| Pickup option | Published window and conditions | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Market pickup (CSA farm serving Surrey and New West, British Columbia) | Thursdays 3pm to 7pm at the New West Farmers market, during market opening hours | Suits a weekday afternoon or early-evening stop that you can fit into a regular route. |
| On-farm pickup (same CSA farm, Surrey) | Saturdays 10am to 2pm at the farm | Suits a weekend errand and a drive to the farm gate. |
| Orchard on site (Verger des Bois-Francs, 2655 St-Calixte, Plessisville, Québec G6L 1S6) | Open year round; contact the company for details; booking required for groups; free parking | Treat it as a call-ahead stop, especially for a group. |
The CSA windows come from the New West Farmers CSA page, and the orchard details come from the Bonjour Québec listing.
Vegetable basket pickup point: Quebec farms and cooperatives each set their own place and time window, so confirm both before paying for a share.
Baskets sit inside the wider food cooperative quebec picture, and the model behind them is explained in the guide to community supported agriculture quebec. This page concentrates on logistics: where baskets are collected, how delivery differs, and what to do when a pickup goes wrong.
Before the season: register and choose a site
Community supported agriculture is a partnership between farmers and community members who want to support local sustainable agriculture, according to the New West Farmers CSA page. Members buy a share of the harvest before the season begins and then receive a weekly box of vegetables across the farm season. Because the money is paid first, the pickup arrangement is worth settling before you commit rather than after the first box is ready.
Price is a separate decision from logistics. The guide on how much does an organic vegetable basket cost quebec covers the budget side, so this page can stay with places and times.
That Surrey farm runs spring, summer and fall programs, which is a useful reminder that the contents of a basket follow the growing season. Seasonal vegetables change from one program to the next, and the pickup routine you choose has to hold for as long as the program you register for.
- Read the farm’s pickup page first. Note every named site and its days and hours.
- Hold each window against your normal week. A site that only works on a rare free afternoon will cause trouble by midseason.
- Ask about uncollected shares before paying. The answer is the farm’s own rule, and it is easier to learn it in advance.
- Check the service area. Some programs only serve nearby communities, so confirm that your address qualifies.
Pickup locations and windows
The answer to where you can pick up a vegetable basket is whatever the farm or cooperative lists for its own program. The one CSA farm with published windows in this guide offers two sites, a market stall and the farm itself, and many programs follow a similar pattern of a small number of fixed collection points.
Market pickup
The Surrey farm lets members collect at the New West Farmers market during opening hours, Thursdays 3pm to 7pm. A market site makes sense when you already shop there or pass it on a regular weekday route. The window is a market schedule, so it fits best if you can arrive within those hours rather than expecting the farm to hold the box for you afterwards.
On-farm pickup
The same farm also offers collection at the farm in Surrey on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. This suits members who prefer a weekend trip, who want to see where the vegetables are grown, or who find the weekday market window awkward. The trade-off is travel: a farm gate is rarely on a daily route, so plan the drive as part of the week.
Reading a pickup window
A window is a block of hours on named days, not a promise that a box will wait afterwards. Compare the window with your travel time, not just your free time, and note whether the site is a market, a farm or a depot, because each has different rules for parking, waiting and collecting. In French, searches for a point de cueillette panier légumes lead to the same kind of page: a farm or cooperative listing each site with its days and hours.
Orchards and farm stops in Quebec
Quebec has farm stops that work differently from a weekly share. Verger des Bois-Francs in Plessisville is listed by Bonjour Québec as a U-pick apple orchard where visitors pick their own apples and join various activities. It is not a vegetable basket program, but it shows how on-farm collection can work in the local food system.
- Hours. The listing describes the orchard as open year round and asks visitors to contact the company for more details, so confirm hours before you drive.
- Groups. Booking is required for groups, which matters if you are collecting for a household, workplace or club.
- On-site sales. Apples and processed products are on sale at the kiosk, giving visitors a way to buy without picking.
- Parking. Free parking is available on site, which removes one common concern for a drive-in pickup.
The lesson for basket members is to treat any farm stop as call-ahead. A listing gives an address and general hours, but the farm itself decides what can be collected and when.
Pickup day routine
Once a site and window are settled, the weekly routine matters more than the choice itself. A basket of fresh vegetables is a perishable item, so plan the stop close to the time you head home.
Containers and handling
Ask the farm whether baskets or crates are returned or kept, and whether you should bring bags or a basket of your own. Some programs supply the container, others expect members to bring one. A simple, sturdy basket is easy to carry and to unpack.
Sending someone else
If you cannot make a window, ask the farm in advance whether another person may collect on your behalf and what they need to say or show. The answer is the farm’s own policy, so get it before the first week, not at the pickup table.
Delivery options
Delivery is a different service from pickup, and a farm has to choose to offer it. The Bonjour Québec listing notes that Verger des Bois-Francs packs and delivers several varieties of apples to grocery stores and distribution centers. That shows farms use more than one channel, but wholesale delivery to stores is not the same as bringing a basket to a member’s door.
When a program does offer home delivery, ask for the details in writing before you pay:
- Delivery day and area. Confirm that your address is covered and which day the box arrives.
- Absence rules. Ask what happens to a box when nobody is home to receive it.
- Fees. Check whether delivery is part of the share price or charged separately.
Choose pickup when you want to see the produce and talk to the farmer, and consider delivery only if the farm confirms the terms above. Because a share is paid before the season, an unclear delivery arrangement is hard to fix once the weekly boxes start.
If you miss a pickup
What happens to an uncollected share is set by each farm, so there is no single rule for Quebec. Fresh vegetables cannot wait indefinitely, and the quickest route to a good outcome is to contact the farm as soon as you know you will miss the window.
- Contact the farm promptly. Use the phone number or email on its pickup page and say which week is affected.
- Ask about another listed window. A farm with two sites, like the Surrey CSA with its market and farm options, may let you collect at the other if it allows swaps.
- Ask whether the box can be held. Learn how long staff will keep it and where.
- Ask about donation or compensation. Find out whether the farm passes unclaimed boxes on, or whether a missed week is simply lost under the share terms.
- Record the answer. Keep the reply so you can refer to it if you miss another week.
If you expect to miss several weeks, such as during a holiday, raise it at registration. A farm that knows early has more options than one that finds an empty spot at the pickup table.
Frequently asked questions
What does point de cueillette mean for a vegetable basket?
It is the French term for a pickup point, the place and time where members collect a basket. Farms usually list each point with its address, days and hours.
Do I have to register for every season?
Not necessarily. The Surrey CSA offers spring, summer and fall programs, and members can register for one, two or all seasons.
Is a weekly share the only option?
No. The same farm offers weekly share options and biweekly share options, so check which rhythm suits your household and your pickup window.
Can anyone join the Surrey CSA used as an example here?
Its CSA program is open to people in the Surrey and New West communities. Farms in Quebec set their own service areas, so check the one for the program you are considering.
