How Fresh Box works, in plain words

Setting up the store

1. Nipige

   Creates Green Valley's store from the Fresh Produce template. It comes with ready products (carrots, kale, apples…), categories and sample boxes.

2. Owner

   Adds the logo, colors and website address. The web store and phone app now look like Green Valley.

3. Owner

   Connects a bank account to receive card payments, and turns on automatic sales tax.

4. Owner

   Sets the delivery day (Wednesday), the ZIP codes they deliver to, the delivery fee ($5.99), pickup spots, and the cutoff (Sunday 8 PM).

5. Owner

   Removes products their area doesn't grow, and sets each product's price and photo.

6. Owner

   Creates the boxes customers can subscribe to (more in story 5).

7. Owner

   Invites farms by email or text.

A farm joins and lists its food

1. Sunny Acres

   Opens the invite and creates an account: farm story, photos, growing practices, organic certificate, bank account for payments.

2. Owner

   Checks the profile and certificate, then approves. Sunny Acres now has its own page in the store.

3. Sunny Acres

   Types "carrots." The app shows the store's existing "Carrots, 1 lb bunch." Sunny taps it, so Sunny can now sell carrots. No duplicate product is created.

4. Sunny Acres

   Grows something the store doesn't sell, like purple carrots? Taps "Suggest new product." The owner approves it, and then any farm can sell it.

5. Sunny AcresEvery Thursday

   Posts next week's offerA farm's promise for next week: how many it can supply and the price it wants. Example: "150 carrots at $2.25 each.": "Carrots: 150 bunches, $2.25 each." One tap on "Copy last week" makes this quick.

   Sunny Acres · Next week (Wed, Oct 7)

   Carrots, 1 lb150 · $2.25

   Lacinato kale120 · $2.50

   Sweet potatoes90 · $3.25

   Copy last week
6. OwnerThursday evening

   Checks there's enough of everything, and approves. On Friday, the products appear in the store.

The same carrots from 3 farms: what the customer sees

1. In the shop and in search, there is one carrot card, not three.

2. Most customers leave "We pick." After the cutoff, the store shares the orders fairly between the farms based on how much each offered.

3. A customer who loves River Bend chooses it, and their carrots come from River Bend.

4. If Sunny sells out, the card simply says "from 2 local farms." If all three sell out, it says "Sold out this week."

5. The receipt shows which farm each item actually came from.

Buying one item: 1 kg of tomatoes

1. DevThursday

   Adds "Heirloom tomatoes, $3.00 per lb," 2.2 lb. The app says: "About $6.60. You'll pay for the exact weight."

2. SystemAt checkout

   Puts a temporary holdMoney reserved on the card but not taken yet, like a hotel deposit. It disappears when the final price is charged. of about $7.59 on his card, a little more than the estimate, in case the bag is heavier.

3. SystemSun 8 PM

   Cutoff. Dev's tomatoes are added to everyone else's tomato orders.

4. FarmsTuesday

   Bring big crates of tomatoes to the hub.

5. Hub staffTuesday

   Weigh Dev's bag: 2.31 lb. The label shows his name and the weight.

6. MariaWednesday

   Delivers it.

7. SystemWednesday night

   Charges the exact $6.93 (2.31 × $3.00) and releases the rest of the hold.

   Green Valley · ReceiptHeirloom tomatoes: estimated $6.60 → final $6.93 (2.31 lb)

Choosing a box subscription

The three box types

How often

1. Jamie picks Build Your Own, size Medium, every week.

2. Picks the first date: Wednesday, Oct 7.

3. Chooses home delivery. A pickup spot or pickup at a farm also work.

4. Rates some vegetables with 1 to 5 stars (loves tomatoes, never wants eggplant). This is optional.

5. Saves a card. No money is taken yet.

   Green ValleyWelcome, Jamie! Your first box arrives Wed, Oct 7. You can change or skip it until Sun, Oct 4 at 8 PM.

What happens each week with a box

1. SystemFriday

   Fills Jamie's box using her star ratings, staying within the box limits (6 to 10 items, worth $34 to $44).

   Green ValleyYour box for Wed is ready 🥬 Change it until Sun 8 PM.
2. JamieFri–Sun

   Swaps kale for chard (a leafy green for a leafy green), adds a dozen eggs, removes onions. A meter shows she's still within the limits. She can also do nothing, and the box ships as it is.

   Your box · 8 items · $37.25

   Carrots always included1

   Rainbow chardSwap · Remove

   Heirloom tomatoesSwap · Remove

   + Eggs (extra)$7.00
3. Jamie

   Going away? She taps "Skip this week": no box, no charge. Or "Pause" for up to 8 weeks.

