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Products:
1.) Can you tell me more about South Mountain Creamery?
2.) Are you Organic?
3.) Do we use growth hormones?
4.)Tell me more about the meat that you sell....
5.) Can I come out and visit your farm?
6.) All of the milk is in a glass bottle, is there a bottle deposit?
7.) Who do I contact if I have a product problem?
Home Delivery Service:
8.)What is the cost to have home delivery?
9.) How often does the delivery come?
10.) What time of day should I expect my delivery?
11.) What if I am not home when the delivery comes?
12.) What if I do not want delivery this week?
13.) Are there any times that you do not deliver?
14.) How do I pay?
Website:
15.) Do I need to set up an account?
16.) How does this work?
17.) What is a standing order?
18.) How do I make changes to my standing order?
19.) Do I need to enter my address and credit card information everytime I order?
1.) Can you tell me more about South Mountain Creamery?
South Mountain Creamery started in April 2001 as an attempt to increase our farms' income from our milk cows. We had our Open House on May 5,2001, and soon after began our first home delivery route in Middletown. We had 13 homes we delivered to out of the back of a Ford Explorer. We quickly grew and added our first milk truck in June 2001. Over the past 6 years we have grown to servicing over 3000 homes in MD, DC, VA, and WVA. We cover about a 70 mile radius. Since we started, we have added to our product line, both with products that we make, and products that we are able to find locally. We discovered many small operations that made a great product, but did not have a way to bring it to the area. So we started to add products from other farmers and other small family operations. Finally, we expanded some of our cheese offerings to include high quality premium cheese. In 2007 we began to offer fresh bread from The Breadery (Ellicott City, MD), and prepared meals from a local chef. who knows what 2008 brings !!
2.) Are you Organic?:
NO, we follow traditional farming methods. We follow many of the same practices as organic farmers, such as we do not give our animals growth hormones or unnessesary antibiotics and we do not use pesticides on our fields. We give our cows free of choice feeding, which means they have a feed bunk in the barn, which has a mixture of corn, hays, soybeans, and minerals that they can eat from, or they have access to pasture where they can graze. What the cows are fed here, is raised here. We also work closely with local soil conversation groups to preserve the soil, and prevent soil errosion. We have many projects that we are working on regarding green energy, such as a methane digester (converting cow manure to electricity) and bio-diesel (converting soybeans to fuel) .
3.) Do you use Growth Hormones? NO
4.) Tell me more about the meat that you sell.....
We sell beef, pork, chicken and lamb.
The BEEF: is pastured raised, and grass feed here on our farm. We do not spray the fields with any pesticides, but may use organic fertilizers from time to time.
The PORK: comes from one of two Mennonite family farms in Hagerstown, Maryland. The pigs are raised humanely utilizing traditional pig pens, with lots of space to roam.
THE CHICKEN: comes from a certified humane farm in NY state. The chickens are free range, fed a diet of corn and soybeans, and are treated very well. We had a tough time find a local person to raise and process chickens, so we had to go and find someone who meet our high standards.
THE LAMBS: are either raised here at our farm, or on another family member's farm.
** We never give any of our animals growth hormones, or animal byproducts.
5.) Can I come out and visit your farm?
YES, our farm is always open to the public. You can see the cows being milked between 1:30-5:00 pm, and see/help feed the baby calves at 4:00 pm.,but you are welcome to come out anytime, any day. The only operation that is not open to the public is the milk plant, due to health department rules. However, we do open the plant to the public twice a year during our festivals (May and October)
6.) All of the milk is in a glass bottle, is there a bottle deposit?
Yes, we charge $1.50 refundable deposit per glass bottle. We charge this when you purchase the milk, so if you decide to give a bottle of milk as a gift, or accidently drop and break the bottle, you do not need to let us know.
Using glass is a great way to preserve the milks natural good taste, while reusing the glass bottle prevents thousands of plastic and paper cartons from entering the landfills.
7.) Who do I contact if I have a product problem?
Please contact customer service at 1-877-269-2968 or email us at milkdeliveryvb@comcast.net . We'll take care of any problem you may have.
8.)What is the cost to have home delivery?
We charge a $3.75 delivery fee. That pays for the driver and truck to come to you. Other then that, the cost per product is the same delivered as it is here at the farm.
9.) How often does the delivery come?
We deliver once a week.
10.) What time of day should I expect my delivery?
We deliver to homes throughout the day. Deliveries can occur as early as 6am and as late as 8pm. After you receive your first delivery, the driver should come about the same time every week.
11.) What if I am not home when the delivery comes?
Typically, you do not need to be home. In most cases we deliver to coolers on your front porch, but we can also arrange to deliver to you refirgerator in your garage or house.
12.) What if I do not want delivery this week?
After you log in, you should see a place at the bottom of the page to enter a vacation date range.
13.) Are there any times that you do not deliver?
Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Typically we will make adjustments to our schedule, so that everyone stills receives a delivery, it just might be on a different day that week. You will receive plenty of advance notice of any changes due to a holiday.
14.) How do I pay?
We accept Visa and Mastercard (preferred) or check (a $25 deposit is required up front if you choose this method of payment)...please also note all returned checks are charged a $35 fee.
15.) Do I need to set up an account?
Yes, if you would like to receive our home delivery service, you will need to create an account online. Then once the account is approved you will receive an email confirmation with your start date.
16.) How does this work?
If you are interested in joining our home delivering service the process is very basic.
Step #1: Create an online account. * during this process, you will be asked to place your first order.
Step #2: We will receive this information, and try to get back to you within a week. (typically 48-72 hours).
We will confirm that you will fall in to a delivery route, and e-mail you back with your delivery day, start date, and any other important information.
Step #3: Our driver arrives with all of our great products at your door.
You can make delivery changes, by 12:00 midnight 2 days prior (unless you delivery day is Monday and then the cut-off is by 12:00 midnight on Thursday) NO EXCEPTIONS!! For our Hampton Roads/Virgina Beach customers your deadline is 8:00 am Monday.
17.) What is a standing order?
A standing order are products that you would like us to deliver every week. * you can make changes to the standing order as often as you like.
The advanatge to this, is if you forget to place a order, you can be assured that your essentials will be coming as scheduled. Once you set up a standing order, these products will arrive, without you doing anything.
** we recommend you to have a standing order, but it is not required.
18.) How do I make changes to my standing order?
You can add and subtract products from your order. After you have selected an item, you can have the choice to select and item to come every week, one time, every other week, or once per month.
19.) Do I need to enter my address and credit card information everytime I order?
No, after you do this the first time, then you will only have to change this information as it changes.
Thank you for checking us out. If you have any questions not covered, please e-mail us at milkdeliveryvb@comcast.net.
South Mountain Creamery
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