Farmer Story · Orlando, FL

80+ CSA members, five pickup sites, pastured chicken and eggs.The land took a year to find. The customer side was already handled.

Mike and Nikki grew Everoak from a 4×8 backyard bed to 80+ CSA members and a 35-stop Saturday route. When 30 acres came up, Mike said what made him ready was how easy the customers had become to manage.

He kept the storytelling. He handed off the invoicing.

Book My 15-Min Demo See everything he runs ↓

15 minutes with Ari — our founder, and a farmer.

Mike GarciaEveroak Farm · Orlando, FL

80+CSA members today

5pickup sites plus Saturday delivery

35doorstep deliveries on one Saturday route

30acres, after 11 years on leased land

In his words

"If I didn't have Farmhand… I wouldn't really have a big interest in expanding, because it was kind of clunky how we were doing it before."

Mike Garcia · Everoak Farm · Orlando, FL

Read his story →

How it actually works

"Hey farmhand,
can you…"

Mike texts what he needs. Someone on the Farmhand team does it and texts back, usually before he's off the tractor.

Anything that would otherwise mean opening a laptop fits in a sentence.

So here's a season of it, and everything it built.

See what he runs ↓

FarmhandText message

Thursday 6:40 AM

Hey farmhand, broilers are ready. Mark the whole chickens 15% off for the weekend and text the CSA.

Large is $27.20 and XL is $32.30 with the sale badge. Text goes out at 8 AM. Want it in Saturday's farm stand email too?

Saturday 7:25 AM

Running behind on deliveries. Let everyone getting a box today know it'll be between 8 and 1.

Sent by text and email to today's delivery orders.

Tuesday 9:10 PM

Plant sale this weekend. Email everyone about the passion fruit, papaya and mulberry starts.

Drafted with the photos from the shop. Scheduled for Thursday morning so it lands before the stand opens.

Friday 5:52 AM

Three members are past due. Can you send them a reminder?

Sent to all three by text and email with a link to pay. I'll tell you when they clear.

Game changer 🙏

Scroll the thread

01 — Marketing

People buy his story. Now it reaches their phones.

Members come for the story: a chef turned farmer, a food forest, chickens moving through the orchard. Mike tells it on social and at the farm stand. The texts and emails that follow now go out from one place.

A text before every harvestBefore each harvest Mike writes the CSA a text in Farmhand: what's coming, and a reminder that extras and skips close Thursday at 9 PM.

One message, email and textThe April 25 late-delivery notice reached every delivery order that day by email and text in a single send.

Audiences built from ordersSend to Saturday's delivery customers or the three accounts behind on payment, picked by order status and date with no list to export.

Visit his site →

everoakfarm.com/csa

Everoak Farm's CSA page: Forest Grown for your family's table, with View Shares and Join Now buttons

Everoak FarmText message · Sat 7:32 AM

Hi there! Just a quick update that deliveries are running a bit behind today. Your order is still on the way and will arrive between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Thanks for your patience!

Sent to today's delivery orders

He textsRunning behind on deliveries. Text and email everyone getting a box today that it'll arrive between 8 AM and 1 PM.

02 — Subscriptions

Veggies, eggs and chicken, on the schedule each member picks.

Shares, payments and pickups used to live in spreadsheets. Now the Forest Grown Fruit & Veggie Share runs October to June, with eggs and pastured chicken as shares of their own, so members take one, two or all three.

Weekly, every other week, or monthlyVeggies come weekly or every other week, eggs every one, two or four weeks, and chicken every two or four. Members pick at signup.

Pay for 8, 16 or 32 boxesThe more boxes up front, the lower the price: $30 a box for 8, down to $28.50 for the full 32.

Five pickup sites and a delivery routeThe farm, Altamonte Springs, Lake Nona, Oakland/Ocoee/Winter Garden and UCF/East Orlando, plus Saturday delivery through Orlando, Maitland and Winter Park.

Skips and extras by Thursday nightMembers skip a week or add eggs and honey from their account before the 9 PM cutoff, and the pack list updates.

See his plans →

gofarmhand.com/csa/everoak-farm/plans

He textsAdd a Butcher's Share to the chicken plan at $135, every four weeks.

03 — Retail Shop

The farm stand opens Saturdays. The shop stays open.

Everoak's shop sells pieces of the food forest: passion fruit vines, Red Lady papayas, mulberries, kale and callaloo starts. Wildflower honey, whole chickens and farm t-shirts fill out the rest.

The food forest, by the potPassion fruit, banana, mulberry and blackberry plants at $12, Red Lady papaya at $30, veggie starts at $5.

Eggs for members onlyA dozen eggs at $10, visible to CSA members and hidden from the public shop.

Sale prices with the badgeMark whole chickens 15% off and the shop shows the sale price and badge, so nobody does math at the stand.

Shop the farm →

gofarmhand.com/shop/everoak-farm

Everoak's shop: plant starts including banana, blackberry, papaya and passion fruit, with prices

A dozen eggs at $10, marked members only

He textsPut the Red Lady papayas in the shop at $30 and text members the plant sale's on.

04 — Member Support

The admin was never his favorite part. Now it's handled.

“Where's the Lake Nona pickup?” “Can my neighbor grab my box?” “Did my payment go through?” Farmhand's team answers members by text, email and chat in Everoak's voice, and Mike can read every thread.

Answered in Everoak's voicePickup times, address changes and missed skips go to a team that knows the farm, seven days a week.

Past-due reminders that go out for himIn April three accounts were behind. One text-and-email reminder went to just those three, with a link to pay.

Cards that retryA declined card retries automatically. If it fails again, the member gets a notice with a link to update it.

A bookkeeper does his books. Farmhand does the billing.

A late-delivery notice to Saturday's delivery customers, written once and sent by email and text

He textsSaturday's route is running behind. Give everyone on it a heads-up by email and text: 8 AM to 1 PM.

05 — Fulfillment

35 doorsteps on a Saturday, one route.

Saturday is pickup at five sites and a delivery route through Orlando, Maitland and Winter Park. Orders close Thursday night, so Friday's harvest has a number. When the new land comes online, the Orlando farm becomes the hub.

A Thursday cutoff that sets the harvestSkips and extras close at 9 PM Thursday, and the harvest report totals what to pick for Saturday.

A route in stop orderThe October 17 route ran 35 stops, sequenced out from the farm before the van left.

Labels and sign-out sheets by sitePrinted in pickup-site and route order, so each box goes to the right table or the right porch.

A late notice in one textWhen the route runs behind, everyone on it hears from the farm before they have to ask.

This week's harvest report with downloads for the order summary, packing labels, packing slips and sign-out sheets

A Saturday delivery route mapped across greater Orlando

A driver's stop with Navigate, Add photo and the completed time, customer details blurred

He textsAdd a stop in Maitland to Saturday's route and send me the new order.

A farming brigade.

Mike ran kitchens before he ran a farm, and he's building Everoak the same way: an executive farmer, a farm manager, and someone owning each enterprise. Admin was never his station.