Wow, where to begin? It's been a wild ride to put it mildly.
NEW SPROUTS!
First off (and most fun!): We had TWINS!!!
We took it a little easier on 2019 with reduced market attendance and "farm triage" where non-essential projects took a hiatus because I, Malinda, was VERY pregnant! Miles and Austin made their arrival a month early on October 10th and both have been growing like little weeds.
Raising twins has been quite an adventure to put it mildly. I'm so grateful that their big brother Dylan has been a rockstar at helping and we also have Grandma who lives at the farm and has been an absolute lifesaver around here! If things are a little out of date online, or we're a little slow responding, or we're not present at all our usual events, these little cuties are likely the reason why! We're enjoying the time we have while they're little and we'll be back up to full speed soon!
COVID-19
Ugh! What a strange world we all live in now and just like every other business, we need to address it too. First off, since we produce food: safety! Our farm is small and just a few people are involved in production, marketing, and handling which is incredibly helpful in limiting exposure. We are very fortunate to have a lifestyle that has made strict social distancing relatively easy and we are taking every precaution to keep the virus away from our family not only for our own health and safety, but so that we can continue to serve our community and supply healthy, quality foods in a time where there is concern over supply and access. We've scrutinized our systems to help ensure that we are doing the best job possible to keep ourselves and our customers well. Feel free to reach out to us if you have concerns.
Delivery & Online Shopping!
We are branching out into more delivery and online sales!!! Between the babies and the pandemic, our attendance of outside sales events has diminished dramatically and at the same time, we've found people more interested than ever in shopping from home and having items delivered. So, we're adapting to meet your needs and while new, we're seeing a lot of potential in expanding in this area! Stay tuned for more details, but I'm envisioning a weekly availability showing what we have and online ordering. I have grand visions of a fancy website with beautiful photos and easy shopping cart-style browsing but I have to be realistic and start slow- I am after all, just one person who does all the marketing, business admin, runs a household, cares for 2 babies and so on so as much as I'd like to have all the bells and whistles, easing into this is the only realistic way. For now, I can put together an order and invoice through square; once paid I can deliver locally for a zero contact transaction. This has worked really well for numerous transactions already this spring and I plan to continue that while I devise a fancier plan. Delivery is currently available in Monmouth, Independence, and Dallas with a $30 minimum order. While COVID-19 has been a big disruption in so many ways, I think these changes in our farm will be lasting and a positive result from a challenging time.
CSA
Now more than ever, a CSA has tremendous value in its ability to create a direct avenue between the field and the table. Last year we started offering local delivery and that was a big success- this year we're expanding on that and encouraging most of our customers to select that option. See our CSA page for more information. I'm still working on finding a way to post the pdf's of our forms on the website but I can readily send them to you via email, Facebook messenger or mail so please dro pme a note if you need forms.
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