FAQs

Glen Valley CSA Member Pickup Guidelines

Last updated January 2024

Ground Rules:  We are grateful to our hosts for making their space available; we ask that you treat their space with much respect!  

• Come and go as quickly and quietly as possible, during the times posted.

• Pack your produce into your grocery bags. Do NOT take your bin home with you if it can be avoided. Please plan ahead and bring grocery bags.

• Please remove your label, and dispose of it in the small bin provided.

• Nest your emptied bin neatly with other empty bins so your host won’t have to spend much time cleaning up 

Contingency planning:  What are your options if you cannot pick up your produce?

• Try to find a friend or neighbour to pick up for you...and ask them to look for your name on the label before taking the contents of the bin.

• Arrange to have us deliver your produce to another location to make it easier for your designate to take it instead. You can manage this in your Farmigo account.  For any given week, you can make the change up until the Monday night before - at no extra charge, and no extra hassle.

• Place a delivery hold and spend the credit in our online store later this season.  Holds are managed in your Farmigo account.  For any given week, you can place a hold up until theh Monday night before delivery - at no extra charge, and no extra hassle.

• Get in touch with us as far in advance as possible and we can attempt to have it delivered to your home by a 3rd party for an additional fee.

In addition to these guidelines, please note any special considerations regarding your particular pickup location.  These will be communicated to you weekly in the email confirming your CSA bin is ready for pick-up.

Call us right away at 778-201-3464.  If you can't reach us, email info@glenvalleycsa.com  We will return your call and/or email as soon as possible.

When do the various CSA options run?

The 2024 season will run as follows:

Glen Valley Greens (early season) PRODUCE SHARE -

• FULL Glen Valley Greens produce subscription (6 deliveries) is weekly, with deliveries on THURSDAYS —  May 9, 16, 23, 30 and June 6, 13. 

• HALF Glen Valley Greens produce subscription (3 deliveries) is bi-weekly and is divided into 2 cohorts: ODD and EVEN.

  • • • The ODD deliveries are on May 9, May 23 and June 6;

      • The EVEN deliveries are on May 16, May 30 and June 13

Main Season PRODUCE SHARE - 

• FULL Produce Share subscription (24 deliveries) is weekly, with deliveries on WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY or FRIDAY (dependent on your pick-up location) from the week of June 19 to the week of November 27 ;

• HALF Produce Share subscription (12 deliveries) is bi-weekly and is divided into 2 cohorts: ODD and EVEN.

  • • • • The ODD deliveries begin the week of June 19, and end the week of November 20.

        • The EVEN deliveries begin the week of June 26, and end the week of November 27.

OPTIONAL ADD-ONS:

Main Season Fruit Share - 

• FULL Fruit Share option (18 deliveries) will start the week of July 3 with the arrival of cherries!  It runs until the week of October 30.

• HALF Fruit Share option (9 deliveries) is bi-weekly and is divided into 2 cohorts: ODD and EVEN.

  • • • The ODD deliveries of fruit begin the week of July 3, and end the week of October 23. 

      • The EVEN deliveries of fruit begin the week of July 10, and end the week of October 30.

November Fruit Share Extension - 

• FULL November Fruit extension (4 deliveries) will start the week of November 6 and ends the week of November 27

• HALF November Fruit extension (2 deliveries) is bi-weekly and is divided into 2 cohorts: ODD and EVEN.

  • • • The ODD deliveries in November will occur the weeks of November 6 and 20

      • The EVEN deliveries in November will occur the weeks of November 13 and 27

Your delivery day is determined by the location you are picking up from.

Is my delivery on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?

***If you decide to change the location of your delivery in a given week, please keep the delivery day of your new location in mind!

WEDNESDAY PICK UP

• Langley: Walnut Grove

• Coquitlam (Riverview)

• Coquitlam (Oakdale)

• New Westminster: Sapperton

• New Westminster: Queens Park

• South Surrey/White Rock...we need a minimum number of subscribers to make this location work, but we have a willing host!

