CSA Recipe Pages! Click on the letter range for the item you’d like to see (example: “Apple” is under A-L) A-H I-Q R-Z Or see the Smitten Kitchen for similar lists with more choices!

Updated 1/13

We are a very small CSA farm that ordinarily serves about 50 families. Our emphasis lies with connecting you to our journey, discovering fresh foods from field to fork…we provide specialized culinary support for a delightful array of fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts. We want you to succeed in your own kitchen, learn to love real whole foods, and connect with new tastes and textures.

The Nuts and Bolts: read the whole page if you want to know all the details! In short:

• Produce (CSA) boxes from this farm cost $23 each. You may purchase one trial box before enrolling as a member.
• You may choose to receive a CSA box weekly or every other week, and there is a one time fee of $6 to cover the cost of materials and office time to set up your membership. You can toggle back and forth between weekly and semimonthly boxes if you choose to.
• We serve Davis, Woodland, all Yolo County towns north of Woodland, Arbuckle, Williams and Colusa. If you’re very near one of those we might still be able to work with you. If you’re far away, we likely cannot, sorry!
• You must sign up for boxes on a quarterly basis. If you want to start mid-quarter, the fees will be adjusted accordingly. If you need to quit mid-quarter, the value of your funds on account will be paid to you in farm goods or products that we agree on (almonds, bulk goods, preserves/value added products).
• During egg season, eggs are available to be sent with your CSA box at a price of $5/dozen. This is usually February-October.
• Boxes are delivered to your doorstep in most cases…some addresses in Woodland may be asked to pick up their box at a drop-off location in the downtown area. We are big on recycling, and ask that you unpack your boxes right away and keep all packing materials in top shape for return and re-use.
• To sign up or get more info contact Deborah by email (preferred) at nevermorefarm@gmail.com, by phone (text message or voice preferred, voicemails have a bad habit of being overlooked!) 530-574-3597.

What is CSA? CSA stands for “Consumer Supported Agriculture” and is a program many small farms use to guarantee farm income while providing customers with fresh and unique produce in season. We started our CSA at Nevermore Farm in 2004 with just four subscribers. We are now in our eighth CSA season, and every year just gets better. We grow and deliver boxes 49 weeks of the year along with an informative weekly email; in a given year we raise over 65 kinds of vegetables and over twenty species of fruit and nut trees. We grow over 95% of what is sent out in our CSA boxes ourselves. We truly are a “small family farm”, with only two or three people caring for all the farming and business responsibilities. If anyone wishes, here are some customer reviews of our CSA.

Why are we doing this? Well, a few different reasons:

We want our CSA members:

• to know what food is supposed to taste like. That good fruit is candy-sweet, that vegetables aren’t “yucky”.
• to understand the techniques of how to cook and enjoy the tastes of many vegetables that are no longer commonly consumed, but used to be quite ordinary a few generations ago. We don’t just send you produce and leave you on your own. We are accomplished in the kitchen, and spend a lot of time writing a weekly email that will connect you with valuable cooking information. We are ALWAYS available by email or phone to give further guidance on preparing items with which you aren’t familiar.
• to understand why it is important to make the effort to embrace and consume a wide range of nutrition-filled foods, and that processed convenience foods cannot provide similar benefits
• to be a part of the community served by our farm, and to have personal contact with the farm and the farmer as much as is desired

We want our farm:

• to stay small enough to do the work ourselves and remain “hands-on” with our gardens and orchards. We have no employees, just occasional friends who come by to help
• to be able to provide individual personal interaction with our members at all times
• to provide for future growth and modestly support our family
• to gain more knowledge of sustainably growing an increasing diversity of edible plants, and share this with our members

