Archives for June 2016

Take Me to Log In Please

What’s In the Sale Barn?

Harvest Boxes for Next Week

 

I have been thinking a lot recently about our upcoming Independence Day. Well, actually I have just been thinking about the word Independence and what it means to us all. And what is at the root of independence?

The word I keep coming back to is Choices. Does our independence as individuals really just boil down to having the ability to choose? I decide where I work, where I live, who I can marry, and where I can buy food and clothes.

Growing up, my parents always stressed that being successful in life just meant that you were faced with options. And that it is never a good feeling to have only one option in front of you. Options or choices give us all the warm fuzzies and probably remind us that there is free will in our lives. We are the master of our destiny. Or something like that.

And of course, me being a food nerd, this idea of choices came to mind as I was traveling through a rural part of our nation’s heartland recently. It doesn’t even matter where it was because its name is Smalltown USA and the scenario is playing out all over this great country.

Here is the snapshot of the landscape..a small town has mom n pop stores supplying goods and feeding the families in the area. The “CEOs” of the stores live next door to the other town people and you have a fairly diverse offering even though it is probably not the most efficient model.

But then comes the paradigm shift, Wal-Mart comes to town. And let me preface this next part by saying that this is not and will not be a bash on Wal-Mart, this is just a commentary on the economic landscape of many areas.

So as Wally World comes to these small communities, the efficiency of a well-oiled distribution system suffocates the mom n pop stores with low prices. We all know that story. But here is the interesting thing that I was noticing in this small town– the economic diversity of this town had been distilled down to one store. The grocery store is the garden store. The tire store is the bakery. The diversity of the town’s shops vanish. And in the end, you are left with only one store. The free market at work, many would say.

But what if our independence as individuals is really rooted in choices and founded in having options? What happens in our small rural areas that have no options remaining?

Then it hit me clear as a bag of bricks over the head. In many areas, we are not as independent as we might think, but many of our communities are completely Dependent on one store for their entire survival. After the mom n pops leave, so too does the skill and knowledge of how to run a store. So we get to the point where small communities have all of their eggs in the proverbial one basket.

So through our independent actions of shopping, we come to the point of dependency. The most tragic part of this situation is that we have done it to ourselves by chasing the mirage of low prices. Like when my brother would punch me using my own fist and say “Stop hitting yourself.”

This is what I love about what our farm and thousands of other farms are trying to do in this country. We are not trying to serve the “Over 1 Billion” burgers. We are trying to retain and grow the food choices that we have in our communities. Foster the small scale agricultural lifestyle. Avoid the consolidation of food producers into a single entity. And celebrate the nuances and diversity in our economic landscapes.

For me, this economic diversity within communities is the face of independence. It is something that I am happy and fortunate to help build every day of the year. And I am grateful for all of you who support this vision for an eclectic marketplace full of many different faces.

Farmer Monte

First off this week, just a slew of amazing fruits continue to roll in this week. You will be enjoying the blueberries, nectarines, and peaches. But one of the late comers to the fiesta were the grapes from the desert. Along the border of Arizona and California, in a very hot and dry region, come some of the most amazing grapes that you will find. Water is a scarcity, so the plants (and skilled farmers) pack a lot of flavor punch into the fruit. You will see these for a bit.

Here is last week’s newsletter if you have not read through it yet. Will have a new one next week.

Log Me In Please

What’s In the Harvest Boxes?

Check Out the Sale Barn

As we head into June, I have 2 words for you, I love fruit. Ok, maybe those aren’t just 2 words, but I just want to make sure you are paying attention because the fruit season is about to get very real here amigos.

Cherries 3 weeks out, blueberries next week, and for this week…peaches and nectarines. All of these coming on the heels of the incredible melons that we have been enjoying recently as well. I have to say that life is pretty good in the produce world this June. And buckle up because it is just getting started. So many flavors coming your way.

Because of all this amazing yumminess, I want to take this moment to address our pricing structure for the Harvest Boxes. As you know, we just ask for a flat $3 an item in the Harvest Boxes. It has been this way since my beard had no gray hairs in it (oh the good ole days). And for the most part, that pricing structure still works out very well for you as the consumer and for us as the farm. So I see no reason to change it. As my soccer coach used to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

But then there is the question of premium items that are just harder to grow, take more care in harvesting, and overall items that are just more finicky.

Well with these items we come to a crossroads. We can give you a smaller portion of the item and keep the $3 price point. Or give you a larger portion and ask for a small premium in the price of the box. You might remember, but we have done it both ways and I hate giving out smaller portions. Maybe this is a part of my DNA because my mother stuffed my pie hole with good food growing up. Or maybe it is just because no one only eats a half a pound of cherries and feels full.

