If you’re just now hearing about the whole CSA thing, and want to join a farm for this summer/fall, act now. We still have shares remaining in Drumlin Farm and Enterprise Farm (Thursday and Wednesday pickups respectively).
The link to sign up is: www.cloverfoodlab.com/CSA. We had to move this tab from the top bar to make room for the New Locations tab (also very exciting).
This was Ryan on her first day, back in February when Farmshare signups launched. As a ski-racer, she was well-prepared for work on the trucks. Ryan approached us after attending the JDesign conference at Harvard that Clover participated in. She told us she was studying environmental policy and said she wanted to help build our CSA program. We told her we’d create an internship.
Since then she’s made herself indispensable. CSA signups went through the roof (current count of 500, that’s more than 3x what we did last year). And Ryan’s been the one on the front-lines, updating spreadsheets, communicating with farmers, and keeping me on track.
Ryan’s going to be taking a 2-year job in DC when she graduates from Harvard. I told her when she comes back she has a job running Year 4 of the Farmshare program when it spins off into a nonprofit!
(Even though they’re on a child’s floor mat at Clover headquarters). Last year customers kept walking away with the cardboard boxes that farmers packed their produce in. Farmers kept having to pay to buy more. So we’re buying a set of 2 heavy plastic boxes for each produce share. They’re going to be the Clover CSA fleet of boxes. We’re looking at buying over 600!
A bunch of farmers pointed me to the Orbis website. They’re out of Wisconsin. And they’re super nice. When Kathy saw Cambridge on my order form, she asked how we were doing after all the marathon stuff.
They sent us 3 bins they thought would work well. It’s kind of scary deciding what bin to use, because to be honest, I’m not the one packing the vegetables. We asked farmers to weigh in. We liked the green one best for volume, but it’s super heavy and a little unweildy with the bale (that stainless handle). Plus it would cost $32 for a set of two. The yellow ($16 for 2) was way too light, and didn’t seem to hold enough. The red looks like the best bet. It’s durable, holds a lot, and will only cost us $20 for two bins. What do you think?
We’ve signed up 415 members for our Farmshare program. That’s almost triple from last year. And the signups are still coming in. Ryan (our CSA intern) and I are taking a breath and counting.
Certain farms are totally sold out. Harvard Square and HUB signups are now closed. But we got special permission from the farmers to leave signups for a select number of shares OPEN at our yet-to-open Brookline Village and Burlington sites. These are going to go fast too. You can sign up at www.cloverfoodlab.com/CSA.
If you’ve signed up for a CSA, your farmers have your contact information. They’ll be in touch with you about your first day of pickup (likely first or second week of June). While you’re dreaming about your summer, why not sign up for a CSA cooking class? Classes are $50 for the public, but $5 if you pick up your CSA at Clover. Rolando is teaching a whole series: pickling, hot-sauce-making, roasting, homemade soda-syrups.
I’m not exaggerating. In addition to produce, Red Fire Farm and Kitchen Garden Farm are offering egg, fruit, and flower shares. And we are partnering with Valley Malt in Hadley to offer a grain CSA (think fresh-milled flour, malt, dry beans, polenta…and kits with everything you need to make your own beer).
I was trying to figure out how to tangibly display the shares. For the first few weeks, I tried using real food, but it didn’t last. And nothing was in season that was representative of the shares. Ayr said, “How about fake fruit?”
One trip to Michael’s in Porter Square and I was all set up. Those are real, fake Concord grapes. The real ones you’ll get in your fruit share this summer will taste a lot better, I promise.
Signups end May 1. All the details are at www.cloverfoodlab.com/CSA.
It feels like Spring out, which means everybody is asking about CSAs. We’re getting 3-7 signups every single day. The deadline to sign up is May 1. A few farms are really close to selling out, so if this is something you’re considering, you should act now. Signups and details on the website.
This is an example the first share from my Lindentree Farm CSA last June. Garlic scapes, cilantro, spring turnips, early lettuce, and a baby basil plant.
We’re offering an exciting number of shares this year, including Fruit shares and the first-ever Homebrewers CSA.
