October 26, 2009
*Update*
We have decided our last day of business for the 2009 season will be Saturday,
October 31st. We are really struggling to keep enough available on the tables and we just don't think we'll have
enough to make it through to Sunday. So that means (weather permitting) there are only 2 more days left of Hardin Gardens shopping for the season! We hope to see you before we close
for the year!
This is also a good time to announce one of the changes we have decided upon for next season.
We are changing our business hours a bit. Sometimes adding business hours is not a good thing, so we're going back to
a schedule that we had a couple of years ago in order for us to have more time to concentrate on all the things you know and
love.
Beginning in 2010, we will:
Open in July
We decided to do this because the majority of business just doesn't come until the tomatoes start
producing. Over the past few years we've been asked several times, "Why are the tomatoes so late this year?".
Well...they weren't. We just opened earlier. But that hasn't worked well, some days in June we only have 1 or
2 customers. If we open in July we'll be able to have tomatoes "sooner", and be able to (hopefully) open with a bang!
Close in September
Kind of. We're going to say our season is from July through September, but chances are we'll
be open for most of October. This is basically for the same reasons as opening in July. When the big rains come
and the tomatoes slow down and are not as wonderful as they once were, the business slows down as well. If we think
of our end of season as being the end of September, then it will be a wonderful bonus when (more often than not) we can stay
open through October or at least until the first big rains.
Open only Wednesdays and Sundays
This will give us more time to work in the gardens and also give me more time to help my daughter
with her 4-H projects that take her to the fair. This is also going back to a schedule we had a couple of years ago
in which we were only open 2 days a week. Opening 3 days a week really only cut down the amount of time we had to spend
in the garden, which in the end has cut down the amount we could put out on the tables.
So..in short..our hours will be July through September, Wednesdays and Sundays, noon to 5pm.
We hope this will work for everyone, and again thank you SO much for your support and patience!
We WILL get this right!
Amanda
October 13, 2009
"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction"
- Winston Churchill
First
of all, here is the announcement you've all been dreading. Our last planned day of operation for the 2009 season is
Sunday, November 1st. That means (weather permitting) there are
9 more shopping days of the 2009 season. The summer (what there was of it) went by
way too fast.
And now a word about change.
Every endeavor undergoes a certain amount of adjustment
over time. We try something new, discontinue an unneeded function, alter an operation, etc.
Hardin Gardens is no different.
Changes
are upon us! We have found that our operation of a roadside fruit and vegetable
stand seriously cuts into our available time to grow products to sell (a catch-22 type of phenomenon). We are not sure exactly what all these changes will be, but we will sort everything out and implement our
ideas (hopefully good ones) next season in an effort to make our operation more efficient.
While we continue to bring you quality products we will be introducing new functions and services.
Although
most of our plans are not finalized, they may
include some or all of the following: additional delivery service (expanded from our winter egg delivery service); reduced
hours of operation of the roadside stand; cutting back on some of the more unpopular products.
Other
exciting new parts of our operation (which chew up a lot of time) include first and foremost The
Sweet Tangerine. We spent a lot of our free time (what is this thing called
“free time”?) this spring and summer preparing the vacant cottage on the property for operation as a vacation
rental for out of town (or local, if you like) guests. It has kept us much busier than we thought it would and after all the
free time was used up it cut in to quite a bit of farm time. But it seems to
have become popular right out of the starting gate, so that’s a good thing, right??
Most
of you know we’re also raising goats and sheep now. We would like
to expand on that project, and if everything goes to plan the little caprines will be producing their own milk for our soaps
(and for consumption by the family). Once again, this is another thing that takes
quite a bit of time to do properly.
All of these endeavors take time, so you can see that we need to make ourselves operate
more efficiently. We would much rather provide quality products and service, and that may
mean we have to sacrifice quantity in order to do that. Stay tuned for more information as
it becomes available. As changes become more firmly established, they will be posted here.
Thank you for your patience and support!
See you soon!
Amanda
