Hi folks,
We haven't actually used this site as a blog in quite some time, but here goes...
We wanted to let all of our really great Plymouth customers know that we will have CSA shares available for pick up at the Plymouth Farmers Market, but that we will not be attending the new, small market at the Mayflower Brewery. Why? It's simple: we weren't invited. I'll not try to explain the logic, but market manager is balancing many concerns, foremost, I hope, being public health, and the decision was made not to include us. We had been hoping and planning to offer pre-orders from our online store for pick up at the Plymouth market, along with our CSA option. This was our solution to simplifying the farmers market transaction to reduce the risk of Coronavirus spread. Pre-order, pre-pay, contactless pick up. This also would have allowed us to send just one employee, which is crucial as it is not possible to socially distance in our market truck, and hopefully not have anyone standing in long lines. That plan was not met with approval.
The good news is that the market will distribute our CSA shares, so those of you who have signed up will have an easy pick up at the brewery where other market goods will be available from participating vendors. If you have not signed up for our CSA, we do still have some shares available.
Unless the situation changes later in the season, CSA is the only option to get our produce in Plymouth this summer.
We are sorry for this. We appreciate all the great Plymouth customers who have supported us over most of the past decade. We are not out to spread negativity towards the new smaller Plymouth Farmers Market, however we do want our loyal Plymouth customers to know that it was not our choice to abandon you. We feel particularly badly for our HIP customers, because we know we are one of few HIP approved farms serving the South Shore.
We have considered finding a different location in Plymouth to try to offer pre-orders, but it really feels daunting to start this from scratch finding a location, and connecting with customers to promote it. Over the have relied pretty much totally upon the market to do the marketing and find ourselves without even an email list to start from. We also have 2 young kids and now have no childcare, so we are finding ourselves spread thin. Demand has grown locally, which is why we did not offer anything through the remainder of the winter markets, and we're hopeful that we can get by without the usual steady support from Plymouth.
If any enterprising localvore wants to take the task of organizing a pickup location for safe distribution of our produce, please reach out, but think it through beforehand. There are A LOT of considerations to get right.
**UPDATE! **
We are excited to announce that we have figured out an alternative plan for selling in Plymouth. Beginning June 10, and running at least until October 21, we will be selling through our online store
https://www.localline.ca/skinnydipfarm
distributing produce
WEDNESDAYS 3-6 pm outside in front of Healthy Appetites Natural Foods
11B Raffaele Rd Plymouth.
We will not be selling on site. This is not a farmers market. We will only be distributing veggies customers have ordered ahead of time on our online store.
The idea is to keep this as contact-free as possible. No crowds, no lines, no fiddling with your wallet. Just pull in, get your bag of delicious fresh veggies, and you be safely on your way.
