Hello everyone,

It has been a few months since the Cedar Creek Farmhouse site has been live. Thank you for your patience and please know that we have not shut down permanently.

I am very sorry for the lack of communication during my absence. There has been a great deal happening with my life and family, and while nothing can excuse the extended period with no updates, I hope that my transparency in this email will help regain some of the trust I have lost with all of my customers.

Some of you know that we moved into an apartment in the anticipation of selling our home, but we made the decision in late December to move back. It wasn’t a decision that was made lightly, but we could not continue with the combined financial burden of mortgage, rent, and office space. I thought I could make the transition within two weeks in January during our slow season, but there were unforeseen repairs necessary to make the house livable.

When we moved back in January, we realized that a lot of our major appliances had stopped working while the house sat vacant (oven, dishwasher, furnace). We also had a water main break the day we moved back in. These were expenses that I did not foresee when we made the decision to move back. It’s been a very trying couple of months for me personally, and very expensive to get the necessary house repairs done. While working hard to get my family back on its feet, I recognize that many of you have felt neglected, which was never my intention. Again, from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologize and greatly appreciate your patience and understanding. 

I do my very best with Cedar Creek Farmhouse, but when I’m out of the office, everything grinds to a halt because I’m the only one working on it full time. We are still a very small business and, unfortunately, I have not yet been able to bring other full time staff on board.

I completely understand how my absence worried our customers, and frankly, I would have been upset and angry too, if I were in your place. I can certainly appreciate how you may have doubted me during this time, but please know that there were absolutely no ill intentions on my part.  I sincerely apologize if any of you felt that you were defrauded. That is absolutely not the case, and I pledge to make things right with each and every one of you.

There are a few of you with open orders, and I am so very sorry about the extended delay.  I will be working diligently over the next few weeks to reach out to those of you affected by our relocation.  We were still receiving orders on the website during our move, so I made the decision to temporarily shut down the site to prevent any additional orders from being placed, as fulfillment would be delayed until my return. 

I am respectfully requesting that you please give me until April 15th to contact you if you have an open order or subscription. I will be making those right either via refunds or through replacements at your discretion.

Moving forward...

Our plan right now is to relaunch the site on March 20th. No living product will be available immediately after the site goes live again.  Going forward, all announcements and other important communications will be displayed prominently at the top of the homepage, including this message and update.

We will be reopening with living product offerings next month, and our first upload will be exclusively for our gift card holders. Gift card holders will receive an email with the dates and times of those listings as they are scheduled.

If you have an open order or subscription that has not been fulfilled in my absence, I will reach out to you no later than April 15th. Further updates about the schedule of live uploads will appear on our homepage.

I have started restocking our racks with new orders from Korea to test the shipping infrastructure at the present time. As our nation braces for the worst of COVID19, I honestly do not know what the future holds in terms of my ability to import new plants. The first round of plants are making their way through Korea and the US Customs just fine, but understandably, the global situation is dynamic and my ability to import plants may be adversely impacted in the coming weeks. Continuing our new plan that was introduced last fall, all plants listed in our live uploads will be in stock, and pre-sales have been completely eliminated from our business model.

To ensure our customers’ safety and maintain their good health, we are taking the following precautions in response to the COVID19 threat:

 ·   Each incoming box is sprayed with disinfectant

 ·   All product is handled with latex gloves only, and new gloves are used each time they need to be handled

 ·   Product is quarantined for a full 14 days in house before listing

 ·   I will personally be shipping all of our packages with scheduled pick-ups from USPS

 ·   My entire family will be practicing social distancing while COVID19 is an ongoing threat

Cedar Creek Farmhouse was established with an emphasis on personalized customer service. While this still holds true today, I’m afraid that the recent events in my life caused me to drop the ball on communication, leaving all of you in the dark. Please kindly accept my sincerest apologies and know that I am working hard, not only to get the business up and running, but also to implement changes that will enable me to provide more frequent and easily accessible updates, as well as increased transparency.  I realize that the lack of communication and unreliable communication was a huge issue on my part, and I am striving to improve this area of my business. 

I am so grateful for your patience and understanding during these difficult last few months. Your support means the world to me, and I truly appreciate it.  I know that trust and support have to be earned, and I hope that I can somehow regain whatever I have lost. I am truly remorseful for any undue stress and uncertainty that I may have caused. I hope that you can forgive my missteps, and that you will allow me a chance to regain your confidence. 

Thank you again for all of your continued support and for being a part of my family and daily life.

Respectfully,

Crystal