When last we left, we had some very full freezers. So full in fact, that we could not even walk into either freezer. I put the word out for help last week and we were honored by the response we got. On a normal Monday we pack between 15-20 orders, and we had 46 to prepare this Monday. I arrived down at the barn early to begin to unpack the freezers so that we could find each item to fulfill the orders. I made a huge wall of frozen boxes, two stacked pallets wrapped tightly in thermal blankets, old sleeping bags and discarded blankets. The day was unusually warm for a mid November morning so the race was on: empty the freezers enough so we can pack orders, then get everything back in the freezer before there’s too much temperature change in the frozen meat.
Excitement buzzed inside me, we had over 1500 lbs of meat to pack and send out to our customers. We also had never packed 46 orders in a day before, so it was going to be a big day. Usually Holly and Healey are in charge of packing orders on Monday but for 46 orders I recruited Racey to come help, with me making us a team of four. If you had asked me 10 years ago what image comes to mind when I think of “team farming” I would not have imagined walk-in freezers, insulated boxes, computers and scales. Nevertheless I felt invigorated by our team of people hustling to put together the orders and proud of the farm.
Slowly and steadily the pile of boxes under the blankets shrank. By 4 pm I had stacked and unstacked the pallets more times than I cared to admit. Why was the box I was looking for perpetually on the bottom of the stack? As we taped the last box on the last order shut, I looked over at the pile of boxes waiting to go back in the freezer, was it any smaller? My heart sank. Maybe it wasn’t enough, maybe I would still have to take a pallet to freezer storage in Vermont?
We did our day-end restock, making sure we fill up each box in the pick freezer so we are ready for the following week and the pile under the blankets rapidly shrank. We packed the remaining boxes that go out later in the week back in the freezer, and were able to reduce the pile to one pallet small enough to go back in the storage freezer. Success! We went from two full pallets of overflow to a manageable one pallet that we can roll in and out of the storage freezer. Just a week ago I was planning the logistics to take a pallet to freezer storage in Vermont, and with your help we had a record breaking order packing day and made enough room in our freezers. No trip to Vermont freezer storage necessary!
There is still more space to be made in the freezer, so if you’re thinking about stocking up for the holidays now is a great time to place an order and help us make room in the freezer. Thank you to everyone who placed an order last week.
Pictured above: the last boxes waiting in the fading daylight to be loaded and taken to UPS and our southern delivery route.
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