FAQs | myfinehomestead

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Frequently Asked Questions

WHEN do 2026 Shares BEGIN? And When do they END?

Yearly Shares - These shares fun for one calendar year from when your share starts. When you sign up, let us know when you'd like to start and if we have the supply, we're happy to accommodate. Most members choose to start their Yearly Shares with the summer season, but it doesn't have to be that way. No matter when it starts, each Yearly Share includes both Summer & Winter Shares.

Summer Shares -
- Madison Area, Middleton = Wednesdays June 3 - Oct 28
- Spring Green = Saturdays June 6 - Oct 31

Winter Shares -
- Madison Area, Middleton = Wednesdays Nov. 4, 2026 - May 26, 2027
- Spring Green = Nov. 7, 2026 - May 29, 2027

SHOULD I Get a Full or a Half Vegetable Share?

If you eat a lot of vegetables or you like to preserve for the winter, then choose the full-size with 8-10 different types of veggies each time during the summer season and 6 - 10 during the winter season.

The half-size share will have 5 to 8 items different types of veggies each time during the summer season and 4 - 8 during the winter season.

WHAT kind of vegetables can I expect?

The short answer ➡️a wide variety!

They'll be a mix of the standard vegetables most love like lettuce mix, spinach, radishes, peas, beans, carrots, asparagus, kale, broccoli, cabbage, beets, summer and winter squashes, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, sweet corn, potatoes, garlic, cauliflower, and raspberries too!

And every once in a while we'll include some not as familiar but also delicious in their own right such as fennel, kohlrabi, turnips, microgreens, tomatillos, different herbs, Swiss chard, and eggplant.

DO I Pick Out What is in My Share Each Week?

The short answer is YES! If you want to, you can, but you don't have to do so.

Each week we offer a traditional type of CSA share filled with seasonal produce that we call our DEFAULT SHARE.

If it looks good to you, you're all set.

However, if you'd rather, you can instead fill out a short form to DESIGN MY OWN SHARE picking from

everything we have available at the time.

IS Everything in My Share CERTIFIED ORGANIC?

The short answer is YES, all the vegetables are certified organic!

Our farm has been USDA certified organic since 2015.

There are occasions when we “buy in” vegetables from other farms — if we have a crop failure, another farmer has a bumper crop, or we just need to supplement our harvest.

When we do this, we always let you know, and purchase from other certified organic growers.

And while we use organic practices to raise our animals, evaporate syrup, and extract honey,

we are NOT certified in those areas.

WHAT IF I Have to Skip My Scheduled Share Pick Up? Can I Switch My Pick Up Date?

The short answer again is YES!

We're happy to accommodate your schedule whenever we can.

Every Other Week boxes can be moved to the week before or after.

Every Week Shares are a little trickier, but there are things we can do. We may be able to tag it on the end of your share schedule, enlarge your next share, or substitute other items to replace the value. Other possibilities include designating a friend, neighbor, or relative to get and use your box or store it for you, or choosing to donate it.

That said, it's easier to deal with these changes when you let us know at least a week ahead. But no matter when it happens, check with us to see what the options are. We understand that unforeseen things happen.

I FORGOT to Pick Up My Share! Can I Still Get It?

The short answer for this question is maybe . . . probably.

As soon as you realize, please contact us by phone or text so we can let your drop-site manager know

and make arrangements - if possible.

If you don't contact us, or the manager doesn't realize a box hasn't been picked up until the next morning, it may be given away (especially if it is during extreme weather.)

CAN I Send Someone Else to Pick Up My Share if I Can't?

Yes! That's up to you.

CANCELLATION Policy

We'd rather not end any share before it's scheduled end date however, we offer a money-back guarantee.

If you are for any reason dissatisfied with your membership and wish to cancel, if you move out of the area, or cannot finish your share, please communicate this as soon as possible, and we'll arrange a refund on a pro-rated basis.

HOW D0 I Pay?

