April 26

Box Contents:

1 bu Asparagus

.75 lbs Spinach

1 lb Sugar Snap or Snow Peas

1 bu Carrots

1 lb Little Gem and/or Baby Red Romaine Lettuce

1 bu Green Garlic

Box notes: Many of the items in this week’s box are higher value so it may appear that there are fewer items in your box than other weeks. The peas and asparagus require more time to harvest, wash and pack than the other crops; this is why they are valued higher. We base the crop prices on the going rates for certified organic produce at local stores and at the farmers markets. Each box content item price is determined weekly, then, we calculate the total. We aim for a $26-$27 produce value for the weekly boxes and the remainder ($3 - $4) is to cover administration of the CSA program and veggie box delivery costs. 

Are there items you’d like to see more of or less of? Please email the farm with your feedback/suggestions. We know everyone’s palates are different so it’s not possible to please all but we appreciate hearing from you about your preferences for the veggie box contents. Also, when you post photos of your meal prep with Riverdog produce, recipe creations or when you open the box to see what you’ve received for the week, please tag RiverdogFarm (our Instagram handle) so that we can see what you’re up to in the kitchen.

Frog Hollow Farm Fruit Box Subscribers: Coming soon: stone fruit, cherries, mulberries, and blueberries. All subscribers can sign up for a fruit box on Thursday at NOON the ordering window will open until Sunday afternoon. More information about Frog Hollow is at the end of this newsletter.

Field Notes: We experienced an amazingly beautiful storm with intensely dark storm clouds on Sunday that unloaded some precipitation and another storm last week with over 100 lightning strikes along the Blue Ridge mountains west of the farm. Both storms combined brought a little under ¼ inch of rain that we really needed. The storms also brought cooler temperatures which help to prolong the spring crops. Our recent nighttime low was 36 degrees. Fingers crossed for no more frost in the near future to prevent the tomato, pepper and eggplant young plants from freezing. 

Please encourage neighbors, friends and colleagues to sign-up for the Riverdog Farm CSA. We offer Gift Certificates (on the webstore) or you can sign up your friends and family members with a check or credit card. Print or email the Welcome email to send to the gift recipient.

Raw Mission Almonds, Raw Hartley Walnuts and vegetable items are available by the case or half case. Visit: https://csa.farmigo.com/store/riverdogfarmcsa to place your orders. Please place your orders by noon, 2 days before your delivery day to ensure same week delivery.

Announcement for Chicken Subscribers and for folks ordering chickens from the webstore: you now have the ability to specify your preferred chicken weight. At the moment, the weight range is 3.5 lbs to 4.5 lbs. Larger chickens will be available in a few months.

Look for announcements in the newsletter about the changes to available chicken weights. There are several weights to choose from: 3.5 lbs to 4.5 lbs, by the ½ lb increment. Please log in to your account and select the size you’d like.  You can change the size as needed but once selected, that will be the approximate weight you receive. Make any changes by noon 48 hours before your deliver day. Thank you!

The weekly box contents are subject to change. We include a list of box contents in the newsletter to give you an idea of what to expect but it may differ from what is packed. Crop quality, daily yields and weather conditions will determine final box contents each week.

Remember to email the farm csa@riverdogfarm.com to confirm cancellation of your CSA membership.

Please pick up your veggie box on your delivery day. Please pick up your CSA order on your delivery day so that it stays fresh and we can ensure quality. CSA site hosts may donate any unclaimed items no sooner than 24 hours after the original pick up day and time week of 3pm. After 24 hours (3pm the following day) unclaimed/forgotten orders may no longer be available and the subscriber absorbs the subscription cost for that week’s order.

Friendly Reminder: A/B delivery schedules are every other week. They aren’t always 1st/3rd or 2nd/4th weeks due to some months having 5 weeks.

New CSA Announcements:

1. Chicken subscriptions are available AND now you can choose a desired weight in whole numbers between 3 lbs and 6 lbs. The whole chickens (with head and feet) are $6 per lb. The average weight is 3.5 to 7 lbs. All meat raised on the farm is pasture fed. The animals are CCOF certified organic but cannot be labeled as organic due to being processed in a facility that is not certified organic. Your account is updated weekly with the actual weight packed for you. To begin a chicken subscription, add a chicken to your account 48 hours before your delivery day. Your account is deducted with the actual price of the chicken at midnight the day after delivery.

