HOW DOES THE CSA AT LEANING BIRCH FARM WORK?
Typical CSAs follow some method of filling a bag or box with an assortment of vegetables each week. CSA members often have no choice of what they receive, or how much. In response to a growing demand for customizable shares and online purchasing, we offer the Farm Card CSA.
Leaning Birch Farm Card members really enjoy being able to select from our full line of available produce and receive the items they want, and in the amounts they want…no surprises! This model affords members the ability to vary the amounts and frequency they purchase based on their needs, rather than being tied to a particular allotment every week. Just like traditional CSAs, Farm Card members pay for their share up front, but receive a pre-paid farm debit card to use when and as they wish, rather than get farmer-selected vegetables on a specific schedule. And, they can continue to purchase online for as long into the fall as the store is operational. Additionally, members can begin using their cards at our farmers market locations before and after the online store is up and running giving them access to our earliest spring and latest fall crops.
The Farm Card CSA offers two ways for members to use their cards:
One way is to go to our online store each week and select the items they’d like to receive. On their selected pick-up day, they come to the farm or one our farmers market locations to get their order.
Our online store will be open for the season from the first weekend in May through November, but members can use their cards at any of our locations before and after that timeframe, giving them access to our earliest spring and latest fall crops.
The online store opens each Monday at 8 PM and closes each Thursday at 9 PM. Members can place their orders during that timeframe and then go to whichever location they chose when placing their order to pick up their purchases on the designated day and time.
While pre-ordering works well for some CSA members, we strongly encourage folks to come to the store on our farm (more details about this coming soon) or farmers market booths to shop for their food in a more traditional way. They select the items they wish to purchase and present their Farm Card for payment at the checkout…it’s that easy!
Shopping, rather than preordering, makes sense because there are often items available at the farm store or farmers markets that don’t make it onto the online store. Also, members can select the exact items they’d like, rather than relying on our judgement. In addition, we plan to offer a few items at our on-farm store that, since we don’t produce them, we aren’t able to sell at the farmers markets. This could include things such as local honey, maple and dairy products, baked goods, etc. Members will be able to use their Farm Cards for anything purchased at the farm store.
Farm Card Shares are offered in FOUR different sizes:
Personal: Members pay $225 and receive a farm card in the amount of $250, a savings of 10%. This size share is a great choice for a couple, perhaps with one or two small children. CLICK HERE to pay in full, or HERE to make a 20% deposit.
Pair: Members pay $425 and receive a farm card in the amount of$500, a savings of 15%. This size share is a great choice for a couple, perhaps with one or two small children. CLICK HERE to pay in full, or HERE to make a 20% deposit.
Family: Members pay $600 and receive a farm card in the amount of$750, a savings of 20%. This size share is good for families of 3-4 people, especially those who usually cook at home. A couple who eat a plant-based diet may find this is the correct size for them. CLICK HERE to pay in full, or HERE to make a 20% deposit.
Veggie Lover: Members pay $750 and receive a farm card in the amount of$1000, a savings of 25%. This bounty-size share is offered for avid cooks who use a lot of vegetables and herbs, or families of 3-4 who eat primarily a plant-based diet. CLICK HERE to pay in full, or HERE to make a 20% deposit.
If you spend the entire balance before the season ends, you can reload your card in $100 increments. A 15% discount is applied, resulting in a cost of $85 for every $100 added to your card. Please contact us to let us know you’d like to add more money to your farm card and we will provide the link.
If you don’t use the entire balance this season, don’t worry! Any balance remaining on the card at the end of the calendar year will carry over to the following year, with no service charges applied. Whenever members renew their cards each year, they pay the cost of one of the plans above.
Memberships are limited, so join early to avoid getting shut out!
You can secure your membership by paying a 20% deposit. Once the deposit has been made, you may make subsequent payments in whatever amounts and frequencies work best for you, and we will fill your card when payment has been made in full. Our website is guaranteed as secure for accepting online payments.
Checks are always accepted for new or returning members and can be made payable to: Leaning Birch Farm. Please note on the comment line of your check that your payment is for the 2026 CSA membership fee as well as which size share you’d like.
While we certainly track all payments as they are made, we do not have the means to send payment reminders. It is each member’s responsibility to keep track of how much they have paid and ensure full payment is made.
Your Farm Card will be available for use as soon as we receive your full payment. That means that, the earlier you pay in full, the earlier in the season you can begin enjoying all of the benefits of being a member of our Farm Family!