Change in Delivery Days

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your orders and also returning your boxes last week.

Another very busy week for the Crew, Bob and myself. Last week we entered the sowing season with a vengeance, and as a consequence of a large increase of work on the farm we need to make a change to our delivery schedule.

We are going to lose the Wednesday delivery day. This will mean that those who have been receiving a box of goodies on the Wednesday, will now have a Thursday or Friday delivery, depending on the area you receive said goodies.

Those who live in the Gateshead, Newcastle, Morpeth, Coastal areas plus those who live East of Stocksfield will have a Thursday delivery. Everyone else will be on a Friday. Thank you for your patience while Bob and I do our best to complete the deliveries in two days.

The main reason for this is so we can gain two days each week, one for Bob and the other for me. Personally, I will be having a facial and a shoulder massage. Bob will be going for a run and watching an old war movie!!! A likely tale!!! We both want to spend more time working on the farm and help get on top of the many tasks we have planned.

It also allows us to fulfil our dream....the main reason for starting our adventure was to grow fruit and vegetables. So this change allows us to spend more time on horticultural tasks.

Previously I have discussed how we are constantly looking at ways to make ourselves more ‘efficient’ - this is also an efficiency exercise. As the number of customers increases, so does the time taken to administer any process we undertake. Up to this point, it has taken Bob and I three and a half days to pack and deliver to you, our lovely customers.

We take another day (minimum) to complete the admin. We then need to take some time to recover from the delivery days. This has meant that the number of days we are able to garden (and be grandparents) is limited to about two days a week - if we are lucky. Hence the reason we have decided to take away the Wednesday delivery day, to concentrate our efforts for the packing and delivery process over two and a half days and gain a day each.

We often have people visit us at the farm. They wish to know why and how we started our organic farm as they are about to embark on an adventure and lifestyle that we are enjoying. The biggest surprise to each and everyone of these people is the length of time it takes to deliver to customers. What I have explained, re the packing and delivering, does not consider the time it takes to harvest. This is, easily, a day for all of us here on the farm! This is to be discussed another time (much more exciting news on this to come).

Previously on a Friday we have tended to share the Friday delivery between myself and Bob. On Friday, just gone, Bob delivered to everyone while I watched day time tv (joke). As a result I had my best day for a long time being a gardener. The sun was out, a big blue sky up above and I worked in polytunnels six and seven. As you can see above, the overwintering onions are coming along a treat, they were checked and any new weeds removed quickly. The cauliflowers, cavolonero and vivid choi were tidied and decaying leaves removed from the base of the plants. All the paths were straightened, along with the watering systems being re established. I thoroughly enjoyed myself organising the tunnels. All these jobs would be completed, eventually, however, it is good to be able to take a little more time and ensuring that the Fresh Local Organic produce we provide is tended a little more, just for you. But for me, it did feel good to be a gardener on a Friday.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Take care, Ann👩‍🌾