The Life of a CSA Box
The Life of a CSA Box
Our CSA program is a 20-week subscription that brings the best of Blue Heron Farm straight from the field to your kitchen. Each week, members receive a customizable box packed with fresh, seasonal produce grown right here at the farm. It’s a special way to eat well, support local agriculture, and stay connected to your food and the people who grow it.
But ever wonder what it really takes to get that CSA box into your hands? It’s an 8-day full-on dance—and here’s how it all comes together.
Thursday: The Crystal Ball Walk
The CSA cycle actually starts on Thursday — a full 8 days before you pick up your box. I walk the fields and the orchard with a clipboard in hand, taking stock of what’s ready and what might be ready in a week. It’s a little bit like reading tea leaves. Will the tomatoes ripen in time? Will the heat speed up the peppers? Will the grasshoppers behave? How bad are the squirrels in this field? Pest damage, weather, and the quirks of plant growth can throw everything off — but I do my best to make my best educated guess.
Friday: The Big Send
By Friday, I’ve made the list. At exactly 5:00 PM (religiously), the order forms go out to our CSA members. This gives everyone the weekend to make their picks for the following Friday. I encourage folks to set an alarm — it’s easy to forget when you’ve got a weekend ahead.
Friday to Monday: Your Turn
Members have from Friday 5:00 pm until Monday at noon to fill out their custom order forms. This is one of my favorite parts of our CSA — you get to choose what brings you joy to cook and eat.
Monday: The Reminder Round
Monday is the nudge day. Aki sends reminder emails to anyone who hasn’t filled out their order yet.
Tuesday & Wednesday: Value-Added Prep & Lists
These days are reserved for making sure all the add-ons are ready — jams, dried fruit — anything extra that members ordered. We also print the big harvest list for the week and print individual box stickers that go on the boxes so I can keep track of who gets what.
Thursday: Harvest & Pack Day
Thursday is the big one. We start early to beat the heat, focusing first on the delicate crops — herbs, arugula, chard, turnips, beets, and carrots with their tops on. Then we move on to the heavier hitters like eggplants, onions, and peppers.
There are four of us — two in the fields harvesting, two at the wash station cleaning, packing, and moving everything into the walk-in cooler. By late afternoon, the field work is done, and I head out to the field to make the order list for the following week.
By early evening I move into the barn for my favorite quiet part of the process.
With my clipboard of stickers and earbuds in (usually listening to an audiobook), I pack every single box by hand. Every box is different because of our custom-order system, and while it’s a lot of work, it feels good knowing each member is getting exactly what they’re excited to eat.
Friday: The Finish Line
Friday morning, we review all the boxes. If any delicate items need last-minute picking — like microgreens or bouquets of dahlias — they get harvested and added in. Midday, Aki loads the van and heads out with all the delivery orders.
By 4:00 PM, the farm is open for pick-ups. It’s one of my favorite times of the week — chatting with members, talking about different crops, swapping recipe ideas, and seeing everyone excited to bring their boxes home.
And then at 5:00 PM the next weeks order email goes out and we are off to the races again.
Behind the Scenes: Aki, Our Secret Weapon
There’s one more piece of the CSA puzzle you don’t always see: Aki. His tech brain has completely changed how we run this program. Early on, we realized that offering a customizable CSA box is a lot more complicated than just packing the same thing for everyone. Keeping track of over 50 of individual orders, add-ons, and harvest lists was a mountain of sticky notes and clipboards.
Aki custom-coded us our very own CSA software — built just for Blue Heron. It organizes every member’s order, generates our harvest lists, and creates packing stickers for each box. What used to take hours of sorting and double-checking now runs like clockwork. Honestly, without his computer nerdiness, we couldn’t run this CSA the way we do.
Why the CSA Matters
Our CSA isn’t just a way to get produce into your kitchen — it’s what makes this whole farm possible. Before we even plant a single seed, our CSA members sign up and invest in the season ahead. Those early sign-ups give us what we need to buy seeds, tools, and to cover those early spring months of labor — long before there’s anything ready to harvest. It’s one of the only models in farming where the community helps carry the risk with the farmer.
Every Friday when you pick up your box, you’re tasting the result of a promise we made together back in the spring: that we’d care for this land, grow good food, and share it with you first. That support is what keeps the farm going — and we couldn’t do it without you.
Want to Be Part of the CSA Next Year?
Our CSA members are the heart of this farm — and spots fill fast. While the 2025 season is full, we’re already building the waitlist for 2026. If you’d like to be first in line when sign‑ups open, add your name to the list now. It doesn’t lock you in, but it makes sure you’ll get early access when we open the gates for the next season.