CSA Pick up Locations


View Fifth Crow Farm CSA delivery sites in a larger map

Local Grassfed Meat Delivery option with your CSA

 

Markegard Family Grass-fed raises grass-fed beef, grass-fed lamb and pastured pork. We will be delivering along with your CSA shares the first week of every month excluding May.

In order to sign up for the share there is a $100 membership which will then be credited toward purchases. You can pick and choose from any cut of beef, lamb or pork. Availability varies seasonally. 
To sign up:
2. Choose the pick up location of Pick Up at 5th Crow Delivery
3. Choose any date (we will send out the delivery schedule when we get ready to start the season.)
4. Select Fifth Crow CSA Meat Deposit
5. Make your payment
City Bees Micro-Region Honey option
Add on a jar of local honey every month for $84.  As City Bees apiarist Robert MacKimmie suggests, "Taste the View!"
City Bees of San Francisco offers one-of-a-kind microclimate honeys from the most unique Mediterranean climate in the world. Consisting of 7x7 miles where hills, valleys and their proximity to summer fog are as varied as the diversity of plant sources coming here from the time of the Gold Rush, without hard freezes this bounty of blossoming nectar sources provides a rich and distinctive source of flavors for City Bees' well tended colonies. Using only organic methods to maintain colony health and vigor, the range of locations around the city results in truly spectacular raw location-based honeys. Inner Sunset, Richmond, Castro, Mission, Potrero Hill, McLaren Park, Arden Wood, the San Francisco Watershed, Marin and the East Bay are all typical neighborhood honeys.
Just select it on your registration form and add to your total.

foto by Tracy Perkins Register for next season now!  

You may now sign up online. Click on the link to your left.

Special Options this season:

*add a weekly fresh flower share or egg share

*pick up at any of our Farmers' Markets

*get bulk discounts on items on our wholesale availability list each week delivered to your pick up site

* sign up for monthly local grassfed beef & pork delivery options from the Markegard Family

* add a local honey option from City Bees (learn more about Robert the beekeeper here)

* gluten free? you can opt out of products with gluten during the registration process.  We will substitute non gluten items of equal value.

What is a CSA?

CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture".  Customers invest in the farm by committing to buy a weekly box of produce for the whole season.  The benefits for the farm and members are many: eat healthier, try new things you might not otherwise, build real community with your farmer and neighbors, enjoy learning about your food & where it's coming from, get fresher and better food than you would at a grocery store...

Committed subscribing members provide us with guaranteed income and and help us pay for expenses early in the season when cash is tight, it also means we can harvest just what's needed which translates into less waste. In addition, the longer term commitment between farmer and customer leads to a more personal relationship and greater community building between producer and eater as well as between CSA members who share an interest in sustainable agriculture and good food.  Want to preserve the beauty of San Mateo's Coastside?  You can do it one bite at a time by forging a connection between your family and a sustainable, organic farm.

What do I get if I join?

Aside from the satisfaction in knowing that you are committing in a serious way to help support local, organic farms...

As a member you will receive a $25 value box of produce each Wednesday.  You can also opt to add a weekly dozen or 1/2 dozen eggs, as well as a bouquet of flowers each week.  Want to do same canning, make jam, or freeze local strawberries for the winter? We offer our members access to our restaurant/wholesale prices on bulk purchases.

We encourage and welcome your visits to the farm. We hold an annual farm Open House which is a great time to meet us, see the farm, and meet fellow CSA members and Fifth Crow customers.  Last year we had a fabulous potluck dinner, served up our neighbors grassfed beef burgers, made homemade icecream and all around had a wonderful time. We are also working on a self-guided farm tour so you can drop in anytime.


In addition, this year we are expanding on our relationship with our neighbors, Markegard Family Grassfed and our good beekeeper friend Robert of City Bees, to offer a monthly option for grassfed beef & pork as well as local honeys. Check out their websites to learn more about them

Our CSA runs 27 weeks, from the end of May till the last delivery day before Thanksgiving (weather depending).  If the Spring is especially wet we may have to adjust the start date, but we will extend the deliveries to make sure you get a full 27 weeks if this happens. 

Each week your box will include 6-10 items, rotating between items within the following categories:

1. baby head lettuce/bunching greens (varieties vary week to week)

2. a root crop (carrots, beets, turnips, or radishes, potatoes)

3. a bag of pre-washed baby greens (baby arugula, mesclun salad mix, or spinach)

4. a brassica (broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, or cabbage)

5. an allium (leeks, onions, shallots, spring onions, garlic)

6. 2 baskets of strawberries (chandler, seascape, or albion) or blackberries (coming 2014), and in the fall apples from our 27 variety heirloom orchard.

