Around the Farm: Our Places and Our People (Part 2)
Last week, we visited a few places around the farm, including the pasture, the barnyard, the barn, and the office. These spaces are all vital to Vintage Meadows functioning the way it needs to! They are special because of the unique people and work that exist in them. Let’s take a peek into a few more VM spaces… and there is a special one I have saved for the very end, so keep reading to find out what it is!
The Packing Room
Most days of the week, the packing room is a flurry of activity. On Mondays, Beth works with her crew to weigh and pack all the frozen products headed on the deliveries later in the week. On Wednesdays, hundreds of red cooler bags and even more gallons of milk make their way through the hands of five VM individuals. The produce, dairy, and pantry/refrigerated products are organized for their intended recipients in the Chicago suburbs. Later in the week, our local customers’ orders will be packed, ready for Saturday morning pickup.
The packing room also sees delivery cleanup procedures as well as all of the meat sorting. Every couple of weeks, hundreds if not thousands of pounds of meat are sorted through, boxed, and labeled. Our packing crew is a joyous group, dedicated to efficiency and excellence. The packing room sees excitement and productivity, laughter from jokes, the occasional frustration from inevitable mistakes, encouragement, and ultimately, satisfaction in a job well done.
The Dock
Cart after cart laden with VM products gets wheeled across the dock almost every day, headed for a delivery truck, the freezer, the cooler, or the packing room. Empty carts wait to be filled, and stash of jars to be recycled lounges in the corner. Boxes fill the dock when Ryan restocks the freezer.
The dock is also home to Saturday morning farm pickup. Every week, Farmer Ryan, wife Katrina, and a few helpers greet our local customers as they drive up to the dock to get their orders! If they’re in a hurry, we load their vehicle and send them on their way, but not before offering them fresh coffee. If they’ve got time, they may park and join us on the dock for conversation, story-telling, and maybe even rabbit cuddling.
The Freezer
Set at 0°, the freezer holds a few tons of meat and other frozen products. Farmer John bravely spends 8 hours within her depths on Mondays, hunting down every frozen product getting sent to Chicago. Picture industrial racks lining frost-encrusted walls. Cardboard boxes filled with every meat cut you can imagine sprawl along these shelves. Cold air blows, maintaining the frigid temperature, and your breath fogs in front of you. When in search of Ryan or John, especially on a Monday, the freezer is a good spot to check!
Carly in the overstock freezer!
A freezer full of frozen products in preparation for the week’s deliveries.
The New Farm…
All these spaces are integral to the operation of Vintage Meadows. The truth is, the last few months have had us busting at the seams. Our incredible team has made do with the space and resources available, but it is time for something new.
This project has been in the works for awhile, beginning as a dream in the minds of VM owners Ryan and Katrina Schrock, and it has finally come true this fall.
Vintage Meadows will be moving into a newly renovated space in just a few weeks! Located just a few miles away from our current location, our new facility will have a shiny new freezer, a spacious packing room (no need to trip over each other anymore), new offices and conference room, an employee breakroom with a full kitchen, and a gorgeous greatroom with a massive glass overhead door that will be the new home of local farm pickup.
We are beyond excited for this move and for the opportunities it brings with it! We would not be here without our incredible customer base and the Vintage Meadows community. Our desire is to serve you better, continue to build relationships, and to fulfill our mission.
“Our vision is Loving People Through the Place of Vintage Meadows. Every space on the farm, every event we are a part of, every product we offer for sale, is designed to honor the people that we come in contact with. We believe that every human has value and is worthy of love.”
We want to hear what you think! Send us your questions, comments, and ideas through the form below.