Big changes afoot.

<March 18th - Dates added.>

Taken from a letter which went out with most boxes last week:

The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that we have not been offering an option to pay for 8 or 12 weeks any and I am writing to you to explain why. We are in the process of developing a new working relationship with another local organic box scheme company, Box Bush Farm, so that we can concentrate on what we do best -that is growing of superb local organic vegetables, whilst handing over the delivery and sales of the produce to Box Bush Farm. Like us Box Bush Farm are a small company employing local people. They share our values of supplying good quality organic produce sourced as locally as possible with minimum packaging and indeed we have been supplying them with a limited range of our produce for a while. As well as offering excellent quality local organic vegetables Box Bush Farm also offers a wide range of add-ons so that those of you who've got used to being able to order these items will have the benefit of an increased range of produce, including meat and dairy products.

For anyone wishing to find out more about Box Bush Farm we have enclosed a leaflet or you can visit their website at http:/www.boxbushfarm.co.uk, and the owner Miles Bradley would be happy to discuss your requirements with you and will be in touch shortly. If you would prefer that we didn't pass on your details to Miles then please let us know.

We haven't finished putting together the timescale yet, but are planning on staggering our end dates to enable Miles to give his full attention to any customers choosing to use his service. We are aiming to begin the changeover starting during the beginning of April but will let you know further details as soon as possible.

Thank you for your continuing support and we look forward to supplying you through Box Bush Farm with our excellent quality vegetables for many years to come.

Rosey & Phelim

Various reasons for this decision, but the main one is that Rosey has now started getting her pension, and wants to take things a bit easier, rather than working six days a week and we're not in a position financially to be able to take on more staff to fill in.

Combined with this are the increased costs of delivery, fuel, tax, insurance are all rising far faster than inflation; increased wages, again well above inflation in the agricultural sector; and, a big reason to me, is that I actually prefer growing the vegetables and want to put more time and energy into doing this right. Miles is very keen on using as much of our produce as possible in his box scheme, so with a market right on our doorstep I feel that going down this route is at last possible.

We are also planning on setting up a small shop in our packing shed so that customers can pop in and buy a small selection directly from us, something we've always wanted to do, but have never found the time to put into reality. Hopefully this will be up and running in the early Summer, but to start with this is likely to only be open on a Friday afternoon so that we have time to harvest as wide a variety of fresh produce as possible.

Right, we've got some dates ironed out, these will the the dates of the last delivery we will make. Miles from Box Bush should be in contact with you to see if he can offer a suitable local organic alternative, but his current delivery days may differ from ours.

Weston & surrounding area - 26th March

Banwell, Churchill, Langford, Wrington & Congresbury - 2nd April

Nailsea & Backwell - 10th April

Yatton & Clevedon - 18th April

Cleeve & Claverham - 23rd-25th April