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Archives for September 2018

The Door and Power of Your Support

September 28, 2018 by monte

 

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I have to share a nostalgic story with you about this door. And I know that some of you recognize this door very well.

You see in 2003 when the farm first started, I didn’t have time to sit in a parking lot and hope that people would come buy our food. We (Miguel and I) were too busy growing our food to even be very personable trying to sell it. So we had to think about clever ways to sell the food that we worked so hard to grow. That is why we introduced the CSA model.

CSA in its truest form means signing people up for your farm’s food and then trying to force feed them kale in the spring and eggplant in the summer. I cannot tell you how many people I have offended with kale. You would think I made a bad joke about their mother or something. Anyway, there were a few hundred brave souls in NM who liked this idea (thankfully) and so began the journey of our CSA.

Back to the door though. So one of our You-Pack pick-up locations was in a storage room (8×12′) at an office building off Indian School and Carlisle. Members of the CSA would sign up for that spot and I would give them the code to the door. We were all fancy with a little push code door knob. So we would harvest first thing in the morning and then I would take my little Ford Ranger up to the storage room and set up a self-serve market. I would leave the newsletters, a check-list for members to sign in, and a list of what the CSA box was for the week. We could feed 35 members a day out of this space and did 3 pick-ups a week.

So this last week, I happened to be at this office building and walked by our old storage room. And sho enough, our old LPO logo was still on the door. So I had to snap this picture and take you on a stroll down memory lane.

But besides just being a nostalgic story, I wanted to share something else with you about this space and that is just how amazing our members were/are of the farm. We ran this self-serve pick-up for over 3 years and never once had anything stolen or go missing. No one ever said “Hey, I know the code to the door and can go shop for free.” No one “accidentally” took an extra pint of strawberries. It was a beautiful setup.

It gave me hope in the support that we could see from this community. It made me feel that if we put our trust in the people then the community would support a small farm movement. It is important to remember too that in 2003, there were only 35 CSA members in the entire city of ABQ. And by our second year we were feeding hundreds of people. The demand and the support for a healthy local food economy has always been there for us and our partners. Truly incredible.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case for many growers and local food systems throughout the west. Support grew in the early 2000s then the bubble popped and left many growers/ranchers stranded. It has been sad to see. Many of my mentors and business models that we have tried to emulate are no longer around. Support from their communities dwindled.

New Mexico receives its fair share of criticisms as a state. Some of them deserved. But over the last 15 years, New Mexicans have built a better local food movement than a lot of states that have more money and resources than we do. We should realize and celebrate this. Good work amigos!

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

The Story of an Apple and Welcome Navajo Pride

September 16, 2018 by monte

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Whenever I am late for an appointment (which doesn’t happen very often), I always like to break the ice by saying “Sorry I am late, my car hit a water buffalo on the way.” By saying that I can usually avoid the awkward moment of needing to explain why the heck I am late and just move on to business.

With that, I unfortunately need to Cancel the Fall Harvest Festival that we were planning for this weekend. I could try and explain, but I think it is better in this case just to say that my tractor hit a water buffalo on the way to the festival.

But now back to food. Our lovely food. This incredible summer continues to roll on with some amazing stuff. I don’t think that this summer could have been planned better if we tried. The local swell of food this year has just been beautiful.

Paul just left the warehouse and brought us the first harvest of apples this season, Galas. As I bit into one, I felt like I ran into a long-lost friend. I have not had a good apple in months. Why is that though? How come apples are terrible in the summer when everything seems to be so great?

The answer is simple geography. There are no fresh apples in the summer time. After the Fuji apples are gone in the spring, all the apples you have seen or eaten have come from China (if you are eating conventional apples) or South America if you are eating Organic apples. All of our domestic apples are on the tree limbs during the summer growing. There is no domestic apple production during the summer. Period.

So that is why we do not offer apples in the summer. They have too many miles and not enough flavor to even sink a tooth into. Therefore we stuff our pie holes with stone fruits (peaches, plums, cherries, and nectarines) during the summer and wait for Paul’s first load of apples in September. When you bite into one of these babies you will quickly realize why we do not bother with other apples during the summer.

He also brought us more Bartlett Pears, Plums, a handful of Nectarines, and freshly pressed ciders. We have peach and pear ciders on the website right now and he will be bringing a bunch of apple cider this next week.

Ciders are a true win-win situation for everyone. For the grower, you are able to sell fruit that you would not be able to sell through a fresh market. When a piece of fruit sits on the tree for so long, they are exposed to getting their little butts kicked. Sunburn, hail, and wind scars from rubbing against the branch are very common for tree fruit. And then the grower ends up with fruit that folks will not eat. So instead we can take these aesthetically-challenged (common name: Ugly) fruit and juice them. This way all the fruits of the tree’s labor get utilized and enjoyed. Great for you, great for Paul.

