Thanks to everyone who ordered, or tried to order, farm share boxes Friday. We managed to finally solve the technical problems and get the signup form online around 10am, and everything sold out by 8pm Friday evening. We’ll see you at your appointed times in the parking lot tomorrow.
We will keep trying to grow as much food as possible. We really appreciate the support from the community and hope to give back as much as we can.
About three people reported having problems with the online signup form telling them incorrectly that they couldn’t place an order because they had already ordered, when they had not. A workaround one of our customers figured out (thank you!!) was to use a cellular device (smartphone or tablet) that wasn’t using WiFi internet. This worked for those who tried it. The error had something to do with the mysterious ethereal world of IP addresses. We will keep trying to iron out the technical problems to make it easier for people to reserve a box of produce without us needing to hang on the phone or answer emails personally all day or night. We know this solution is not perfect, but it worked for most today.
We took a few minutes to update our website this afternoon. Should be easier to read on a smartphone now! Let us know what you think. Still working out the kinks.
ARTfarm on St. Croix, USVI 
Does the box pickup comply with the Governor’s shutdown of farmers markets?
Sent from my iPhone
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We believe so. All customers have Instructions of exactly when to show up and there will never be more than 10 people out of their cars in a given timeslot. We held this type of distribution last weekend and because customers were not competing for a finite resource everyone stayed about 15 feet apart, did not talk with each other, waited patiently, and left within minutes of arrival. We are not holding a ‘farmers market’, no one is touching or coming near the food except the staff and things are pre-packed. We don’t handle anyone’s payment.
It’s not an easy thing to set up but I think pre-orders are going to be the way to go. You can set up a free website with WordPress and use JotForm to take orders with a quantity limiter (use the “appointment slots” widget). That is the cheap solution we found that is working OK for this situation. Maybe you guys at Southgate could set up a little online hub and pre-pack orders for your customers. When the order is pre-packed and your customer has exact change ready the turnover literally takes you about 30 seconds, even if you have to give them a choice between two same priced items. It’s a lot quicker than checkout at Plaza. Particularly if you know what your customers regularly purchase and you can set up some bundles for them to choose.
I’m happy to help my fellow farmers to set something like this up. I can’t run it for you but I can help you get it started.
Thank you ARTfarmers for giving us a safe way to procure your produce.
With 3 bunches of onions- one that I had purchased weeks ago and only used one small red raw as a salad garnish- I made French Onion Soup. The green tops are now in the crock pot to make broth.
Luv&Peace~Lisa
❤️
Thank you for all you do, Christina and Luca–you are treasures!
It was great seeing your sis today! Hope you are feeling well and doing some great “choreography for the cooped up”!