Thanks to those of you who wrote comments about which software functionalities are most important to you. It was really helpful to get your insights. If I didn't respond, I'm sorry, I read every one, but got a bit behind with all of the office work related to the Harvie shutdown and searching for an alternative.
If you didn't catch the news, the Harvie software platform we use to manage our CSA shares, packing, and communications is shutting down at the end of the year. We will close out the summer season (through the end of October almost: October 24-26th are the last pickups) with Harvie.
In the meantime, we've settled on a new software platform that I think you all will be happy with. The new platform will work very similarly to what you are used to, building custom boxes to your preferences and then allowing you to remove items from your cart and add others (basically like swapping with Harvie). We are in the process of getting set up with the new software. There is a lot to do with setting up payment gateways and API keys and uploading product listings and setting up all the FAQ and terms and conditions etc. But we are hoping to have both the winter season and the 2025 summer season available for you to sign up by the end of September. (The winter season is planned to start October 31st).
No one will be able to autorenew from Harvie into the new system, so once we have it all up and running, you'll need to sign up for the seasons you are interested in using the new platform. You will also have an opportunity to set your preferences there on the new platform. We will make sure to send out plenty of communications to help you know when it's time to do all this. Right now just sit tight and keep enjoying your veggies. We'll let you know when we are ready.
It feels good to have made a decision and begin moving forward with a new platform. Thanks for your patience as we make the migration!
Where's the ginger?
Well, it isn't looking so great. This is the worst year we've had with ginger. A lot of it didn't make it so the planting is really sparse and the plants are quite small. We're trying to wait as long as possible to let it size up a bit before we start harvesting it. Maybe it's better than we think but judging from the plants, I'm not expecting giant rhizomes under there. I'm sorry to deliver the bad news, but this way you can brace yourself for the tiny ginger once we start digging it up. We're looking at some ideas for correcting some of the problems we had this year for next year. The thing with farming longer-season crops like this is you don't get to learn from a lot of experience because you get one shot at it each year. When you iterate an improvement you don't know how your experimental solution will work until the next year. With some crops that we plant more regularly like radishes or dill we have dozens of iterations each season, so you could say even though we've got the same years of experience growing ginger as radishes, we still have 20 or 30 times the experience growing the radishes. Another challenge is ginger that is a tropical plant and we're really bending the laws of nature growing it here in Missouri anyway. Farmers have to be eternally optimistic: "we'll do better next year" keeps us in the game.
Bread and Cheese
Farm to Market Sourdough sliced, large loaf
Hemme Brothers Queso block
Thanks for being incredible locavores (eaters of locally grown food)
Dave and Sheri
