diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 751715bef..5fd3e20df 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -235,6 +235,24 @@ If your migrator needs special configuration, you should write a new factory fun
 - `CF_FEEDSTOCK_OPS_CONTAINER_NAME`: the name of the container to use in the bot, otherwise defaults to `ghcr.io/regro/conda-forge-tick`
 - `CF_FEEDSTOCK_OPS_CONTAINER_TAG`: set this to override the default container tag used in production runs, otherwise the value of `__version__` is used
 
+### Getting a Working Environment
+
+The bot has an abstract set of requirements stored in the `environment.yml` file in this repo.
+
+It's production environment is locked via `conda-lock`. The lockfile is stored in `cf-graph-countyfair`
+at [https://github.com/regro/cf-graph-countyfair/blob/master/conda-lock.yml](https://github.com/regro/cf-graph-countyfair/blob/master/conda-lock.yml).
+The production environment is relocked regularly using a GitHub Actions [job](https://github.com/regro/cf-graph-countyfair/actions/workflows/relock.yaml).
+
+There are two ways to get a working environment:
+
+1. Use the `environment.yml` file in the repo with `conda env`.
+2. Download the lockfile and use `conda-lock`. The best way to download the lockfile is via `wget` or `curl` or similar:
+
+   ```bash
+   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/regro/cf-graph-countyfair/master/conda-lock.yml
+   ```
+   since clones of `cf-graph-countyfair` are slow.
+
 ### Running Tests
 
 The test suite relies on `pytest` and uses `docker`. To run the tests, use the following command: