Archives for September 2017

I’m Hungry, Take Me To the Web Site

Recipe Ideas Using Items from This Week’s Harvest Boxes

Carrot & Ginger Soup

Green Chile Ravioli with Tomatoes

Green Chile Cheese Burgers

The Ripple Effect from Hurricane Irma. Nothing in life (and especially in the produce world) happens within a vacuum. A frost in California affects the produce markets in New York and a hurricane in Florida will shock the citrus availability throughout the country. The unfortunate part of all of this is that it may not be a short term speed-bump but rather a long term rebuilding process from the roots up. I’ll explain.

The hurricane obviously hammered the citrus groves during the storm. But the aftermath might be more devastating. The rains flooded the groves throughout Florida. Citrus trees are very sensitive trees and cannot stay flooded for more than about 10 days or you will begin to see the trees die from a lack of oxygen in the soil. So the trees need to have huge pumps brought in to get the water off of the trees. The issue is that the pumps throughout the state are being used to pump water out of residential areas and not the farms. Therefore we could see some huge loss of trees following this hurricane.

To date, I have seen the price of oranges go up 40% since the hurricane. And it looks like the prices have not even stabilized yet. So all of the citrus needs coming out of Florida has now turned to California. I read a report this week that California is in jeopardy of “running out” of oranges. This is not that the state will not produce them, but rather that every piece of fruit that is grown has already been bought by large produce buyers. And we are not one of those large buyers.

So what does that mean for us? Well, we have to get creative. When they Zig, we Zag. Or something like that. Here is a brief snapshot of what creativity might look like coming up. If demand is high on items like oranges, then we focus our attention on tangerines and other fun citrus choices.

We actually just got a delivery of the tangerines about 30 minutes ago and I got to dive into those. Wow! Some of the most intense tangerine flavor that I think I have ever put a tooth into. Again, not the prettiest of fruit to look at, but the flavor is so good that it will make your eyes tear up like you’re watching Dirty Dancing for the first time. “Nobody puts Tangerines in the corner.”

Additionally, we will rely on help from our friends. We have amazing partners in the citrus world. With the support that we give them weekly throughout the year, at times like these they give us some help even if they have to sell the fruit to us at lower than they could get on the market.

Lastly, Arizona citrus season is about 6 weeks away. At that point, we have relationships that we have built over the last 7 years there that will ensure our CSA members (aka You!) get all the citrus your little fingers can plow through. So if you see some articles on how crazy the citrus market is getting, have no fear, we have got you covered.

Apples. We have had a little bumpy start to the apple season, but I am happy to announce that I think it has smoothed out finally. Quality, price, and availability should be looking up.

Pears. Sorry to say that this will be the very last week for Paul’s Excelsior pears this season. Truly an exceptional fruit from a pretty exceptional orchard. I am always sad to see the end of his harvest. I do not think that anyone can match his quality and commitment to growing for flavor. We are fortunate he is on our team and will look forward to seeing his cherry harvest next June.

Green Chile. The incredible chile harvest continues to roll and roast on here. We are getting closer to that first frost date (usually mid October) and that will kill the chile harvest. What a dilemma for the poor chile…do you want to die a freezing or fiery death?? Tough decision. I’ll take the fire please! Anyhow, stock up those freezers for your winter needs now. As that famous Buddhist monk once said, “Ain’t no time like the present amigos.”

Very last item on my mental brain dump for the week, beef. We just received a new harvest from our local grass-fed rancher. Huge selection of some of the best meats that you will find anywhere. Insane quality of meat along with impeccable and compassionate animal husbandry. Doesn’t get any better than that. That is why I am happy to bring it to you.

Farmer Monte

 

I’m Hungry, Take Me To the Web Site

When I kick the bucket and have harvested my last breath, I hope that it will be September for eternity. I don’t think about the afterlife all that much, but if I could enjoy September every day, well…I would be a happy dude.

With that said, this week’s offering is about as pure a September box as you will find. For those of you keeping score at home: roasted Green Chile, local Tomatoes both big and small, the first of Arizona apple harvest, pears from Excelsior Orchards, fall grapes, and some insane citrus from our buddy Noel at Stehly Farms in San Diego. Having all of these fun flavors in your kitchen might make you feel like Ignacio from Nacho Libre, “My life is good, really good.”

Other stuff this week is a bunch of housekeeping items. So stick with me here please. Delivery Texts. We are compiling all the info we need to launch a cool new add-on to our already amazing service. We will be launching a new driver software that will enable our chariot drivers to send you a text prior to your delivery. This will allow you to know when the order has landed safely. It will provide a heads-up if you need to sign for any alcohol delivery. Finally, this gives you sufficient time to stretch out your hamstrings so you don’t pull a muscle sprinting for the door when you hear the bell.

So to enable this functionality, we need you to log into your account. Go to Preferences. Then click on your phone carrier and double check that your number is correct on your account. We will let you know when we are ready to launch this functionality, but first we need to get your text info. Thanks.