THURSDAY PICK UP

• Abbotsford: Glen Valley Organic Farm

• Burnaby North

• North Vancouver: West Lynn

• North Vancouver: 19th & Grand Blvd

• North Vancouver: Central Lonsdale

• North Vancouver: Pemberton Heights

• Vancouver: Dunbar - we are looking for a new Kitsilano/Dunbar area host location...intrigued?!  info@glenvalleycsa.com or 778-201-3464

• Vancouver: Kitsilano

• Vancouver: Mount Pleasant

• Vancouver: Nanaimo and 1st

FRIDAY PICK UP

• Langley Centre/Surrey East

• Vancouver: Nanaimo and 1st Ave.

• Vancouver: Commercial

• Vancouver: Victoria and 33rd

• Vancovuer: Windsor and 27th

• Vancouver: Fraser and King Edward

• Vancouver: Main and 45th

• Vancouver: Onatio and 18th

• Vancouver: Oak and 18th

It depends how much you cook!

Quantities will fluctuate a little throughout the season - as we get into mid summer and early fall there is generally more to offer. We try to keep the box overall value near our target value, and about 9-11 items per week.

Generally speaking, a Full Share could be eaten each week by a veggie loving couple. These are the folks that cook for themselves almost every night, eat a mostly plant based diet, and/or can preserve what's left. The average busy family can usually get through one box per week, however there is no need to overburden yourself! Our online store will be open when we have extra produce and fruit available, so if you sign up for a Half Share and find yourself running low, you can always add more to your box!

Yes!  As long as we still have space in the program, you can sign up at any time.  The cost of the CSA will be pro-rated to the number of deliveries left in the season.

A link to the 2024 sign-up page will be available here shortly.

In the meantime, please read through our Terms and Conditions to make sure we are a good fit for you.

Pricing for the CSA is as follows:

• Each weekly box of vegetables is $49.35, and there are options for 24 or 12 deliveries per season, plus an optional 6 or 3 deliveries in our early 'Glen Valley Greens' season ;

• Fruit Share options are $36/week, and there are options for 18 or 9 deliveries per season, plus an optional 4 or 2 deliveries in November at a  value of $22/week;

• Payment options include a single payment (payment due by March 1); two instalments (payments due by March 1 and June 1); and a six-instalment option (one by March 1, and then monthly payments on June 1, July 1, August 1, September 1 and October 1);

• A $1+tax fee is charged at sign-up for each week of delivery, to cover the costs of CSA administration, producing the newsletter, and offsetting processing fees.

We have set up a membership fee (of $1+tax/box) for the CSA program to help cover the costs of CSA administration.  A membership or admin fee is common in CSA programs. In our case, it allows us to separate out a flat fee for CSA overhead while allocating the full cost of each share option to food from the farm businesses.  Before we do any farm work, we incur many administrative costs, including: our CSA management software (which allows members the flexibility to customize their CSA box, place delivery holds and change their pick-up location); managing inventory for a diverse online store; and hiring (at a fair, living wage) our administrator who adds value to the CSA experience through the creation of a weekly newsletter, recipe ideas, and who is able to monitor the email diligently to address member concerns promptly.  We think that's pretty good value at $1/veggie box!

We grow high quality vegetables, berries and fruit and we deliver it fresh to your neighbourhood. Unless otherwise noted, all of the produce in your box is grown on our farm, and the tree fruit will mainly be coming from our partners at Snowy Mountain Organics in Cawston, BC. 

In a given week, we send out a forecast email (on Saturday morning) to let you know what we plan to put in your box the following week. Weather and other factors have been known to wreak havoc with our planning, so this is not a guarantee of what you will find in your box, but it tends to be fairly accurate. We will also open the online store at the same time so that you are able to customize and/or supplement what is already in your box. 

We pride ourselves on the quality and freshness of our produce.  If you find a tomato with rotten spots, or a kale with yellow leaves, we want to know about it! Please take a photo and send to info@glenvalleycsa.com. We can replace the item, and it helps us identify any packing or storing issues that come up.

You can take a look at our Facebook and Instagram accounts for images of box contents from 2023.  

Yes you can! As a CSA member you get exclusive access to our online store.  The store is open weekly from Saturday morning (once you receive the forecast email) to Monday night. 

All items on the store are available for purchase.  Items listed as having a 'credit' value have an equivalent $ value (ie 3 credits = $3).  Items listed with a 'credit' value have the added feature of also being available for customizing your box, should you choose to remove other items from your current order (see, 'Can I substitute produce in my box?').

