Farmer Monte's Journal

The Scoop from the Farm

Thrive, Don’t Just Survive

by Leave a Comment

A thoughtful Buddhist monk stared into the (dried up) banks of the Rio Puerco and reflected that “We cannot control what happens to us in this life; we can only control how we react to what happens to us.”

I have been thinking about this notion a lot as the turmoil of Covid rumbles along throughout 2020. I love passports, air-plane rides, having the occasional meal made for me, and ordering bourbon drinks with gigantic ice cubes. These have all been creature comforts that have kept me sane in the fast-paced world we call home. I felt very grateful for my family and the life I lived prior to March, 2020.

Things have obviously changed over the past months. And if we were to look at this epidemic in terms of sports, we are not even to the half-time show. Jennifer Lopez is still in the locker room stretching out her hamstrings. Not even on stage yet. So we have some mountains still to cross before we get anywhere close to normalcy. Whatever that may look like.

Realizing this, I had an existential question flood over me, In these uncertain times, how can we as individuals not just survive, but thrive?

In all honesty, I have been stressed out and anxious for months. And I know that I am not unique. Our communities right now seem more like tinder boxes than a playful sand boxes. Nerves are frayed, sense of humor distant.

I have to tell you what I have found to stay sane in the new world that we are living in and encourage you to try it out…Go Outside! Plug into New Mexico.

I’m not talking about a stroll around the neighborhood, although those are great too. We are so lucky in NM to have such (inexpensive) easy access to natural playgrounds. The Organs, Sandias, Sacramento, Sangres, Jemez, Pecos, etc. We have so many playgrounds within a short jaunt. Leave your masks in your car and go explore. Breathe. Connect to this enchanted state. You will be so happy that you did. The world will not change while you are gone, but you will be better prepared for it when you return. And it will help us all appreciate this incredible land.

Now on to some cool things that we have in store for you around here this August. And spoiler alert, this will probably go down as one of the best months in the history of the farm.

Let’s start with Juices! They are flowing again. I am so pumped about this. We have been working with the City of ABQ to get this right for our business and for your safety. The issue is I do not want to Pasteurize our juice. Let me re-phrase that, if we have to pasteurize our juices then I do not want to make juice.

Why? Easy, it simply changes the flavors. I don’t care if it is heated or using HPP; subjecting fragile juices to treatment changes the flavor. And so for me it is simple, do it right or I will find other ways to spend my time.

Being unpasteurized, we Cannot sell our juices to anyone other than our customers. We cannot sell them to a store in order for them to sell them. No wholesaling. Which is great. I never wanted to make incredible juices in order for another store to sell them. I want to make them for you. So you will Never see our juices anywhere other than through us.

Fruit Ninja. We ran a little experiment. What if we sold some cut fruit? Result, great demand, but I wanted the quality to be better so we have brought all fruit chopping in-house. This way, we do not have to guess at how much fruit to cut. So you order it, then we cut it, then we delivery it. No guess work, no loss. Try these babies out if you get nervous slashing through a pineapple like Jason Voorhees.

Salad Dressings. Some easy and yummy salad dressings in store for you. Nice on greens and as a marinade for meats.

Pasture-Raised Tofu and Local Meats. Our proteins have never been stronger than they are right now. Jump on to see all the items we have available for you.

Lastly, a little riddle for you…
We have some new business Models that I want to share with you, but I will have to wait and tell you about them Mañana.

Lots of love. Stay safe amigos. And Viva New Mexico! Farmer Monte

Transforming a Local Food System

by Leave a Comment

After inventing Solar Power Heated Underwear, the great Viking captain, Loki, was quoted as saying, “Uff Da, Necessity is the Mother of invention!” And after a thorough examination of our local meat sup-ply, I have to say that I really understand what Loki meant.

