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Fall/Winter CSA – Join Now and Save! DC/Capitol Hill and Richmond, VA

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Educated, Get Involved, Local Food No Responses »

Sep 042017

Details have been finalized on our CSA for the Fall/Winter season, and are online now!

Join Now because…. We are offering a FLASH WAIVE on the member fee if you sign up now thru Wed at midnight. This is for ANY type of share, and includes payment plans. Cannot be combined with Military discount, or the FULL17 discount (see details below).

Our CSA proudly serves Washington, DC and Richmond, VA

You will receive a seasonal mix of the finest local produce, sustainably and humanely raised local grass-fed/pastured meats, fresh grass-fed dairy, pastured eggs, fresh baked bread, and a variety of other items are also available!

Shop a la carte items.
Hold deliveries when you need to – use online calendar to place your box on hold when you want.
Payment plans available.
Membership fee (includes fuel, admin, labor) is $90/$45 for Washington DC, $25/50 Richmond for the season of weekly 20x/bi-weekly 10x. Member fee is charged separately (we will bill, and pro-rate)
Home Delivery in Washington, DC is powered by Schlep It eco-friendly trikes $8 time). RVA home delivery is FREE within 5 miles of Farm to Famiy.
Referral Rewards Program – Earn $25 credit for each new member you refer!

10% discount for Active military/Veteran (not including member fee) – email for info.
We were listed in the Washington Post story on flexible CSAs in the Washington DC area.

Here’s the info on Fall season:

Season is 20 weeks (10 for biweekly, every other week)
If you have credit, it will roll over to use for Fall. If you forego Fall, it will roll until Spring. You can donate your credit, or transfer it to someone else.
Promo code for Full Share (the combo one with produce, meat, dairy, bread) paid in full up front: receives 10% discount with code FULL17. This will be valid until the end of September. Does not combine with any other discount. This is not for any of the other shares paid in full up front.
Military discount 10% for active military/retired veterans. Must be someone in your immediate family. Email me with your service info. Code is same as last time. Email me for the code if you need it. Does not combine with any other discount.
Starts week of 9/26 – no break from Summer so no missing out on any of the bounty! Host drops and biweekly deiveries start week of 10/3. Ends week of 2/27. Based on weather, the Spring CSA will start in March or April, with a little break to let the farmers get back on their feet.
We will have a holiday break from 12/25 resuming 1/9.
Holiday meat will be pre-ordered soon. More details as we go along: Polyface turkeys, lamb, oysters, etc.
Cost: Produce remain the same $45 (yay!); meat and dairy are going up $1 to $35, Full share $2 to $122. Fruit is $10 and goes until the winter holiday. Use the drop down menu to choose frequency. Price will pro-rate for the number of drops left in season.
Payment plans: You have the option of paying in full at subscribing (we appreciate this!), or choosing payment installments. Depending on subscription type, between 2- 4 payments. These happen every 30 days from the time of subscription. It is a hybrid between a more conventional CSA where you have to pay in full up front months in advance, and a service where payments are more spread out as it helps us to have more money at the beginning of season to work with your farmers. If you need a more generous payment plan, email me and I can set that up for you. We want everyone to be able to afford the CSA! Thank you!
DC drops are Eastern Market, 7th/G, 23rd Pl (if we get 10 people!) and Home Delivery ($8/time 20002/20003 Capitol Hill).
RVA – Drops will be: Farm to Family Market, Home Delivery (FREE).
Host Sites/Home Delivery need 10 minimum people before they are a go. If this is you – please share so that it happens!
- 7th/G – biweekly
- 23rd Place – biweekly
- DC Home Delivery – weekly/biweekly
- RVA Home Delivery – weekly/biweekly
- If we do not get enough people at the DC drops they will revert to Eastern Market. If we do not get enough weekly home deliveries, they will revert to biweekly. If we don’t get enough biweekly home deliveries, they will revert to Eastern Market in DC and Farm to Family Market in RVA.
Seasonal member fees are: DC $90/45, RVA $50/25 for weekly and biweekly memberships. Member fees are for the season (not per time) and prorate for late joiners. These fees pay for fuel, labor, software, admin etc – everything to get your food to you. We are unable due to our many flexible options to roll these into the CSAware software without multiply charging the people who have multiple options in their share. Charges thru CSAware are COST OF FOOD ONLY. The member fee will be charged to your card on file shortly after you subscribe for the season, or added on to a check or cash payment.
Home Delivery – Weekly/Bi-Weekly – We need a minimum of 10 members to do weekly home delivery. Share and get your friends on board! Your home delivery fee will be charged separately when you sign up.
Partial season: if you think there is even a remote chance you are moving or need a partial season for any reason, email me and I can set you up. We can extend you based on what happens. It is very hard on us and our vendors when you decide to exit mid-season without notice, or making arrangements for someone to take over your share.
Host a drop! You need 10 confirmed members to host a drop and receive a free share. Contact Mark at 804-397-7337 for more info and see if your location works. Share with your friends/family etc. Worksites are ok!
Fall Fruit share (hooray!) – DC only. 12x weekly/5x biweekly at $10 time This will end in December. This will be apples, pears, possibly raspberries (Agriberry has a variety that fruits in November) or other late fruit season surprises. maybe jams and other fruit added value items. This is great if you have kids, juice, love apples, pack your lunch, make applesauce, pies and other desserts, dehydrate, jam, etc. If you are in Richmond and want extra fruit, please join the Agriberry Fruit CSA – They are our fruit partner. Thank you!