In 2023, we made a concerted effort to expand the variety of items available on the store, and those efforts will continue in 2024.  We will always have produce from the farm listed, as well as other fresh fruit and veggies from local, organic farms as the season allows.  This will include bulk quantities of tomatoes, peaches and other fruits and veggies, as available.  Beyond this, we also carry a line of pastas, sweet treats, mushrooms, grains, pulses, local hazelnuts, candied and canned salmon, cheeses, and more!  New items are featured in our weekly newsletter.

You have three options for payments.  Our preference is payment by Interac e-transfer to: info@glenvalleycsa.com.  You are also able to pay for your subscription by personal cheque (payable to Glen Valley Organic Farm and mailed to 8550 Bradner Road, Abbotsford BC V4X 2H5), or by credit card, using Paypal through the Farmigo site.

We have three payment schedules available as well.  You can pay up-front; in 2 instalments (by March 1 and June 1); or in 6 instalments (by March 1 and monthly on June 1, July 1, August 1, September 1 and October 1).  

If you plan to be away during the season, you can put your box on hold.  You can put your box on hold as many times as you need, and the value of those holds is converted to a positive balance in your account. That account balance must be spent in our online store in the season it is accrued.  It has no cash value and will not be refunded or held over to subsequent seasons.

A good alternative to holds is to have a friend or family member pick up your share while you are away. You can even change the location of your delivery in any given week to make that option more convenient (or for any other reason).

To see our refund policy, visit our Terms and Conditions page

Prior to the start of the season, we will refund your subscription minus a $30 processing fee. 

If, during the season, you are unhappy with your CSA box for any reason or if you need to cancel due to a change in life circumstances, we will refund you the remaining value of your subscription.

We do all we can to assure a full, diverse and wonderful harvest and we have a proven track record for delivering a quality box of produce throughout the season. Nonetheless, certain things are beyond our control, and may reduce yields, create substitutions, or result in complete losses. For example, in 2012 we experienced significant flooding in June and July during the Fraser River freshet (we still managed to deliver boxes throughout the season, but with less diversity than normal). There is an element of risk involved in any CSA program.

The Farmers of the Glen Valley Organic Farm CSA commit to:

• providing you with a weekly forecast email on Saturday morning;

• accepting changes to your upcoming order until Monday night (the week of your delivery), including customizations, store orders, delivery holds, and pick-up location changes;

• packing your box according to any customization you provide and any store items added; 

• delivering your CSA subscription to your designated pick-up location on the designated day;

• providing you with a weekly e-mail confirming the contents of your CSA box, providing information about the growing season, the crops and suggestions for using items in your box (our weekly newsletter);

• responding to problems in a timely and efficient manner (our goal is to resolve issues within 24 hours of being reported); 

• hosting an open house event at the farm for CSA members;

• providing you with the best and first selection of produce from our farm - we put our obligations to our CSA members ahead of all other markets and customers.

New for 2024...YES!  

Given member feedback, and advances made with our CSA management software, we are able to offer customizable boxes! We are pleased to explore this CSA model with you.

The advantage of our previous CSA model – for us – was that it provided us with an ability to do our crop planning and harvest planning according to real numbers (with 400 CSA members, we know we need to plan for a harvest of 400 heads of lettuce this week and 400 bunches of kale next week, or bags of basil, or bunches of carrots, etc.). Our aim was to provide as much variety as possible while still supplying reasonable quantities of produce. That system reduces waste and allows us to focus on key crops that we know are generally appreciated by members. We then supplement our store offerings with smaller amounts of extras (to get 400 heads of lettuce, we seed and plant closer to 520, which means there is sometimes extra), and other crops that we grow specifically for the CSA store (in 2023 that included some herbs, broccolini, cherry tomatoes, and okra, for example).

The disadvantage of that model is that our CSA members don't get to choose what was in their box in a given week.

To understand how this works, please refer to our Customizable CSA information page.

If you have questions about how any of this is going to work, please reach out to us at info@glenvalleycsa.com.