… and another 1-3 seasonal items: summer squash, winter squash, dry-farmed tomatoes, padrone, poblano, 7 sweet peppers, green beans, tomatillos, kale, chard, and more.

You will also receive durable goods grown right here on the farm including whole grain pancake mix (yes we grew the wheat) , blue cornbread mix (and grew the blue corn), wheat berries, heirloom dry beans, and jams... sundried tomatoes, etc.

How much does it cost?

A produce share costs $700 ($675 if you pay by check).  You can add a dozen eggs a week for $8/week or half dozen for $4/week.  A flower share is $216 ($8 a week). A monthly honey delivery costs $76, and local meat add on requires a minimum add on

How do I sign up?

You can sign up and pay online (click on "register online" link to your left).

How do I get my weekly box?

Members pick up their boxes at sites determined at the beginning of each season.  You could pick your box up at the farmers' market, or at the other sites listed on the registration form.  Other sites are usually members' homes that have convenient parking and a covered shady area for the boxes.  If there isn't a site in your neighborhood, think about hosting.  We need a minimum of 8-10 people to add your site as a delivery/pick up location (site hosts receive $200 off their share or a free flower or egg share).  If you can find 25 people or more, your share is free.

Wednesday pick up options:  Castro Farmers' Market in San Francisco, 4-8pm.

Thursday pick up options:  Hillsborough, Menlo Park, San Mateo, Half Moon Bay, and at the farm in Pescadero.    Pick up hours are 3:00-8pm for most sites.

Saturday and Sunday pick up options:  San Mateo Farmers' Market, Saturdays 9am-1pm; the Inner Sunset Farmers' Market, Sundays 9am-1pm

Flower shares are not available for Saturday pick up at this time (we are not allowed to bring flowers to that market as there are already many flower producers).

Boxes that are not picked up will not be available or held till later.

What about if I take a vacation?

In order to consistently grow the produce you want, we have to plan months in advance. 

For this reason (and the complicated logistics) we do not postpone or refund boxes while you are on vacation.

Your options are:

1.) Find a neighbor or friend who will pick up your box in your stead (makes a great bonus for your house-sitter).

2.) Give us a week’s notice and we will donate your box to a local non-profit. (If you like we can provide you with a tax-deductable donation receipt)

3.) If you know your vacation dates at the time of registration, you can give us the dates now and subtract the weeks you will be gone from your payment ($25.00/wk, $8.00/doz. eggs, $10.00/bouquet) But we must know dates by the beginning of the season and will not change dates later.

A little something on pick up etiquette:

Each pick up site has specific hours for pick up, though times may vary depending on the specific host.  Farmer’s Market pick ups happen during market hours.  Most other pick up hours are 3:00pm to 8pm.  The site hosts are volunteers and are not paid.  They are not required to make special accommodations if you can’t pick up your box or forget.  If you do not pick up your box within pick up times your box will not be held for you.  If you know you can’t pick up your box please let us know in advance.

What are the advantages of a CSA over shopping at a farmers' market?

- You'll develop a closer connection with where your food is coming from (true traceability), and an opportunity to come see the farm and learn more about how food is grown organically, it's challenges, seasonality etc.  It's definitely a great learning opportunity, especially for kids.

- It's an opportunity (to some a challenge) to try foods beyond what you may be familiar with.  It's also a great way to help yourself eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and change your diet in a healthy way.

-You get produce delivered to somewhere close to you without the need to go shop for it.

- It's a great community building mechanism: meet other like-minded people in your own neighborhood as well as build personal relationships with us, the people growing your food.

- Know that you are making a commitment to help support a small, sustainable, local business that feeds, clothes, and houses 3 farmers and provides employment for  about 14 other people as well.

Is this right for me?

A CSA can be a wonderful and learning experience, but it is it right for you?  Before committing you should consider the following:  Am I willing to try new things?  Do I mind not being able to pick the items that go into my box every week?  Can I use 6-10 vegetable items a week?  Can I commit to picking up my weekly share during the pre-determined time?  If a CSA share isn't right for you, there are still ways to support a local farm. Come to the farmers' market! Choose locally produced over imported items at your grocery store.  Support organizations that help out small farms like CAFF, OFRF, & Wild Farm Alliance... and teach your kids about where their food comes from.