Guy's news: not a lot about vegetables

I have been brought to my knees by potato blight, hail storms, supermarket buyers and drought, but none of that prepared me for the last two months of website hell. As we have matured we have become calmer and more philosophical about coping with the uncontrollable, but the last few weeks have left me wanting to scream and shout, punch and stamp. I can’t remember feeling such frustration since I wept in a field of dying potatoes 25 years ago. If only a temper tantrum and a sledgehammer would help.

I have been brought to my knees by potato blight, hail storms, supermarket buyers and drought, but none of that prepared me for the last two months of website hell. As we have matured we have become calmer and more philosophical about coping with the uncontrollable, but the last few weeks have left me wanting to scream and shout, punch and stamp. I can’t remember feeling such frustration since I wept in a field of dying potatoes 25 years ago. If only a temper tantrum and a sledgehammer would help.

I can only assume that those of you who have encountered our website falling over or running at a snail’s pace, or have had the wrong stuff delivered, must be feeling the same way. Most of you are showing much more maturity than me. We are getting some understandably irate calls (and our favourite message “I’ll have to apologise to my laptop for all the terrible things I’ve said to it tonight” from a customer on Facebook), but for the most part I am amazed by, and incredibly thankful for, your patience and loyalty. Without it, the business I am so proud of would be in dire straits. I am also very grateful to and proud of our staff and your local veg teams. They are equally frustrated but are working unbelievably hard to keep some semblance of service going.

Apologies and explanations start to sound lame at this point. A tantrum might bring some brief relief, but I would quickly feel foolish wielding a sledgehammer surrounded by whirring debris. So we must feign maturity and sort out the mess. There is no doubt we have made mistakes, but we are slowly climbing up what is proving to be a very slippery pole, back to normality.

We do have the first English new potatoes in the boxes this week and there is lots going on in the fields, but right now all that seems to matter is a string of noughts and ones being shepherded around the ether. Once again thank you for your patience. We will get there. If not I am off to live in a cave.

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