Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I get to the farm?
• What's on U-Pick?
• How do I join the CSA?
• How can I get a job with Clagett?
• Can I get a tour of the farm?
• How can I volunteer or do a workshare?
• Can I bring my dogs to the farm?
• Can I throw a wedding at the farm?
• Can the CSA deliver to my workplace?

 

How Do I Get to the Farm?

Here are directions to Clagett Farm, 11904 Old Marlboro Pike, Upper Marlboro MD 20772

• FROM 395 OR 295 IN D.C.: From 395 North, follow signs onto 295 South. Take exit 3A onto Suitland Parkway. After 9 miles, turn right onto Route 4 South (Pennsylvania Ave). Continue 5 miles. Take the exit on your left Ritchie Marlboro Rd. At the stop sign turn left, and then at your first stop light, turn left onto Old Marlboro Pike. The farm is one mile down the road on your right. Look for the sign “Clagett Farm; Chesapeake Bay Foundation".
• FROM 495: Take exit 11A, Route 4 South (which is Pennsylvania Ave. running out of SE DC) and continue 5.7 miles. (DO NOT take the Old Marlboro Pike exit from Route 4.) Take the exit on your left Ritchie Marlboro Rd. At the stop sign turn left, and then at your first stop light, turn left onto Old Marlboro Pike. The farm is one mile down the road on your right. Look for the sign "Clagett Farm; Chesapeake Bay Foundation".
• FROM BALTIMORE AND POINTS NORTH AND EAST: Take Route 301 south and then Rte. 4 north (towards Washington) for 2 miles. Take the Ritchie Marlboro Road exit. At your first stop light, turn left onto Old Marlboro Pike. The farm is one mile down the road on your right. Look for the sign "Clagett Farm; Chesapeake Bay Foundation".
• ONCE ON THE FARM: Follow the drive around to the first fork and turn left. Pass the barns on your right and park at the top of the hill; a shed will be on your left and a large field with a greenhouse will be in front of your parked car. Please turn around and walk to the washing station directly behind you (opposite direction of the field) to pick up your share.

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What's on U-Pick?

You can check our latest Share Updates for information about u-pick at the farm. We also keep the list on a dry-erase board at the washing station, which you can check when you get to the farm.

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How do I join the CSA?

Click here if you would like to become a new CSA member this year. We will offer our open slots to the first people who sign up.

Once the CSA is full for the season, that same web site will give you a registration form, so you can let us know you would like to be alerted when it's time to sign up for a share next year.

You can find details about what it means to be a "shareholder" in our vegetable CSA by visiting www.cbf.org/csa.

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How can I get a job with Clagett?

Send us an e-mail to clagettfarm@cbf.org telling us you are interested in working here at our farm. We begin interviews each year in February and hire people to work from March, April or May through October or November. Once we have hired our team for the season, we do not normally have more job openings until the following year.

We pay $11.50/hour for first year staff, and we have both part-time and full-time positions. We do not offer housing. We highly recommend that anyone interested in working here should try their hand as a worksharer or volunteer first. And tell us while you're here that you might apply to work here the following season. We appreciate having the chance to get to know someone in the field before we hire them, so people who have worked with us in the past get special preference when we are hiring.

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Can I get a tour of the farm?

Thanks for your interest in taking a tour of the farm. Here are your options:

1. We can take groups of motivated adults and/or kids to volunteer, and we are happy to give a 15-minute introduction about the farm before we begin. The focus of the experience is on helping us with whatever hot, dirty work we're doing, and it's absolutely free. We take groups of up to 30 people. Check out www.cbf.org/csa-volunteer for more information, or call 301-627-4662 to schedule.
    
2. We offer a hayride tour of the farm for $150 that lasts one hour. The hay wagon can take up to 30 people. We can give tours Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Call 301-627-4662 to schedule.

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How can I volunteer or do a workshare?

Below is some general information about volunteering and working for produce.

Clagett Farm offers volunteer opportunities predominately during the spring, summer and fall months. We accept individuals Monday - Saturday and groups Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from approximately 9AM -3PM. If you or your group would like to schedule a trip outside of the days and hours mentioned, please call us to see if we can make an exception. To schedule a specific date and time to come out to the farm please call 301-627-4662. That is the cell phone number carried by staff in the field at Clagett Farm.

