2020 Conway Location & mid-February Newsletter

Good morning Farmshare community!

I hope everyone enjoyed yesterday's sunshine as much as we did!  I'm crossing my fingers that this morning's sunshine continues throughout the day!  I wanted to send a quick email to tell you that while the farm is wet and soggy (expected in February), the start of the season is progressing as well as we can ever hope.  We have broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, sprouting broccoli, kale, beets, radicchio and sugar snap peas started in the greenhouse.  The heirloom tomatoes that we will plant in the high tunnels have been started in our germination room with the next round of tomato seeds to start today or tomorrow.  We have four monster beds of carrots just sprouted in a high tunnel and plan to plant several more beds in one week in the hopes that we harvest enough carrots for most of the May Farmshare baskets. While I never know what March and April will bring, so far we are on track.   

My exciting news this weekend is that we have secured a spot for a Conway pickup location and I hope that it meets the needs of everyone that has asked for one.  I have to say first, I am so thankful for the generosity of Brothers Honey Co in hosting last year's Conway pickup.  My change in venue for this had nothing to do with them but entirely to do with me honing in on what it would take for me to continue dropping off in Conway.  Last fall, after such a rough season, I really considered dropping a Conway pickup altogether in order to simply simplify the Farmshare.  Over the last two months though I have had so many people reach out to me requesting a Conway pickup that I decided if I could get a number of very specific needs met we would be in Conway again this year.  My first and most important need was not just a good location, but a person at that location that would really take ownership of the distribution to help make sure that it runs smoothly and that everyone gets the food they are supposed to.  My second wish was to find a space that could comfortably hold not just the food but a number of members picking up at the same time while impacting the actual business as little as possible.  Both of these requirements also resulted in finding a space where we could run the pickup "market style" like we do at the farm and at Hillcrest in order to reduce our use of plastic bags, a cause that is very important to me.  Last Friday I finalized a commitment to a location that would meet all of these requirements.  For the upcoming Farmshare season the Conway pickup will be held on Tuesday afternoons from 2:30 to 4:00 at Jazzercise in Conway, located at 2625 Donaghey Ave, Ste 102!  I hope this works for the majority of you!  Know that in choosing this location, we NEED you to pick up your food by 4:00 so that we don't interfere with their 4:30 class and we NEED you to bring your own reusable bags and containers!  I'm really excited about being able to offer this.  The women at Jazzercise have such great energy and are excited to help make this happen with us.  

Now, housekeeping...some of you have already signed up for the farm pickup but have expressed interest in a Conway location when available.  If you wish to change your pickup location from the farm to Conway, I need you to click on the 2020 Farmshare link above and follow the "Sign up" link to choose the option to transfer from the farm to Conway.  There will be a $25 additional cost for the Conway pickup.  This is no different than any of our other pickups.  The cost to pick up at a location that is not the farm has always been $25 more.  This helps us cover the cost of the Farmshare basket given to the hostess of the location as well as the cost of delivering the food.  While I love hearing from y'all, there is no need to send me a message about changing as long as you go to the website and purchase the transfer.  Finally, due to space limitations in my truck when hauling the food, we will limit this pickup to 20 members.  Just like last year, I expect these 20 spots to fill up very quickly.  Likely not today, but I won't be surprised if it is full in the next two weeks.  

Please email me at rattlesgarden@yahoo.com with any questions!  Have a great day, y'all!