Fruit will change weekly, but you can look forward to cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pears, blackberries, peaches, plums, nectarines, melons, Cortland apples, Paula Red apples, apple cider, and ginger! Pay less than $200 and get a summer of weekly deliveries. Two of our CSA farmers (Red Fire and Kitchen Garden) are offering fruit shares this season. You’ll get to experience fruit grown in Western Mass and delivered to your nearest Clover location.
Graduation is coming up. Don’t you think this could be the perfect gift for someone you love?
My intern Erinn asked what specifically she could expect in her share. If you’re getting the Kitchen Garden share (available as a stand-alone) you can check out this link from last year, which details everything that members received. And here’s information on the Red Fire share (available as an add-on to an existing share).
Tim and Caroline farmed in Italy and France, fell in love with food, and dreamed about starting a CSA designed for couples like them who love to cook. If you’re a member of their CSA, you get invitations to these awesome dinner parties.
Sunday was the last day of sugaring in Western Mass. Caroline said she wanted to do a maple syrup dinner, but instead of the traditional waffles and pancakes, she decided to make Thai food. Apparently palm syrup and maple syrup are interchangeable in recipes. The food was just awesome. Crispy noodle soup. Maple sno-cones made with a hand-cranked machine. Tiki drinks made with maple. We sat across from the young couple who owned the sugar house, and next to a couple who are 14 months into running their own restaurant. It was cool to glimpse what life is like in an area where farming and food is a part of daily life.
Kitchen Garden is participating in Clover’s CSA program this year for the first time. We couldn’t be more excited. A share is $400, pickups are Saturdays at all 3 Clover locations. There are still a few shares left, but they’re going fast. I was talking to Tim and Caroline and the next dinner they’re dreaming about is an Italian dinner with homemade pasta.
Sign up for your Kitchen Garden share here.
Thursday was our Meet the Farmer event. We had all the farmers of our CSA program at the HUB to talk to around 200 customers about their CSA share offerings. We had a crazy number of signups that night, which is why we’ve agreed to extend the deadline to sign up to May 1.
One of the farms I was really excited to bring on is Flats Mentor Farm. The farmers are immigrants growing the food of Asia, South America, and Africa. I’ve been buying from their stand at the Union Square Farmers Market for the past 3 years, and the produce is just exquisite. The farmers write recipes and include them with each share. This is the sort of thing that’s perfect for people who like to cook and discover new types of food and are okay with doing some research on how to prepare each item. If you sign up here’s what you can expect over the course of the summer:
Amaranth (Green), Amaranth (Red), Bitter Melon, Bitter Melon Vines, Chipilin, Chives, Cucumber, Boston Lettuce, Chrysanthemum, Cilantro, Daikon Radish, Dill, Zucchini, Stir-Fry Mix, Fuzzy Gourd, Asian Arugula, Italian Basil, Hukurie/White Turnip, Kohlabri, Lettuce Mix, Maxixe, Baby Boc Choy, Onions, Pac-Choy, Tomatoes, Parsley, Pea Tendrils, Pepper Hot-Asian, Pepper Leaves, Pumpkin Vines, Mint, Red Leaf Lettuce, Carrots, Romaine Lettuce, Scallions, Squash Blossom, Summer Squash, Chinese Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Asian Mustard, Thai Basil, Sweet Potato Leaves, Water Spinach, Beets, Yu Choi, Kale, Leeks, Radishes, Green Beans
Sign up here.
We had such a crazy response after our Meet the Farmer Event on Thursday that we’ve decided to extend CSA Signups to May 1, 2013.
Some farms are close to selling out their shares, so sign up NOW to avoid losing out on vegetables, grains, eggs, and flowers from your favorite farm.
You can come into a Clover restaurant or you can sign up here.
We’re here to make food you love, the kind you talk about and look forward to eating. The Clover Food Lab is serving up a new type of fast food. This food is local, it’s just-cut, when we can it is organic.
You can learn more about
our origins,
our food,
our mistakes,
and everything else about us at this website.
Ayr Muir
Founder and CEO
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