We've been doing this a long time now, and one thing we have learned is to be prepared.

Each winter when this newsletter comes out, we get several people reply back who think they were automatically enrolled. OR they have been meaning to signup, etc.

That's great. We expected it so we have 30 extra shares this week. Please email back and just say "sign me up." Go ahead and go to your usual location (see the time changes below) and pickup a bag. We will get your account setup and email you the details.

Thanks in advance and we look forward to feeding you all winter.

This schedule works best for our growing season. For the first 3 weeks of winter season, we go consecutively. Here is the winter schedule with all the pickup dates.

Then the week of Thanksgiving is NOT A WINTER pickup. However, Thanksgiving week we do run trucks for our Thanksgiving deliveries. Thanksgiving orders are separate from the winter season and must be placed separately. You should have received several emails already about our Thanksgiving offerings and schedule.

Then we resume our schedule for winter. Starting the week of Nov 30 thru Dec 3, we will go the following schedule:

Pickup on Nov 30 thru Dec 3

No pickup the week of Dec 7 thru 10

Pickup the week of Dec 14 thru 17.

At this point pickups will be every other week.

Each delivery week we update our perishable inventory on the website. By time the newsletter comes out, the website is updated.

Special orders are to be picked up at your primary pickup location. The pickup location will be listed in your confirmation email. Special orders not picked up will face a restocking fee. Please alert the greeter that you have a special order. We cannot transfer or resend orders not picked up.

Vacation Policy. Click this link for full details about vacation policy

Like the summer, we allow you to skip up to 4 deliveries. For each delivery you skip, you will receive credits that may be used in our online store or at the back of the truck. We cannot offer you credits if you do not notify us first.

Vacation holds must be entered by Saturday by midnight before a delivery week. For example, for delivery Week 2, the deliveries are Wed, Nov 9 thru Sat, Nov 12. Vacations must be entered in the website by Sat, Nov 5 by Midnight.

When you return, credits will display on your account. They will not be available before your actual vacation skip. The system checks to make sure you don't actually pickup that week.

Credits must be used within 4 weeks of return - that's 4 weeks, or 2 delivery cycles. After 4 weeks, if you don't start to use some of the credits, the value will diminish. The clock restarts after you start to use the credits.

Why do they expire? Previously, credits didn't expire and then on the last week everyone tried using their credits up. At that point, we could not pull the orders and could not fulfill them all successfully. In that scenario, the customer and our staff was miserable. We encourage you to use your credits promptly upon return.

Please bring a reusable bag, box, or tote to transfer your products to. Here is a video with best practices.

The carnivore share is quite different. I designed the carnivore share in a way that it works for the farmers, the processing plants (butchers), the consumer and the budget.

No Cancelations. We have a strict budget across the season of how many of each cuts each member gets. No two weeks are worth the same retail value. For example, on the weeks with steak included, 2 T-Bones are worth considerably more than the cost of the weekly share. That same week a member gets steak they will also get food in 4 other categories of products.

As a result of the difficulty in applying a dollar amount to each week's share, we cannot offer cancelations or refunds on the Carnivore share.

Each week's bag includes 5 items. The 5th category is either a meat -derived product (like bone broth or lard) or complimentary items such as eggs, butter, or even beans and sauerkraut.

Each member is assigned to a group. We send exact numbers on each truck. That means you have to pickup at your assigned pickup location.

We offer the chance for you to skip. A skip for the Carnivore bag is more like a "hold." We hold your share until you return and ship it the following week.

For example, if you select that you will take a "vacation skip" on the week of Nov 16 thru 19, we will send your Week 3 Carnivore share to your primary location on the following delivery week - the Week 4 dates of Nov 30 thru 3.

As a result, vacation skips do not create credits that are available for our online store.

Please continue to enter your vacation dates so that we send the proper amount of product on each truck. Vacations are due by Midnight on the Saturday before a delivery week. For example, in the situation above the delivery week is the dates of Wed, Nov 16 thru Sat, Nov 19. A vacation skip for that week is due by Sat, Nov 12 at midnight.

Last year, carnivore shares were a mess. We had members who would forget to pickup, so we'd send the bag the next week. Then they would forget again, and we'd keep sending it. Eventually, the packaging gets damaged, we misplace something, etc. Overall, it clogs up our freezer and is a lot of extra work.

We are backed up on paperwork and assigning the carnivore accounts is a very manual process.

We will notify you at pickup tomorrow as to which group you are in. There will also be an email later this week once the dust settles. This week's bags are all the same to make it easy on everyone the first week.

You will always be in the same group - A thru E - for the rest of the season as we rotate products.

For more recipes, visit our archive at https://freshforkmarket.com/recipes/