***Pictured above. Moody clouds above the garden this week but no rain to speak of.
We had our first light frost at the farm on Monday night/Tuesday morning. The leaves of our squash plants are a little worse for wear but it didn't damage any of the fruits. The forecast looks pretty good, actually, so we might avoid a killing frost for a few more weeks which means many more greens coming out of the farm this fall.
New Items
We have so many items! Each week when I build these deliveries I get to see the total number of SKUs that we have available and we are now up to over 240! With the exception of just a handful from BC and Manitoba all other items are from Alberta. It feels great to me that together we are supporting the Alberta food economy and many makers, bakers and growers. If you haven't explored our catalogue yet, please know that we've got eggs, pasta, chocolate, coffee, diary, bread, honey, jams, spices, canned goods, natural deodorant and shampoo and more.
New this week we have some Montreal Smoked Sausage from the Verge Farm Store near Pigeon Lake. We also some "B" grade garlic for sale by the pound. This garlic got a little bit too mature in the ground and the cloves have split apart meaning that the shelf life will be limited. This garlic will be great for canning and pickling, freezing, roasting, infusing in oils, etc. I can't say for sure how long it will last but don't expect it to last as long as our well cured garlic.
Customization cut off time - your box is open for customization until this Sunday at 10:00 pm. Please take a look at what is in your box and make any adjustments necessary.
Referral Program - Did you know that we have a referral program? Each time you refer a new customer to us each of you will receive a $25 credit. Once you are logged into your account you will see a "Refer a friend" tab at the top of your page. Click on that and share the link. When someone signs up using that link you will both automatically have a $25 added to your account. Here is a quick how to if you need more help: https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044975613
Missing Items - Please let us know about any packing errors so that we can give you a credit for any missed items. Please reach out to info@steelpony.ca to let us know about missed items.
Quality - if any items you receive from us are not up to your standards please let me know so that we have a chance to make things right for you.
Setting preferences - if you haven't already set your preferences - and even if you haven't done so recently - doing so will help you to get the most out of this program. Here is information on setting your preferences - https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021794754-How-do-preferences-work-
Home Delivery - if you have signed up for home delivery and don't expect to be home on Thursday afternoon you can leave a cooler out for us to put your order into. If the forecast is cold, putting a hot water bottle into your cooler will help to keep the chill off.
Missed pick ups - if you know in advance that you will not be able to make it to your pick up please reschedule or cancel your order through your Harvie account. Here is a how to on doing that. https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001542514-How-to-skip-reschedule-or-change-a-delivery-location. You can make these changes until the customization cut off period on Sunday night at 7:00pm.
If after the cut off period you learn that you are not able to pick up, please let me know via email at mike@steelpony.ca or text at 403-506-3634. Please do not contact drop site hosts about missed pick ups.
Any orders that are not picked up 24 hours after the pick up window will be donated or used as we see fit in order to minimize waste.
Thanks so much for working with us to support the local economy, strengthen the local supply chain, and connect farmers and producers with eaters.
Enjoy!
Mike and the Steel Pony Farm crew