What will be in Produce?

Late Summer/early fall will overlap.
We promise this will never be the kale/potato/turnip CSA.
Virginia and surrounding food shed are 4 season growing states – You will see numerous varieties of heirloom veggies: greens such as kale, creasy, collards, some herbs may grow all winter thru snow and cold, and broccoli, cauliflower, beets, cabbage, parsnips, spinach, lettuce/salad greens, herbs and other veggies thrive in cooler weather.
We also work with a lot of smart growers who are using hoop houses, greenhouses, hydroponics and other methods to stretch the season with lettuce, herbs, sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms.
You will get items that are also grown, harvested and stored in the fall – apples, pears, squash, pumpkins, turnips, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots.
Produce share WILL contain pantry items in addition to veggies/fruit depending on weather, and especially as the season progresses. These are items that are grown and dried/preserved/frozen and support our farmers during the lean seasons and reduce food waste. Some vendors are food artisans using ancient food traditions, women/minority owned, or other small entrepreneurs that work year round and keep the local food economy cooking. You may see: fermented veggies/krauts, apple sauce, vinegars, sauces, pastas, popcorn, grains, cornmeal, flours, baking mixes, barbecue sauce, honey, sorghum molasses, jams, Virginia peanuts, nut butters, frozen corn and more. We encourage you to try these items. These are our personal favorites, we choose them carefully and hope you do too. If there is something on the pantry list you cannot eat, or don’t want to eat, a sub is always available with advance notice.
Please help us get the word out! We rely on word of mouth to sustain our business season to season. We will have paper and electronic flyers (email me) you can share starting next week, and I will do posts with links. Mark needs people to flyer and he will pay (contact him 804-397-7337)If you share paper, do so mindfully (we hate litter and so do your neighbors). Please post us on your neighborhood listserves and facebook groups. Anyone who signs up that uses your name in referral earns you $25 . If you know of a fall fair, or other event we can bring the FarmBus to, let us know!

So Join Today and Eat Well all Winter. We appreciate you and your families and your choice to eat local. Email us with questions.

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What’s in the Share – Week of 7/16 – Deep summer deliciousness

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Educated, Get Involved, Local Food, Recipes No Responses »

Jul 162017

We congratulate Omar Flores and his wife on the birth of their new baby, who joins their two year old. The share list is late this week because of the birth! We wish mama and baby vibrant health and many blessings. Baby is super cute and I hope to have a picture to share with you soon.

I have 2 shares to sell for members who are moving:

5x biweekly full share with fruit add-on which would either this week 7/18 for EM/Richmond, or next week, 7/25, all locations, for $675.

I also have 2x shares of produce and choice of either meat or dairy for $158- this also makes a great gift. Member fees waived. If people are interested, they need to email me farmshares@thefarmbus.com, and I will manually set them up.