Our farm tries hard to offer value equivalent to or exceeding that of grocery stores. The system we use is one of picking everything available, washing it if applicable, and dividing it evenly among the customers receiving a box that week. Usually, the boxes are very generously filled, but there are some weeks that are a little leaner because on occasion, the garden is between seasons. All in all, everyone gets quite a lot of produce during their time in the program. Mostly, your produce is picked within 14-72 hours of when you receive it. Our farm grows produce first and foremost for our CSA customers, not for the farmer’s market, grocery stores, restaurants or corporate clients. Also, we focus on disappearing varieties of fruits, vegetables and grains. Our boxes often contain items you would never be able to purchase in a retail setting. We invite you to experience these hard to find colors and flavors. We are NOT certified organic, and while we respect small farms that have felt the need to pursue certification, we don’t believe in what we feel has become a government-run paper chase. If you would like to know more about this, please see our link for Are We Organic?.

We also provide extra benefits at no charge to our members:

• Farm tours are FREE for members and their guests by appointment
• Participation in the farm by helping out or visiting is encouraged. We are here to share our knowledge of things that grow and no one who comes goes home empty handed. Jobs here can be physical, but many things that need doing involve sitting in a chair! There are little things anyone and everyone can do.
• If you need assistance with your home gardens in the form of plant starts, etc. we can help. We have a greenhouse with room to start your own seeds
• Herbs are available on request should you need something in particular for a recipe
• Surplus produce available for no cost (u-pick) or steeply discounted
• Our incredible raw almonds, in demand all over the US, can be purchased for only $4/lb by active CSA members

How big are our boxes? They are about 7″ tall, 12″ wide, and 20″ long. We try to fill them up with produce. Depending on the season and what’s happening, we may also include dry goods like beans, nuts, preserves, and grain products. These obviously take up less space than a head of cabbage….but we do try to give as much volume as we are able. What will you find in your boxes? Well, that’s a long list. Basically, what’s in season that you could possibly think of, and some others that you haven’t even heard of…We grow a full range of items, often offering produce that would be very expensive in a store. Sometimes, one item covers the value of the entire box, such as a quart basket of fully ripe, 2″ blackberries. And then there are the items you may never have eaten before, like New Zealand spinach or purslane or mulberries, but we try to introduce those in smaller amounts. And, we are very blessed with incredibly good, bountiful, and even exotic citrus….grapefruit, oranges, blood oranges, limes, lemons, cocktail grapefruit, mandarinquats, limettas, Italian lemons….if you don’t like citrus or if you have your own citrus trees, we many not be the CSA for you, as some form of citrus is in our boxes almost year-round.  If there are items you find in your box that you dislike, we recommend that you gift them to a friend. Please do inform us of your preferences (we keep lists of who loves/hates given items), and we will adjust the contents if we can easily do so, but part of what we’re hoping you’ll experience are new and better ways to prepare items that you may only think you dislike. We ask that you truly try the recipes with an open mind…if you have given it your best and still strongly dislike something, we’ll try to steer it away from you….to someone else who loves it! However, if you are allergic to an item or if you cannot consume it (such as grapefruit which interacts with some medications) because of medical reasons, those circumstances cannot be helped, and we’ll gladly support your needs. Note: If you or anyone who will consume products from the CSA suffers from  a serious food-related condition like celiac sprue, or a tree nut allergy, PLEASE tell us so we can make sure we keep your items safe. We offer almonds, chestnuts, and we also raise and offer wheat and wholemeal flour to members…this is all kept separate from the produce but we would really like to be informed and extra careful of your special medical needs.

It is really important to us that you be happy with what you receive. We do our best to check for blemishes and problems, but we don’t spray for insects. If you find that a worm has ruined an apple or a beetle got your melon, or that some creature took up residence inside your beet, please let us know. We will gladly replace any item that wasn’t of good quality (but we applaud our customers that do the “farm thing” and just cut around the unwanted guests! After all, we give all the good stuff to you and save the dubious looking items for ourselves). We welcome feedback in general about our program. Also, we wash the “big dirt” off of our produce, but we do recommend properly and thoroughly washing your items before you eat them; there is no way we can get every speck of dirt off, and, some items will have a greater tendency to spoil if we wash them first. We have never had anyone suffer a foodborne illness, and we want to keep it that way, so we count on our customers to use good practices to complete the cycle of food safety.