Field Run Fruit. I would be willing to bet you that you have never had a piece of memorable fruit from the grocery store. I know that I never have. And that is because the stores’ produce sections are not set up to entice your taste buds, they are there to attract your eyeballs. How many times have we all heard, “Oh Doris, you should see these berries!” Only to find out that these beautiful berries taste like crunchy cardboard. In our effort to sell food with our eyes, we have desensitized our taste buds and eat some pretty flavorless foods folks.

Don’t fret. This is why you have me here. And as a part of this food journey that we take together every week, I want to educate you on the idea of the Field Run Fruit. I don’t actually need to capitalize those words, but I am going to so that it sticks in your brain like a peanut butter cracker sticks to the roof of your mouth. Remember this idea of Field Run Fruit.

What this means is that when harvest crews hit the trees, they send us the whole block. The fruit that we are getting from our growers does not get sorted/waxed/warehoused. This fruit goes from the trees to you. Or from the trees to us then to you. The grocery stores will sort all the fruit for that perfect “looking” fruit. We strive to bring you the perfect tasting fruit.

With that, we might get fruit that was not completely covered by leaves and has a little sunburn on it. Kinda like when you forget to put sunscreen on your kiddo. They get a little crispy, but you still love them. Our fruit is the same way. A tree branch may rub against the fruit and leave a little blemish, but the flavor is still incredible. Eat with your mouth and not your eyes. We need to stop this waste of food.

Do you know that on a commercial farm, less than 50% of the harvest meets acceptable grade for a grocery store. The smallest of blemishes can ruin a perfectly good fruit, cucumber, zucchini, pepper, etc. So tons (literally) of amazing food gets composted or unused. Again, this is all due to the persistent marketing that food has to look a certain way.

So bringing you field run fruits, we are able to bring you better value for your pesos and we are able to offer a farmer more money for their harvest (since they are not throwing away 50% of it). A win-win for everyone.

This does not mean that you will get moldy or sub-standard fruit. On the contrary. We will be bringing you firm fruit bursting with flavor and of the highest quality. Offering our members field run fruit also means that we are able to bring you varieties of fruit that are no longer commercially grown because of the blemishes they show. Just like the Shiro plums that we brought you earlier this summer.

Enjoy September, Farmer Monte

 

Folks, a very interesting new product coming your way this week. New Mexico raised Shrimp! Harvested weekly, then we freeze them to preserve that freshness for you. Literally go from the water to the freezer. So fresh you will be amazed. Unfortunately, we  have a very limited amount of them this week so will be highlighting them in our New Mexico Shrimp Boil recipe for the Dinner Bag

Also the green chile will continue to rock this week. Stock up now while we have tons of it coming through our doors.

Lastly, some fresh ground beef just came in. A great time for some green chile stew with our onions, potatoes, chile and locally raised beef. Just saying.

Take Me To Your Web Site

First off this week amigos, hard cider. We just got a new batch of hard cider and I have to say that this is my favorite batch that we have ever made. We are using a new yeast and it has created a cider that is perfectly dry yet keeps the essence of the apples on the tongue and on the nose. A truly exceptional cider. I think that we finally might be hitting our stride here. We have gone from very good to absolutely amazing.

And I am going to take this little break in the action to give you a little history about my love of hard cider. I will bring you back to 2001 when I was living in a teepee and farming with a Norwegian Viking (Farmer Erick) on the banks of the Snoqualmie River at Jubilee Farm.

You see, Farmer Erick had a buddy named Steve who had an orchard for no other reason than he loved trees. He didn’t have a road-side stand, no farmers’ markets, and no grocery connections. He grew fruit for the love of fruit. After the tragedy of 9/11, he let me take a truckload of apples into Seattle to hand out free fruit to help lift peoples’ spirits. He was a real class act.

Anyway, he knew that I liked to make my own beer and so he turned me on to this fermented apple juice. A little stronger than most beers, a little smoother than most wines. It reminded me of a crisp champagne with its dry taste. I had never tasted anything like it.

Additionally, I loved that the juice to make the cider actually came from unusable fruit from the orchard. The ugly or slightly damaged fruit that would have to be thrown to the pigs could actually get pressed into this tasty adult beverage. My mind was absolutely blown. What an incredible way to use every piece of the farm’s bounty. Keep the circle as closed and as tight as possible.

OK, here is a little tangent to my tangent. We all know the name Johnny Appleseed. But most people do not realize that ole Johnny was actually planting hard cider apples. He would go from community to community to help them establish their orchards so that the United States of America could break our dependency on British booze. Johnny realized that as long as we were dependent on British hooch, we would never be a free people. So he helped plant orchards in order for these small communities to grow and manufacture their own booze.

This really stems from the fact that no other alcohol is as easy to produce as cider. You have to boil beer and add several ingredients. You have to distill spirits. And wine you have to keep in air tight containers for months before it is enjoyable to drink. For cider, all you need is one thing: fresh apple juice.