Thanks everyone and happy cooking.

Suzi

Here is what is in the share, subject to change:
orange cherry tomatoes
fairy tale eggplant
green onions
bitter melon – used in Asian medicine for a host of benefits. Here’s what Dr. Axe says. And recipes.
colored peppers
tomatillos – My tomatillos this year were volunteers, and are a huge patch in the middle of the yard. They are awesome!! We put them in all sorts of things, and love to make raw salsa verde, ready in moments by putting in the blender, or you can get all fancy and grill your peppers like Jamie Oliver. Here are a bunch of other ways to use it.
string beans
baby celery – one of my favorite things. you’ll never want to use store celery again.
Austrian crescent fingerling potatoes from Dominic Carpin
sweet jalapenos
carrots
peaches
corn
cantaloupe or blackberries

fruit – blackberries, raspberries, peaches

meats – ground bison, pork chops, polyface breakfast sausage

Bread – mixed

Cheese – Eberly Farms Stonewall

What’s in the Share – Week of 5/11

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Educated, Local Food, Recipes No Responses »

May 072017

Happy Cooking for this wonderful CSA share this week in Richmond, VA and Washington, DC.

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Veg is looking like:

Bibb
Romaine
Asparagus – grill bacon wrapped asparagus . We also made asparagus kale soup last week. Here’s a vegan version.
Strawberries – I posted info on how to freeze them to use later in the season in smoothies. You can also make fruit leather, dehydrate for snacks, or jam. Here is the boss small batch strawberry balsamic jam recipe I posted in the group that I made for Mother’s Day gifts last year. I cooked it in the slow cooker. this makes only 4 half pints, so refridgerate, eat on the biscuits, or give away. No need to process. But if you want to process, I used a saucepan, and a veggie steamer and it worked great. I used this on baked brie at mom’s for Easter.
Ramps or rhubarb – not sure yet
- if Ramps: Treat them like you would garlic or onions, only better, and you’ll be ok. Here’s a great video on how to find, clean and pickle them. They are forest foraged, so still have soil on them. Clean them well, dirt can hide in them, like leeks. Use the leaves to make pesto, or chimmichurri – this recipe puts it on grilled polenta. If you aren’t going to get to them for a bit, cut off your leaves – use those quickly, and keep the bottoms in a bag in your fridge. I have actually had them stay in the fridge for a month or so. They are great in biscuits. Put on pizza.
- If Rhubarb – Here’s sweet recipes. Here’s savory recipes. Here’s my blog on rhubarb that includes my grandma’s rhubarb pie recipe, and then down in the comments my mom posts how to make rhubarb ice cream, and rhubarb sauce.
Arugula – good on pizza with the ramps. add it to asparagus soup, Make strawberry arugula salad. .
Swiss chard – Swiss chard is delicious, versatile, and don’t forget to pickle the stems. It is hearty enough to stand in for pasta, say in a lasagna. The stems take longer to cook than leaves, so I usually put stems in first, then leaves. Here are some ideas.
Cilantro – use it in your ramp chimmichurri.
Red radishes – young radishes have a sweetness to them. Try roasted radishes with brown butter, radish tops, and lemon. You can also sautee the tops like any green. Slice and add to salad. Pickle. Here are some recipes. There is a radish corn salad in here, that would be good with your corn if you haven’t used it yet.
Garlic – this goes in your pesto, or chimmichurri
Bok choy – bok choy with garlic
Chamomile — so many neat things you can do: fresh tea is amazing, but you can use it in ice cream – here’s a vegan salted caramel chamomile version, make simple syrup, put it in cocktails, add it to salads, crostini, chop fine and add to yogurt like you would with dill. bake a cake here’s ideas. Here’s some health and beauty things you can do.
Sugar Snap Peas – quinoa salad with sugar snap peas, Here’s a few more ways.

Fruit – Strawberries. Possibly rhubarb, if he finds some.

