Hello 2021, we are so happy that you are here! The past year threw us some major curve balls that no one saw coming. We don't need to dwell into those details. Sigh. Back in 2019 we were really excited about our big new adventure for 2020...chickens! Little did we know that the chickens would pale in comparison to the other "new" things on the farm we were about to face. But we did it. We made it through another season of growing delicious food for our customers and members AND we did it with smiles behind our masks (at least most of the time anyways!).
GOOD NEWS ALERT: We have a few spots OPEN for our 2021 Customizable Vegetable Share Program (click to go to sign up page). Many of you (over 320!) are already signed up but we are taking a few more members for 2021.
***Remember if you are already a member, you can REFER A FRIEND to sign up for a share and you both will receive $10 in credits to use to purchase extras during the season.*** Log into your Harvie member profile to see your upcoming deliveries to make sure you are signed up for 2021. There you can also view your unique link to send to friend and family for signing up so they get the $10 credit (and you too!).
MORE GOOD NEWS: As an ode to the POSITIVE things that did happen in 2020 here are a few of the BEST FARM HAPPENINGS from the 2020 SEASON....
- We harvested over:
- 39,000 pounds of things
- 110,000 eaches of things
- 13,000 bunches of things
- 2,000 pints of things
- WHAT? These numbers are pulled right from our harvest data and seem wild to even us the farmers....good thing we have a few more months to rest before we do it again.
- We packed out over 8,500 vegetable shares to hungry happy members: We cannot thank you enough for your support! One thing that kept us going during this challenging time in our world was knowing how important our vegetables were to those who were receiving it.
- We got chickens (meat birds and layers)! And wow did they taste delicious:) There are currently happy hens on the farm laying eggs and we plan to get another round of meat birds for 2021...stay tuned for ordering details in the spring.
- Our Wholesale business broke records! During a very tumultuous time for restaurants and small local grocery stores, our wholesale buyers stayed SO strong. This ability for them to adapt, stay open and support their local farms even more was admirable and should not go unrecognized. Thank you to all of them:
- Dalla Terra Pasta (Appleton)
- Fresh Fit Cafe (Fond du Lac)
- Paddock Club (Elkhart Lake)
- Poco Pizza (Van Dyne)
- Pure by Mindi (Fond du Lac)
- SLO Farmers Coop (Green Bay)
- Stone Cellar Brew Pub (Appleton)
- The Duke of Devon (Sheboygan)
- The Free Market (Appleton)
- The Village Market (Fond du Lac)
- Trattoria Stefano (Sheboygan)
- We received a USDA Value Added Producer Grant for The Farm Store! Way back when in January of 2020, many hours went into the grant writing process and it paid off. In September we received the good news that we are one of 13 lucky recipients in Wisconsin to receive a VAPG grant. Ours is for marketing, technology and branding assistance for The Farm Store at Park Ridge Organics.
- Our Spring Plant Sale was a big hit! We pivoted in our plans early and decided to expand on our Spring Plant Sale to give people easier access to local, organic plants for their own gardens. Since people very much enjoyed our plants, we are planning and even BIGGER VARIETY of plants for the 2021 Spring Plant Sale. Stay tuned for those details in early Spring.
As we march on into 2021 we are excited for whats to come at the farm. We have our staff all lined up, our seeds are on hand and we are optimistic. I personally want to thank the crew from 2020 for all their hard work and for keeping things safe around the farm. Some of you will be sadly missed in 2021 but we are excited for your future endeavors and thankful for your past farm time. Thank you!
Cheers to the future!
Robyn
Park Ridge Organics