Whatever the reason is, I won’t skimp on portion sizes. I think that we need to eat the food that is in season and enjoy it while it’s in season. No cutting corners or portions.

Veggies are more forgiving in their seasonality. But fruit needs to be enjoyed in (and only in) its season. I cannot even look at a peach in the stores in February. Eating that kind of stuff not only desensitizes your tongue to flavors, but it sucks the fun out of your lifestyle. Well…that might be a tiny bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point. Real flavors bring our lives real happiness.

I have been busting my tail-feathers to line up some of the most amazing fruit growers that you will ever sink a tooth into. (don’t end a sentence with a preposition at home kids) We have growers harvesting for you, then driving it through the night to reach our warehouse in time for our pack team to get it in your orders.

Again, I cannot stress it enough, but no other store or supplier I know has these kinds of deals set up for their customers. You are in a unique spot. So chew on that as you chew on a peach this week. It’s a tasty situation.

Lastly this week is a little bit of encouragement from me to ask you to take some time to customize your order. Did you know that 94% of all orders have a Harvest Box in them? That number still shocks me every time I see it. But I get it, the Harvest Box is a fun and yummy way to shop for what’s fresh in the farm world.

One of the pitfalls that we see with members is that they “can’t eat everything in the box.” I see these emails all the time. And I have to tell you that the best way to avoid this is to take some time to customize for your weekly wants and needs. We do not hand out any medals for the person who eats the most kale. So if you need a break from greens, try and put some local eggs in your order. Or breads.

We have so many healthy and scrumptious food options for you that I hate seeing people quit because they threw out an onion. Have fun in your kitchen and remember to please Play with your food!

Farmer Monte

 

Log Me In Please

What’s In the Harvest Boxes?

Check Out the Sale Barn

As we head into June, I have 2 words for you, I love fruit. Ok, maybe those aren’t just 2 words, but I just want to make sure you are paying attention because the fruit season is about to get very real here amigos.

Cherries 3 weeks out, blueberries next week, and for this week…peaches and nectarines. All of these coming on the heels of the incredible melons that we have been enjoying recently as well. I have to say that life is pretty good in the produce world this June. And buckle up because it is just getting started. So many flavors coming your way.

Because of all this amazing yumminess, I want to take this moment to address our pricing structure for the Harvest Boxes. As you know, we just ask for a flat $3 an item in the Harvest Boxes. It has been this way since my beard had no gray hairs in it (oh the good ole days). And for the most part, that pricing structure still works out very well for you as the consumer and for us as the farm. So I see no reason to change it. As my soccer coach used to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

But then there is the question of premium items that are just harder to grow, take more care in harvesting, and overall items that are just more finicky.

Well with these items we come to a crossroads. We can give you a smaller portion of the item and keep the $3 price point. Or give you a larger portion and ask for a small premium in the price of the box. You might remember, but we have done it both ways and I hate giving out smaller portions. Maybe this is a part of my DNA because my mother stuffed my pie hole with good food growing up. Or maybe it is just because no one only eats a half a pound of cherries and feels full.

Whatever the reason is, I won’t skimp on portion sizes. I think that we need to eat the food that is in season and enjoy it while it’s in season. No cutting corners or portions.

Veggies are more forgiving in their seasonality. But fruit needs to be enjoyed in (and only in) its season. I cannot even look at a peach in the stores in February. Eating that kind of stuff not only desensitizes your tongue to flavors, but it sucks the fun out of your lifestyle. Well…that might be a tiny bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point. Real flavors bring our lives real happiness.

I have been busting my tail-feathers to line up some of the most amazing fruit growers that you will ever sink a tooth into. (don’t end a sentence with a preposition at home kids) We have growers harvesting for you, then driving it through the night to reach our warehouse in time for our pack team to get it in your orders.

Again, I cannot stress it enough, but no other store or supplier I know has these kinds of deals set up for their customers. You are in a unique spot. So chew on that as you chew on a peach this week. It’s a tasty situation.

Lastly this week is a little bit of encouragement from me to ask you to take some time to customize your order. Did you know that 94% of all orders have a Harvest Box in them? That number still shocks me every time I see it. But I get it, the Harvest Box is a fun and yummy way to shop for what’s fresh in the farm world.

One of the pitfalls that we see with members is that they “can’t eat everything in the box.” I see these emails all the time. And I have to tell you that the best way to avoid this is to take some time to customize for your weekly wants and needs. We do not hand out any medals for the person who eats the most kale. So if you need a break from greens, try and put some local eggs in your order. Or breads.

We have so many healthy and scrumptious food options for you that I hate seeing people quit because they threw out an onion. Have fun in your kitchen and remember to please Play with your food!

Farmer Monte