August 2020 Newsletter
whats new since we last talked…….
The Website:
Now that our new website has been up and running for about 8 months, we are able to say it has been a great success so far, and another key move for our business, with the creation of the e-market place for our products. Now, that we have had a little practical use with it, and with requests from our customers to be able to pre-order upcoming harvests, we were able to add a pre-ordering button to our shopping carts. This feature will be available for all crops and will be turned on approximately two months prior to a given harvest, and turned off when that harvest is completed.
This a great way for customers to secure an order for an upcoming harvest due to our limited supplies, as well as hold a place in line for to be among the first set of deliveries to ship out once dried. There is no payment required in the pre-ordering stage of order placement, and it can be canceled anytime during this stage, without any penalties by the customer, if they set up an account for themselves on the website.
If an account was not set up by the customer, an email direct to me will get it done as well on my end. Our online accounts are just a way for the customer to track their own completed orders, or pre-orders, and change their shipping and contact information when required. We do not keep any payment information on our file, as all payment information is routed through Pay Pal.
Once we get closer to the harvest time, and can see a window of time for the first set of deliveries to ship out, an email will be sent to the customers that setup a pre-order, with instructions on how to finalize the order and make the required payment. We appreciate those that have used this feature so far, it has been helpful in getting this new system up and running.
Chrysanthemums:
We recently divided and inter-cropped our existing inventory of our Bo ju hua plants, throughout our Apricot Orchard earlier in the year. The plants are all off to a great start in their new locations, and will significantly increase the volume available of this crop in the coming years. It will be divided again in the spring and that should keep us well stocked for the next several years. The harvest for our chrysanthemums Bo ju hua, are approaching fast in October, and the pre-orders will be shipping out in November.
Our Chu Ju hua variety has been trialed over the last several years in smaller quantities. We will be dividing them, for expansion into a larger volume crop now, and they will be populating our high tunnel number-1, for the next year or so during this propagation process.
Farm Buildings:
The re-purposing of the buildings on the property, and required remodeling of them, has been a full time job in itself to date, but I can now report that there is finally an end in sight for me! There will always be a “To Do List”, but it is a much more manageable one now….
During the re-planning of the property, I gave myself options for how to use the buildings, some trailers, both temporarily, while we were trialing and setting up the business, and for the long term uses as well. With all of the general maintenance and cosmetic renovations done now, we can turn our attention to some of the finishing details in our drying and processing rooms, along with the installation of our second High Tunnel, that will be nestled within our Apricot Orchard, with our first one.
With our cold and dry storage facilities compete, along with our shipping office area, its nice to see some pieces of our puzzle in the completed category, and no longer on the under construction to do list. Below in our cross marketing section, there is some related information on the use of portable trailers for business usage, that some may find helpful that are operating small farms or businesses.,
Nursery Areas:
During the first several years of our farm setup, I tested out several nursery areas, in small temporary areas, while we propagated our first set of crops. This taught me a lot at a minimal expense, and was a great practical aid for me in laying out the permanent nursery areas now. These nursery areas are a cluster of different small areas that have specific uses during certain seasons.
In these nursery areas early on, I was able to determine which set of crops to grow on this site, and how I actually worked within these spaces during each of the different seasons of the year. Now, as we enter the coming fall season, my attention will be turned back to putting the finishing touches on several of the nursery areas, as we will start construction on our second high tunnel on the farm and make some needed improvements to the others.
Business Philosophy:
About five years ago now, Lisa and I started this farm project together, with just a thought, and a set of ideas about how to turn it into a small business, utilizing our wide range of past business experiences. Thinking back, after a lot of sweat equity so far, not a day has gone by that something hasn’t changed from our initial plans along the way.
Some of the changes were unforeseen, and just dealt with on the fly, but many happened because of options I plugged in intentionally for myself by design, so, I could minimize costs and failures, and adjust as required with options I created for myself, rather than having to use bad options dictated to me.
I think the ability to assess conditions, and adjust from my own set of options, as often as possible is important. Running the business the way we dreamed it up, and not letting it run us is important. Anticipating and embracing the unforeseen, is important to try to master so it can be used as a tool.
Now that a little time has passed behind the wheel of the tractor, I can say our goals are still the same, and still very simple for the business. Provide only a high quality product, treat each customer like they are your first, and don’t let money the prime motivating factor for what we do.
Income to any business is vital to be truly “Sustainable” for the long haul, as I like to say, because if we can’t pay the bills we won’t be here to service our customers, or take care of the land. There is a lot of monetary investment and sweat equity involved, to get any small business up and running, and neither guarantee success. If a small business can operate overtime, and sustain itself because of the purchases of its products made by its customers without subsidies or loans to stay afloat, then that is one measure of small business success, and at the center planning. Anything monetary income above the operating cost, is just icing on the cake, and usually reinvested back into the business for expansion and repairs. The real payoff, is having happy returning customers, because with out them, nothing is “Sustainable”. We are grateful to each one of ours that support our business!
Cross Marketing and Diversity:
Looking forward to 2021, I expect to see the expansion of our new website into several areas, creating a bit of diversity, and expanding of our initial set of crops. Ultimately, the goal is in having a different major crop being harvested each month of the year, so our existing crops noted on the website will be increasing in volume, and a few new ones will be added and tested to fill in between.
At the core of our business, is the interest we have in growing organic medicinal crops. We also see food as medicine, and if you eat right, you may not need as much help from the medicinal products, engineered or natural. Integrating a small select group of culinary herbs, more stone fruits, and vegetables, along with our key medicinal plants, will be one part of our expansion for 2021.
Some other fun stuff, that I have been interested in including on the website, is a page of family recipes that have been handed down to me, which I would like to put out and pass along to our customers. My grandmothers apricot jelly for one, that we would be happy to sell the apricots to you for…. We may expand this in time, to include some from our friends and customers as well in the area of tea.
Also, for those that don’t know me personally, my other business experiences of the last 35 years are in building design, carpentry, and renovation of anything that needs restoration. This leads me to what will be the addition of a “Links” page to this website. It will showcase a set of businesses that are related to, or complement our farm in some manner,.that we think our customers may find useful.
My other business, when I’m not playing in the dirt or writing newsletters, is as the sole proprietor of Gliedt Restorations, and it will be one of the businesses websites linked on the new page of this site. Large vintage restoration projects, and small small woodworking items, will be among the things for sale there. Currently on the schedule and for sale in the shop is a vintage 16′-0″ Air Stream trailer conversion into a mobile office, and following on deck is a vintage 32′-0″ vintage Boles Areo travel trailer converted into a mobile drying shed.
With our changing work environments, and high costs of conventional construction, I have found that the re-purposing of vintage trailers is a cost effective solution for controlling small business operating costs, and one of the options I am using in setting up our farm facilities.
I hope these newsletters give you a little bit of insight as to how we operate our business and who we are as the owners, and not just as a generic company name or logo. I believe the more you know about where your products come from, and how they are produced, and who is bringing them to you, the more likely you are to select Zen Moon Organic Farm, and our domestically grown crops, from here in the U.S.A
We’ll touch base again at the end of the year, with updates to the Chrysanthemum harvest, a few website additions, and a closer look at the start of 2021 around the farm!
Tony Gliedt, owner
Zen Moon Organic Farm