This morning a large robin pulled a nice worm out of the lawn. Classic. Must be spring. Earlier, I saw a male cardinal placing seeds in a female cardinal’s beak, over and over. What a guy! I also noticed red cardinals flying up to the tallest trees and from there, singing their hearts out. The unquenchable spirit of the birds is a welcome distraction from the State of Emergency we find ourselves in.

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Over the last few weeks, as the world changes around us, we have been planning how to best continue with growing and selling healthy food. In order to keep staff and customers spread out and as safe as possible, we have added another day to the Warehouse market schedule. We are now open Wednesday to Saturday 11 am – 4pm. For now, only 3 customers are allowed in the store at a time, and hand washing is required upon entry. We are trying one way traffic clockwise in the store as well. Please be as quick as possible with your shopping if there is a lineup to get into the store.

We will have to raise some prices on April 1, when minimum wage goes up by $1/hr. Bunches that were $3 will now be $3.50. Bags of greens will be $3.50.

The Farmshare prices are increasing as well. The small share is going up from $450 to $500 and large shares from $600 to $650 for anyone who signs up after April 15.

For those who want online shopping with delivery or pick up options, we have teamed up with Afishionado to create thewarehousemarket.ca. At this time of year, we don’t have the volume of product that we do in the summer and fall, so a lot of what goes into the boxes is from sources other than our farm. As our production increases, a greater percentage of the produce will be from us.

In normal times, we only buy in certified organic imported produce. This has been tricky for the last few weeks since supplies have been disrupted. We have chosen to order in conventional produce as needed. In the Warehouse Market, everything is labeled as clearly as possible. If you want more information, please ask us. With the home delivery boxes, you should assume that a lot of the produce will be conventionally grown until organic is more available again.

If you have thoughts or suggestions, please let us know. Nothing is easy right now, but our sense of purpose and community is stronger than ever. We are very grateful to our Market staff and to our farm crew for their dedication and willingness to keep working. Zoe and Bre have both stepped up with tremendous leadership at the Warehouse. With Jen and I both staying home full time now, we are trusting the hands-on management of the market to them. We are blessed to know and work with you two!

Farmers have been reaching out to each other for help, which is heartening. Its been so touching how many of our loyal customers have made special efforts to support us. Thank you! We are also encouraged by all the new faces at Warehouse Market.

If you, or someone close to you needs food, please get in touch. If we can help, we will.

May peace be with us all,

David, Jen and the Abundant Acres team