Red Shirt Farm CSA Member Agreement & Guidelines — 2026 Season
At Red Shirt Farm, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is more than a way to buy vegetables—it’s a partnership between our farm and our members. Your early commitment helps us plan, plant, and grow the best food possible, and in return, you get the freshest produce straight from our fields.
This agreement simply explains how our CSA works so we’re all on the same page and you know exactly what to expect.
1. How Your CSA Works
A. Our Growing Practices
We are committed to growing food responsibly and transparently. While we’re not certified organic, our practices meet or exceed organic standards—we never use synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. In fact, we don’t even use organic-approved pesticides because they can harm beneficial insects and pollinators.
To build healthy soil and biodiversity, we rely on minimal tillage, cover crops, mulch, and compost. We welcome visitors—if you’d like to see how your food is grown, just let us know when you’d like to stop by!
B. What’s in Your CSA
Your CSA card lets you choose the produce you love from our farm store throughout the season. Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect (subject to seasonal variation):
Early Season (June) – Baby greens, arugula, beets, kale, radishes, scallions, spinach, garlic scapes, and more.
Peak Season (July–August) – Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, summer squash, lettuce, green beans, eggplant, and more.
Fall Harvest (September–October) – Onions, winter squash, leeks, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, rutabagas, and other storage crops.
Winter (November–April) – Greenhouse-grown salad greens, spinach, arugula, Asian greens, kale, and chard, plus storage crops such as carrots, beets, onions, garlic, and winter squash. Availability depends on weather and daylight, but we strive to keep a steady supply of hearty produce throughout the cold months.
CSA Perks:
Exclusive access to our Pick-Your-Own herb and flower garden.
“No Bark” hours for a calm Pick-Your-Own experience when our farm dogs are kept indoors:
Tuesdays & Thursdays 4–6 pm and Saturdays 9 am–noon.Occasional opportunities to buy bulk produce for canning, freezing, and preserving.
A 10% bonus on your CSA card—our way of saying thanks for your early support!
2. Sharing the Risks & Rewards
Farming is unpredictable. While we work hard to grow plentiful, high-quality produce, factors like weather, pests, and plant health can affect availability.
By joining our CSA, you share in both the bounty and the challenges of small-scale farming. We do everything we can to ensure a consistent and abundant harvest, using irrigation, row covers, and diverse plantings to buffer against surprises.
Your early commitment makes our farm stronger—and in return, we’ll always provide you with the best of what we grow.
Because the CSA is a shared investment in the farm’s success, membership fees are non-refundable after the initial 2-week trial period, even in the case of crop losses or missed pickups. This shared-risk model allows us to keep farming sustainably and continue growing for the community year after year.
3. CSA Pickup & Farm Store Visits
A. Your CSA Card
Your CSA card will be available for pickup at the farm store beginning in the new year.
If you sign up and pay by November 30, you can pick up your 2026 CSA card on your first visit to the store after January 1, 2026, and begin using it as soon as winter produce becomes available.
If you sign up after November 30, your card will be ready for you at your first visit in mid-May, when the main harvest season begins.
(See Section 6 for more details about early access and season timing.)
Your CSA card works just like a gift card—shop when you like for the produce you want, in the quantities you need.
Your CSA card (including your 10 % bonus) may be used for Red Shirt Farm produce only. Other farm store items—meat, dairy, bread, and groceries—are available for purchase at full price.
Important details:
CSA cards cannot be reloaded once your funds are used.
Funds must be spent by December 31, 2026; any remaining balance will expire at the end of the season. Please choose your CSA level accordingly so you can fully enjoy your benefits within the calendar year.
Lock in your spot before April 1—or before CSA shares sell out! Only 100 shares are available each season.
B. Bags & Packaging
Please bring your own bags, boxes, or a cooler for transporting your produce. We do provide recycled paper bags if you forget.
C. Lost CSA Cards & Checking Your Balance
Keep track of your card—it’s your key to shopping at the farm store!
We’ll show you how to check your balance so you always know what’s left.
If you lose your card once, we’ll replace it for free and reload your remaining balance. If it’s misplaced again, a $5 replacement fee helps cover administrative costs.
4. Visiting the Farm
We love when members visit the farm and want your time here to be enjoyable and safe. Because this is a working farm, please keep the following in mind:
Parking & Access
Park in the farm store lot or up by the house (CSA members only).
Drive slowly on the single-lane driveway and pull off to let others pass.
Please park perpendicular on the left side of the drive to keep things flowing smoothly.
Safety First
Watch your step—uneven ground and muddy spots are part of farm life.
Electric fences protect our animals. Assume they’re “hot” unless we’ve said otherwise.
