FAQs
What is a Farm Share Membership?
A Farm Share Membership is also known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The Farm Share Membership creates a direct partnership between the customer and the farmer. You, the consumer, help the small farmer guarantee the sale of their produce at the beginning of the season and in return you can count on local, freshly harvested produce weekly! Enrolling in a Farm Share Membership will help Plant It Forward Farmers to sell their produce and earn a living wage for themselves and their families.
What will my Farm Share Membership include?
The Farm Share Membership is a pre-paid subscription of weekly vegetables for a season. The Farm Share Membership includes:
• A weekly share of locally grown and freshly harvested produce straight from our Houston farms;
• Invitations to farm events such as farm tours and volunteer days so that you can experience where your food comes from and meet the talented farmers who grow your food;
• A newsletter with updates from the farm and tips and recipes on preparing your vegetables
What size Farm Share should I choose?
A Grand Share will provide a household of 3-5 with produce for one week and a Petit Share will provide produce for a household of 1-2. Depending on the amount of fresh produce you incorporate into your diet, the Grand Share may size well for a smaller household eating a plant-based diet. You may switch from one size to another at any time during the season by logging into your online account.
How can I view my Farm Share account?
What’s in season?
The Fall-Winter vegetables, until late April and into May, include kale, spinach, collards, radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, Swiss chard, French sorrel, arugula, salad mixes, bok choy, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cilantro, dill, fennel, and green onions. Sugar peas will also be available in winter and early spring.
The Spring vegetables, starting in late April to May, include tomatoes, peppers, radishes, beets, carrots, jalapenos, eggplant, summer squash, green beans, arugula, cucumbers, collards, kale, fennel, mint and other herbs.
The Summer vegetables include winter squash (hard squashes), edamame, fresh black-eyed peas, eggplant, basil, peppers, okra, arugula, cucumbers, Chinese leeks (garlic chives), roselle greens & pods (fresh hibiscus tea), Malabar spinach, amaranth, long beans, possibly cantaloupe if weather cooperates, and even watermelon if weather cooperates.
I don’t recognize this vegetable!
Plant It Forward prides itself in growing the widest variety of produce throughout the year! In every season we grow delicious, colorful produce, choosing varieties that grow well in our climate. Our farmers also grow many of their favorite in-season vegetables from back home. Particularly in the summertime, you many encounter our locally grown, globally beloved produce such as amaranth, roselle greens and pods, Korean melon, bitter melon, sweet potato greens, sunchokes and Egyptian spinach – to name a few. We are working behind the scenes to build resources that can help our customers identify, understand the benefits of, and cook with new vegetables. In the meantime, you can peruse our recipe catalog for ideas.
What if I’m going to be out-of-town/unavailable on my Farm Share delivery day?
If you anticipate needing to miss a scheduled Farm Share delivery, you can place a delivery hold by logging into your online account. Delivery holds must be placed at least 1 week in advance. Alternatively, you might consider asking a friend or family member to pick-up and enjoy your share.
What does it mean to “invest” in my local farm?
Our farmers promise to do their best to provide you with a bountiful share each week. The quantity and variety of produce, however, may vary from week-to-week due to extreme weather, pests, natural disasters, or other production factors despite our best efforts. By joining our Farm Share, you are agreeing to share the risk of crop failure with us and other members. Read more in our Member-Farmer Agreement.
What if my pick-up day is scheduled on a holiday?
Plant It Forward delivers the Farm Share on most holidays. However, be sure to check your email for any announcements pertaining to a shift in the regular delivery schedule, around national holidays.
Do you offer a bi-weekly Farm Share subscription? Once-a-month subscription?
Plant It Forward currently only offers weekly subscriptions. Customers can use the delivery hold feature to customize their own schedules.
How can I change my Farm Share pick-up location?
You can change your Farm Share pick-up location by logging into your online account and selecting your new location. Any adjustment in location should be communicated at least 1 week in advance. Contact Customer Service at farmshareprogram@plant-it-forward.org if you need assistance.
Are there any chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers used?
NO! All of our produce is non-GMO and synthetic chemical free. All produce is grown sustainably, using organic principles. Because we farm multiple urban sites, it is not feasible at this time for Plant It Forward to undergo the process of Organic certification. However, know that you can easily visit our farms anytime and observe our practices firsthand.
You’re a non-profit – why do you charge for your Urban Farm Experience?
We understand it can be surprising and for some, even upsetting to be asked to pay for something, like the Urban Farm Experience, that includes a volunteering component. Aren’t you already helping us by volunteering? We understand your reaction. And believe us, we know we need community support to continue our work! So, why do we charge?
The gist of it is that we are a tiny grassroots organization that prioritizes sustainability. We want our farms to thrive for decades to come, which means that financial viability is an integral component of our vision of sustainability. As any small farmer or farm support organization will tell you, time and resources are always in short supply. There’s never enough for everything you want to do. So we prioritize.
As a farm support organization, our top priority is always to support our network of farmers in their efforts to further develop their businesses. We do this through our Farmer Education Programs, Farm Services Programs, and Enterprise Programs. Operating and resourcing these programs takes all the effort of our tiny staff. Honestly, in 2018 & 2019 we didn’t have any energy or resources left to engage volunteers and community members.
That said, we know that not engaging our community of supporters is a problem. We need you to continue our work! And we love that there is so much community interest in PIF. We hear all the time from people who want to get involved, who want to know our farmers, who want to experience farm life. And we genuinely want to be able to meet that need. After all, we’re in this work for the farmers, and we want others to get the opportunity to know them as well!
That’s why we’ve been working throughout 2019 to create a sustainable strategy for community engagement that will enable us to meet your desire to be part of the farm while simultaneously supporting our team as we carry out our core mission.
That brings us back to the pricing of the Urban Farm Experience. The reality is that managing volunteers requires significant resources on our end, not least of which is valuable staff and farmer time. We explored many creative solutions to our resourcing needs during the program redesign process. And we think one of the best solutions we found is to ask farm visitors to help cover the cost to PIF of hosting a quality volunteer event.
We hope this helps you understand our position. Please reach out to us at volunteer@plant-it-forward.org if you still have questions.