You can pay either in full, in half, quarterly, or monthly by credit card, Paypal, check, or even through FairShare CSA Coalition's Partner Share program for those with lower income.

Paying with Credit/Debit Card

In Full - choose that option at checkout. (We use PayPal as our secure credit card processor but you don't have to have a PayPal account to pay with a credit/debit card.
Installment - choose whether you'd like 2 Payments, Quarterly, Monthly when ordering, and I will set up the appropriate recurring billing for you. When you receive your email invoice, you can pay directly from it with your credit/debit card. (Or change your mind and send a check if you wish.)

Paying with Check (mail to: Stacey Feiner, My Fine Homestead, 32727 Byrds Creek Valley Dr., Blue River, WI 53518)

In Full - send to the above address.
Installment - You can send all of your check payments using the current date for the first one and dating subsequent checks accordingly. OR choose whether you'd like 2 Payments, Quarterly, Monthly when ordering, and I will set up the appropriate recurring billing for you. When you receive your email invoice, you can send a check. (Or change your mind and pay directly from it with a credit/debit card.)

Partner Share

Place your order to save your spot & choose the Partner Share option with ordering. Then apply with FairShare. Their office will notify us when you are accepted and send us payment.

HOW Will I Know What's in My Share Each Week?

Each share week, you'll receive a plan email with our plan for the Default Share

along with a link to the Design My Share form.

HOW Do I Know What to do With the Items in My Share?

Then later in the week, you'll receive a newsletter that includes a labeled photo of both the Vegetable & MES shares along with reminders about where to store each veggie, common uses for that veggie, whether you can freeze it, recipes, and farm happenings.

CAN I Come Out and Visit the Farm? Maybe Even Help With Harvest?

Volunteering is not part of your CSA membership, but we welcome you to visit the farm and even participate in whatever jobs are happening at the time. If this sounds like something you'd like to do, be sure to let us know.

stacey@myfinehomestead.com

And you're invited to join us at our Annual Open Farm Day October 12.

WHAT Does My Share Come In? A Box?

In 2020, we switched from packing Vegetable Shares in boxes to paper bags with a plastic liner

that you keep and don't have to return to us.

If your food will be in your car for a while after you pick it up, we recommend bringing an insulated bag or cooler to keep the share in until you get home.

If you have a MES share, it will be packed in an insulated box.

We do ask you to return MES packing materials and egg cartons back to your drop site the next time you pick up, so we can clean & reuse them. Some also return paper bags but that's optional. If you can use them, feel free!

We strongly recommend that you take your MES items home fairly quickly after pick up and store the items

correctly in either the fridge or freezer to preserve their quality.

I AM Composting More of the Food in My Share than I Expected at the End of the Week! Is That Normal?

When you come to the end of the first week or two, you may find that there are some veggies in your box that you just never got to, or that you don’t like. And they end up getting tossed.

This can seem like a waste of food, and you may feel guilty about it. We encourage you to expect the fact that no matter how great you are at eating veggies, you will almost certainly compost a certain portion of your share once in a while. Sometimes just because your life gets busy, and you aren't able to do your best job using everything in your share.

And if this is the first time you've participated in a CSA, or eaten seasonally, it's absolutely normal and often unavoidable depending on how much time you have to devote to it and also how motivated you are.

There's a learning curve to eating fresh perishable food seasonally.

But the good news is that it isn't magic.

You can and will learn practices that will make you better at preparing, preserving, and ultimately eating foods that will nourish you and those that you feed whether that's every day or at a special potluck. But, it will take a little time to learn those practices and develop helpful habits like keeping an inventory of what's in your refrigerator. The most important thing you can do is keep with it, accept that there will be weeks you do better and weeks you don't and will end up throwing out more than you're comfortable with.

That being said, if you find that it’s happening a lot, we encourage you to find friends or neighbors to share with until you get the hang of using your share. Just forgive yourself and stick with it. Diligence will pay off and you will soon realize you and/or your people will be eating more vegetables on a regular basis.

And that's when you know you are doing it right!