This guide is written for CSA members. Farms are welcome to send it on.
Once you're signed in to your farm's member page, here's everything it does — and the things it deliberately doesn't.
Seeing what's in this week's box
Your box appears once the farm has built and locked the run for that pickup day. Before that, the contents genuinely aren't decided yet — the farm is still working out how to share the morning's harvest across every member.
So an empty or unchanged box list early in the week isn't a fault. It usually means your farmer hasn't finished picking.
Why your box isn't identical to everyone else's
Many CSA farms pack one standard box. If yours uses TallyTill's box builder, it doesn't have to.
Your farm can record what you think of each crop — on a scale from never through less, ok, more, to love — and the builder takes that into account when it shares the harvest out. Crops you've marked never are a hard line it won't cross, which is what makes it safe to use for a real allergy.
Tell your farm your preferences directly. There's no screen where you set them yourself; the farm records them. Worth doing once, early in the season.
And one important thing about allergies: if a crop is genuinely dangerous for you, make sure the farm records it as a never, not only as a note in an email. A note is read by a human packer; the level is what the software is actually bound by.
Swapping an item
If you don't see a swap option, your farm hasn't turned it on. Asking is fine; taking no for an answer is also fine.
Paying your balance
If your farm bills in instalments, each one lands on your balance on the day it's due, and your member page shows what you owe.
You can pay from the page if your farm takes card payments. If they don't, they'll take it another way — at the pickup table, by check, however they've told you.
Nothing is charged automatically. There's no card on file and no direct debit, so an instalment appearing on your balance is a bill, not a payment that already happened. Worth checking the page occasionally rather than waiting to be chased — many farms don't chase.
If a balance looks wrong, email the farm. One known quirk: a balance shown on a tablet at the pickup table with no signal is a snapshot, and the screen says when it was taken. If a volunteer tells you you owe something and you've paid recently, that's usually what's happened.
Going away for a week
Email the farm. There's no button for this, and it's the single most common thing members need.
Your farm can hold that one box for that week — you stay a member, every other week carries on exactly as normal, and they don't pack produce that nobody collects. They'd much rather know in advance, so tell them as early as you can.
Be aware that a hold stops the box, not the bill. A CSA share is a share of the whole season, so whether a missed week is credited is between you and your farm — it's a conversation about your agreement with them, not a setting.
The things you have to ask the farm for
To be direct about it, since hunting for these is frustrating:
| What you want | Where |
|---|---|
| Skip a week / hold a box | Email the farm |
| Change your pickup site | Email the farm |
| Cancel your membership | Email the farm |
| Close or delete your account | Email the farm |
| A refund | Email the farm — and check your membership agreement first |
| Change your preferences | Email the farm |
| Fix your email address | Email the farm |
None of these has a button on the member page. That's a design decision, not a missing feature: these are decisions a farm needs to know about, and several of them touch money you've already paid.
Refunds and your agreement
Most CSA farms run a membership agreement for the season, and many of them say shares are non-refundable. That's normal — the farm spent your money on seed and labour months before the first box.
If you're asking about money back, read your agreement first, then talk to the farm. TallyTill doesn't hold that document and nothing in the software decides it; it's between you and the people who grew your food.
A short seasonal routine
- Start of season — sign in, bookmark the page, tell the farm your crop preferences and any allergies.
- Each week — check the box contents once the run is locked. Swap if you want to and can.
- Monthly — glance at your balance.
- Whenever you know you'll be away — email the farm, as early as you can.
Related, for members: signing in without a password and joining a CSA online.
Run a farm? TallyTill's CSA tools — per-member boxes, pack day, and a member page — are included on every plan, including the free one, with no credit card required to start. Create an account.