4. SystemSun 8 PM

   🔒 Cutoff. The box is locked.

5. SystemMonday

   Charges $38 + $7 eggs + $5.99 delivery. If the card fails, it tries again twice and sends Jamie a link to fix it.

6. HubTuesday

   Packs her box (story 7).

7. MariaWednesday

   Delivers it. Jamie also gets recipes that use what's in her box.

The other box types, in one line each

From farm to hub to your door

1. SystemSun 8 PM

   Adds up all orders and shares them between the farms. Carrots: 200 needed, so Sunny Acres 100, River Bend 67, Hilltop 33, in proportion to what each offered.

2. FarmsMonday 9 AM

   Each farm gets its harvest list: totals only, no customer names.

   Green Valley → Sunny AcresPlease bring 100 carrots and 60 kale to the hub, Tue 10 AM–2 PM.
3. FarmsTuesday

   Harvest, put food in crates with printed labels, and drive to the hub. A farm without a van taps "Please collect," and the hub's van picks it up.

4. Hub staffTuesday

   Check in: scan each crate and count. River Bend brought 50 kale instead of 60? The app swaps in another farm's spare kale or a similar green for the affected boxes, and texts those customers.

5. Hub staffTuesday

   Pack: each order gets a printed list and a label with the customer's name and stop number. Boxes are kept cold overnight.

6. MariaWednesday

   Opens the driver app and checks the cooler is cold. She follows the route in order.

   Green ValleyMaria is 3 stops away 🚚
7. Maria

   At Jamie's door: types Jamie's 4-digit code, or leaves the box with a photo. Not home and no safe spot? She marks it and brings it back.

   Green ValleyDelivered! 📸 [photo of the box at your door]
8. Pickup spots

   Boxes for pickup spots are dropped there. The host ticks names off on a simple web page as people collect.

Picking up at the farm

First, the farm sets it up (once)

In a marketplace, the owner switches on farm pickup for that farm. A single farm turns it on itself.

Then, Lisa's story

1. LisaWednesday

   Enters her ZIP and taps "Pick up at a farm." She sees Sunny Acres, 12 miles away, Saturdays.

2. Lisa

   The store now shows only Sunny Acres' food. She adds the Sunny Acres Farm Share and a dozen eggs.

3. Lisa

   Chooses Saturday, 10–11 AM. Full slots are greyed out.

   Pick up at Sunny Acres · Sat, Oct 10

   9–10 AM · Full

   10–11 AM · 6 spots left

   11 AM–12 PM · 9 spots left
4. Lisa

   Pays. There's no delivery fee. She can add a friend's name if someone else will collect.

   Sunny Acres via Green ValleyYou're all set! Pickup Sat 10–11 AM at 214 Mill Rd. Your code: 4821. [Directions] [Add to calendar]
5. LisaUntil Thu 8 PM

   Can still change items, change the slot, or cancel.

6. Sunny AcresFriday

   Opens "Saturday pickups." It sees the total to harvest and a list of orders grouped by time slot. It packs each bag, weighs anything sold by weight, and prints a label: Lisa · 10–11 · code 4821.

   Saturday pickups · 31 orders

   9–10 AM15 orders

   10–11 AM9 orders

   11 AM–12 PM7 orders
7. Sunny AcresFriday

   Ran out of something? It marks the item short, and Lisa is texted and given credit or a swap from Sunny's own produce.

8. SystemSat 9 AM

   Reminder one hour before her slot.

   Sunny AcresSee you soon! Your order is ready, 10–11 AM. Show code 4821 at the stand.
9. LisaSat 10:20

   Arrives and shows her code at the stand, or taps "I'm here" from her car if the farm brings orders out.

10. Farm worker

    Types the code (or scans the QR, or searches her name), hands over the bag, and taps "Collected." Lisa gets her receipt instantly.

    Check-in

    Lisa R. · 10–11 AMReady

    Farm Share, Eggs (1 dozen)

    Collected

If Lisa doesn't come

Good to know

When something goes wrong

How everyone gets paid

Jamie's $50.99 order, split up

1. During the week, the system records what each farm actually supplied: food accepted at the hub, farm pickups collected, and the farm's own deliveries.

2. It calculates each farm's money, minus any items rejected or refunded.

3. The owner checks it, or lets it run automatically.

4. Friday: the money goes to each farm's bank, with a statement.

   Green Valley → Sunny AcresPayout sent: $411.75 for Oct 7 deliveries. View statement.

A single farm with its own store