Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Available from GFF July 8

This week, we are simply copying in our email with a few edits and maybe a picture to spice it up a bit.  This gives you a taste of what we send in our weekly emails to those who join our email distribution list.  If you would like to join us:  gff at genuinefauxfarm dot com
 
 
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In answer to the questions regarding eggs and veggies.  We will be delivering in Waverly today, Wednesday, July 8.  We have learned from past experience that it is not wise to mix fresh poultry delivery with a veg/egg day.

So - YESTERDAY, July 7, we had fresh broiler chickens being delivered in
Waverly - ST Andrew's at 5:00pm
Cedar Falls - Jorgensen Plaza at 6:00pm

TODAY, July 8, we will be in Waverly for veggies/eggs, splitting time between
St Andrew's at 5:00
Yogi Life at 5:45 (NOTE the later time!)

Quick news (details lower in this post):
1. Are you new to the Genuine Faux Farm?  Visit #5 in the GFF news below.
2. You can still sign up for farm credits, see #4 in GFF News below.
3. New Delivery Method: We will mark out 6 foot spacings with chalk OR if we run out of time, we'll just ask you to respect space.  We will place your order into a yellow tray and put it on our table.  Once we step away, place your order in your bag/box you bring.  then set the yellow tray in the 'dirty' pile next to the table.  
4. See list below for available items!
5. We will limit orders to 1 dozen eggs per family. If you are ordering for 2 families, please tell us so we can honor the 2 dozen order.
6. Please place orders by NOON Wednesday, thank you!
7. We will not take cash or checks from you during this delivery.  Use mail or other methods to buy farm credits please.

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Waverly: Wednesday, July 8  5:00-5:30pm St Andrew's parking lot
                                                  5:45-6:00pm Yogi Life parking lot
Please respect each person's space.  We will place your order into a yellow tray and put it on our table.  Once we step away, place your order in your bag/box you bring.  then set the yellow tray in the 'dirty' pile next to the table.  

Contact: Rob 319 610 9201 Tammy 319 610 9115
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Available to members:
    eggs - $3.50/dozen (limit 1 doz per family)
   scapes - $1/bundle
    peas - $4/ pint
    summer squash/zucchini - $1 ea
   green beans? - $2 / half pound  (limited this week)
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THE GFF NEWS
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1. Upcoming Schedule
  • July 7 - Broiler chicken delivery in Waverly and Cedar Falls (unfrozen birds)
  • July 8 - Waverly Delivery
  • July 16 - Cedar Falls Delivery
  • we are carefully considering how to handle deliveries in Cedar Falls - especially at Hansen's Outlet.  See below for more in #? The construction there is ongoing and WILL require adjustments or potentially removal of that location for a time.  If you have specific feedback you should  let us know.  Our likely response is to give a longer period of time at Jorgensen Plaza until the work that limits parking lot options is completed.
2. Crop & Poultry Report
The broilers went to the park.  We got up at our normal time yesterday to try and get some work in the high tunnels done before the heat caught up to us and got out of the buildings by 10:30AM.  We both did office work during the main heat of the day with trips outside for various chores that have to happen.  In the evening, we made sure the truck was cleaned out and we gathered the crates to haul the birds.

Once the sun was going down (about 9:20 or so) we drove the truck out to the pastures and started loading broilers into crates.  The mosquitoes were nasty, but at least there wasn't a thunderstorm raging (yes, that has happened in the past).  We put an average of 12 birds in a crate and lifted them into the truck.  That got 144 birds ready to go.  We then drove to Greene and unloaded the birds from the crates and drove back to the farm.

Once back at the farm, we put the remaining 91 birds into crates and left those spaced in their building to keep them cool and in a familiar place.  Then, we got up in the morning, did chores and then loaded the remaining birds into the truck and took them to Greene - etc.

On the return home, we sanitized the back of the truck and gathered coolers and containers to pick up the processed birds.  When the birds are ready, we drive back to Greene, load them into containers, drive to Fredericka and leave the birds that have not been spoken for for freezing.  We will return to the farm and put a few more of the unordered birds in our freezers.  After that, we drive to Waverly and then Cedar Falls.

