Apply for CSA Sponsorship!

If finances are a real problem, which is totally understandable during this hard economic time, you can apply for a CSA sponsor. Here's how it works:

1) Email me at mark@bluebirdgardens.net or call me at 218-205-4739 and say you would like to apply for a CSA sponsor. I'll just need your name, address and phone number, which I will keep confidential, and your story. Describe your situation and the need you have for this CSA share. Also, please let me know what size CSA share you need.  

2) I will post your story on this page. Based on your story, anyone can decide to sponsor your CSA for you!! If you allow, it would be cool if your sponsor called you with the good news. Otherwise, I can let you know the good news.

Become a CSA Sponsor!

Feeling generous? Help out a family by becoming a CSA Sponsor! Read through the stories below and let me know  who you would like to sponsor. You can also just donate the amount of a CSA share or Family Share, and I will match you with someone who needs sponsoring. 

Once someone is sponsored, I will highlight their story so we know their need has been fulfilled. (This could become a real celebration page!!) Unless the sponsor wants to remain anonymous, we will add their name as the awesome sponsor!! One never loses by giving!! 

2013 Food Share List!

#1

Following are the drop off locations for 2012. The routes should be similar in 2013. 

Members in the past had to study the drop off locations closely to find the best choice.  This year, we have a wonderful feature where you can type in an address, and the website will  find you the ten locations closest to you.  You can type in the address of where you work, your home address, where you pick up the kids from day care, and then see the closest drop off locations for you.  You will find this feature as you sign up.

When you sign up, you can choose the drop off location (or pick up site) that is best for you. The delivery days (Tuesday or Thursday) and route names (PURPLE, PINK, TEAL, EAST, FERGUS FALLS) are noted by each drop off site.  The exact routes for 2013 are still tentative.

There is one delivery truck going to the Fargo/Moorhead area on Tuesday (the TEAL route), and there are two delivery trucks going to the Fargo/Moorhead area on Thursday. We've nick-named these routes to Fargo-Moorhead the TEAL, PURPLE, and PINK routes. Links to maps of these routes are below: 

• Tuesday TEAL Route 
• Thursday PURPLE Route
• Thursday PINK Route 

We deliver to Elbow Lake, Fergus Falls, and Wahpeton/Breckenridge on Tuesdays on our FERGUS FALLS route. We deliver to Battle Lake, Detroit Lakes, Frazee, Lake Maud, Pelican Rapids, Perham, Richville, and Underwood on Thursdays on our EAST route. Links to maps of these routes are listed below:

• Tuesday FERGUS FALLS Route
• Thursday EAST Route 

You can change your pick-up location anytime during the season by calling me at 218-205-4739. 

FERGUS FALLS:

• Bluebird Gardens ~ 26060 County Hwy 18   (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)                   
• Don Braeger ~ 737 South Woodland Drive  (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)  
• Premiere Meats ~ 306 North Tower Road   (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)  
• Ringdahl Ambulance    (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)  
• Becky Boyd ~ 531 West Maple    (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)  
• The Country Store ~ 1916 College Way   (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)  
• Heidi Paulson ~ 1013 Stony Brook Manor   (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)
• Stefanie Gerhardson ~ 1702Minnehuta Drive (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE)  

NORTH FARGO:

• Border States Electric (employees only) ~ 105 25th Street North  (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• Jennifer Mastrud ~ 2857 North 2nd Street   (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Rona Pfund ~ 1218 44th Avenue North   (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Lindsay Hagerott ~ 2513 Lilac Lane    (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Kristi Reich ~ 82 23th Avenue North    (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Carly Jo and Tim Hager ~  521 1st Street North    (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Flint Communications (employees only) ~ 101 North 10th Street    (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Unglued  ~ 408 Broadway (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE)

SOUTH FARGO:

• Fredrikson and Byron (employees only) ~ 51 North Broadway, Ste 402    (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Michelle Berg, Forum Communications (employees/neighbors) ~ 1105 15th Street South (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• Denise Drake ~ 1834 Rose Creek Drive (THURSAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Bonnie Knutson  ~ 6032 24th Street South  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Kristina Olson ~ 3028 31st Street South  (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• Ag Country (employees only) ~ 1900 44th Street South   (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Vintage Point ~ 1450 25th Street South   (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• Total Health Chiropractic ~ 3003 32nd Avenue South, #4  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Anne Kaese ~ 3420 Birchwood Court (behind Waterford off South University Drive) (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• LaDonna Carpenter (for Microsoft employees) ~ 3365 39th Avenue South (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Troy and Kristin Durham ~ 1007 6th Street South (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE)  
• Vincent Wargo ~ 1425 5th Street South  (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Charlene Ota ~ 909 8th Street South (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Sue Brayton ~ 263 Prairiewood Drive  (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• EcoChic Boutique ~ 4955 17th Avenue South, #106    (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Farm Service Agency ~ 1025 28th Street South (open until 4:30 /Dan Janes)  (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• RDO (employees only) ~  700 7th Street South   (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Olivet Church ~ 1330 South University Drive    (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Sun Dog (employees only) ~ 2000 44th Street SW, Floor 6.  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Vogel Law Office (employees only) ~ 218 NP Avenue  (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 