Not every CSA program is the same. If you find that what is in your box isn’t working for you, please let us know…we might be able to make adjustments that help. If our farm doesn’t turn out to be a good fit for you, that’s OK!  We are not going to be offended, and we may be able to help you find a source for a CSA that fits your needs better…..we are friends with many other local farmers and won’t hesitate to help match you. Our main goal is to help you connect to eating locally and eating better, and there are many means to an end.

Are You Right For a CSA? Not everyone should join a CSA. The main questions you should be able to answer in the affirmative are, Do I cook at home? Do I like vegetables, or, am I fully determined to embrace eating vegetables once I learn about how good they can taste when properly prepared? Am I open to trying new foods? Do I understand that the value of what I will receive lies in it being incredibly fresh, full of flavor and nutrition, and from less than 50 miles away, instead of what can be had at the cheapest price? And lastly, Do I have the room in my budget to afford being a member for awhile? The two main reasons people quit a CSA are realizing that they really weren’t committed to cooking (and that the contents of the boxes are going to waste), and, not planning for the expense.

Trial Box:  How are you supposed to know if being in a CSA is right for you if you’ve never tried it out? If you think you’d like to join but aren’t sure, you may request one trial box. The cost is still $23 (paid in advance by sending in a check). The contents of a normal CSA box will be delivered to your door in a box that we don’t need back.  After you use your trial box, please communicate with us ASAP if you’d like to join or not–others may be waiting for an open membership slot.

Delivery Info:

We deliver boxes on Thursdays roughly between 7:00am and 6:00pm unless otherwise noted in the weekly email. The email goes out sometime during the day on Thursday, at the latest, and at the very end there is a list of who receives boxes that week. You should check this right away to make sure you are/aren’t getting a box as expected. If there is a problem and you notify Deborah immediately, we can often correct the situation very fast. If you have not picked up your box 48 hours after the delivery time and have not contacted us to make other arrangements, we reserve the right to donate the contents of your box so that the produce does not go to waste. All deliveries to Davis/Woodland are brought by Ken, who has to fit the deliveries around his “day job” and does the best he can. You can always contact us if you have delivery questions!  Occasionally there is an emergency or a holiday and it will be on a different day–you’ll be notified well in advance by email.

Holiday Closures: We do not deliver on the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. For the Xmas/New Year period, there will be the availability of U-Pick at the farm as we understand that some of our members rely on us heavily for food. These visits will be arranged on an individual basis.

Money Stuff:

Each regular CSA Box delivered locally = $23, Effective 7/1/11 (the price may be higher for special deliveries made to outlying areas such as San Francisco)

Each dozen eggs = $5.00 (First dibs on eggs goes to CSA members. Our hens are special…read about our eggs)

One time only  ”Box Fee” upon starting your subscription = $6. This covers the use of your CSA boxes and the administrative time to set up your subscription. If you destroy, lose, abuse, or fail to return an excessive number of boxes we reserve the right to ask for payment for those boxes, at $2 each. If you are in the CSA a short time and return all boxes to us in immaculate condition, we may refund this money to you at our discretion.

Your monthly payment due is based upon which products you elect to have delivered, the frequency of your subscription, and how many delivery days (Thursdays) are in a given month. These listed prices supersede all other quotes both oral and written.

