I have a bunch of things that I want to cover, so let’s jump right into the deep end. No dipping a toe.
New newsletter. Same ramblings as before, but now with a new look. Since the first week of June, 2003, I have used the weekly newsletter to help keep things straight in my mind. We have a lot of moving pieces trying to marry a farm with a distribution system. These weekly notes help make sense of it all for me. Along the way, it also is a fun tool to educate our members a bit and run our business in a very transparent manner for our members.
My hope with this new format is that we can bring a more interactive and educational experience to our members. I may be writing about our pigs and it would be a great point to have a picture or video of pigs along with the text. I know it sounds so simple, but it is something that I have been wanting to do for a while and finally it has moved off of the simmer and onto the front burner.
I encourage all of you to sign up for this newsletter on our web site under the “Farmer’s Journal” tab. Many of you already get it and don’t need to do anything.
The second thing that this new format of the newsletter will do is allow us to highlight our members more. Our group is as diverse as the food that we share. News anchors, MMA fighters, construction workers, nurses, and moms/dads. Our group collectively does some pretty cool things in all the communities that we serve.
I want to highlight your food stories in your daily lives. The one common thread we all share in this group is a true love of food. And so with a heated election year ahead of us, I want to use our blog as a reminder of the thing(s) that bring us together, not divide us. I will refrain from breaking into my rendition of Kumbaya right now.
Moving on to the Harvest Boxes. I have received a handful of emails inquiring about the Premium charges on some items in the box. So let me address this.
Because of our partners, we are able to bring you an incredible value on all of our food. But with that said, somethings we cannot afford to distribute for the $3 harvest box price. To be totally open, we actually pay our grower more than $3 for the Brussels Sprouts that we bring to you for only $4. Those same Sprouts are in the grocery store for $8! So I know that seeing a small premium on some of the box items might be annoying, but that premium is the difference between us losing money or making a tiny margin on them.
Our only other alternative is to not bring in items that have a premium. And honestly, that does not feel good to me. I want to offer you all the wonderful favors that our seasons bring us. So we will continue this system moving forward because I really like having the freshness and diversity that it allows our system. Plus it allows folks a choice…
If you do not like the premium items or like the premium prices, you can simply remove them from your Harvest Box and the box will go down to the base price. Easy as that. We leave this totally up to you. Find what feels right for you and your budget. You have the flexibility, but we cannot afford to lose money on items we bring you.
Lastly this fine week, the Meyer Lemon. We have actually had a lot of confusion about this fruit. So let’s break it down. The Meyer lemon is a cross (not GMO) between a lemon and a mandarin orange. The result is a duck that doesn’t quack like a duck. The color of the skin is not bright yellow like a typical lemon. And the taste is not so acidic like a lemon. So folks have been confusing it with a sour orange. We are going to have these for a little while longer, so keep your eyes peeled for a crazy looking orange when you order the Meyer Lemons. I highly recommend trying them though because they are so yummy and are The lemon for making a curd. So there’s that.
Farmer Monte