Archives for February 2016

A March Towards Spring

February 25, 2016 by monte

Man am I happy to see March arrive. I have always wondered why they made February the shortest month of the year and then every February I am reminded why. I am tired of winter, tired of watching my favorite basketball team lose, and tired of the color brown. I know that we are suppose to love all the seasons that Mother Nature gives us, but I don’t. I could very well go without winter and live a perfectly content life. My feet feel better in flip-flops than they ever do in scratchy thick socks.

With all of that said, ahhh, March. I know that we are about to get sandblasted, have insane temperature swings between day and night, and probably get one more snow storm, but I am ready for it. I am ready for spring.

The first week of March always represents the beginning of spring for me for one reason, the germination of the first flush of weeds for the season. It is like the little buggers have an alarm clock that goes off at the end of February, but the weeds always jump out of the soil early March. And when we see this, we know it is time to get our seeds in the mix as well. The time for planning is coming to an end, the time for farming is back. But it is not time to plant it all.

For those of you giving it a go in your garden this season, let me give you a few bits of advice to help ensure that you do not give up on trying to grow in the Southwest before the kids dance around the May Pole.

Do Not even think about planting tomatoes, corn, melons, zucchini, peppers, or Grandma Doris’ prized okra seeds. Those dudes will have their day in the field, but it is not now. March is for the crazy plants who love the cold and hate the heat. Radishes, turnips, kale, spinach, and some lettuce. These are the faces that you want to see in your garden at this point. And you will want to keep them covered with a frost fabric until the last part of April. Putting any sensitive crops out now you are going to lose them to the hands of Jack Frost. He is not a nice guy.

These frosts are also the reason why the Rio Grande river valley is such a bad place to try and grow fruit trees. We have these gorgeous warm days and trees get tricked into thinking that it is time to put on buds. But then we will have multiple nights where the cold air comes off the mountains and settles into the valley (warm air rises, cold air sinks). So the valleys always have the nicest soil and closest proximity to water, but they are the lowest points in our landscape and will be colder than the foothills. Hence why we only get fruits trees to produce every 4th year or so.

This is also a good point for a plug as to why, when we cannot grow something well for you on our farm, it is nice to have friends in better growing climates to cover your needs (and wants!). Look for some amazing fruit this year from our partners.

Other stuff happening around the farm right now…. Friday Afternoon Markets. Last fall we ran a series of Saturday markets where we roasted chile, sold/drank some hard cider, and let folks take home some produce and pork. In a nutshell, they were totally fun and more successful for us than any farmers’ markets that we had ever attended. So the proverbial “seed” was planted late last fall and the birth of the weekly market will be this spring.

Friday, March 18th we will kick these babies off for the season. 3 pm until around 7. We will have produce, meats, freshly baked goods, local dairy, free kids’ activity at 4 pm, hard cider and the launch of our new wine label. Basically, we want to give our members and the public a time to unplug after a long week, get outside for a bit, and get to mingle with some fellow foodies.

In addition to all this going on, we will also run the afternoon as a pick-up location for pre-packed orders. So the market will be open for any single items you may want to pick up, or place an order by Thursday at 10 am to have your items packed and ready for you to just pick up.

Enjoy, Farmer Monte

A Letter’s Worth 1,000 Words

February 18, 2016 by monte

I received one of the best letters that I have ever received in my life this week. No, it was not my Publishers Clearing House check from Ed McMahon. It was a letter from a 6 year old kiddo named Everett. Besides having better cursive handwriting than I do, he took the time to let me know that he loved the Thai bananas and wanted me to bring him some more. He finished by thanking me for all of the fruits and veggies and added a picture of me in a delivery van and him scarfing down bananas. It almost brought tears to a grown bear’s eyes.

On the surface, this letter seemed like a simple “thank you” card (which I love), but it represents a lot more than that. So let’s look at these things for a few minutes.

Keeping our focus on the forest and not the trees. I cannot tell you how many times I end up defending our regional food model to local zealots. Don’t get me wrong, there is no one who loves local food more than I do…but I am not an extremist. As I have mentioned, in order for our food system to make sense, it has to be diverse. A monotonous local food scene will implode without diversity. We have to feel like the food we eat is “sexy.” We need to enjoy the journey and not feel like eating is a labor of love. So “Buy Local” extremism will not work.

