Shundahai Farm - Survey 2011

Each year we do an anonymous Member satisfaction survey. This helps us understand what we should change for future years and get a realistic view of how people feel about the CSA.

For the various share options, we asked the question, "How well did this suit your needs?" The responses are broken down based on the share size and option:

"For members who were with us in 2010, what did we do better and/or worse in 2011?"

We asked the few customers who had Debit and Box to comment on what they liked better. Here are their responses:

These are the responses from the Box Members that had a full share. We asked what veggies they wanted more and less of.

On the questionnaire, we told our customers we were having a tough time, financially and physically. We then solicited ideas.

Eliminate 2 or 3 veggies that require high level of labor. Try for "early" tomatoes.

We are going to do both of those recommendations!

Would it be more economical to only have the box option?

Probably, but many customers really want to be able to make the choices, so…

Charge for activities, hay rides, picking pumpkins, apples, corn maze, farm tours, pickling lessons, blueberry fest.

We feel "free" events should be a part of the CSA, but if we should try to come up with other events possible open to others..

Another CSA has their members pick high labor items like cherry tomatoes.

We may do a little pick your own in 2012 and then think about expanding that in future years.

offer other things, i.e. eggs, herb plants

Unfortunately eggs, with hens properly cared for - we move the coops everyday - are a financial loser even at $6/doz (high grain costs for small orders). In spite of this, we will have some eggs for sale. We are looking at other crops.

Self-service pickup would save you 10hrs/week?

It is true, but then we would likely lose our best asset, Raluca talking to customers each week.

Sell cans! Sell cans to Coventry's Market!

We are dabbling in canned foods, it is a possibility!

Sell surplus at Willi Food Coop?

We do, but it is a small percentage of sales and the wholesale prices are not so good.

If you're finding a particular item too physically demanding to continue next year, we'll understand.

Thank you, we'll definitely consider it.

Maybe try retailing other goods such as bread, milk, cheese.

We like only selling what we grow, we thought of having other vendors come though.

wouldn't mind picking up on just one day

We will be expanding the CSA basically to the limit of what we think we can handle per day.

Roadside stand with honor box payment.

We have been talking about this…

Side table with items to buy during CSA pickup

I think we will do this, we are afraid of giving the impression to Box Members that we are limiting the amount in their "box" in order to extract more sales.

Sell to restaurants, Grants? Fundraising?, Volunteer or work for seconds

All, but the fundraising, we are thinking about, thank you.

I would love to volunteer in some way (summer off - teacher)

We are trying to figure out how to incorporate the help of our members.

Have the option to purchase "seconds" / "imperfect" produce, if there is any harvested extra, at a discounted price (that sounds like time you don't have that would be spent on a smaller return for your business though).

We will have bulk "seconds" for sale in 2012, such as tomatoes, to CSA Members.

While at a restaurant I was wondering if Shundahai would be suited to sell to restaurants, or would that not help you?

We are looking into restaurants this winter to see the feasibillty.

How about a prepay option for spinach? We'd love to buy 2 bags per week as long as you have it. We would gladly pay ahead of time for 2 bags, that way you wouldn't have to deal with money each week.

So far this winter we have been decimated by rodent damage. For 2012-13 winter, we will likely forego winter production, sorry!

Restaurants, Coop, Highland Park Market

We do sell to the coop, but it is a small percentage of sales and the wholesale prices are not so good.

Sell to local value added producers - sell at a discount the extras

One difficulty is the time, if we have extra produce in August, it is difficult to find the time to look for a sales outlet.

Coventry Farmers Market - much better than Storrs

It is true, but Coventry is very hard to get into (and the farmers are less than thrilled with how it is run).

Volunteers - Set regular volunteer time and project if hands are needed. Use the website / newsletter to brief volunteers and cut demonstration times.

We will try more volunteer projects - for example garlic/onion harvest and winter storage preparation.

Allow CSA members to purchase extra produce at pick-ups. This may already be possible, but it isn't clear.

This will be made clear in 2012.

Season extension for greens, tomatoes, etc.

The tomatoes should be earlier in 2012, our greens have been pushed as far as we can without using heated tunnels.

Look into high value items - chickens, honey, or rent space

We'd sell live chickens, but the butchering is not for us. Honey, with the state of the nations honeybee populations, is next to impossible to do without massive chemicals. We are trying to be much smarter about our crops, those that are not profitable will either need to go or we'll need to raise the price.

If raising capital is an issue look into kickstarter.com for donations. Consider selling 2 year shares to select CSA members to raise capital or ask for additional donations

Thank you, capital is not an issue, unless we wanted to become a huge farm, which we don't. We need to figure out how this can work without the benefits of economies of scale.

See if mentorship/support opportunities are available from the State (CT Farmlink, etc).

So far, we've had little luck with apprentices, but we should keep trying.

Drop half share boxes if they're a problem in the cost structure.

We will do, thank you.

To space out the harvest, we chose to due Monday and Thursday. We knew we had to extend the hours, and based on this we will stay open later, until 3-7 instead of 3-6.

