Yesterday was the first delivery of our new program and overall, it was a great success. I am happy with the variety of items we were able to pull together and as far as I can tell the quality of the products we have curated seem excellent. Thanks to those of you who participated and I am looking forward to doing well for you again this coming week.
Here is a request a bit out of left field - we have very limited infrastructure at the farm and are getting quite crowded. We have a pallet of things that cannot freeze - fertilizer, paint, glue, etc - that is taking up some precious storage space in one of our heated rooms. Has anyone got a heated garage that we could put this pallet in until danger of freezing has passed? I'm looking for someone in or close to Red Deer and am happy to work with you to find some type of remuneration that feels good for both of us.
See below for some of our regular logistical updates/details.
Missing Items - we are putting processes in place and working fastidiously to make sure your order contains all of the items on your pick sheet. We still do make mistakes though, and hope that you will let us know about them 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.
Selection - as we are just getting up and running, it is becoming evident to me that we might not have all the items that we carry available every week. For example, there is a minimum order that we need to get dairy delivered and I don't think that we will hit it this coming week so our dairy selection is going to be limited to cheeses, butter, and some cream as opposed to offering milk. I hope that we are able to cycle back to milk soon. Once our customer base goes back to it's normal level this summer I expect we will be able to order dairy each week.
Customization cut off time - you can customize your order until this Sunday at 7:00 pm
Setting preferences - if you haven't already set your preferences, 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. The forecast says it will be cold next Thursday. 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