Meats-

Rappahannock River Oysters

Oysters and Clams – how to shuck an oyster with Chef Pete at Merroir. How to prepare them raw 0 use your ramps, garlic, or green onions! Grill them. Here’s a few other methods of cooking like roasting, and steaming. Here’s how to steam clams. Here’s the Ultlimate Pasta with Clams – perfect if you still have your pasta from the other week! Clams with bacon, cilantro, ginger and galic (sub ramps!!) Make oyster shooters. You can use sake, tequila, vodka etc. Look them up. You’ll be in heaven.

Alt Meat – not sure yet. If you had alt meat last week — check with Mark to see what your selection is.

Cheese – Goat Feta from Peachy Family Farm – Snap pea salad with radish and feta. .

pea, feta and mint toasts (sub chamomile!)

Bread – Prairie Grain

What’s in the Share – strawberries, asparagus, bison – week of 4/17

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Involved, Local Food, Recipes No Responses »

Apr 172017

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather and are settling into your CSA food. We have a lovely share coming your way this week. Keep in mind that these previews are what we think will be in the share, and may change due to a number of reasons. We ask you stay open minded when substitutions arise. Thank you!

Produce – so far:

bibb lettuce – Linda Bruce, Rain or Shine Greenhouse Gardens
mushrooms – Rob Woolfolk, Beaver Dam, VA
asparagus – Sneads Aparagus Farm, Emmet Snead, Fredericksburg, VA. We made eggs benedict with asparagus and bacon for my mom for Easter Brunch.
strawberries – Anne + Chuck Geyer, Agriberry, Hanover, VA – We also made vegan strawberry shortcake with coconut whip for my mom. I’ve taken her off dairy and gluten for her eczema, which has been super helpful. I am planning a batch of strawberry balsamic jam, and going to try it in my Instant Pot. I made it last year as gifts for Mother’s Day and it is the best jam I’ve ever made. This recipe makes 4 jars.
spinach – Flores Farm, Northern Neck VA – Try my spinach strawberry salad with caramelized nuts(uses honey, but you can sub maple syrup to make vegan) – you can top with chèvre! The Agriberry vinegars are amazing in this.
leeks – Flores Farm, Northern Neck, VA – Mac and Cheese with braised leeks, asiago + park breadcrumbs.
red onions – Flores Farm, Northern Neck, VA – spinach, mushroom, goat cheese pizza.
Chives or thyme – Flores Farm, Northern Neck, VA – Romanian gypsies are said to have used chives in their fortune-telling rites, and hung garlands of chives around their homes to ward off disease and evil spirits. I have them growing in my kitchen herb garden, and snip them into small bits, into eggs, potatoes, salads, vegetables. Here are thehealth benefits along with a fines herb omelet. Here are some other ways to use them.
honey** – Hungry Hill Farm – Try strawberry honey butter. Steal a strawberry and some yogurt away to make this face mask. Here is a strawberry honey smash cocktail perfect for porch sitting. **If you are vegan and home delivered, email me for a sub. Otherwise, check with Mark at pickup.
Virginia Peanut Company – chocolate peanuts – lightly salted. These are ridiculous. Store in your refrigerator. Hide them from your children.

Meat

ground bison – Edmonds Farm, Lancaster, VA – we love to make burgers with these – go easy on toppings and condiments, they are so flavorful all you really need is salt and pepper. You can use the Bibb lettuce as a bun. However, you can make almost anything wth bison you would use ground beef in. Bison is super lean, so make sure to use coconut oil, butter, ghee, olive oil, bacon fat or another fat when frying. Cooking time is fast, temperature is lower. Here are some cooking tips. We love Don and Kim Edmonds and their 3 little girls. Their farm is a Dr. Dolittle kind of place – Don was a vet tech, and has a soft spot for rescues and odd creatures. He has a pet possum, emus, some other exotic birds I can’t remember, a tame bison named Ginger that grew up in the house alongside a fawn, lots of cats, dogs, ducks of many types, chickens, pigs and of course the majestic bison.
Bison Jerky – Edmonds Farm, Lancaster, VA – super good snack to keep you from going hungry!
Smoked bacon – Edmonds Farm. This bacon is super tasty. Its got terrific smoked flavor, but not cured, so make sure to cook it up quickly after defrosting. Try roasted asparagus with mushrooms and bacon.Its amazing with greens,

Bread

Billy Bread– Leckers Baking Company, Richmond, VA – This bread is renowned in RVA and served in many of its best restaurants. It’s one of Mark’s favorites. Its a crusty artisan multi-grain sourdough, and includes spelt rye and whole wheat berries. It’s 100 percent hand-made and naturally leavened. Do not be dismayed by its hard exterior! it is best eaten quickly, but here are some tips to use it if you don’t. Try goat cheese toasts with honey and thyme. Use it to sop up sauces and to convey goat cheese to mouth. Eat spread with very good butter and very good preserves or the strawberry honey butter above.