And my man Everett was a great example of this. Sure bananas are not a local item, but they are a fresh and healthy food. He was choosing to eat fresh fruit over processed potato chips. So seeing these food choices are a win for Everett’s family and a win for our society. We need more kids making healthy food choices and increasing demand for a healthy food system. Demand drives change.

Another great thing that this note showed me was a young dude being involved with his food. And when you get the youth involved with shifting the paradigm, things happen. I mean do you think that national recycling campaigns began in senior centers? No, it was in elementary schools.

Right now there is a big push to get more local food into schools. Folks, I hate to say it, but this is not where we need to put our energies. It boils down to the age old question of do you teach a woman to fish or give her a fish? Bringing local food into schools is just feeding students a fish. I would like to see all of money that we put towards buying local food switched into putting gardens in schools. This would bring lasting change.

It is just a fact and backed up by hundreds of studies that when kids (and adults) are involved with their food, either by cooking it or by growing it, they make better food choices. Less processed junk. More fresh alternatives. So for your family or for our schools, gardening and spending time in the kitchen is where the change will sprout.

There is an important distinction that needs to be addressed, and that is choice. Inviting a child into a garden or into the kitchen becomes a fun choice for them. It is different than making time in the kitchen their “chore.” When people feel like they have choices in their lives, they feel like they are in control. Call it Free Will or whatever you want, but the feeling that you are in control of your life leads to a lifestyle. They are actions that you perpetuate because you want to, not because you have to.

Most recently I have witnessed this behavior with the farm. Our average sale to members is almost back up to where it was when I (wrongfully) was forcing delivery fees on you. Folks are spending money to buy our food, but they are doing it on their terms, not mine. It is actually amazing to see happen in real life. This is not a philosophy paper, this is actually happening. Don’t dictate to people. Empower them, give them options, and then get out of the way. They will take themselves on the journey towards a healthy lifestyle, they just need options to catalyze the movement.

Lastly, we have really cool new products from pet food to heritage blue corn from Santa Ana Pueblo.

Check it out, Farmer Monte

A Few Things…

February 10, 2016 by monte

I have a bunch of things that I want to cover, so let’s jump right into the deep end. No dipping a toe.

New newsletter. Same ramblings as before, but now with a new look. Since the first week of June, 2003, I have used the weekly newsletter to help keep things straight in my mind. We have a lot of moving pieces trying to marry a farm with a distribution system. These weekly notes help make sense of it all for me. Along the way, it also is a fun tool to educate our members a bit and run our business in a very transparent manner for our members.

My hope with this new format is that we can bring a more interactive and educational experience to our members. I may be writing about our pigs and it would be a great point to have a picture or video of pigs along with the text. I know it sounds so simple, but it is something that I have been wanting to do for a while and finally it has moved off of the simmer and onto the front burner.

I encourage all of you to sign up for this newsletter on our web site under the “Farmer’s Journal” tab. Many of you already get it and don’t need to do anything.

The second thing that this new format of the newsletter will do is allow us to highlight our members more. Our group is as diverse as the food that we share. News anchors, MMA fighters, construction workers, nurses, and moms/dads. Our group collectively does some pretty cool things in all the communities that we serve.

I want to highlight your food stories in your daily lives. The one common thread we all share in this group is a true love of food. And so with a heated election year ahead of us, I want to use our blog as a reminder of the thing(s) that bring us together, not divide us. I will refrain from breaking into my rendition of Kumbaya right now.

Moving on to the Harvest Boxes. I have received a handful of emails inquiring about the Premium charges on some items in the box. So let me address this.

Because of our partners, we are able to bring you an incredible value on all of our food. But with that said, somethings we cannot afford to distribute for the $3 harvest box price. To be totally open, we actually pay our grower more than $3 for the Brussels Sprouts that we bring to you for only $4. Those same Sprouts are in the grocery store for $8! So I know that seeing a small premium on some of the box items might be annoying, but that premium is the difference between us losing money or making a tiny margin on them.