During the peak craziness of COVID-19: Episode 1, our national meat supply took an absolute hammering. Availability low, prices high. Not a good recipe for consumer confidence. With all of that, a huge spotlight focused in on New Mexico’s ability to sup-ply its own meat. After all, we have the land, we have the ranchers, and we have the pasture-raised animals.

pigs

The one bottleneck (and this is a huge limitation), we just did not have the processing capacity for the demand that hit our state. In the short run, this became a problem; however, in the long run, our state realized a huge opportunity. So here is an update with how our state is transforming to meat [sic] this opportunity.

This August we will see a processing plant in Las Vegas (NM) open its doors again. It closed several years ago as the move to centralize processing plants was the national mantra. Now, the pandemic has opened the eyes (and minds) of folks to realize how important a diversified regional food model is to our national security. We cannot have 85% of our nation’s meats processed in less than 10 plants. That is a system waiting for disaster. And COVID exposed that.

Now we are seeing a move, at least in NM (which is all I focus on), to open several local processing plants that have previously closed. This means a) less travel time and stress for animals, b) less cost/more profit for ranchers, c) more local jobs!, d) more animals that are raised in NM Stay in NM, and lastly, more diversity for our state’s food supply. This is a huge win for our state. We have seen so many losses due to COVID, we must celebrate every victory that we can get.

So look for our incredible beef and pork offering on the site right now. You will not find better quality, value, or mission anywhere in the country.

Another piece of wise Viking philosophy falls along the lines of “Let no good deed go unpunished.” Again, this rings in my noggin as we try to hire crew members in this challenging time. And let me pref-ace this by saying that this is not a political statement, this is a snapshot from a small business in a small state.

With the highest unemployment that this country has seen in decades, we have never had such a hard time hiring a crew. Read that again and let that sink in. The free money that is being handed out to Not work, is making it almost impossible to find people To work. It is hard on our business as we try to expand our services/offerings to more people through-out the state. I hope that this is just a momentary loss of sanity, but we need to find a better way to help people.

With that, if you know people who a positive force in this difficult time, please have them email me…

What else is happening around here?? All in all things are moving very well. We have our feet back underneath us after the first spike and we are ready for whatever comes down the road.

I cannot tell you how grateful and thankful I am for the amazing team that we Do have working (for you) right now. The nation is anxious. It is evident everywhere from the TV news to the supermarkets. But our team comes to work with a mission and with focus of what we are all up against. The stresses of life outside these walls are left at the door and our team is doing a fantastic job of filling your fridge and your family’s bellies. Rest assured that we have your back in these times and are looking at ways to better feed/serve you.

Thank you for your support and trust. We do not take that responsibility lightly. Stay healthy amigos!

Farmer Monte

Strawberries, Juices, and Meal Kits

by Leave a Comment

First off, an apology. If you have had any issues with strawberries recently, I am Sorry. Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, but they are not easy to get to the middle of New Mexico looking good. We have a new grower coming online and I think the quality will be much stronger. Thanks for your patience. And as they say in the produce world, “When life gives you over-ripe strawberries, make strawberry lemonade.”

So that brings me to my next point this week, our Juice Bar. If you have been around our business for longer than the lifespan of a moth, you know that we try a lot of stuff in our business model. I have been accused of “shooting first, aiming second.” It might not be the best business approach, but when I get ex-cited about something, I like to launch a test balloon and then see how our customers dig it. If you like it, then we expand. If it flops, then we crumble it up and throw in the (ever-growing) compost heap of Manure Ideas.

So we started a juice test market in late 2019. The idea was keep it simple. No added water, flavors, or sugar. Just have fun with some juice and allow folks to not only eat their fruits & veggies but drink them too. We bought a small commercial juicer to give it a go. I loved the juice. Crazy thing is a lot of people loved the juice. Fresh, unpasteurized, Organic. And since we are getting the fruits/veggies directly from the farm, you will not find a better value anywhere in the country.

As the demand for these juices went nuts, we started to realize the limitations in our starter kit juice bar. So for the past few weeks we have limited our juices as we “tooled up” our juice barn. Our citrus juicer is still at the spa getting a makeover, but our new cold press juicer is online and squeezing to pleasing. Look for more juices and nectar online now.

