Diggers' Mirtch Collective: COVID:19 Update
How are you doing considering the current circumstances we find ourselves in?
We are doing well, thank you. We are a seasonal farm, and are starting the season in the midst of the pandemic without quite knowing what to expect. We're just taking it one day at a time. Getting to work feels surprisingly normal. We are grateful for our work and for our health. We are a little short staffed with some of us are at home with kids and there is one non-COVID injury but, despite the cold weather, things are starting to grow!
Vermont has an amazing history of supporting its local communities and farmers, any specific moments that have stood out to you during this time?
Farms that have produce or meat to sell have been innovating with their marketing by starting online stores, doing home deliveries, and using the internet to communicate with their customers. These are all things that we are working on as well. The Diggers have a very small online presence, so this represents quite a change for us. But we see it as a positive move.
In the field, we have so far been separating tasks and working alone a lot more. We will continue to develop these practices as more of us join the work full-time. In the last six weeks, we have been meeting on Zoom and we’ve started a lot of Google docs to keep track of our planning. We had already been using the winter to shift much of our record keeping and planning tools to be stored online anyway, so it’s consistent with our goals there. We are preparing to vend at the Burlington Farmers Markets with online pre-orders and pre-payments. Unfortunately, the Old North End Farmers Market is going to sit out the pandemic.
How are you changing or innovating your farming practices during this time?
I have seen farmers and other businesses adapt to the pandemic in interesting ways, and I’m curious to learn about which adaptations actually stick, as they include basic/important health and hygiene measures and efficiencies!
Any words of hope or inspiration you would like to share?
We will start to have greens later in the month. We are so excited to see everyone, safely!