A Morning On The Farm

G'Day Folks,

Have you been out in your backyard over the weekend? Have you wandered through your own little veggie patch? If you have, you may have noticed the same thing I did this week—fresh shoots signaling spring’s arrival. The buzz and hum of insects is already beginning to build. You can feel it in the air, that subtle change. Yes, spring is letting us know she is near. The sunshine that soaked our farm these past few days lifted our spirits. It was badly needed after what has been one of the wettest autumns and winters on record. They say we could be in for a wet spring as well, so we’ll make sure to let the sun’s rays soak through to our bones and our spirit—and enjoy it while we can.

On another note, if you ordered our song cauliflower a few weeks back and didn’t find it as palatable as it was during the previous winter when we first trialed it, please let us know. We’ve had a few complaints about it being tougher and less delicate than before. I can only put this down to the incredible amount of rain we’ve had, which stunted its progress and delayed maturity by an extra four weeks. I suspect that this additional time, along with the persistent rain, is what made it tough. If you experienced this, please let us know and we will happily refund you.

In other news, we had a wonderful weekend with family. So the phone was put down and my writing stopped, so I could enjoy and cherish those memorable moments with the people I love most.

It’s Tuesday morning and I’m sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee as the stars fade from the sky and the sun begins to illuminate the eastern horizon with vivid hues of saffron and crimson. The birds all around me are singing—perhaps to wake their neighbors, or maybe just rejoicing in the fact that we have another sunny day ahead. The bush turkeys have formed a congo line as they leave the safety of the thick forest and begin their morning ritual (I counted 23 this morning).

Emily is in the office sorting through everyone’s orders, which is much more than simply pressing the print button. She provides a nearly custom service to each customer, scrolling through her messages, updating orders with requests, catching those who’ve entered the wrong address or details, and making sure everything needed to pack and deliver an order on the right day and time is in place.

Kristy, is coordinating the last of the produce from local suppliers to arrive today—finalizing the list that will go into all of the standard set boxes, and making sure we have all the fresh fruit and vegetables needed to complete this week’s orders.

Dad has just woken. I see the lights flick on inside the house. Soon I’ll hear the familiar sound I grew up with: the tinkling of his teaspoon as he stirs his coffee. Afterward, he’ll study each delivery route and optimize them, since the app doesn’t always send us the right way. Once he’s finished, he’ll hand things over to Emily, who will number the orders so they can be packed and loaded onto the pallet in the exact order matching each delivery route.

Soon Mum will rise, miraculously without ever needing an alarm clock, and yet always on time. We’ll then start cutting the pumpkins and cabbages and preparing anything else that needs to be individually packed, cut, or wrapped.

Emily, being the incredible multitasker she is—will prepare all the orders while waking the kids, helping them with breakfast, telling Piper 1000 times to put on her socks and shoes, and probably turning back halfway to school because one of them forgot their lunchbox after countless reminders. Her morning is certainly the most chaotic of all of us here on the farm.

The whole family will then begin packing the orders, ready for deliveries to start first thing Wednesday morning. We’ll continue packing and delivering until everyone has received the gorgeous, nourishing food to fill both body and spirit.

I hope you have a wonderful week. As always, we are deeply grateful for your support and proud to serve such a wholesome and wonderful community!

Important!! — We have received questions regarding the use of new product coatings such as Apeel. Please see below details regarding these new substances:

1. Apeel Is Approved forConventional Use, Not for Organic

• Apeel (and its components like mono- and diglycerides) is approved by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) for use on all fruits and vegetables in conventional production. There are no mandatory labeling requirements for its use in Australia  
• Both Australian Certified Organic (ACO) and other major organic certifiers have confirmed that Apeel is not approved for use on certified organic produce in Australia
• although Apeel is approved by the government, it is not approved by certified organic bodies—and thus they do not supply any certified organic produce treated with Apeel  
• We will keep you all updated if there are any changes regarding this matter.

Thank YOU for joining us on this epic journey & supporting Your Organic farmers!