What is a SweetRoot Farm Membership?
A SweetRoot Farm membership offers you a delicious abundance of produce and lots of personal choice. For main-season memberships, which run May through October, farm members pay in advance to fill a cloth “feed bag” once a week with their selection of vegetables, herbs, and fruits at our market booth or farmstore. Households choose one or two bags per membership, depending on how much produce they eat. As a member, you decide exactly what goes into your share and when to pick up your feedbag each week. You can chose to fill at the market on Saturday mornings, during our hosted member pickup time to visit with the farmers, or any day and time at our self-serve farmstore on 76 Bell Lane in Hamilton. Winter memberships have a slightly different structure, usually run November through February, with details announced each fall.
PRICE, DATES, POLICIES, AND BAG SIZE:
The membership season runs for 6 moths, May through October (26 weeks of produce). Each feedbag membership costs $725, with an early bird discount to $695 for member signups through March 31. Double-feedbag memberships are $1,400 full price, with an early bird price of $1,340 through April 2nd. Bags are approximately 14 x 16 inches, and hold $25-$40 worth of produce, depending on the point in the season and how much you want to eat. Financial assistance is available via a simple application to our “eatership” fund if the full fee is out of your budget.
How many people does the feedbag feed? We structure our membership to accommodate a range of household sizes from single folks to large families. Everyone is unique, but here is what we recommend:
For a healthy-eating individual who loves veggies, one feedbag works great.
A single feedbag works well for most couples (as long as they don’t eat like farmers). A super veggie-loving, cook-at-home couple might want two bags, or might stop by the farmstore mid-week to grab a few extra items with their member discount.
For busy folks one feedbag can supply a two or three-person household, with occasional top-up purchases from the farmstore or market.
Veggie-loving families of three or more who make a lot of their own meals generally like having two feedbags, or can plan to supplement their feedbag with extra purchases using the 10% member discount.
Households with their own garden usually find a single feedbag and member-discount purchases perfect to fill in the gaps.
What can go in the feedbag? Through most of the season, any produce that can fit in the bag and you will eat up, is fair game! Eggs, flowers, and and value-added products like garlic braids or farm-roasted coffee are not included in the feedbag, but are available for purchase with your 10% member discount. We sometimes place guidelines to ensure even distribution of goodies to all members (i.e., “up to 6 items in the bag this week” or “1-2 tomatoes per bag this week”). Certain low-volume/ high value items like herbs, strawberries, or micro-greens will often have limit like 2-3 bunches per bag, or 1 pint per bag, as explained by signage at the farmstore or market. Generally by mid-season, we are encouraging members to really stuff their bags!
WHY:
Farm members have a special relationship to the farm, and we rely on their advance commitment to get our season rolling. Members sign up and make their first payments well before market, which helps us make the investments needed to support an abundance of food all year long. As we continue to invest in our team in the quest to find and retain skilled, passionate farmers the early season payments help cover the labor costs that happen long before harvest and sales: preparing beds, planting, weeding, pruning and trellising. In return members get some special treatment, including a 10% discount on all additional produce purchases at the market or farmstore, and special bulk offers (i.e. canning, pesto, salsa, etc.).
We love seeing members weekly, and relish the “farm family” that develops over a season as members get to know each other and the farm. Members get plenty of guidance, recipes, meal inspiration, and coaching through our weekly member newsletter and visits.
We grow over 50 types of vegetables, more than 300 varieties, and use many types of season extension to make produce available earlier and later than in most home gardens. From spinach, salad mix, baby greens, herbs, scallions, and radishes in the spring, through cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, beets, carrots, basil, onions, garlic, and all the summer goodness, to potatoes, winter squash, pumpkins, kale, and roots through the fall….we plan our growing to ensure variety and abundance for members throughout the season.
Have more questions? Feel free to email us at farmers@sweetroot.farm and we can help.