Feel free to observe the chickens, pigs, and turkeys—but please don’t feed or enter enclosures unless accompanied by staff.
For safety, please don’t climb on or touch equipment or tools.
Children & Pets
Children are welcome! Please supervise them at all times and review these guidelines together before visiting.
We love dogs (we have two of our own), but for everyone’s comfort, please leave your dog in the car while visiting the farm.
To make Pick-Your-Own time enjoyable for everyone, our dogs will be kept indoors during “No Bark” hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 4–6 pm and Saturdays 9 am–noon.
Liability Notice:
By visiting the farm, you acknowledge that you do so at your own risk and agree to follow posted safety guidelines.
5. Payment & CSA Policies
A. Payment Options
You can pay online, by check, or in person with cash.
Online payments (via the link provided) include a 3 % surcharge to cover credit-card fees.
Checks should be made payable to Red Shirt Farm and mailed to:
60 Williamstown Road, Lanesborough, MA 01237Cash payments may be made directly in the farm store during business hours.
Please note:
CSA memberships must be paid in full before benefits begin.
Once payment is received, your CSA card will be activated and available for pickup according to the season schedule (see Section 3A).
We believe everyone should have access to fresh, healthy, locally grown food.
If cost is a barrier, please reach out—we’re happy to help. Through our Share the Bounty program (offered in partnership with Berkshire Grown), we’re able to offer reduced-cost CSA memberships for individuals and families who could use a little extra support.
To learn more or apply, please email csa@redshirtfarm.com. All inquiries are handled with care and confidentiality.
B. Refund & Cancellation Policy
We offer a 2-week trial period to ensure the CSA is the right fit. If you cancel within the first two weeks, we’ll provide a prorated refund (please allow 2–4 weeks for processing).
After two weeks, CSA memberships are non-refundable but fully transferable—you’re welcome to gift or sell your remaining balance to a friend or family member.
6. Season Timing & Early Access
The CSA season runs from January 1 through December 31, with the main harvest season beginning in mid-May and continuing through October. The final two months of the year feature greenhouse greens and storage crops from the fall harvest.
Your early commitment helps us plan for the coming season and keeps the farm thriving through the winter months. To thank you for that support, we offer the following early-sign-up benefits and timelines:
Sign up and pay by November 30, 2025:
Receive early access to our winter produce (greens and storage crops) as it becomes available between January and April 2026.
Your CSA card will be ready for pickup on your first visit to the store after January 1.Sign up between December 1, 2025, and April 1, 2026:
Your CSA card will be issued at your first visit in mid-May, when the main harvest season begins.
Please note: April 1 is the final deadline to purchase a 2026 CSA membership (or until all 100 shares are sold). Signing up early not only guarantees your share but also helps us plan our plantings and labor for the year.
CSA Card Pickup
Members who sign up early (by November 30) can pick up their 2026 CSA card on their first visit to the store after January 1, 2026.
For later sign-ups (December 1 – April 1), CSA cards will be issued at the first store visit once the main season opens in mid-May.
Use-It-or-Lose-It Policy
CSA cards cannot be reloaded once your funds are used.
All funds must be spent by December 31, 2026—any remaining balance will expire at the end of the season. Please choose your CSA level accordingly so you can fully enjoy your benefits within the calendar year.
In 2025, we offered a limited $100 rollover option that allowed members to carry a small balance into the next season. Many appreciated that flexibility, but it proved cumbersome to manage—we had to manually identify members and adjust balances down to $100 after December 31. To keep things simple and transparent for everyone, the rollover option will not continue in 2026.
We’ll still honor the $100 rollover for 2025 CSA members through the end of this transition period, but going forward all CSA memberships will reset at the close of each calendar year. This ensures clear accounting, a clean start each season, and a sustainable farm model we can maintain long-term.
Purchased Produce and Non-CSA Items
While nearly all produce offered through the CSA is grown right here at Red Shirt Farm, we do buy in select items—such as fruit, corn, or other crops we don’t grow—to add variety and value to our farm store.
Because these items are not grown by us, CSA cards cannot be used to purchase “buy-in” produce or non-RSF products such as meat, dairy, bread, or grocery goods. These items will be clearly labeled “Not available for CSA” to avoid confusion.
7. Communication
The best way to reach us: info@redshirtfarm.com
Phone: (518) 429-9202
You’ll receive weekly CSA emails with updates on what’s fresh, recipe ideas, and farm news.
We respect your privacy and will never share your contact information with anyone outside Red Shirt Farm.
8. Updates to This Agreement
If we ever need to adjust these guidelines, we’ll always notify you by email.
Thank You
Thank you for being part of Red Shirt Farm CSA!
Your support helps keep small, sustainable farming alive in our community—and we’re excited to share the harvest with you.