Cheese

Peachy Family chèvre – We love the Peachys, an Amish farm family from Pennsylvania who we have gotten to know over the years, and we are happy to partner with them. One of my favorite easy treats is plain chevre drizzled with honey with strawberries. Its great on pizza, in a salad, on a cracker or veggies. Top the asparagus with it. Here’s 39 other ways to use goat cheese.

Permalink CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Educated, Get Involved, Local Food No Responses »

Feb 222017

News about BusFarm/Farm to Family + The FarmBus Mobile Markets
We proudly serve RVA and Washington, DC
Call us: 804-767-8570 or 804-397-7337
DC Markets: Tuesday @ Eastern Market
RVA Market Open: By Appointment 804-397-7337
Veteran owned. Always honoring Veterans and Active Military – 10% discount

Farm to Family CSA in DC/RVA/Hanover Celebrates CSA Day
with Extended Discounts!

Farm to Family is celebrating National CSA Day, Friday, February 24, ALL WEEK!! and we are offering discounts for our DC, Richmond and Hanover area members and new members along with free Home Delivery within our RVA delivery area. We have extended the 5% CSA Day discount to begin now, thru Sunday2/26 – sign up now to get the best value on all shares, including payment plans.

You will save 5% on all shares and payment plans using discount code CSA17 ALL WEEK! Share pickups in DC are at Eastern Market, 7th G, and 23rd Place and E st, NE. DC home delivery is $4/time. Pickup for RVA members is at the Farm to Family Market at 2817 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond VA 23223 (not Mechanicsville). Pickup location is adjacent to I-64, I-295, Church Hill, Downtown, Northside, Mechanicsville. FREE RVA home delivery is available within 5 mi radius of the F2F market, with 2 drops in Hanover (Ash Creek and Bell Creek neighborhoods pending 10 members).

Additional savings are available with 10% discount code FULL17 for FULL share (combo produce, meat, dairy, bread) pd in full up front, and 10% discount for active military/veterans (email farmshares@thefarmbus.com for code).

The Spring season starts on Tuesday, 3/28 with weekly and biweekly shares, and runs for 24 weeks. All drop locations start Wed, 4/8 (biweekly only). Shares include locally grown produce (veggies and fruit), fruit only (starts 4/23), grass-fed dairy and eggs, grass-fed/pastured meats, and combo full share that features produce, dairy, meat and bread. Add ons available.

Pampatike Organic Farms Delivery!

We offer flexible payment plans and vacation holds. Farmers and vendor partners include Polyface Farms, Edmonds Bison Farm, Morning Glory Farm, Agriberry, Flores Family Farm, Farmstead Ferments, Bombolini, Twin Oaks, Rappahannock River Oysters, Local Food Hub, Trickling Springs Dairy, Old Church Creamery, Mt View Dairy and others.

To sign up, or for more info, visit http://thefarmbus.csaware.com/store/, email farmshares@thefarmbus.com or call 804-397-7339. For up to the moment info, recipes and more on our CSA, join our Facebook group.
If you believe in the value of the work our local farmers and small artisan vendors do and would like to help them be successful, sign up for a CSA this week. Your membership guarantees support for them for a 6 month season and is integral in the success of local farms and small business economy. Use the hashtag #CSAday #farmtofamily or #RVA to share our offer, and join the online conversation. For more information on CSA day, visit www.csaday.info.

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Farm to Family CSA in DC/RVA/Hanover Celebrates CSA Day with Extended Discounts!

Farm to Family CSA in DC/RVA/Hanover Celebrates CSA Day
with Extended Discounts!