Dear local food box members and friends,
Registrations are open. Please read on for information about signing up, what’s new in 2020, and a farm update.
But first, a few apologies:
- If you are a returning member who has already registered or has informed us that you are not joining this season, please note that parts of this newsletter will be redundant. We apologize for contacting you again, and we suggest you go straight to Wind Whipped Farm update if you are curious about ongoing improvement projects at Wind Whipped Farm.
- If you have contacted us with questions about pickup locations or other enquiries, thank you for your message. We apologize if we have not responded to you yet. We are very busy with farm work and will respond as soon as possible.
Sign-up!
To join the Local Food Box Program and get your share of great quality seasonal foods and support your local producers, sign-up here!
If you’re new to the program, or if you need a refresher on how it works, check out About The Program and Frequently Asked Questions. If you need more information, please Contact Us.
Space is limited, we recommend signing up as soon as possible. Given the high level of interest, we apologize in advance to those of you we will not be able to include in 2020. We are currently expanding Wind Whipped Farm in order to grow our program and take in more members in 2021.
A few other local box programs that might still have room include: Sweet Acres Organic, Saanich Organics, Umi Nami Farm, and Square Root Farm.
What’s new in 2020?
- Local honey! A new option this year, the honey is from local Metchoisn beekeeper Derek Wulff, at Wind Weaver Farm. You can sign up to receive a 1lb jar every 4 weeks over the season. Alternatively, if you pickup in Metchosin, we plan to have some extra jars available for purchase.
- Delivery. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we have added a delivery option intended for members at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 or who are unable to make it to the pickup locations because they are providing essential services.
- Quarterly instalments fee. We have found that sending quarterly payment requests and tracking and processing payments is time consuming. In order to help offset this labour cost we have added a small $6 fee ($2 per transaction) for payment in instalments. We can be more flexible about payments for anyone facing financial challenges, contact us to enquire.
- Social distancing and sanitization. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be making some changes to our pickup system in order to ensure social distancing and minimize potential transmission. We are also evaluating what changes we can make to improve safety and sanitation on the farm.
Wind Whipped Farm update
As you may already know, we were not planning on farming in 2020. We changed our plans at the last minute in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2020: Next Steps for WWF and Change of Plans). This means we started the 2020 season a bit later than usual. We do not think our late start will significantly impact the content and quality of the veggie box. However, depending on the weather, we may need to delay the first pick-up by a week or two, and a few crops may be ready a bit later than usual. For now, the greenhouse is filling up fast with seedlings that will soon be transplanted.
In addition to seeding and prepping the gardens, we recently expanded the driveway around our workshop. This will increase parking space, allow us to build a lean-to for outdoor storage, and improve our washing areas.
This spring we also removed a few diseased trees to open up another small field within our deer-fenced area. This field will be improved for cultivation throughout the summer and planted with fall crops.
Thank you for appreciating and supporting local food.
Alex and Virginie
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