Clagett offers a workshare program to individual adults who may exchange four hours of farm work for one portion of our harvest. This program is not available to minors or groups, and cannot count towards any community service hour requirements. If you have questions or would like to sign up for a morning of work, please call the farm staff at 301-627-4662.

In addition to volunteering, we also offer educational hayride tours of the farm Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 9AM -3PM. Tours typically last one hour, and cost $150. This is a great option for groups looking to learn about what we do at Clagett without getting too dirty or sweaty.

Send us an e-mail to request the Volunteer Information Packet, which includes information that all volunteers in a group will need prior to arriving at the farm: information about what we do, what to wear, what to bring, rules, directions to the farm, and the Health Form. The health form should be completed prior to arriving at the farm; you can hand it in to a staff member when you arrive on the farm. Minors must have a guardian fill out the form on their behalf. If necessary, adults may fill out the form when they get here.

Volunteering is hard work and can include any number of labor intensive tasks, for example: weeding, mulching, transplanting, harvesting, working in a greenhouse, etc. Please be prepared for the weather conditions by dressing appropriately.

Volunteers make it possible for us to donate 40-50% of our harvest to people of low-income--thank you for your interest! If you have more specific questions about our programs or Clagett Farm, please call the number above. Hope to see you on the farm!

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Can I bring my dogs to the farm?

Dogs are welcome on the farm. Our preference is that you keep your dog on a leash whenever you are near food, other people (since some are afraid of dogs), or other dogs. Also, the washing station can get crowded on pick-up days, so it's better to pick up your food first, leave the food in your car, and then take out the dog for playtime. Dogs are never, ever allowed in the herb beds or vegetable fields.

There's always plenty of pasture where a dog can run around off a leash and have fun. The electric fences are only turned on around the pastures where the herd is grazing on a given day. Incidentally, if you bring a dog near the cows, the cows will walk briskly toward the dog and chase it out of the pasture to protect their calves. No one ever seems to get hurt in these encounters, but usually the dog is pretty intimidated.

 

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Can I throw a wedding at the farm?

Congratulations!

We have a lovely view but imperfect facilities for a wedding. There's a nice big barn and some reasonably flat area around it in the middle of the farm. But there is no power or water there. So you should consider what you might need to rent:

• Generator (for lights and music)
• Tent (depending on how many guests you have, there's a good chance the whole event won't fit into one barn)
• Lights (unless it's all during the day)
• Tables
• Chairs
• Tablecloths
• Dance floor (or make your own)

Here are a few things that we DO have available for weddings:

• A walk-in cooler, and plenty of water at the washing station.
• Two sophisticated composting toilets.
• An outdoor, clay, wood-burning oven, perfect for pizzas.
• No restrictions about which caterers you use.

We charge a fee of $2,000. The money is used entirely to help us donate more food to low-income families and soup kitchens.

We would mow and clean the area before your event and allow you to set up the area ahead of time.

Saturday afternoons until 4:30pm between May and November are a really difficult time for us to have events, since that is when our members are here to pick up their share.

We hope that gives you some things to think about. Let us know if you're still interested.

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Can the CSA deliver to my workplace?

No, we only offer three locations for pick-up: Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evenings, Annapolis on Thursday evenings, and at the farm in Upper Marlboro on Wednesdays or Saturdays.

 

Have a question we haven't answered? Leave it here in the comments.

Comments

[Kids Insoles]

Nice blog. Thank you so much information. I’ve just bookmark this!

[becky]

Responding to Deborah

Hi Deborah,

1. one of thing with CSA is being flexible. following your recipe is ok but making with what you have. which means adjust recipe and use 3/4lb okra or less eggplant. no need to buy additional 1/4lb because the recipe called for.

2. the bugs on your veg. is a good indication of quality food. remember we're coexistence with nature surrounding including bugs, worms, etc.

Enjoy!