WEST FARGO:

• Chasity Seymour ~ 725 Wyndemere Drive, Charleswood (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Chelle LeMier ~ 1051 42nd Avenue West  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Lorissa Lenertz ~ 202 3rd Avenue East  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Larry and Linda Ottesen ~ 906 Homestead Court  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Healing Touch Chiropractic ~ 45 21st Avenue East Unit D (Thursday: PINK ROUTE)
• Red River Fabricating ~ 109 8th Ave NW  (Thursday: PINK ROUTE)

MOORHEAD:

• Sydney's Health Market ~ 810 30th Avenue South  (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• Danielle Charlson ~ 1002 21st Avenue South   (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• Sharon Jorschumb ~ 977 18th Avenue Circle North  (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Dawn Aberle ~ 5233 18th Street North  (THURSDAY: PURPLE ROUTE) 
• Donna Vance ~ Village Green ~ 2812 30th Street South

OTHER LOCATIONS: 

• Barnesville: The General Store "Cenex"  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Battle Lake: Margaret Dahl ~ 36807 South Silver Lake Road  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Breckenridge/Wahpeton: Interstate Engineering ~ 1999 4th Street North, Wahpeton (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE) 
• Detroit Lakes: Julie Storsved ~ 520 W. Avenue  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Dilworth: Miranda Schlichting ~ 602 4th Avenue NE  (TUESDAY: TEAL ROUTE) 
• Elbow Lake: Vikki Brekke ~ 121 6th Avenue SE  (TUESDAY: FERGUS ROUTE) 
• Frazee: Jane Young ~ 204 South Lake Street  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Lake Maud: Julie Scothorn ~ 12146 Shorewood Beach Road, DL (off of 59, north of Pelican Rapids)  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Otter Tail: Amor Pork ~ 35737 County Hwy 1  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Pelican Rapids: Lynne Jensen ~ 709 1st Street NW  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Perham: Langen Chiropractic ~ 108 Market Drive  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Richville: Wagon Wheel Grocery  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Rothsay: Faith Waldoch ~ 313 1st Avenue NW  (THURSDAY: PINK ROUTE) 
• Underwood: Underwood Quik Stop ~  29346 State Hwy 210  (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 
• Vergas: The Vergas Country Store ~ 101 N. 1st Avenue (THURSDAY: EAST ROUTE) 

WHAT DOES THE DROP OFF HOST DO?

The drop off host provides a cool place for the boxes while they are waiting to be picked up. This can be a garage, office. It is nice if the drop off host is available when CSA members come to pick up their week's produce, but is not totally necessary. In  all cases, this will be a Tuesday or Thursday. We plan to deliver the boxes as early as possible each day.  The delivery times are morning and early afternoon.  Once the season starts, you will have a good idea when boxes are delivered to your drop off location.  Boxes should be picked up that day.  If a member can't do that, they will have to make special arrangements with the drop off location.  Each drop off will have different hours so each CSA member should find out what those hours are.  If the member cannot pick up their box, the host can decide what to do with that produce. It can go to a food shelf, given to a friend or neighbor or used by the host.

WHO CAN BE A DROP OFF HOST?

In most cases, it will be a CSA member. It can be a private residence and the boxes can be stored in your entry or garage. It can be a business. Some businesses who would like more traffic into their store may elect to be a drop off host; they might not even be a member. I really appreciate any efforts by CSA members to be thinking of good drop off sites! You can email your suggestions to me right through this website or call me at 218-205-4739.

WHAT DOES THE DROP OFF HOST RECEIVE?

We very much value the willingness of host participation. The host will receive a five dollar credit for their membership for every box they host for the season. For example, if they host ten boxes, they will receive a fifty dollar credit off their membership.  This applies for drop off hosts who allow the general public to come to their site. For businesses, who are a drop off for employees only, the benefit for you is a drop off at your work site. The five dollar credit per box won't apply in those cases. 

More and more businesses are rallying their co-workers to become Bluebird Gardens CSA shareholders so the drop off site is that work site. I am most welcome to come and talk to any work site about becoming CSA members of Bluebird Gardens! Just call me at 218-205-4739 or email me at mark@bluebirdgardens.net and I will come!

