Clover Bee Farm said goodbye to their limping 1993 Mercury Villager mini-van turned delivery van and is in need of an updated delivery vehicle. A vehicle is an essential part of our diversified vegetable farm because it gets our food to you and so many others! We use it to get our vegetables to market, to our wholesale accounts, and CSA customers! Not to mention we load it up with supplies and run farm errands with it. This year is our 3rd season as a veggie farmers and we’re growing bigger and better with every year. We want to purchase an energy-efficient, reliable, comfortable van to grow with us and our farm.
Here’s our old van serving us well.
And with your help we can upgrade to THIS!
Maybe a white van doesn’t look that exciting, but it’s what inside that counts!
Fitting this much produce had the van filled to the ceiling, pushing our market stand material into our laps.
–Be concerned about fitting everything in. We maxed out on space several times last year!
–Bumping our heads on the telescoping rear door of a mini-van.
–Play Tetris while packing the van every time we go to market.
–Deliver produce in an air-conditioned environment allowing us to feel less rushed, all the while listening to music (our last van had neither luxury).
–Bring so much more produce to market which will help us reach our financial goal of doubling our profits from last year and save money to buy our own farm (we currently rent an apartment on the farm and the land).
–Open up doors to new possibilities in so may ways. It will help us grow into our vision of our business where we feed everyone!
Practically speaking to avoid loan interest. Secondly, because the relationship between the farmer and eater is collaborative. It encourages supporting farmers financially, emotionally, and in various other ways. We chose to start our own business and we often realize that without the support from customers, friends, and family- we wouldn’t be well functioning farmers. We love the people that encourage us to try harder, meet our goals, and learn everyday.
Your support means the world to us and encourages us to keep farming!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Andrew and Margo met online in 2011, were recently married in October of 2016. They enjoy farming together very much.
Andrew started farming in 2012 after realizing that one must act now and do what they love. So, he ventured to ATTRA.org and landed an internship at Loon Organics in 2012. In November 2012 he joined the team at Sleeping Frog Farm in Arizona and learned about farming in the desert. In April 2013 he returned to Minnesota and completed another season with Loon Organics. Soon after he continued his education as a Harvesting Manager at Gardens of Eagan. In addition to farming he enjoys biking, running, having coffee with friends, reading lots of fiction novels, cooking and outdoor activities like kite flying, and hiking with our dog Aida.
Margo has always been an artist, gardener and outdoor enthusiast. She was inspired by friends who were entering the field of farming to give it a try. She moved out of Minnesota and settled down in Arizona learn about Farming at Sleeping Frog. Arizona did not suit her needs for family connection, forests, and mid-western living so she moved back and worked at York farm in April 2013. As the only employee she honed the techniques needed for farming and started to learn about bees. She also has experience in wholesale plant retail, landscaping and seasonal bouquet arrangement. In her spare time she likes to watch shows, play with Ellie the cat, work on various creative projects, and recreate outdoors alongside Andrew and Aida.
Unofficial Team members include: Ellie the cat and Aida the little brown dog.
For photos: https://www.instagram.com/cloverbeefarm/ and https://www.facebook.com/cloverbeefarm