5 Things I've Learned Running Farm Share+ 🌱💜

Well, this has been a bit of an adventure!

When I first started working at Fresh & Tasty, I was washing trays and helping Mum and Dad wherever I could. I never imagined I'd end up being our main microgreens grower, let alone setting up my own little veg box project!

When we launched our 10-week Farm Share+ pilot, we set ourselves a target of 10 members. It felt like a good number to aim for while we figured out how everything would work.

Well, we've now got 15 amazing members — 50% more than our original target! 🥹

The response has been so lovely, and I've learned quite a few things along the way. Some useful, some unexpected, and one involving gravity! 🤣

1. People are AMAZING! 💜

When you start something new, you never really know whether people are going to be interested, especially when you're asking them to commit to something that hasn't been tried before.

But the support we've received has been incredible!

From our first members taking a chance on us to the lovely messages and feedback we've received, it's given me so much confidence.

It's also been really nice getting to know the people we're growing and packing food for. Knowing that people are genuinely looking forward to their next Share makes all the hard work worthwhile.

2. One-off boxes are trickier than I thought! 😅

One of the biggest lessons has been learning how to plan everything.

There's quite a lot going on behind the scenes. I need to work out what's available from the farm, what seasonal produce I can source from our friends at The Vale Grocer, how much I need, and then get everything packed and delivered.

I've given some one-off orders a try, but they're really hard to juggle!

Our regular memberships have worked brilliantly!

Knowing how many Shares we're preparing for in advance makes ordering, packing and organising deliveries so much easier. For the rest of the pilot, you can join at any point in the month but if we carry on next year I might need to re-think that.

3. Gravity gets the deciding vote! 📦

We asked whether people would prefer their vegetables in a paper bag or a box?

The vote was almost exactly 50/50!

We loved the idea of using lovely stamped sturdy paper bags, it worked great when the items were lighter but as the winter crops came in, Squash, potatoes and other heavier vegetables don't cooperate with paper bags!

So despite the very democratic vote, gravity made the final decision. Boxes win! 😂

Sometimes you just have to try things to find out what works.

4. Twenty members is our magic number (for now!) 🌱

We've learned that with our current setup, around 20 members feels like a really manageable number.

There are quite a few moving parts to Farm Share+, especially when we're juggling growing, sourcing, packing and delivering everything.

We want to make sure we're doing a really good job for the people who have put their trust in us, rather than taking on more than we can comfortably manage.

With 15 members already, we're getting pretty close to that number!

It's been really useful finding out what we can realistically manage before making any bigger plans.

5. People really do LOVE their veg! 🥕💚

This has probably been my favourite part. It's one thing to put together a Share that you think looks lovely, but it's another thing entirely to hear that people are enjoying it!

We've had some really encouraging feedback about the variety, freshness and quality of the produce.

I love that our members are getting to try different seasonal vegetables, including some they might not normally pick up in the supermarket, and because Farm Share+ isn't a fixed veg box, the contents change depending on what's available and in season.

It makes every week a little bit different, which I think is part of the fun!

🎄 BIG NEWS! We're extending Farm Share+ into December!

We've enjoyed running Farm Share+ so much that we've decided to extend our pilot into December! 🎉 That means more opportunities to join us, enjoy some lovely seasonal produce and help us find out whether Farm Share+ could become a permanent part of Fresh & Tasty MicroFarm.

And that brings me to something really important...

Could Farm Share+ return in 2027? 🤞

We'd absolutely LOVE to bring Farm Share+ back in 2027.

But before we make that decision, we need to know whether there's enough ongoing support to make it sustainable. That's really what this pilot has been about. Not just seeing whether we can put together lovely veg boxes, but finding out whether we can make the whole thing work long-term.

We've learned so much already, and the support we've had has been brilliant. Now we'd love to see that continue through December. Every membership helps us understand the demand, and every recommendation, lovely review or shared post helps us reach more people.

So if you've been thinking about joining, now would be a brilliant time to give it a go!