Being this my first full season switching to an online farm store I was delighted to see many of my past subscription members liking the new way to custom order and receive produce deliveries from my farm. A few people expressed missing the old traditional weekly deliveries but also mentioned the new way was quite nice also. I'm super grateful towards all of you who I managed to still hold your interest after the changes. Also, it was nice to see some new patrons trying online local produce shopping for the first time, and being pleased with the food, and the ordering process. It's been a nice confirmation that perhaps this new approach to selling my vegetables may just be a win-win situation for all of us.
This season marks the end of my thirty-third growing season at Rare Earth Farm. I'm still planning to continue on with my work, however the continued hardship of not finding enough people qualified to hire on for the season has gotten the best of me. Downsizing my production and distribution is my new strategy unless a new resource for good help becomes available. Being a seasonal employer has always been the biggest problem. Now as my summer crew of employees are leaving to find work for the winter I most likely won't be having as much available on the farm stand.
My recommendation to everyone who still wants to continue buying produce from my store would be to get on and order shortly after the notification email is received. The farm stand will be ongoing until I either run out of produce to sell, or when the weather takes a turn for the worse. Starting in November I'll be switching to every other week deliveries. Thank you all once again for being so supportive to my life long interest and passion for organic farming.
With warm regards,
Farmer Steve
