For some time, Full Belly has wanted to develop a system for our CSA members that will allow all of you to place your orders and renew your boxes on-line, without the added step of emailing or calling the farm. This is not because we are moving away from our commitment to building relationships with all of you, but more because it is a necessary convenience demanded by the current marketplace.
There are several ‘off-the-shelf’ programs that we could have chosen, but because we want to maintain the flexibility that we currently offer, we decided to build our own program, and the first phase of that effort has been completed. During the next month, we will be electronically moving all of the data from our old system to our new system. This includes many important details and is a little bit complicated.
If you notice anything amiss in your CSA account, don’t hesitate to contact us. This transition period, from the old program to the new program will take a few months – we want to be sure that everything is functioning as it should be.
Last night, well before bedtime, the electrical power for the valley (all of us north of the Casino) went out. This is not an uncommon occurrence since the two-lane highway up the valley is prone to accidents, and the only power lines coming this way, come along the road. Without electricity, this morning there was no water to wash vegetables, no wifi or internet, and only one functioning phone line. We all made do, using pencils and paper to list the vegetables to be picked, and stored water to clean them once they came into the packing shed. The older systems still work, but we like the efficiencies of the “new systems” when they function!
Once our new CSA program is working here at the farm, we will continue our efforts to make it available directly to all of you on-line. We hope that you will be able to place orders and renew your accounts on-line early next year. Of course if you want to e-mail or call us, go right ahead! Even when our spiffy on-line system is up and running, we still want to hear from all of you.
— Judith Redmond
