May 17, 2020
Pick Up Guidelines During COVID
by Farmer Dana

We will be pre-assembling shares in harvest bins. Members will collect their shares from a harvest bin at a table just outside the barn hallway entrance under a tent where a Farm Staffer will verbally sign you in. This process will require members to bring their own bags/baskets/boxes to collect the share (same as pre-COVID). Shares will be assembled by staff during pick-up hours. Harvest items which are Choices will be specified on blackboards on the outside of the barn that you'll be able to view while you wait in line (if there is a line). You'll be able to tell the Farm Staffer which Choice you'd like included in your share when you are transferring your share to your own bags/baskets/boxes. To make this process easier, greens that in the past have been harvested loose will be either rubber banded or put in bio-degradable bags. Bins will be washed and/or sanitized after share collection before they are reused.

To reduce crowds forming on pick up days, and to give staff time to assemble binned shares, members will sign up in advance for hour-long time frames in which they can pick up their shares (a maximum of 25 members will be able to pick up their share per hour). Signing up will take place through the calendar feature on our website the same way members sign up for workshifts. Time slot sign up will open Saturday morning at 9am prior to the pick up week. Only one week will be open at a time. The first hour of pick up will be reserved for senior citizens and members with high risk medical conditions.

You can now sign up for your Pick Up Day Time Slot for this coming week if you have a Full, Medium, or Week A Half Share (log in then go to calendar). The first hour of pick up, 1-2pm, is reserved for senior citizens and members with high risk medical conditions. Sign up the same way you would for workshifts. Instructions can be found here.

We plan to keep the u-pick portion of the harvest open with a few changes. A collection of quart, pint, and half-pint containers will be sent home with each member in their first binned share of the season. These will be yours to measure and collect your u-pick crops over the course of the season (use them to measure then dispatch produce to your own bags). Members will need to bring their own scissors for cutting herbs and flowers. Please respect the 6-foot social distance minimum in the fields. The u-pick list will be displayed on the outside wall of the barn, instead of inside the barn, to facilitate social distancing.

Farm staff will use necessary pandemic and food safety measures while harvesting and working around harvested crops. Whatever scientific rules and regulations are in place will be followed which may include gloves and masks, and will be worn during the harvest and handling of all farm produce. We ask members to respect the guidelines issued by Governor Wolf regarding the wearing of masks in public.

Please reach out to us if you have questions and concerns.