Here is the full circle part of the strawberry story. Instead of cutting ties with the strawberry grower who kept sending over-ripe berries, we decided to cut tops instead. So we are still working with them but you will just see/taste their strawberries in our pies and juices and not as fresh strawberries in your order. And I am willing to bet that we are the only place in the state who offers freshly pressed straw-berry juice. Try them out this week. So good. And they will be gone when the strawberry harvest wraps up in a month.

Moving on from juices…Meal Kits. You know when you watch You Tube and see someone on a soar off the high dive only to do an insane belly-flop. It looks so painful, but you can’t help but laugh. I consider our Meal Kit expansion of 2020 kinda like that belly-flop; so painful, but you just can’t help but laugh.

Here is the quick backstory. We launched a small meal kit test at the same time we began the juice bar. Again testing the waters, sticking a toe in the deep end. It did well. Way better than expected. So we hired a chef, tripled the offerings, created an in-house kitchen space in our warehouse and were ready for the best.

Then the Corona craziness hit and our sales of Meal Kits exploded 1000% as folks were not going to restaurants. Sourcing product was hard, our chef left, and we could not fill all of the meal kits we had sold. Insert visual of a belly flop off Olympic plat-form. Ouch.

But we rubbed some Organic aloe vera on our burns and are back on the board. This time from the low dive. The 1-meter board… where hairy Norwegians are meant to jump from. So my goal for the meal kits (now) is the same as our juice bar; keep it simple, keep it fresh and tasty. Limited offering to begin with and the menu will expand as we streamline the process.

Other than that, everything else is looking great. All of our local suppliers have caught up to the new “norm” in the pandemic and are doing great. Thank you for supporting us and all of our New Mexican partner companies. We are staffed up and ready for whatever comes our way. Let’s open the state back up in a safe and thoughtful way. And as always, stay safe amigos.

Farmer Monte

Local Food Economy, Liners, and Cherries

by Leave a Comment

New routes. We have added Belen, Los Lunas, and Ruidoso to the communities that we feed in New Mexico. Happy to have them on board and so if you know anyone in those areas who like to eat yummy foods, please share this with them. They will be so happy you turned them on to us, that they might send you an allergy-sensitive fruit cake for the holidays.

These new routes continue to help us reach our goal; I want our local food model to cover the entire state of New Mexico. I am unapologetic about my desire to give every New Mexican access to our food. Will they all choose us as an option? No. But our plan is to give New Mexicans better food choices. What you do with those choices is up to you. Yay free will.

Besides healthy food choices, expanding throughout NM strengthens our local food economy and adds diversity. The longer this pandemic grinds on, only the companies with the deep cash reserves will be able to stay in business. And small local businesses are not typically in cash rich reserve situations. So it is quite conceivable that we might see small businesses failing, leaving more faces of big national retailers.

Big retailers will survive (many of them, not all), but for me, the Mom n Pop businesses are what give our towns character. They are what make our towns unique. If you could go to the Frontier Restaurant in 5 states, then it would not be the gem it is for our state. It would be Applebee’s.

So aside from trying to feed more New Mexicans, I want to highlight more New Mexican companies. Give them a louder voice in the sense that a small shop can bring their goods to families throughout the state. What a Win-Win for NM. Thank you for supporting all our partners. Every bit of sup-port could mean the difference between keeping doors open or closed.

What else is happening this week??? Oh yes, insulated liners for our boxes. With the weather getting warmer, we had some custom insulated liners made for our cardboard boxes. I realize that many of our customers are home right now and bring the delivery inside as soon as our drivers are socially distant from your doorknob. But, if you are not home and want a little extra protection from the elements, I suggest adding these liners.


These liners are on our website now. If you would like your order packed using a liner, simply add 1 liner to your order and our thoughtful packers will see that and pack accordingly. We will Not be recycling these at the moment, but I en-courage you to hang on to the liners so that we can sanitize and reuse them after the covid craziness wanes.