So what has changed at Bluebird Gardens? 

It is so fun to watch members evolve in their use of the CSA from year to year. They get good at knowing what to do with all those vegetables. They seasonally eat, they freeze, they can, they enjoy. Those who have been with our CSA for the last three years have also seen the farm evolve. Each year we look for what could be better and make changes. There are a number of changes for next year that we are excited about.  Everything our members say and do affects how the farm evolves.  The entire farm is dedicated to our CSA members.  We do no stands, no wholesaling...nope, our members get everything from the 150 acres of vegetables and 11 high tunnel greenhouses.  The only exception is we have a small self-serve stand in the packing shed where the proceeds are divided amongst our wonderful and dedicated staff.

1) For those who find there is too much to eat in the weekly share box, we might have an answer for you. For 2013, we are offering the option of a share box every other week. The options we currently have of the weekly share and family share are still going to continue as always.  Due to requests, we are also adding an every other week family share.

2) We are going to make the investment to get a better box for shares. The one we plan to get is the same dimensions as the family box, just 2/3 the height. It will allow for much easier packing and enable share members to also get the big heads of broccoli, etc. It will offer a more relaxed look instead of the current packed like sardines look.

3) Just like with our self serve stands, we knew the honor system of our harvest events would someday need tweeking. Since the famous Oct 6th "vegetable massacre" (as Anne Kaese calls it), I have heard countless stories of non-members also joining in on the fall harvest events.  Next year a simple Bluebird Gardens sticker in the car window along with private viewing of harvest event info on the website for members only, will return the farm once again to our members. Many of our wonderful members have already volunteered to help on those extra busy days. We also have the extra fields of pumpkins and squash planned knowing how much our members value those last picks.  As soon as the box season was done this year, all members who wanted extra squash, potatoes, kale, bok choi, cabbage, spinach, etc., could come and get them from mid-October to mid November.  It was amazing how busy, yet calm and serene it became when only our members knew of those harvest events.

4) We have received so much wonderful feedback from our members this fall, so we are not doing a survey. Instead, when members sign up, there will be a checklist of what you really want in the boxes and what you would rather not see as often in the boxes. That will give us wonderful feedback in advance for next season...better than a survey which only a small portion of the membership ever fills out.  However, we are always grateful for any suggestions from our members.  These are always welcome.  For example, one of our members without internet suggested we have a list of harvest events posted at each drop off site.  What a great idea!  We will certainly do that next year.

5) This was a hot summer. We will be getting new refrigeration in all of our delivery trucks to ensure the vegetables arrive to you crisp from the farm.

6) Knowing how much you like the cucumbers and tomatoes, we are building three more high tunnels this fall. That will bring us up to eleven high tunnels and two greenhouses.

Anyone who has raised a garden knows the battle is with the clock. The balance between planting, watering, weeding and harvesting takes time. The following are pieces of equipment that will help us tame the monster called the clock and allow us to make a much better box for you:

7) We have many weeding tools on the farm and they are great. When we were at the Moses Organic Conference last February, we saw a lay-down work cart that will change our farm. It is called a Drangen and is from Sweden. It has a gas engine, is self-propelled and has rotating disks with spokes that you control with your hands for weeding. It will be the answer for beets, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. It will allow us to plant broccoli and crops like that directly in the field without the time-consuming act of transplanting since we can weed them efficiently even before they come up. That will mean massive patches of broccoli and such for the box and your harvest events. It will mean beets and carrots will be added to the harvest event field that you can get anytime without a ticket.

8) The Oxbo BH100 bean picker will equally change the farm. Instead of picking 83 five gallon pails of beans by hand for the Thursday box, two of us will gather the beans while the rest of the staff does another task to make your box better. This will let us give you a better quantity of beans in your box but you will also be able to get your harvest event beans already picked. It can work for peas as well but might damage them some. We will work out any bugs and then you will get wonderful quantities of peas in your box for a more extended period, even in the fall.

9) We are also getting a corn harvester. We would pick corn for the day's box up til noon when it was hot. So the corn went in the box hot. This machine will let us harvest all the corn for the day's box while it is still cool. If you choose, your harvest event corn can be picked for you. I know we have a lot of families who love the adventure in the corn patch. We won't take that away from you!

10) We are getting a spinach harvester which will allow a much better supply of spinach or other greens in the box.

11) We have reached the membership size that is right for our CSA so our membership growth will be minimal. This will mean, for the first time, we might fill our membership and turn people away. I will keep you posted all winter if that is close to happening so do watch your emails. The CSA is not for everyone so if you decide not to join again, I completely understand. We have huge gratitude to all our members from this season...what a beautiful group of people you all are!!