Where have we been? Update on family & Creambrook's direction.

It's hard to believe but it has been 6 weeks since we last sent out a newsletter!  

A lot has happened during that time, specifically with our family and the direction of Creambrook so we want to fill you in. 

As many of you know, Ben hurt his knee at the end of March, throwing a major wrench in our plans for 2022. Recovery has been frustrating as some days it feels like it is improving and then other days it appears to be regressing.  

At this point, Ben is planning on seeing a specialist and getting some imaging done to hopefully give some answers to what the next steps should be. 

Kristen has been struggling with the pregnancy with lots of pain and other issues that she didn't experience with the other boys, limiting her ability to participate on the farm as she has previously. Baby is doing great, which we are thankful for, but the challenges have been unexpected and frustrating. 

To add insult to injury the Middlebrook area has been experiencing one of the coldest springs in recent memory, slowing the grass growth and reducing the quality of the grass. This has affected the herd's milk production during the season we usually rely on having extra milk.

All of the above factors have necessitated some hard conversations and decisions. Since the start of covid in March of 2020, Creambrook has experienced an unprecedented demand for raw milk.  

We have done a lot in the last two years to meet that demand: building a new milking parlor, buying cows, adding staff, and expanding milk routes.  

Even with all of the expansion we are still experiencing a strong demand from new people everyday reaching out to us about acquiring milk. Food is an essential part of everyone's lives and we consider it a privilege that we get to serve families during these uncertain times.  

We want to serve every person that comes to us, but we have unfortunately reached the conclusion that we need to place a pause on growth until we are able to address our above physical issues.

Consequently, we will be placing a hold on adding new members until we have further clarity on ourselves and the season ahead.  

We will have a waitlist for folks who are interested in joining and will be adding them to the membership in a queue as current members move or leave.  

This also means we will not have heavy cream available for the near future as all of the milk is being used to meet the current members milk needs. 

We will be fine, but we realize that we need to take a moment to catch our breath and focus on our immediate needs.  

We have an excellent team that is pitching in to help and get the work done and we are feeling blessed by all of those around us. 

It is a joy to serve each and every one of you.  If you have questions or concerns, feel free to reach out! 

For the team,

Ben and Kristen