Cherries. The cherries that we are highlighting this week were literally homeless. Some of them grew a pit on the out-side of the skin. Others grew 2 cherries around 1 pit. Some not shaped the way a cherry looks on the internet. All in all, a crazy looking bunch of cherries that taste amazing and just look different. Because of this, no store would take them. So we took on the (easy) task of finding homes for them. Your home! You will save money and help alleviate food waste. What a great combo.

This also reminds me of an article I read this week outlining how food costs have jumped more recently than over the last 5 decades! As I sipped my Organically roasted asphalt that I call coffee, I thought what a strange article because we are sheltered from that. Our food costs are the same (or lower) now than they were 2 months ago and even 2 years ago.

I point this out because it shows the importance of a local food supply. Local food is Food Security. When massive processing plants are shut down affecting millions of people, we are still secure by using our butcher, Mickey, in Moriarty. The same dude we have been working with for 15 years. And working with many of the same ranchers and growers as al-ways.

Again, local food is food security All of the time. But especially in times of uncertainty. We have a consistent and reliable food offering for you and your familia not because of what we have done in the last 2 months, but because of what we have built over the last 17 years. I cannot stress this notion enough.

The people who have been chasing the cheapest food are the most at risk and anxious right now. I want you to know we have you covered, relax, and be as healthy (and happy) as you can right now. Your family needs you healthy and so does our community.

Protect Yourself, Protect the Herd. Farmer Monte

Our Intro Handbook:SKRS Farms 101

by Leave a Comment

Here is a great news clip that KOAT 7 did on Skarsgard Farms

Folks, with so many new faces at our table, I want to take a moment to highlight a few things from our systems and from our business model. So make sure to have a coffee handy if you plan on staying awake through the logistical efficiency part.

Our mission can be distilled down to one fragment (because I don’t think technically it is even a sentence), Support Mom n Pops, Help thy Neighbors, and Eat Yummy Foods that are Healthy for both You and the Environment.

Being a Mom n Pop business, we know firsthand how in-sanely hard it is to play in the same sandbox with huge corporate food retailers. So instead of wasting time complaining about the Big Box stores, we choose to spend our time finding local producers we can support, and they can support us. Find synergies.

Quick note on Quality. We are not a grocery store. I find grocery stores sterile and boring. We are working directly with the farmers and producers, so when you see a bent zucchini or cucumber, I want your reaction to be “How does it taste?” rather than “That doesn’t look right?”

Fruits and veggies are like us; they come in all shapes and sizes. In the U.S., the desire to have perfect looking produce has created a scenario where 50%! of the farmers’ harvest is not suitable for the grocery store shelves. This “imperfect” produce must either go to a restaurant to be cut up or com-posted. This is a terrible scenario and a complete waste of food.

When we work with farmers we buy “field run” produce. Meaning that we buy their whole harvest. This means that we get some things that look like they might make it to the grocery store. Other stuff might have a face only a mother could love…But they are fresh and crisp. So I invite you to come on this journey as we listen more to our taste buds, not our eyes.

Help thy Neighbor. I learned (very) early on the farm that you cannot be everything to everyone. Our business is more fun and stronger partnering with incredible people than it is trying to make/grow/milk/bake everything ourselves. We are better as a team than individuals. Period. We have built our business model around this notion and I can tell you that it is the only reason why we are thriving during this challenging time. You have a dedicated team of suppliers working for you.

I am a firm believer that our food is our medicine. For me this looks like produce grown without chemicals, Animals humanely raised on pastures and not loaded with antibiotics, and Baked Goods/grocery items that do not have preservatives in the ingredients. If you need a dictionary to read a label, I don’t want it on our website. Keep it simple.

I also might add to not listen to your Mom (sorry moms) and “Start playing with your food.” One of the things that I am most grateful for in my life is my relationship with food. Food makes me happy, fills my belly/soul, and is always changing. You can zone-out and relax by yourself or grab your family and create stuff together. Food has been here since the beginning of time and will be here until the end. Let food move you out of your comfort zone, embrace it, and grow as a person.

