CSA Season Dates and Schedule

Season: May 3rd/5th/6th through October 25th/27th/28th, 2023 (Wed/Fri/Sat pickups).

The season is 26 weeks long.

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Bi-weekly schedule

Bi-weekly members pick up their box every other week. You will have to select a track when signing up. Please look at your calendar and select a track that makes most sense for your situation (fewest vacations during pickup weeks, etc).

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Track A would be the odd-numbered weeks of the CSA (week 1, 3, 5, etc.)

Track B would be the even-numbered weeks of the CSA (week 2, 4, 6, etc.)

 

TRACK A (Wed/Fri/Sat pickup)

May 3/5/6

May 17/19/20

May 31/June 2/3

June 14/16/17

June 28/30/July 1

July 12/14/15

July 26/28/29

August 9/11/12

August 23/25/26

September 6/8/9

September 20/22/23

October 4/6/7

October 18/20/21

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Slice of Heaven Farm Growing Practices

How we grow our vegetables

We use better than organic practices to grow our vegetables. Most large organic operations are not hugely different than conventional operations besides the fact that they use organic pesticides. They often employ plastic mulches which add to the waste on our planet. We do not operate like that. Our main goal is to protect and increase soil health. With healthy soil, vegetables can grow very well. We do not use pesticides or herbicides. We use mechanical cultivation to remove weeds. We enrich our soil with compost and some organic amendments like seaweed extract. We use physical barriers like row cover fabric to exclude pests from crops.

Because we use these practices that are gentle on our planet, you may find the occasional slug or bug damage on some crops. They are harmless to your vegetables. Remember, you can see bugs but you can’t see pesticides.
 

 

Produce Prep and storage

Please wash your produce before using. We rinse off some of our vegetables right after harvesting, like carrots and other root crops. Others we leave unwashed because this extends the shelf life. For example, we do not wash our salads and lettuces because this greatly reduces their shelf life. Store your produce in the fridge as we gave it to you and wash it only right before using.

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Crop variety and failure, box size changes over the season

We grow over 45 different variety of vegetables so there should be abundant variety in our CSA boxes over the season. It’s important to remember that all vegetables are seasonal and will only be available when they are in season. Our early season boxes will include more greens than the rest of the season, as greens are what grow best during the cold winter and early spring months. They will also be a little smaller than the summer and fall boxes. As soon summer hits the boxes will be full of summer vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, all kinds of squash, cucumbers, lettuces, etc. When we have bumper crops, you will receive extras! We do not guarantee any specific crop in your boxes because of unforeseen potential crop failures. 

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Pick up details and procedures

Pick-up locations

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• Wednesday On Farm Pick-up and U-pick

Time: 3pm-6pm

Location: 43464 SE Phelps Rd. Sandy

 

• Friday Mt. Hood Farmers Market Pick-up

Time: 2pm-6pm

Location: Our market stand at the Ant Farm Barn in Sandy, next to Dairy Queen

 

• Saturday Gresham Farmers Market Pick-up

Time: 8:30am-2pm

Location: Our market stand at 3rd and Hood Ave, Gresham Center for the Arts Plaza (downtown)

 

Payment information

Our CSA costs $37 per week. The full season is 26 weeks which adds up to $962. The bi-weekly share (every other week) is 13 weeks which adds up to $481.
There are no membership fees ever!

Payment plans 
Full payment
This option allows you to pay for the entire CSA share upfront. We appreciate members who do this because this money ends up being our capital for the beginning of the season (when we buy compost, potting soil, materials and seed).
 
Monthly payment
We understand that not all members can pay in full. If you choose a monthly payment plan, we break up the payments into 6 payments (or 4 payments for the summer session). The first is due at signup and the following 5 are due in May, June, July, August and September. Even though you still get CSA boxes all through October, you won’t owe a monthly payment that month (unless you signed up when the season already began).

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Payment types

• Cash: In person only, to arrange appt. email Marieta 

• Check: Mail your check to Slice of Heaven Farm, 43464 SE Phelps Rd. Sandy OR 97055

• Electronic check: Pay directly from your bank account. 

• Paypal: Here you can use a credit card or debit card to pay. 

• Venmo/Square Cash: My Venmo account is @marieta22. My Square Cash account is $SOHfarm. 

