Some unfortunate news

For the last three years we have sold a bunch of veggies through a farmstand on our property. The farmstand is housed in a freestanding shed by the barn, and directly across the yard from our porch. We have set it up as a self-help stand, meaning that people take veggies, write down what they took and the amounts, and then leave money in a change bucket. A couple times a day we stock the stand and clear out the money, but otherwise, we haven't staffed the stand. It has worked out pretty well, all things considered.

But in the past two days we have had two unfortunate instances. In the first, someone took a bunch of veggies, and most of the money in the change bucket. And they did this while we were sitting about 50 feet away on the porch. Maryellen even talked to the guy to make sure he got everything he wanted! And the second incident today involved three people who were so drunk they could hardly walk. They tried to steal a huge bunch of veggies, and Maryellen and I had to both confront them, and "help" them add up their totals. In the end, it was a borderline scary scene, and they only left fraction of the money they owed.

We have put a lot of work into this stand -- new roof, new paint, lots of clean up -- but we can't afford to have such scary people at our home, particularly since the stand is right out where our children play. It is unfortunate, because the stand has worked great for 99.999% of our customers, and it has provided us with a couple of thousand dollars in revenue each year, but we can't continue having it open everyday for self-help customers.

So here is what we are going to do. The farmstand will be open Wednesdays and Fridays from 4pm to 7pm. During those hours it will be staffed, and we hope to expand the staffed hours we have it open in the future. But for now, the stand will be closed the rest of the week. We apologize for this inconvenience, and our regular customers and neighbors should feel free to call us for special orders. But we will only be stocking the stand for Wednesday and Friday nights for the foreseeable future.