Deeply Rooted Farms COVID-19 Safety Plan:

  • We will have enhanced sanitation practices, regularly cleaning and sanitizing high touch points
  • We have installed plexiglass shields at the stand
  • Employee health isbeing monitored. Employees are required to stay home if feeling ill.
  • We will have handsanitizer available
  • We have added staffing to monitor activity to ensure guests are adhering to our 2020 PYO policies


DeeplyRooted Farms PYO 2020 POLICIES:

To protect the health and safety of ouremployees and the public, we have had to make changes. We are following the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s 2020 Guidance for Pick-Your-Own Farms. We appreciate your understanding, support, and cooperation during these unchartered times.

Your Health

First and foremost,if you are sick or not feeling well, please stay home and don’t come to the farm for PYO. If you consider yourself high risk, this may be the year that you ask a friend or neighbor to pick or purchase strawberries for you. Fruit picked cannot be consumed in the field due to the obvious health risks and viral spread in saliva. Your berries should be washed and eaten at home.

Wear Masks

A FACE COVERING IS REQUIRED BY GOVERNMENT ORDER.

Recent feedback received from the CT Department of Agriculture, pertaining specifically to U-Pick Farms, is that customers need to wear masks while at the cashier stand(s) and anytime they’re within 6 feet of people not in their group. So based on this clarification, you are not requiredto wear a mask while in the field with your group, so long as you can maintain a 6 foot distance between you and others not in your group. Please keep yourmask with you at all times on the farm.

Practice Personal Hygiene

Please apply any sunscreen and/or bug spray at home and wash hands thoroughly prior to coming tothe farm. We will have a hand washing station and hand sanitizer available if necessary; however we may have limited ability to keep these in adequate supply. Always a good idea to bring along your own hand sanitizer. Keep in mind, there is not running water available in our field locations. Again, please arrive with washed clean hands prior to entering the field.

Actual Picking Process – new “PAY-THEN PICK” method

Picking containers will be provided. Leave your own containers home this year. Plan to reuse them next year.

Pre-payment is required for the containers you take into the field to fill. No weighing of berries upon exiting. This reduces transactions at the registers and eliminates the need to place picking containers on scales to be weighed. After you are done picking, there’s no longer the need to check out. You may leave directly to the parking area.

We ask that you keep your picking groups limited so as to maintain safe social distancing in the field. The number of pickers in the field may be limited by our field staff at any given time to allow for proper social distancing.

A field staff member will assign you to a section in the field. You must stay in that area and not wander to other parts of the field in order to maintain proper social distancing. You respecting this policy is a key part in allowing us to operate without requiring masks while picking as per the CT Department of Agriculture’sguidelines.

Children

Children must remain under strict supervision at all times while on the farm. With the social distancing requirements, children cannot roam in the field.

Pets

Animals/Pets will not be allowed on the farm.