[Carrie Vaughn]

Responding to Deborah,

I am very sorry to hear that you have not enjoyed your experience as a CSA member this year. I appreciate that you have shared your thoughts with us.

Because the season is unpredictable, we cannot guarantee that everyone will get the amount and variety of vegetables that they want each week. The best we can do is be as open as possible with what we have distributed in the past, which is one reason why we post the week’s share on our blog. And we also post the complete results of our member surveys, in the years that we conduct them. And we tell people accurately, that most members tell us in surveys that a typical share is appropriate for 2 adults. Clearly every household is different, and we can only make broad generalizations without knowing how any particular household will enjoy our CSA share in a particular year.

We had several months of extremely wet weather, which might explain the yellowish color that some of the greens had for a bit. The rain washes water-soluble nutrients from the soil, including Nitrogen, Sulfur and Boron. The yellow color can be an indicator of low Nitrogen. As for the insect damage, this is an example of a moment when we have to make a judgment call whether our members will be happier having the item with insect damage, or if it's better to leave it in the field. Typically, we try to pick only the produce that looks appetizing to the person picking it. Since insect damage in greens is a cosmetic problem that does not affect the eating quality of the food, it's a subjective decision.

As a point of contrast, it's worth noting that we've also had some rather sublime items in the CSA share this season, so far. There were several weeks when our CSA members could pick as many strawberries as they wanted, and there were plenty of people who walked out of the field with heavily-laden bags and baskets, without coming close to picking them all. It's a rare treat to find all-you-can-eat organic strawberries in this region. Also, we had some remarkably sweet cabbages and white turnips this spring.

I, too, wish that many of the shares so far this year had been heavier. In moments like these, I am tempted to reduce the number of CSA shares for next year so that each share will be larger. But the reality is that we need to make enough money to make ends meet, and some of my dear co-workers are already working for much less money than they deserve. In our next member survey, a question I will ask is whether our CSA members would prefer to pay a little more for a slightly larger share (and therefore I would need to sell fewer of them).

I hope you are able to find a CSA that fits your needs better next season. There are many in the area, and I'm certain that some of them offer share sizes that are larger (for a higher price). On the other hand, it sounds like you prefer to use recipes when you cook, and you might be better served with the wider selection available at a farmers' market.

Best of luck to you, and thank you again for your thoughts. You are correct, that without honest feedback, we cannot meet the needs of our customers. We will keep your comments in mind as we consider changes for next year.

Yours truly,
Carrie

[Deborah Santor]

This is my first year with Claggett Farms CSA and it pains me to make the following comments because I admire what you are trying to do but if you don't get feedback you will never improve.

Being a vegan, I make entrées using primarily vegetables and I find that the CSA portion sizes are problematic for this type of cooking. As an example, I would like to make an okra dish that calls for 1 lb of okra but this week the maximum amount of okra I can get is 3/4 lb or I would like to make a ratatouille dish that calls for 1.5 lb of eggplant but I am limited to 3/4 lb of eggplant. The CSA portion sizes require that I halve most of my recipes which converts them into side dishes or go buy more okra or eggplant for the dish. I am trying to make vegetable entrees so side dishes don't work for me. Needless to say needing to go out to buy an additional 1/4 lb of okra or 1 1lb of eggplant is irritating.

I been surprised by the small portion sizes. When the season first started, I attributed the size to the early season but now the season is in full swing and it has not improved.

In addition, the quality of the food in the beginning of the season was subpar. Most of the collards and kale were riddled with insect damage and the color of the greens (tending toward yellow) made me wonder about the nutrient quality.

To date, I do not feel that I have gotten what I have paid for.

[Mary Woznysmith]

I get the email updates with what will be in the share this week, and my husband would like to get them too. Can I add his email address to the list for weekly updates?

[Jerry richman]

We have a share that we pick up at the farm. We have been away for a couple of weeks and would be picking up a double share this week. Since there is a break we would do that next week on 7/13. The problem is that we will be out of town and will miss the following two weeks and will not be able to get a share until 7/27. That means we will have missed four weeks.
We were wondering if it would be possible for our daughter Patricia to pick-up our share at DuPont next week. This would be a only one time activity.