Our only other alternative is to not bring in items that have a premium. And honestly, that does not feel good to me. I want to offer you all the wonderful favors that our seasons bring us. So we will continue this system moving forward because I really like having the freshness and diversity that it allows our system. Plus it allows folks a choice…

If you do not like the premium items or like the premium prices, you can simply remove them from your Harvest Box and the box will go down to the base price. Easy as that. We leave this totally up to you. Find what feels right for you and your budget. You have the flexibility, but we cannot afford to lose money on items we bring you.

Lastly this fine week, the Meyer Lemon. We have actually had a lot of confusion about this fruit. So let’s break it down. The Meyer lemon is a cross (not GMO) between a lemon and a mandarin orange. The result is a duck that doesn’t quack like a duck. The color of the skin is not bright yellow like a typical lemon. And the taste is not so acidic like a lemon. So folks have been confusing it with a sour orange. We are going to have these for a little while longer, so keep your eyes peeled for a crazy looking orange when you order the Meyer Lemons. I highly recommend trying them though because they are so yummy and are The lemon for making a curd. So there’s that.

Farmer Monte

Growing Without Pain

February 4, 2016 by monte

What does your summer tomato look like in February??

I woke up last Sunday morning to the sight of broken glass. Someone had decided to use the back window of my truck as kicking practice. $230 later I was asking myself why people can be such jerks to fellow neighbors. But as I drank my coffee, my spirits were lifted as I began to see something beautiful unfold with the farm—members coming back to the table and bringing friends with them.

Quick recap in case you missed last week’s newsletter… I mentioned that in order for the elimination of the delivery fee to workout financially for us, we need to fill our trucks, pack more orders, and therefore, we needed members to help us grow our order volume. And you have done that.

Since the death of delivery fees, we have seen a 20% increase in orders per week. I mentioned last week that without delivery fees our average order took a 9% haircut. But with 20% more people ordering a week, this new system works and will remain financially viable for the farm. This is completely due to our members coming back and telling their friends. I thank you so much for that. The power of our group is amazing and it really restored some faith in people at a time when I needed to see it.

Here is an interesting psychological phenomenon that happens with folks statistically; when someone likes something they tell 4 people, when they don’t like something they tell 12. So when you are providing a product or service and you want folks to refer you to others, you have to be right 3 times as often as you are off.

I mention that because I know we have had “growing pain” issues in the past. I can tell you that I have never seen better quality or better accuracy of our packing than I see right now. Quality and filling orders correctly are and have been on the front burner of issues for us. I promise you that and also ask for your feedback when you see something

that you’d like to have changed. We know that there is no reason to feed more members if we cannot feed well.

Now some new faces in the window! You know that we run our business like a chef runs a pasta kitchen, by throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing if it sticks or falls. So I would like to introduce you to some new faces.

The Mini Harvest Box. Our newest baby in the family. In her 2nd week in the lineup, the Mini Me sold 150 boxes this week. I am still floored by the demand for a smaller box. We are happy to have her in the familia and she will not be going anywhere. Truly a great addition.

The return of the Juice Box ($15). In all of the joyous emails I received from the delivery fee’s departure, there was a low roar to bring back the Juice Box. So let’s do it. The juice box will be available on the Harvest Box category. There will be a base of 5 lbs of juice carrots in every box, but other than that we will put together some fun combinations of fruits and veggies for your juicing adventures depending on what is in season that week.

The Office Harvest Box ($25). Again, another face that we have talked about for years, but finally getting our act together. This new box will be designed for the grab n go eaters who want to be healthy on the run. Use it at your house or get one happening for the office break-room. These will be seasonal and changing every week as well. The one constant for these boxes will be no cooking or forks necessary. Grab it and Eat it.

Organic heirloom corn products from the Santa Ana Pueblo. We are working with the good folks from Santa Ana Pueblo’s Mill to bring you blue corn meal, blue muffin & cornbread mix, pancake mix, and a white polenta. All of these products are certified Organic and milled locally. These will be available starting the week after next.

Farmer Monte