While I am sitting inside on a sunny and cold day, there are four workers out in Loudoun pushing things forward. They are planting inside the tunnels where it is warm and dry. It is way too wintry outside to work in the fields today. But right now they are having the most fun of all of us because they are actually getting something done.
Ellen retired and I am gradually learning what she used to worry about on our behalf. It is not really the part of the business that I enjoy. Ordering things, following up, calling people, following up, realizing they never called back, calling them again. It's necessary but not interesting.
Boring example of something that is frustrating me mightily right now. There is a company in Hawaii owned by someone everyone calls the Biker Dude. They grow commercial quantities of organic ginger and turmeric for seed. It used to be that the only way to get that seed was to call them at midnight on November 1 and get in line. It never seemed worth it to me so I didn't go that route. I took Heinz's advice and bought seed from the Asian supermarket, even though it isn't organic. But we want turmeric and the Biker Dude takes orders online now, so I ordered some.
They have a lovely website, laid out very clearly. It is easy to make an order. They do not take phone calls. I am beginning to understand why. I have done everything right -- I filled out the form in plenty of time, I sent a request for confirmation since I didn't get one, I waited. I sent another inquiry and got a reassuring response. I waited. I sent another inquiry and got an invoice. I paid. I waited. Today I got another invoice for the same order. And now it is getting late for sprouting turmeric. But the only thing I can do is send another note using their form. I don't have blood pressure issues but I can feel something happening.
Another boring example. I am supposed to order lime to be spread in Loudoun. I got the number from Susan Planck. I called and left a message. I waited a week. I called again today and got a call back -- he doesn't actually haul lime. He will haul anything else -- rocks, manure, soil, but not lime. It gets stuck on the cab of the truck and peels the paint. Okay thanks.
A more pressing example. Ellen used to be in charge of collecting up all the records and getting them to the accountant. She was very good at this and made sure that we were ready on time. Our taxes were finished ahead of schedule. She didn't tell us when she left that it was imperative that we get everything to them by the end of December. We didn't understand that it takes them three months to accomplish the task of getting our ducks in a row. Also there is a new guy working on our account, so he has a big learning curve. Also we are complicated because we are a farm with a lot of weird things like new hoop houses and we borrow money for short amounts of time from ourselves and we just confuse the heck out of the guy in the office. So we have been going back and forth, slowly, for a few months. And now the deadline is tomorrow and we still have not seen our completed taxes. This makes me crazy. We are going to start the search for a new accountant today. Someone who speaks farm.
And one last boring but necessary issue. Ellen used to make sure we got our order in for herb plugs, working with our neighbor to combine the orders. That didn't happen this year and now I have to figure out where to get herbs. I don't like this job. I like thinking about where we will plant things and I like getting the ground ready and I like making it all happen.
While we really like to do everything ourselves, and we do as much as we can, there are so many examples of us needing something from the outside world. And that just feels so frustrating. Jon has his own list of call-and-wait projects, looking for parts to repair our huge collection of engines and machines. I think he added it up once and we have 52 internal combustion engines to maintain.
My mother has her own list of call-and-wait projects too. You can't just order potting soil at this time of year. The demand is too high and they can't keep up. So you have to keep calling and figuring out what is available, or you have to stockpile it way ahead (when you don't have any money for that kind of luxury).
And don't get me started about the truckers. Oy. Once you finally get your order successfully placed, then there is a long dance of waiting to hear when they are arriving, and then getting details from the vendor that you don't even really need to know, and then suddenly the trucker is there looking for the loading dock. Usually they don't call until they have already arrived. Why should they? Eventually someone will come and unload them and what do they care if that person has to travel 30 miles to meet them?
But, on the good news side, I just got a call back from Eric Cox of Cox Farms fame (I wrote about them a while ago). We only talk about once a year or maybe once every two years but when I send him a text, he calls me right back. That's because he gets it. I wouldn't be asking him something unless I really wanted the answer. The bad news is their good accountant retired too and they aren't so sure about the new one yet.
Oh well. All of these frustrating details eventually get resolved and then we just get to plant stuff and keep it growing. We can't avoid this part, we just have to get through it. What I really need is Rebecca. She would make these calls and get this all organized and she wouldn't miss a beat. Trouble is, she is already so overpriced. We will have to find a way to make enough money to get her into the office manager seat in the family business.
There, I figured it out. We just need to make enough money that I can pay my way out of this part of the job. Phew.
No comments:
Post a Comment