Quick housekeeping tip to note. We post the upcoming week’s offering every Thursday around 5 pm. At that time, all of the Harvest Boxes are set, all of the inventories are re-stocked, any new items added to the party, and any discontinued items removed. So if you get on the website prior to Thursday for the upcoming week, things might look bare and a bit awkward. Give us until Thursday evening to launch the following week.

With that…Inventory. We have a very different inventory control than a grocery store that offers curbside pick-up. No one “shops our shelves” and changes the inventory. When we bring in 1,400 blueberries, for example, those are ONLY for the website. When you order a blueberry, it is taken out of inventory when you order it Not when it is delivered. There-fore, the sooner you place your order to Thursday evening, the more products you will see if we have limited numbers on an item. And you can always edit your order up until the cut-off time.

Finally, I cannot thank you enough for your trust and support during these uncertain times. We understand the responsibility that we have with your food choices and that is not taken lightly. You have a truly dedicated and hard-working team on your side right now. Rest easy, food is on the way.

Salud, Farmer Monte

Embracing Change

by Leave a Comment

An old Bernalillo Buddhist used to say that “You never step in the same Rio twice.” And by the way, I just made that up, so don’t go try and Google Bernalillo Buddhist. But the idea rings true. Life, like the water in a river, is fluid. You are a different person today than you were yesterday. Most of the time (in calm waters) it is hard to see how our lives change daily. But I think it is safe to say that the last 3 weeks have been a very tumultuous time for everyone on the planet. Our lives are changing daily if not hourly.

So it is not a surprise that our little local home delivery business has been thrown into the chaos along with everyone else. We have been in business for 17 years. Fine-tuning our mission. Chewing on what our selection of food should look/taste like. And yes, obsessing about the efficiency of logistics.

But nothing over the last 17 years could have prepared us for how the last 3 weeks have unfolded. Let me have a few minutes of your time to bring you up to date on what has transpired for us and how we are adapting to this new way of life.

My dream/mission for this movement from day one has been to feed all of the New Mexicans who wanted our food. I have written so many times that our local food model is not for everyone. We are not the Golden Arches trying to sell a billion burgers. Our food is thoughtfully sourced from the Mom n Pops. We talk in harvest numbers not stock prices.

I never want to turn someone away who wants a seat at our table. For me, the local food movement is rooted in the notion of Inclusion. Feed those who want to eat locally and support fellow New Mexican businesses. Over the past 3 weeks, the mouths at our table have become many and are growing.

And I will be honest with you, we were not ready for this flood of new people in the first week Or maybe even the second. I think the technical term that they use in business management classes call it a “Total Shit Storm.” Or maybe that is just what it feels like. It has been so overwhelming that I actually shed a few tears one day. I am a 44-year-old hairy guy and had tears in my eyes like my goldfish just died. And the most frustrating part was that I couldn’t even pat my eyes. A) because there is no tissue paper left in the Enchanted state, and B) we’re not supposed to touch our dang faces. So I had to wait for the desert air to dehydrate my tears.

But then I saw our long-time chariot driver, John, after he was wrapping up a 70 hour week of deliveries. His face was exhausted. Eyes bloodshot from days behind the wheel. And instead of complaining he simply said, “We’ve got this.”

And folks, that is what I have to tell you today; you have the most dedicated crew working to keep you, your family, and your neighbors fed during this time. Every one of our team is tired, stressed, over-worked, But… they are 100% committed to the challenges that we all face. We could not do what we are doing without this commitment. There is a definite feeling of being on the front line around here and we are so grateful for your trust in us at this time. It is not taken lightly. Thank you!