Look for all of those ciders on the website, but they never last long. If you want to have some throughout the winter, get them now and freeze them until you are ready. They freeze very well. We are trying to increase our freezer space so that we can accommodate more of Paul’s ciders in the future. They have become a perennial hit with our members.

Next I want to welcome a new face to our table, Navajo Pride. Navajo Pride is a farm just outside Farmington, NM and have recently brought some serious Organic production to the state of NM. The farm itself is owned by the Navajo Nation and we are happy to be supporting such a fantastic mission of bringing healthy food to our state all while promoting the agricultural heritage of the Navajo Nation.

Our partnership launches this week with some truly incredible watermelons. I can honestly say that these are the best melons that I have eaten this season. I know you will love them too. Look for many more items to be calling your kitchen home this fall. We are just getting this project rolling.

Enjoy a delicious week and many more to come this late summer/fall. I could not be happier with the way all of the harvests and flavors have been this season. Truly phenomenal.

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

Height of Excelsior and a Fall Harvest Festival

September 3, 2018 by monte

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So when I tell you that this week we have the most fruit that we have ever had from Excelsior Orchards, you better believe you are in for a treat. Paul has brought us Peaches, Plums, Nectarines, and Pears! We have honestly never had this much abundance from his trees in one week. What a fantastic way to celebrate Labor Day and all the hands that Labor to keep you and your family fed on a daily basis. Enjoy.

You will see two types of peaches this week. First is a New Haven. These guys are orange flesh, free-stone peach. Free-stone means that the Pit will not stick to the flesh. Perfect for pies, jams, or freezing. The second new face to the party are the Blushingstar peaches. White flesh, free-stone. You can make jams with these guys too, but I honestly just love eating these from my paw. Let the juices flow and get crazy.

Pears. Bartlett. I have to tell you that I never really liked pears until I got to eat Excelsior pears. I grew up thinking that pears were just a crappy filler in a Hairy&David holiday box. Because of that, I never knew how yummy, wonderful and floral a pear could be. Let these pears turn from green to a light yellow. Then dive in. I love apples but there is a fragrant complexity of a good pear that apples just cannot match. We will have these pears for a couple months.

Redgold Nectarines. Just wow. These nectarines weave together sugary sweetness and crisp acid in a way that you cannot find in many fruits. I feel that fruit either does acid really well like a grapefruit, or sugar really well like a peach. But to enjoy the combination of the two in one fruit is truly unique. These dudes are free-stone as well. Truly incredible.

Finally, the Duarte plum. What a journey these are from the yellow skin, light flesh that we had with the Shiro plums. The Duarte is a dark skin, dark flesh plum that has been bathing all summer in the high elevation sunshine of Colorado. Not as overly sweet like the Shiro plums, but also some more subtle flavors like a fine wine. And a gorgeous amber juice. You will love these plums. Just like the Shiros, these plums have about a 2 week window to dive in. They will be gone before you know it. Do not hesitate with them. Eat with abandon!

Lastly this week, the announcement of our Harvest Festival. We have had such a beautiful year from the many fields we bring to you, that we would be remiss if we did not stop to celebrate such a stunning harvest. So September 22nd we will be hosting Festival at our new warehouse location.

Our construction work will not be done by that point, but I would love to introduce you to the space that we will be moving into this fall. The address is 301 Stanford Dr SE. Please please please Note that the address is Stanford SE not NE like the address of our current warehouse. Our new market/warehouse is on the corner of Stanford and Lead in the University area and close to Frontier.

We will be out there from 10am-2pm showing off the new space. Additionally, we will have tons of Excelsior’s apples and pears to stock up on. And we will be roasting Organic Hatch green chile that you can purchase by the pound or by the bushel. Totally up to you.

Please join us for this Festival and glimpse into what the new space will look like. We are excited to share it with you.

Happy Labor Day, Farmer Monte

Heirloom Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
3 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, washed and diced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
½ of a medium onion
10 basil leaves
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish
1 pt. Sun Gold cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
10 basil leaves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Add all ingredients (garnish ingredients not included) to a large roasting pan. Cover tightly with foil. Roast for 1 hour, remove foil and let stand for 20 minutes.
Blend in blender (in small batches) until smooth. Pour blended soup in a large soup pan and place on low heat.

Garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cherry tomatoes, olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread tomatoes over a roasting pan and bake for 5 minutes or until blistered.
Roughly chop basil leaves. In each bowl, add soup and an even amount of cherry tomatoes to each bowl. Sprinkle fresh chopped basil on top.

Filed Under: Newsletter

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