Don't Mind Me

Since the creative juices are now at an ebb after the Oh Well Trilogy, we'll just do a bunch of short items here to keep everyone interested.

Noticing Little Things
Since we started the farm business, we find ourselves looking at little things that other businesses do that irk us just a little and try not to do those things.  Though, I am sure we do plenty of little things wrong, it doesn't hurt to observe our own reactions when we are customers and try to use them as a learning experience so we avoid these same issues.

For example, I have been doing a great deal of paper work this weekend - which includes paying bills.  I was pleased to note that one small business provided me with a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (SASE).  I was NOT pleased when I realized it was an odd-sized envelope.  I even had to fold the check down.  It's a stupid little thing - and not a big deal.  But, for that moment, I was irked.

Then, there are the instances where I get the itemized bill, but there is no section intended to return with payment.  I don't want to send the whole itemized bill back, that's for my records.  And, I am sure they don't want ANOTHER copy of that bill.  So, I end up having to throw something together to make sure it identifies the proper invoice/account, etc.  Again, it is not a big deal, but when I DO get these things from a small business, I find my opinion of them goes up.

But, then I realized something.  We probably do a number of things that might irritate for a moment.  We always hope for understanding.  And, if it is a thing we can fix, we appreciate getting a kind comment suggesting a change.  At the very least we are aware of the issue.  And, if we can find the time and energy, we can correct it.  Maybe I should say something to each of these businesses?  Hm.
 
Crop Report
Rabbits have discovered they like to cut down our peppers.  The field peppers are down about 400 plants right now.  This is particularly hard on us after the effort we all put into planting, cultivating and laying drip tape.  We're struggling to find solutions for this problem.  On the plus side, the zucchini and summer squash are showing rapid growth.  The tomatoes are beginning to show some growth, as are the cucumbers.  The batch of kohlrabi, pok choi and chinese cabbage people helped plant during Iris Fest TSD are growing well.  On the flip side, everything needs to be weeded.  The rain has prevented us from getting out there with cultivators.  Ahhhhhh, life on the farm.  Never a dull moment.

Fourth of July Week
As the Cedar Falls CSA members should already know, we are not doing a distribution on the 4th.  A significant number of people indicated that they would not be able to pick up and many others were unsure if they could do so. 
At present, we still expect to do the Tuesday and Wednesday distributions.  But, that assumes certain crops get us what we are expecting.  If they do not, then we'll chalk it up to wishful thinking and set our sites for the week after.

Our plans for the 4th include:  weeding, planting, watering, feeding critters, mowing and whatever else the weather allows us to do.  Then, we might grill some grass-fed beef and see if there is any greens to cook up.  We may start a small fire after chores are done and sit and watch the Fredericka fireworks while we sit at the farm.  Even if we don't do that last bit, I'll try to catch a firefly.  It's tradition, you know.