In short - it's a mad dash!  We appreciate your flexibility in working with us as we try to make it all happen.

3. New blog material for you
4. 2020 Pre-Paid Farm Credit Program
We will run the system in $50 increments.  In other words, you can purchase a minimum of $50 of farm credit at a time.  We will cap the maximum amount of credit at $200 and you can refill your farm credits at any point.

Like the CSA program, this gives you the advantage of not having to pull out money at each delivery.  Instead, we will have a ledger with tracking for your current credit balance.  This also provides us with some working capital to start the season.  Also, like the CSA program, we will give participants better pricing and opportunities than those who might prefer to 'pay as they go.'

A major difference this year is that farm credits can be used for ANY farm product the Genuine Faux Farm offers.  If you buy farm credits, you can apply them to purchasing meat chickens, vegetables, eggs or any other thing we offer this year.

Want to sign up by mail?
Genuine Faux Farm
2345 150th Street
Tripoli, IA 50676
make checks to GFF or the Genuine Faux Farm

Want to use Paypal?
You may send cash to gff at genuinefauxfarm dot com

We are accepting purchases of credits now and throughout the season.

5. Welcome!
If you are new to this email newsletter for the Genuine Faux Farm, we would like to welcome you.  If you are an 'old hand,' we want you to feel welcome too - but we were gently reminded that we need to introduce people a bit more to the system.

The basics are as follows:
  - we deliver once per week - alternating between Waverly and Cedar Falls locations.
  - Waverly is on Wednesdays
  - Cedar Falls is on Thursdays
  - anyone with farm credits can order from either location, you just have to arrange to get what you order.
  - to order, you only need to respond to this email - sent the day prior to the delivery.
  - a "gentle reminder" email is sent the day of the delivery.  This email confirms that we have received orders by listing those from whom we have received orders.
 - delivery instructions will be in this email each week.  Please pay attention as circumstances may require a change.

6. The Hansen's Outlet Location
As some of you may have noticed, Hansen's Outlet is now deep into their remodel, with the parking lot access changing from delivery to delivery.  You may also have noticed that the side of the building we used to do CSA deliveries has had the sidewalk pulled and is no longer friendly for that purpose.  We fully realize that many of you prefer that location for a host of reasons.  Among them is the fact that many of you also pick up dairy from them.  We get it - because we also use that moment to pick up dairy products for our own use. 

We have received feedback from some folks regarding the delivery points and we appreciated hearing from you.  At this point, we think it is likely that we will remove Hansen's as a delivery location until things settle down a bit there.  We are not positive at this point what our answer will be, but we are leaning towards simply providing a longer delivery at Jorgensen in large part because there is an option to get under shelter if needed.  As we move to a new delivery method that still works to protect you, this may become important.  And, we find that the travel from Hansen's via Main Street to Hyacinth usually takes us five minutes.  It's a mild inconvenience until Hansen's gets some work completed.

Thank you.

7. New Delivery Method
The prior method of placing orders into the back of vehicles worked reasonably well and we attribute that to your willingness to work with us!  thank you!

We are, however, aware of some problems with the current system:
- we are using far more single use plastic than we want to be using and we want to go back to some of the re-use practices
- our available product list will become more complex as we get deeper into the season, which makes the current model a little more difficult to pull off

So, we return to asking you to bring a re-usable bag, box, etc to put your products in.  We will use chalk to provide guidance for physical distancing.  We will put your order in a yellow tray on the table(s) and you can then remove your order and place it in your bag/box.  Once done, we will ask you to place the used tray into a pile.  We will clean these on our return from the delivery for the next use. 

8. Egg Cartons
We will be willing to receive egg cartons from you starting this week.  We will put a green tray out for you to put used cartons in for re-use.  Please nest these cartons so they take less space.   We will not use any cartons we receive until they have been 'quarantined' for a period of time.  Research has shown that the Covid-19 virus does not live long on cardboard surfaces, but we'll be safe and re-use boxes by taking the ones that have been in our supply longest first.

Be Well!
Rob & Tammy

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