for our market customers in Portland and Bridgton.  Instead, we are offering market shares.  A market share works like a credit line.  Customers pay $100 in advance and then have a credit line with us worth $110; that’s a 10% discount on anything we have for sale at market:  veggies, eggs, seedlings, and more. These shares can be used at the Portland Farmers‘ Market in Monument Square every Wednesday between 7 AM - 2 PM and at the Bridgton Farmers‘ Market every Saturday between 8 AM - 1 PM.

We decided to make this change for a number of reasons, chief among them the simple fact that it makes our market days less confusing for everyone involved.  For us, it can get stressful to have market customers waiting while we get our CSA members taken care of by walking them though the contents of that week’s share and helping them pack it all up.  Also, not having to bring several bins of CSA-bound produce with us each week frees up space for us to bring more veggies and other goods to sell at market.  Finally, it empowers our market customers in a number of ways.  Some folks find it challenging to make it to market each and every week to pick up their shares.  With a market share, they simply have a credit line that they can tap into whenever they make it to market.  Our market share members can also make their own choices.  They can buy a wide variety or use a chunk of their credit to buy 10 pounds of tomatoes; they can avoid veggies they don’t like and stock up on the ones they do.

If you’re interested in one or more market shares for next season, please click on over to our CSA sign-up form, print it out, fill it out, and return it to us!  The market share specifics are in the second half of the page about halfway down.  Traditional shares are available too, of course, and can be picked up here at the farm in Poland every Tuesday or in the parking lot of the Unitarian Universalist Church on Allen Avenue in Portland every Friday.

One final note:  I’ll be back in Portland’s Monument Square this Wednesday from 11 AM to 1 PM for the first installment of the every-other-week winter market.  I’ll have loads of eggs, and that’s it…I think the snow on Saturday has finally put an end to the remaining greens!  A few other farmers will be there, too, with pork, chicken, eggs, and root crops.  Check it out!