Pictured Above (Photo by India Boostani): A Pacific Tree Frog does its part to eat pests in our brussel sprouts. Frog populations are declining globally at alarming rates. While the clearing of native vegetation for development and agriculture are cited as one of several culprits along with chemical pollution, climate change, and light pollution, at Fifth Crow Farm populations are booming with these adorable little helpers and we treasure their presence.
DON'T FORGET:
1. Use up remaining credits. If you have remaining credit we will reach out to you to see what you'd like to do with it (get a refund, have it applied towards next season purchases etc.)
2. Bring back your reusable mesh bags.
Yet another season of Subscriptions has come to a close.
As is usually the case come this time of year, everyone is pretty exhausted and looking forward to the Winter slowdown to regroup, take stock, and figure out how we can make next season better. We are so grateful to all of you who stuck with us through this unusual and challenging growing season. We know that you have all gone to extra effort to customize your boxes each week, travel to a pick up location that may not be the most convenient for you, and do this in addition to your trips to the grocery store. Know that your extra effort was not only appreciated, but is critical to the viability of our business. We (Mike, John, and I) along with our 30 odd employees and their families depend on your support to keep the farm going. From the Winter flooding and late Spring rains that delayed planting and led to unusual disease and pest pressure, to crows pulling up and eating all our sweet corn and uprooting strawberry plants this Spring, to massive Drysophila populations that led to a greatly reduced sellable apple harvest, this year has been one of the most challenging growing seasons we've had. That said, we had an amazingly beautiful pepper crop, small but delicious melons, some pretty stellar tomatoes, and many more successes. Even with greatly reduced yields on several crops the farm still yielded plenty to fill your boxes along with Farmers' Market stalls and wholesale sales.
We Are Changing Platforms
After several years with the HARVIE, we have decided to shift to a different platform. Over the course of the next month or two we will be migrating the management of our CSA/Subscriptions to Local Food Marketplace. While we love many things about the way HARVIE works, as the company has started operating their own Food Hub in the Midwest, their focus and customer service has caused many frustrations and challenges on our end and we find the platform to not be very intuitive or user friendly. The new platform will allow us to manage billing, refunds, and so much more directly versus having to request things of HARVIE. Your boxes will still be fully customizable. You will be able to add extra items, cancel a given week, alter your pick up location, etc. it will just be on a bit more user-friendly interface. We will be reaching out once the new site is set up to invite you to register. We will be able to move over basic customer data (name, address, phone number) but not financial information. There will be no auto-renew process this year. If you'd like to continue with us, you'll have to sign up once the new site it ready.
Wishing you a cozy and restful Fall and Winter.
Teresa, Mike, John, and the rest of us here at Fifth Crow Farm
