faq

Where do you deliver?

Deliveries go to Bozeman and Whitehall.  If you live in the Butte area, Whitehall is your pickup location once a week.  We would LOVE to deliver to the Helena area in 2012, but we need at least 60 customers by June that are Helena-based.  If you are from Helena, feel free to sign up and we will hold your check until we have enough members.

If you are willing to help with a Helena area membership drive, we would love to hear from you!

What is a CSA?

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a partnership between a farmer (us) and a shareholder (you). We offer 60 shares. The shareholder purchases the share early in the season at a fixed price. The farmer plans for the season, grows the vegetables, and provides the shares to the shareholders throughout the season. The produce in the share will contain what is healthy and what is in season and what can be grown in the locality of the farm.

An important part of the concept of CSA is that of shared risk. Shareholders pay for shares upfront in the season...before a single vegetable has been harvested. Shared risk means that if a hailstorm wipes out half the farm, the shares may be smaller, or missing delicate produce. It also means that if it's a good year for corn, you may need to pack your freezer.

It's impossible to predict what next season will bring, but we will be honest with you about our successes and failures in previous seasons. See our archives page to view sample shares from past seasons.

What does it cost?

In 2012 we are offering one size share for $300.  The size of the share is like 2011's "half-share"...depending on your vegetable consumption, this is a good size for a family of 2-3 people.

How often do I get a share?

Deliveries are weekly.  

How fresh are the vegetables included in my share?

The vegetables are harvested and packed the day before delivery and as of 2011 brought to your location in a refrigerated truck.

What if I miss my pickup day? Can I get them the next day?

Packing and delivering vegetables is a carefully orchestrated event that takes a lot of time. We will be able to deliver the vegetables once a week to one location. If you miss pickup, the vegetables will be donated to the food bank so they do not go to waste.

Our members often get creative, forming "pickup rotations" within groups, designating one person to be the picker-upper for the entire group.  Find a friend to hang on to your share for you until the next day!  Don't let veggies this good go uneaten!

What if I go on vacation?

Have a friend or relative pick up your share for you while you are away. If this is not an option for you, please let us know that you will be on vacation and we will distribute your share among the other shareholders so the food does not go to waste.

Otherwise we will treat it as a non-pickup and deliver the food to the food bank.

What if I don't like my share? What if I move away? Can I get my money back?

Joining a CSA requires some thought and planning for both the farmer and the shareholder. Please read about the variety of CSAs across the country and get a feel for how CSAs differ from purchasing your vegetables in the grocery store.

When you make the commitment to join a CSA, the farmer is making a commitment to providing you with vegetables throughout the season. Your share is planned for, designed to fit within the scope of the farm, tended to during rain, hail, and hot days.

If you move away or decide that you don't want to participate, your share is still there in the field growing and being cared for. It is for that reason that CSAs do not offer refunds. However, we don't want to let the share go to waste, either. If you can find someone to buy out the remainder of your share, we are happy to transfer the share to their name.

We *may* even be able to assist with this, as we usually have a lengthy waiting list. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to find a buyer for the remainder of your share.  We're also quite busy and if you need to find a buyer for your share, count on doing most of the legwork.

Who should join a CSA?

• People who are thrilled at the idea of eating ultra-fresh food
• Those who want to eat local, natural and seasonal
• People who are excited about trying new foods and learning how to cook
• People who support local farms and businesses
• People who value taste and quality over waxed apples and fancy packaging
• Those who want to know where their food comes from

Who should NOT join a CSA?

Joining a CSA can be a fun challenge for people accustomed to eating tomatoes in March. It can also be a frustrating waiting game for people making the transition and commitment to eating local and eating seasonal. However, we don't want to feel bad if you are unhappy with your share, and we don't want you to BE unhappy, so if the following applies to you, we recommend that you think twice before signing up:

• You expect that the CSA will be the only source of your produce, but you want tomatoes included in your first share box
• You do not like to try new foods
• You don't like to cook with vegetables (i.e. you eat most of your meals out)
• You are away often (traveling, vacation) and may miss several of the pickup days and have no one to pick up for you

Pros of a CSA

Fresh produce is good tasting produce. Your family is more likely to want to eat their vegetables. There is a world of difference in a farm-grown, fresh off the vine tomato when compared to the pinkish tasteless tomatoes that have been sitting in the supermarket's cold storage facility for several months.

Having fresh varieties of local food might inspire you to get creative in the kitchen and eat out less. There are endless recipes online for the produce we supply. And each week, we'll provide you with a list of what's in your box and what you can expect the following week for meal-planning purposes.

Variety in your diet is healthy! Most CSAs (including ours) plant colorful gardens, so in addition to the basics (carrots, lettuce, onions, potatoes, peas, beans) you can expect to receive items you'll never see on the supermarket shelf: Bright Lights Swiss Chard. Blue Hubbard Squash. Heirloom tomatoes. Vine-ripened peppers. Russian Banana fingerling potatoes. Isn't that more tempting than another head of iceberg lettuce? 

We strive for variety, quality and quantity so that even if one particular crop fails, there is still plenty of fresh-picked goodness waiting for you in your weekly share.

Is Madison-Meadowlark certified organic?

Not at this time. However we use natural growing techniques and best practices. We strive for sustainability and for the health of the environment and our soil. We drink from a well directly underneath the vegetables and the last thing we want to do is poison that well with items from a chemical company.  We use only fish-derived organic fertilizer on our produce.  We do not spray our vegetables for insects, but instead, we use methods such as rotation, companion planting, attracting predator insects, and manual removal.

Are the Miller and Midway Colonies certified organic?

No, and due to their proximity to grain fields this would be a difficult undertaking.  Both colonies are proud to use natural and sustainable methods of growing produce.  The fertilizer used for the produce is derived from fish and is a popular organic fertilizer.  Certain crops are sprayed for insects on the colonies at certain times during the growing season, but we will provide a list of what is used and what vegetables it was used on.  

This is a far better option than playing "Guess the Chemical" on a store bought conventionally-grown vegetable, as you can be certain of what is in your food, how to remove it, and whether or not you want to feed it to your kids.

Do you have fresh eggs?

We so offer a limited amount of Montana farm fresh eggs from free range and well-loved hens. The yolks are bright orange, which indicate a varied diet, access to pasture and sunshine, and a good life.

Do you offer poultry?

We partner with the Midway and Miller Colonies to provide chickens and turkey to our members. They specialize in growing delicious frying chickens year-round, and phenomenal turkeys for the holiday season.

The birds are free range, naturally fed, and never given hormones or antibiotics. We highly recommend Midway's tasty chickens and turkey, and you can purchase these at the weekly drop-off point.

Are the pictures used on this site from the farms?

Yes they are!  We also hope that we find time in between hoeing and watering to upload even more!