	1	2	3	4	5	overall	no. of
	never	less	same	more	weekly	ranking	responses	our comments
tomato	0%	0%	18%	59%	24%	4.1	17	More tomatoes it is!
broccoli	0%	0%	25%	75%	0%	3.8	16	We struggled with insects in 2011 and will not have much more until we obtain a solution.
Lettuces	0%	0%	59%	18%	24%	3.6	17	Okay, most weeks you'll get lettuce
Lettuces - spicy	0%	16%	37%	16%	32%	3.6	19	Okay, most weeks you'll get lettuce
Peas, snap	0%	6%	35%	59%	0%	3.5	17	Okay, more will be coming!
peppers	0%	0%	53%	41%	6%	3.5	17	Okay, more will be coming!
cauliflower	0%	6%	38%	56%	0%	3.5	16	We struggled with insects in 2011 and will not have much more until we obtain a solution.
spinach	0%	0%	50%	50%	0%	3.5	18	Okay, more will be coming!
garlic	5%	5%	40%	40%	10%	3.5	20	Okay, more will be coming!
potatoes	6%	6%	35%	47%	6%	3.4	17	Major rodent issues, hopefully they won't eat half our crop in 2012.
celery	0%	13%	38%	50%	0%	3.4	16	From discussions with other farmers, celery is extremely difficult to grow here. We won't be trying to grow celery anymore...
peas, shell	0%	13%	38%	50%	0%	3.4	16	We'll be growing more snap peas, but will likely not grow shell peas.
beans	0%	18%	29%	53%	0%	3.4	17	Okay, more will be coming!
eggplant	0%	6%	53%	41%	0%	3.4	17	Okay, more will be coming!
cilantro	12%	6%	35%	35%	12%	3.3	17
onions	6%	6%	44%	44%	0%	3.3	18	Okay, more will be coming!
tomato, cherry	0%	33%	28%	17%	22%	3.3	18	Hmmm, about the same?
squash, winter	0%	0%	75%	25%	0%	3.3	16	A little more…
bok choy	0%	12%	53%	35%	0%	3.2	17	A little more…
dill	12%	0%	47%	35%	6%	3.2	17	A little more…
cabbage	6%	6%	63%	25%	0%	3.1	16	A little more…
cukes, slicers	6%	12%	59%	18%	6%	3.1	17	Same
kale	6%	18%	41%	35%	0%	3.1	17	Same
arugula	0%	17%	61%	22%	0%	3.1	18	Same
carrots	0%	22%	50%	28%	0%	3.1	18	Same
watermelon	17%	0%	50%	33%	0%	3.0	18	Same
celeriac	13%	13%	44%	31%	0%	2.9	16	Same
rutabaga	7%	7%	71%	14%	0%	2.9	14	Same
cukes, pickler	0%	28%	61%	6%	6%	2.9	18	A little less…
chard	11%	17%	56%	11%	6%	2.8	18	A little less…
parsley	6%	19%	63%	13%	0%	2.8	16	A little less…
winter turnips	6%	19%	63%	13%	0%	2.8	16	A little less…
beets	11%	32%	26%	32%	0%	2.8	19	less
radishes	0%	44%	44%	6%	6%	2.7	18	less
turnips, salad	12%	24%	47%	18%	0%	2.7	17	less

Customer Request	Our Response
beans, string	We will have them available earlier and in greater quantity
beans, string - less	Most people (box) asked for more, so we'll need to respond to that...
beets, less	Almost half the box folks agree
Broccoli (3)	We are trying!!! Having problems with insects though
Cabbage	We are trying!!! Having problems with insects though
Cauliflower (2)	We are trying!!! Having problems with insects though
celeriac	A celeriac lover!
celeriac - was bitter, didn't care for it	Surprisingly, many box method people asked for more (I am as surprised as you!)
celery	From discussions with other farmers, celery is extremely difficult to grow here. We won't be trying to grow celery anymore...
Corn	People would fall over at the price we would need to charge for corn. This is a crop that machinery greatly decreases the cost of production, machinery we could never justify the expense for on our small acreage.
Eggs sooner	We will have some, although we won't expand this greatly because of the high price of grain (it is actually unprofitable for us, even at $6 a dozen) and our limited land space. Our chickens are put on fresh ground everyday and we only want to apply the manure our land needs.
fennel	We will consider this
flowers	We have, but there was very little demand.
Garlic, less	Most people (box) asked for more, so we'll need to respond to that...
herbs mixed	We will consider this
herbs, more	We will consider this
kohlrabi	We don't think there is enough demand, interest.
leeks	We will consider this
Mushrooms	We have a few for ourselves. We want to expand this, but we keep putting it off.
Okra	We will!
Onions, less	Most people (box) asked for more, so we'll need to respond to that...
parsnips	We will consider this
potatoes (more)	Major rodent issues, hopefully they won't eat half our crop in 2012.
potatoes, less	We think most customers want many more.
Radicchio	We will consider this
Romaine Lettuce Heads	We use to, but most people preferred the bagged lettuces
Salad, Great that no parsley in salad mix	We will keep it as is!
sugar pumpkins	We do grow Kabocha squash. Regular pumpkins require a lot of land for a product that does not get much return
tomatoes, heirlooms limited shelf life	Yes, but the flavor is exceptional.
tomatoes, more field	We will!
watermelon - kind of mealy texture, try diff. variety?	We will try different varieties, as you know, we are still learning how to grow good melons.

Uconn/EO	20%	1/5th of the respondents recommended we try to get students from E.O. Smith or Uconn. We have tried both, and have not had good results.
Member Help	43%	Almost half of the Members recommended soliciting help, from them. We will try this more in 2012, for certain farm activities such as onion and garlic harvesting, preparation and planting.
Charge More	16%	We will do this for certain crops.
Expand	9%	We are...
Teach	5%	Someday, we need to gain a bit more experience.
Fees	5%	Our society is definitely inundated with "Fees", but we like to be very straightforward with our customers on our pricing and feel this is might change the dynamics.
Don't Wash	5%	It would save us time, but we feel people have come to expect the quality that is guaranteed when you spend the time to go through the veggies as we do.

Days					Time
M	T	W	H	F	2-3	3-4	4-5	5-6	6-7
16%	18%	15%	42%	8%	5%	20%	22%	36%	18%