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Online account and communication

E-mail is our primary form of communication

Email is the way we get important messages to all our members. You will receive a variety of different communications throughout the season. Some of the e-mails are automatic reminders from our online system, which remind you that you have a pickup coming up in a few days. Some emails are billing reminders. We also send weekly newsletters, with a list of what will be in the box, recipes, updates on the farm and important announcements.

 

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO RECEIVE EMAILS FROM US. Sometimes, something comes up with a pickup change and we want to make sure ALL members get that information. Please add the following email addresses to your contacts list so they don’t filter into your spam folder: sliceofheavenfarm@gmail.com and info@sliceofheavenfarm.com

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Sometimes, email programs have something called a PROMOTIONAL folder and often, our emails get put into those folders because they can tell the emails are from a business.

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Unable to make pickup

You are always welcome to send someone to pick up your box for you if you are unable to make your pick-up time.

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If something last minute comes up and your box is not picked up by the end of the pickup window and we haven’t heard from you via email/text, we will donate the box to our community food bank. If you contact us before the end of the pickup window letting us know you’d like to pick up your box from the farm the following day(s), we can hold onto the box at the farm for the rest of the weekend. Please text Marieta at (504)722-2272 TO ASK US TO HOLD YOUR BOX on the farm and please specify who you are because Marieta doesn’t have everyone’s numbers in her phone.

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Switch pickup location via online system

If you can’t make your pickup day but can make a different pickup day, you are welcome to change your pickup day/location through the online system. As soon as your previous delivery day is completed, you can login to your account and make a change for the next delivery. It only works if you make the change before the deadline for the different pickup days.

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Refer to chart below for deadlines.

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Example: Your regular pickup is Saturday at Gresham Farmers Market. You want to change your next delivery to Wednesday at the farm. As soon as it is Sunday of the week of the pickup you want to change, you can login to your account and change it (by selecting change “Next Delivery”). For you to be included in Wednesday’s roster, you must make the change in your account before Monday at 12 pm.

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To make the change, login to your account and next to the green box that says PICKUP LOCATION select “Next Delivery.” This will change your location to where you select for ONLY your next delivery. No need to login and change it back. It will revert to your normal location automatically for the next pickup.

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PERMANENT LOCATION CHANGE: Please contact Marieta by email before doing a permanent location change. There may be restrictions. Some locations have maximum amounts of members.

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Delivery hold (Vacation hold)

You are welcome to put your membership on hold if you are going out of town. You can login into your account and place a delivery hold anytime, as long as it is 5 days before your next delivery date. You will not receive a refund for the week(s) you miss. If you are a bi-weekly member and wish to swap a week, please email Marieta at sliceofheavenfarm@gmail.com to do this for you (it cannot be done by you in your online account). If you are a weekly member, you can request a gift card credit (to be used at our market stand) for your missed week. We only give one $37credit per season even if you miss multiple weeks.

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Other policies

“Exchange up to 2 items” Policy for market pickup
Everyone has different tastes or certain vegetables that they cannot eat so we have an “Exchange up to 2 items” policy. Each week, you are welcome to exchange up to 2 items from your box. Whoever helps pack up your CSA bag at the market will assist you in exchanging up to two items of equal value.

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No show pickup (missed boxes for two weeks in a row with no notice)

If you don’t pick up your box for 2 pickups in a row AND we don’t hear from you, we will discontinue your membership until we hear from you again. This is to prevent us from filling boxes that will continue to be left behind. As soon as we hear from you (phone call or e-mail) and you are ready to resume pickups, we will begin filling your box again.

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Refunds or cancellation

We cannot cancel memberships or give refunds mid-season. The reason for that is that your membership supports our growing season. Most or all of the money you invest in our CSA is spent by the beginning of the season. By buying your vegetables through a CSA instead of through a grocery store, you establish a relationship with your farmer and where your vegetables come from. The investment is for the entire season. If something comes up where you cannot finish the season with us, you are always free to transfer the reminder of your shares to another individual after notifying us first.  Similarly, we cannot downgrade your membership from a weekly to bi-weekly share. Upgrades from bi-weekly to weekly will be available if anyone is interested.

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Comments or questions

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to speak to us (Marieta or Brandon) in person at the market or e-mail us at sliceofheavenfarm@gmail.com.

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