You can find answers to Veggie Box questions below, including info about our Veggie Box Scholarship Fund.

If you still have questions after reading the FAQs, please email CSA Manager Jennifer Porter at jennifer@lynchburggrows.org.

What is the Veggie Box CSA? The FAQs

The Veggie Box CSA program lets you share in our harvests, using the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. Being a Veggie Box member allows you to enjoy local, seasonal, vegetables directly from Lynchburg Grows. In addition to the food that we grow, our shares also include food from other local farms, local orchards, and from local food artisans. This approach allows us to bring you the most diverse harvest shares that we can, while also providing an important distribution outlet for other local farmers and small businesses. So, as a CSA member, you get fresh, local food while you support our farm and our mission at the same time.

What's in a share?
Each week, you'll pick 6 items total from three stations; each station has 5 to 7 options from which you pick 2 items. Items vary by season. In early spring and late fall, you'll see cool-weather crops such as lettuce, arugula, Swiss chard, collards, kale, beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, broccoli, and more. In warm weather, harvests yield produce like squash and zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, herbs, strawberries, and green beans; then melons, fall squashes, and apples, before cycling back to the cool weather crops again. 

Anything else?
Yes! Also depending on seasonal availability, we include products such as local cheeses, breads, popcorn, honey, cider, and more. Plus, we'll have local eggs and artisan pasta available almost every week. 

When does it start?
Veggie Box 2024 starts April 3, 2024 and ends on November 27, 2024. (That's 35 weeks of food!)

How can I sign up?
Sign-up begins in January 17, 2024. CSA members from the prior season and members of The Veggie Society will have early access to sign-up. We’ll post updates on our site and in our monthly newsletters. You can sign up to be on our mailing list from our HOME page, and you can join join THE VEGGIE SOCIETY to get early access.

What makes us different?
Lynchburg Grows is a non-profit farm that gives back to our town through produce donations to a variety of other local nonprofits, through our FreshRx veggie prescription program, through providing purposeful jobs to individuals with disabilities, and through our support of Lynchburg’s community of farmers and small businesses. The Veggie Box CSA program is our most important source of farm-based revenue. As a member, you're supporting all of our work to fulfill our mission.

How much food will I get in my share?
Each share contains 6 items and should last 2 to 3 adults for a week. Sometimes the produce is heavy (like a watermelon) and sometimes it's light (like a bunch of kale), so the weight and volume of your share depends on which items you choose, and also on the nature of the season's produce. Generally speaking, if you choose items with a variety of sizes, you'll walk out with about a paper grocery bag's worth. During the height of harvest season (early fall) it's often more than that.

How much does it cost?
A share costs $26 + tax per week. You can pay in full for the season or you can pay every 4 weeks. If you pay in full, you get a 5% discount. If you choose to pay every 4 weeks, we’ll send you an invoice every 4 weeks for $104 + tax for those 4 weeks’ worth of shares.

Either way, if you join after the season starts, we'll pro-rate the amount you owe based on the time remaining in the season. So you only pay for the time that you are a member.

What if I only want half of a share?
We do offer half-shares. The way they work is that you come in every other week to pick up your share. You still get the 5% discount if you pay in full for a half-share, too. If you wish to pay every 4 weeks, you’ll get an invoice every 4 weeks for $52 + tax (for 2 weeks’ worth of shares).

Another option that works well for some people is to split the purchase of a full-share membership with a friend, so they take turns coming in every other week.

What if I can't afford it?
We have a few work-trade positions available. If you can work as an assistant to our CSA Manager for 4 hours on pick-up days (Wednesdays), you can get a Veggie Box membership in exchange for your work. If interested, you can fill out the Online Work-Trade Application and contact jennifer@lynchburggrows.org if you need a paper application or if you have questions. If you would like to apply for a CSA Scholarship, you can fill out our Online Scholarship Application and contact shelley@lynchburggrows.org if you need a paper application or if you have questions. You can read more about our Veggie Box CSA Scholarship program below.

When/where do I pick up?
Pick up is in The Packing Shed on the farm (at 1339 Englewood St.) every Wednesday from 9AM to 6PM.

What if I can’t pick up one week?
Don't worry! You still have options:
1. Tell a friend or family member to go pick up for you and let them enjoy your share!
2. If it's an emergency or last-minute problem that keeps you from coming, let us know and we'll pack up a share at the end of the day Wednesday for you to pick up on Thursday.
3. If those options don't work, we'll donate your share to help feed the hungry. If you would like a letter of acknowledgement at the end of the year for the total value of all your donations, please let us know toward the end of the season.

What if I change my mind?
We do a lot of planning - both for farm production and for the organization as a whole - based on the number of Veggie Box shares we have to fulfill, so it is something of a commitment. That said, we understand that people's lives and circumstances do change, so our policy is:

If something completely unexpected happens to you, such as a major illness, or an unanticipated move out of town, you can cancel your membership and we'll issue you a refund for any portion of the season remaining that you've paid for already. 

If you just have a change of heart, however, we charge a $25 cancellation fee to cover the administrative time and expenses required to cancel and replace a membership. You’ll still get a refund for the rest of the season, if you paid in full.

We're here to help, so please don't ever hesitate to reach out to Jennifer with your questions, concerns, or suggestions about anything Veggie-Box-related.

Our scholarship fund supplies Veggie Box CSA shares to local families in need, including families who have participated in our FreshRx veggie prescription program, so that they can continue to receive fresh food from Lynchburg Grows, even after they have completed their 7-week session with us. (Read more about FreshRx here.)

You Make a Difference

The more CSA members that sponsor the scholarship fund, the more families can benefit from having a share. Thanks to the generosity of our CSA members, we’ve steadily increased the number of families we serve since launching the fund. We started with 2 families in 2019, and have continued to grow. In 2023, we were able to help 51 families.

You can contribute as part of your membership, or you can make a donation to the scholarship fund anytime, even if you are not a member of the Veggie Box CSA yourself.

Here are all the different ways you can help:

• If you want to pay in full for your Veggie Box membership, choose the "Donate My Discount" option when you sign up and your 5% discount will be donated to the scholarship fund.

• If you want to pay every 4 weeks for your Veggie Box membership, choose the "Add $5" (or “Add $2.50” for 1/2 shares) option when you sign up, and your invoices will reflect that donation to the scholarship fund.

• You can visit our DONATE page and use the One-Time Donation form to make a donation of any size. Just write "Veggie Box Scholarship Fund" in the message field when you fill out the donation form.

• Mail or bring by a donation check made out to "Lynchburg Grows," and write "Veggie Box Scholarship Fund" in the memo field.

We'll distribute scholarship-funded shares through the season as we have enough donations to cover them.

If you know someone who needs help to afford fresh, healthy food, please tell them to fill out this CSA Scholarship Application.

For any questions about the scholarship fund or FreshRx, please contact shelley@lynchburggrows.org.