As a CSA subscriber, you have the following responsibilities:

• To read our Terms and Conditions before signing up, to make sure that our program is compatible with your needs;

• To pay for your subscription in full by the dates you agreed to when signing up, according to your chosen payment plan.  Our preferred method of payment is Interac e-transfer.  Payments can be made to info@glenvalleycsa.com.  Payment by cheque must be made payable to "Glen Valley Organic Farm" and mailed to 8550 Bradner Road, Abbotsford BC  V4X 2H5.  You are also able to pay by credit card using the link to PayPal in Farmigo.

• If you elect to set up automatic payments in Farmigo (using PayPal), it is your responsibility to manage this feature in your account and to keep your credit card updated in your PayPal account.

• To manage your subscription account through the Farmigo program (this includes weekly customization, store orders, delivery holds, and changes to pick-up location).  Changes made before Monday night will be applied to your upcoming delivery;

• To pay any balance owing from store orders in a timely manner;

• To pick up your weekly share of food from your chosen pickup location during the designated timeframe and being respectful of the location host;

• To assign someone else to pick-up your box and/or change or cancel your pickup location if you are unable to pick up your subscription of food on any given week. Unclaimed shares will be donated to an interested party or facility or composted. There are no refunds or credits for unclaimed boxes if you did not put your account on hold;

• To manage your subscription account through the Farmigo program. This involves ensuring that your subscription information is accurate;

• To report any problems with your subscription box within 24 hours of pick-up;

• To open and read e-mails from Glen Valley Organic Farm and Farmigo (including payment notices) in order to stay informed of the status of the growing season, box contents, changes in CSA policy and special events and offers;

• To leave your clean, empty CSA box at the pick-up depot on a weekly basis.

During the pandemic, we were in direct communication with the Ministry of Agriculture and worked under the guidance of local Health Authorities to bolster our food safety procedures and continually educate ourselves and our staff.  Health and safety is an ongoing effort, even beyond a pendemic, and we continue to follow guidance as provided from health authorities and the ministry. We are committed to transparency and the safety of our CSA members and CSA location hosts that keep our program running. 

Farmigo is the name of the software we use to manage our CSA program. It is where you can access our online store for customizing your box or adding additional items to your order, make payments, place delivery holds and adjust your pickup location. 

This link: https://csa.farmigo.com/account/glenvalleyorganicfarm will take you to the sign in page to create or sign in to your account.

No problem!  At the bottom of the sign-in page is a 'Forgot Password' link.  If that does not resolve your issue, you can write to us at info@glenvalleycsa.com and we will try to resolve that issue with you.

Once you have signed in, your balance will be visible on the "My Account" page. A negative balance indicates funds owing. This could be the result of a payment coming due or an outstanding online store order.

A positive balance indicates you have funds available for spending in the online store. 

(See screen shots, below, for reference)

Simply purchase an item as you would normally in the online store.  At the checkout, your balance will automatically be adjusted to reflect any positve balance in your account.  

If you are a half share subscriber, you can only place orders on weeks that you already have a delivery scheduled.

Log into your account and click on the "Delivery Hold" tab. Then input the dates you will be away!

Please see our delivery hold policy. 

Once the hold is placed, the value of the delivery that week(s) will automatically be assigned to your account.  That balance is then available to you to spend in our online store during the season.

(See screen shots, below, for reference)

In short, YES!

Log into your account.  On the right hand side of your My Account page, is a 'Summary' section with green headings.  Next to the 'Pick Up Site' header, is a 'change' button.  Click on that to choose a new pick up location.  

Please note that you are able to make delivery location changes to your account for the following week starting on Saturday, and until Monday night.  The change will be in effect for every following week until you change it back!

(See screen shots, below, for reference)

Each location is unique, and therefore has their own unique pickup instructions. Check your Farmigo account to find your pickup location instructions. 

(See screen shots below, for reference)

Its very important to us that your questions about our program get answered!

Please read our Terms and Conditions, look over this FAQ page and explore your Farmigo account before sending us an email. If we receive emails whose questions we have already answered in writing on our website, you will be directed back to our website.

However, once you have familiarized yourself with our website and still can't find what you are looking for please do not hesitate to reach out to us! We want to help!

Please do send us an email: info@glenvalleycsa.com

If you'd like us to call you, please leave us your phone number and an indication of your availability.