So how do things get better logistically in a time of such high demand? 1) We just fired up a 1,700 square foot walk-in cooler. This brings our total cooler space to over 3,000 ft. 2) Two new delivery vans just arrived yesterday morning from Georgia. Total 8 vans to help cover the state. 3) Restructured route density in ABQ to get more deliveries done in fewer hours. 4) Hired dozens of new crew members to help prep, sort, pack, route, deliver, and return emails/calls. 5) We have asked our partners to harvest more, make more, milk more, bake more. Our supply of local food will catch up to the demand. I promise. We have an incredible group of suppliers on our side. On your side.

Few things that will help us help you…
1) Try and do as much of your account maintenance on your own through our web site.
2) We have been sending out a ton of emails. Please make sure you have not unsubscribed from our mailings or you will NOT receive these updates.
3) Double check your billing settings to make sure payment info is current. We don’t want you to miss an order because of an expired card.
4) Be patient. We are doing our best and will get systems back to normalcy soon.
5) Stay healthy. Eat well. Be grateful. Go dig in the dirt!

Salud, Farmer Monte

Trust in a Sea of Chaos

by Leave a Comment

On September 11th, 2001 all of our lives changed forever. Our world changed the trajectory that it was on. Life would never be the same as we knew it before then. And I know that I am not unique, but the way I viewed the world changed forever.

On that fateful fall morning, I was drinking my morning coffee and preparing to head out into the fields of Jubilee Farm (Carnation, WA) to harvest food for our CSA members that were coming to pick up their weekly share of the harvest. I, like everyone else in the world, heard what had happened. I did not, however, run to a TV to watch the aftermath; I went into the fields to harvest fresh food.

Whatever chaos was transpiring in our country did not change the fact that our farm members would be eating that week and they needed our food. And honestly might need our food more than ever. The seas were churning, and our small local farm needed to be an anchor for all of our families that relied on us.

As the raw emotion of 9/11 morphed into poignant memory, my life would never be the same. After seeing how folks loved the grounding nature of our farm, I knew that local food was a key ingredient to a happy/healthy community. And since that day in 2001, I have had a laser focus to promote local food every chance and in every way that I can. Many of you are probably sick of me blabbing about it all the time.

Here is the hard thing, when the world is calm and at peace, you might not even know how important local food is. In times of peace, you can allow yourself to say, “Oh, milk is .25 cheaper over there, so why pay more?” Well, this is why we support local producers. Food security.

For the past 17 years we have been fine-tuning our model. Building relationships with producers. Putting together the best crew that we can. And now we find ourselves on the front line. I know that you must have tons of questions, so please let me address as many things as I can for you.

Skarsgard Farms is an essential producer at this time. So please know that our food/service is not in jeopardy of being shut down. I think if anything there will be a move to more delivery.

Producers. I have spent a very long week talking with all of our producers seeing how we can help them and they can help us. And let me tell you that we are in a fantastic and safe spot. Rasband Dairy is committed to bringing you all of the milk that you need. We are NOT in a ration situation, so please relax and order the milk you need. We have plenty.

Burque Bakehouse, Sage Bakehouse and Swiss Alps Bakery have given us the thumbs up that their supply chain is strong. We will have All of the breads and baked goods that you will want/need. So again, relax and you will not need to stock up.

NM Grass-fed beef. We have ranchers with plenty of cows to fill our needs. We will cut no corners in this time. Same amazing beef we always bring you, fantastic supply.

The Farmers’ Markets are not looking good this season. With this, I am working with growers to take all of the food that they would have sold at the markets. We are ideally setup to help growers out who want/need the help. This week for example, you will see Seth’s spinach mix from Vida Verde Farms. Seth was an intern on our farm once upon a time and now is one of the premier local growers that call NM home.

All in all, our supply is looking great through this challenging time. We have built this local food model with the belief that we are stronger together than we are alone. And we have a truly amazing team to help keep you fed throughout this time. I urge you to try and relax and let our food be your anchor in the storm.

Housekeeping Notes. Our Orders doubled in a week. The demand for home delivery is insane right now. To help us, help you, I have changed All Order Cut-Offs to 8AM the day Before your delivery. No more express routes. Sorry, but I hate over-promising and under-delivering. This will help so much.