You do not even need to add yeast to the cider because there is enough natural yeast from the skin of the apples to trigger the fermentation magic. I think in most prisons throughout the world they call this process Toilet Wine. But I didn’t even need to go to prison to learn this art form. I just got to work with crazy orchardists!

But then a sad day came; big breweries found cider. And instead of making a quality product, they decided to make the equivalent of a wine cooler. Or Zima. So they took this dry hard apple cider and then they added a squirt of Jolly Rancher apple flavor to it. At least the name is fitting for this swill, Angry Orchard. If I was an orchard, I would be angry too witnessing how folks distorted a perfectly good cider.

So seeing those trends in the cider business forced my hand. I could not sit by and watch the degradation anymore. It was time to make a product that pays homage to the history of cider. And I believe we have. No added sugars. No added flavors. Just apple juice, yeast, and TLC. The way Mother Nature intended. Not that I’m insinuating that Mother Nature has a problem with alcohol, but you know what I mean…she does a lot of work and probably gets a bit thirsty.

And that is the story of how this little farm ended up with a federal wine license (cider is technically considered a wine). Our cider is great because you can enjoy it now or allow the flavors to express themselves a little more over the next 6 months. Let’s have a tasty September.

Farmer Monte

Pear season at Excelsior Orchards hitting hard right now. Look for those, peaches, and a handful of incredible nectarines from Paul this week.

Also very happy for the start of the chile roasting season. Load up on chile this week as well. Going to be some good flavors to be had. Don’t miss out.

Take Me To Your Web Site

First off this week amigos, hard cider. We just got a new batch of hard cider and I have to say that this is my favorite batch that we have ever made. We are using a new yeast and it has created a cider that is perfectly dry yet keeps the essence of the apples on the tongue and on the nose. A truly exceptional cider. I think that we finally might be hitting our stride here. We have gone from very good to absolutely amazing.

And I am going to take this little break in the action to give you a little history about my love of hard cider. I will bring you back to 2001 when I was living in a teepee and farming with a Norwegian Viking (Farmer Erick) on the banks of the Snoqualmie River at Jubilee Farm.

You see, Farmer Erick had a buddy named Steve who had an orchard for no other reason than he loved trees. He didn’t have a road-side stand, no farmers’ markets, and no grocery connections. He grew fruit for the love of fruit. After the tragedy of 9/11, he let me take a truckload of apples into Seattle to hand out free fruit to help lift peoples’ spirits. He was a real class act.

Anyway, he knew that I liked to make my own beer and so he turned me on to this fermented apple juice. A little stronger than most beers, a little smoother than most wines. It reminded me of a crisp champagne with its dry taste. I had never tasted anything like it.

Additionally, I loved that the juice to make the cider actually came from unusable fruit from the orchard. The ugly or slightly damaged fruit that would have to be thrown to the pigs could actually get pressed into this tasty adult beverage. My mind was absolutely blown. What an incredible way to use every piece of the farm’s bounty. Keep the circle as closed and as tight as possible.

OK, here is a little tangent to my tangent. We all know the name Johnny Appleseed. But most people do not realize that ole Johnny was actually planting hard cider apples. He would go from community to community to help them establish their orchards so that the United States of America could break our dependency on British booze. Johnny realized that as long as we were dependent on British hooch, we would never be a free people. So he helped plant orchards in order for these small communities to grow and manufacture their own booze.

This really stems from the fact that no other alcohol is as easy to produce as cider. You have to boil beer and add several ingredients. You have to distill spirits. And wine you have to keep in air tight containers for months before it is enjoyable to drink. For cider, all you need is one thing: fresh apple juice.

You do not even need to add yeast to the cider because there is enough natural yeast from the skin of the apples to trigger the fermentation magic. I think in most prisons throughout the world they call this process Toilet Wine. But I didn’t even need to go to prison to learn this art form. I just got to work with crazy orchardists!

But then a sad day came; big breweries found cider. And instead of making a quality product, they decided to make the equivalent of a wine cooler. Or Zima. So they took this dry hard apple cider and then they added a squirt of Jolly Rancher apple flavor to it. At least the name is fitting for this swill, Angry Orchard. If I was an orchard, I would be angry too witnessing how folks distorted a perfectly good cider.

So seeing those trends in the cider business forced my hand. I could not sit by and watch the degradation anymore. It was time to make a product that pays homage to the history of cider. And I believe we have. No added sugars. No added flavors. Just apple juice, yeast, and TLC. The way Mother Nature intended. Not that I’m insinuating that Mother Nature has a problem with alcohol, but you know what I mean…she does a lot of work and probably gets a bit thirsty.

And that is the story of how this little farm ended up with a federal wine license (cider is technically considered a wine). Our cider is great because you can enjoy it now or allow the flavors to express themselves a little more over the next 6 months. Let’s have a tasty September.

Farmer Monte