2. Webstore Orders: There are chickens available on the web store. Try out a chicken with no subscription commitment. If you like it then add it to your account as a weekly subscription. There are also a limited supply of half, smoked hams available.

3. Avedano’s Members: Please pick up your CSA boxes and all other orders at the ordering window so the Avedano’s crewmember can cross off your name. We are changing this pick up policy due to product loss. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please email csa@riverdogfarm.com. ALSO you are able to return your CSA boxes to Avedano’s. Please flatten box and they will take it and return it back to us.

Site hosts: Please email the CSA manager by the morning following the delivery day about any unclaimed CSA boxes. This way, we can contact CSA subscribers to remind them to pick up their veggie boxes.

Check your CSA account for the most up-to-date information such as your next delivery from the farm.

Riverdog Farm has an Instagram account. Find us via our Instagram handle: riverdogfarm. On our account, we share images of the crops, farming, re-posts of your farm fixings photos and videos and provide market/CSA updates.

Whether you leave the box at the site or take it home to return the following week, please unfold (collapse) your box carefully to keep the end flaps from tearing. Slowly bend the two end panels towards the outer ends first then collapse (flatten) the whole box by gently folding the rest.

Give your account 48 hours to update when making changes. For example, when changing your account status from permanent hold to active by charging your credit card, the process may take up to 48 hours to update. The auto-pay option button is at the bottom of your account page. Please click it for auto-renewal of your CSA subscription and to ensure uninterrupted weekly veggie box deliveries.

Frog Hollow Farm Fruit Box The weekly fruit box is $29.75. To add the Frog Hollow Fruit box to your weekly subscription,

1) go to your CSA account.

2) Log in then look at the right side of your page at the summary box - at the bottom of that box is your subscription with a darker green box that says "change". Click on change.

3) Below the title "CHANGE SUBSCRIPTION" you have 2 tabs - Click on the -options- tab. You will see the Frog Hollow Fruit box available to add.

4) ALL orders must be in by Sunday at NOON so we have the ability to process the order and deliver it.

The Frog Hollow fruit box will be available to add to your CSA account from Thursday to Sunday by NOON. Due to logistics, the Frog Hollow Fruit Boxes will only be available to the Wednesday/Thursday/Friday subscribers. CSA subscribers who pick up on Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays, at the Berkeley farmers markets may purchase directly from Frog Hollow.  12:00 pm Sunday is the deadline to change your account for the fruit box, if you enter a hold any time after that, we can cancel delivery of the box, but your account will still be charged the full amount for the Fruit box. Frog Hollow CSA boxes come with 3-4 varieties of seasonal tree ripened, exceptionally tasty stone fruits. As part of their commitment to sustainability, Frog Hollow works hard to avert food waste. You can expect to see ripe, cosmetically imperfect fruit and small or large pieces of fruit in the fruit boxes. These characteristics should not affect the deliciousness of what you receive. Visit their web site to learn more about their CSA program, farm, ethos, fruits and recommendations: www.froghollow.com

• Keeping it safe: We are so pleased to announce that the majority of the farm employees, including farmer’s market staff, have been vaccinated for COVID-19 thanks to the free vaccination program implemented by Yolo County in partnership with Yolo County Department of Health, the Yocha Dehe Fire Department and local farms who hosted local vaccination clinics. We continue to implement our COVID-19 prevention protocol on the farm per the CDC and Cal-OSHA recommended best practices. Prevention measures include: required face covering and glove wearing, 6-foot distancing in the workplace, hand sanitation and employees are not allowed to work with symptoms of COVID-19.

• Reminder: So that your subscription continues uninterrupted, please make sure your credit card on file is up to date on your CSA account. For those who need to end the CSA subscription before your balance is at $0, you MUST  contact the farm through email to request cancellation. You may put your account on a DELIVERY hold if you will be gone for periods of time.

• For any changes you need to make to your account, the cut off time is 12:00 NOON, 2 days before your delivery day Remember to make any changes to your account such as payment renewal, webstore orders or delivery holds by 12:00 NOON, 2 days before your delivery day. Thank you!

“Delivery hold” is used for short periods of time – use this option 48 hours in advance to schedule the deliveries you are unable to pick up.

“Permanent Hold” is used for long periods of time – use this option if you are gone for extended periods of time and wish to resume your account when you get back. You must change your status to “active” when you return in order to resume deliveries.

“Cancel” is used to delete membership details, this means you would need to re-enter delivery status, subscriptions, and credit card information when you resume the Riverdog Farm CSA.