• Quarterly prepayment by check or cash is required.
• If you need to make changes to your account, such as a vacation, scheduling change, etc., you MUST communicate that via email or a phone call (text message preferred). DON’T put notes in your payments or in your return CSA boxes…. We do not check boxes as they are returned, nor process payments on a scheduled basis.
• With at least a full day’s advance notice you can cancel your weekly box for any reason. (Deborah must see your cancellation when she begin her workday Wednesday…this can be as early as 5:30 am…she checks both voicemail and email). If you need to cancel but didn’t let us know in time we’ll try to find your box a home, but ultimately you are responsible for your subscription. Cancelled boxes can be made up by arrangement, or replaced with value added goods or bulk items agreed upon.
• We like to offer seamless delivery for our members between pay periods. However, if the funds on your account have been used up, we reserve the right to suspend your service if we have not received payment, or communicated with you as to whether payment is on the way. Non-payment is not a cancellation! You are financially responsible for boxes received if you do not cancel by phone or email.
• If you need to cancel your subscription permanently, here’s what you need to do: Notify us by telephone or email (NOT snail mail or on a sticky note attached to a payment!) with as much advance notice as possible! If we show that you have a balance due on your account, you will be provided with a total summary of all financial activity and asked to verify the accuracy of our records. If there is a dispute we will straighten it out. Once your account is settled, we will notify you by email that we have closed your account.
• Please mail checks (make checks out to Nevermore Farm) to the following address (please use this address to set up online payment if you wish to use that): Nevermore Farm /6620 Marine Avenue /Arbuckle, CA 95912
• Some subscribers choose to not use US Mail or online banking to pay…..envelopes are left in CSA boxes with payment, or cash is left with a note attached….please keep in mind that if your payment becomes lost because you choose not to use a traceable way to send your payment, you are responsible for the loss. We strongly, strongly recommend that you pay by check sent via USPS or online banking so that there is a record of your payment.
• Returned Check Policy: If your payment to us does not clear the bank, we will do our best to work it out with you but we will have to ask that you pay any bank fees we are charged by our institution. As of 7/09, the returned check fee is $7 from our bank. However, if more than two of your payments “bounce” in the course of a year’s time, we reserve the right to ask for a fee of $20 in addition to the bank charges, as compensation for the considerable office time needed to manage these occurrences.

We recycle as much as possible, which is in part how we keep costs lower for our members. At the core of this is taking good care of the CSA box in which your produce comes. Each box costs us $2 to purchase. They must be returned to us for re-use. We can and do repair box problems like an edge that needs re-gluing. Damp, rain, sprinklers, wet surfaces, crushing the lids, leaving them where pets can soil them, rough handling, not removing the produce from the box on arrival and allowing items to rot in it, and other kinds of ill-treatment ruin them before their time (they can be serviceable for years if cared for). Store them in a dry, protected place, if needed inside another plastic bag (a clean kitchen garbage can liner works great, and is included in the bottom of each box for your use if needed!) Please also return your clean inner plastic liners, clean or mostly clean pulp containers, rubber bands, etc. in good condition before the next week so we can re-use the boxes. We can also re-use clean plastic produce bags.

If you have questions that aren’t addressed here, please call us! 530-574-3597 or contact Deborah by email: nevermorefarm@gmail.com

If you want to join, call or contact us at the above-mentioned number/email address.  By joining our CSA, you indicate that you have read all the information on this page and understand and agree to the terms and policies of our farm. We’ll need to know:

1) Your name and the precise address to where we should deliver. Please note that we need a location sheltered from the elements (rain and direct sun) since we often deliver when no one is home. If there is a specific location (front porch, side yard, ice chest, Aunt Susie’s garden bench), please mention that also. If you live someplace hard to find or a little “different”, such as an in-law unit tucked in behind a residence, or an apartment such as “524 D Street unit ‘B’ “, please leave DETAILED instructions as to where your residence actually is and the best way to get there. We often don’t have a lot of time in which to make deliveries and it can be really frustrating to spend long minutes searching for the right place!

2) A daytime phone number (we don’t plan to call you, this is only for if we have some sort of crisis and need to reach you)

3) An email address (or addresses)  you’ll want used for your weekly newsletter

4) Do you want a box every week, or every other week?

Thanks for your interest in our farm!