Delivery fees. Our crew is working like crazy to get your orders packed and out to you. And I realized that my Econ professor was right in that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” So to keep our service as strong as possible, I have eliminated free deliveries. Thanks for the understanding. We’ll keep trucking for you! Thank you for all the support. Be healthy and happy.

Farmer Monte

Corona and New Products

by Leave a Comment

Wow! What a difference a week can make in our lives. Almost feels like we are in an avalanche of information and changing scenarios. I know that we have been inundated with updates of how businesses/sports/etc. are handling this virus, so you can add this newsletter to the stack.

Being brought up in a family of Vikings, we did two things in my family. First, celebrate Norway’s independence from Sweden on May 17th. And Second, never act (or overreact) emotionally. Relax, have a beer, and try to stay rational. So with my Viking code in place, I will dive into one of the craziest times that I can remember in my lifetime.

Our Goal: To make our warehouse a One-Way distribution center. Until there is better understanding as to how this virus behaves, I do not want to put any customer or crew member at risk from our foods and services. We have an impeccable track record over the last 17 years. We have never had a single issue with the cleanliness of our food. We aim to keep it that way.

So effective immediately, I have stopped the use of our reusable coolers. ALL orders will be sent out in our single-use cardboard boxes with no charge. Your order will be packed into a brand-new box. Never used before. These boxes are 100% recyclable through your municipal recycling program. Please recycle.

With that, I have asked our drivers to Not pick up any cardboard or Coolers left out. Hang on to your coolers and we will get the deposit issues worked out once we have a better understanding of the situation in front of us. But for now, we will not be accepting any coolers back into our distribution system. So please do not leave them out for the drivers or bring them to our warehouse. We will not be returning any coolers for now.

We recently launched the “Use Less Plastic” option for our customers who wish to limit their plastic usage. I have decided to remove that option for the time being. Again we will revisit this as we get more information from the CDC and State of NM.

Now, I have had folks asking me about measures we take to keep our warehouse and crew members clean. So let me address that for a few moments.

Our warehouse is a concrete bunker. I am not exaggerating. We are surrounded by concrete tilt-up walls, concrete floors, and even concrete roof panels. It is a tank. And we keep it clean.

Our crew is a very clean bunch. If the trade winds blow the right direction, you might even get a scent of lavender lotion. We all love food, respect the food, and are Very aware that our food ends up on your kitchen counters. We sanitize our prep tables 4 times a day and everyone wears nitrile gloves. You should rest assured that your food is taken care of properly.

But here is the biggest issue that can put your mind at ease…the Public NEVER comes into our warehouse food space. Ever. We have 16 employees who see and prep your food. But since we are not a store, no one comes into our space. Statistically a tomato is touched 8 times! before someone buys it. For us, it is touched once placing it in your order.

I will not hammer this topic all day but let me just assure you that there is NO better, cleaner, or safer way to get your food than Staying home, Ordering online, and Having us deliver to your door. It’s not even close.

OK, enough doom and gloom. I want to highlight a few things that happened this week that I know you will love. First, we had our new pasta machine delivered. Chef Steven is really good at making fresh pasta, I have to tell you. He made Beet ravioli this week that is some of the best tasting ravioli I have tried. We will be offering weekly specials on those guys and have weekly changing flavors.

Local Meats. We had fresh beef and spring lamb delivered to our warehouse. Incredible flavors, grass-fed, and supporting Local Ranchers. What is not to love about that?

The updated Scratch n Dent Box. “Farmer M., can we please know what is coming in the Scratch Box?” Yes, we have been working to try and find the best solution for this and we have a good one. We have increased the amount of produce you get from 8 to 10 lbs. Secondly, when you add that to your order, you will see all of the items that will be in the box. But, you will Not be able to customize. See contents, but not change them.

Stay Healthy & Happy, and don’t forget to laugh. Our bodies need it right now.

Remember “It takes a big man to cry, and it takes an even bigger man to laugh at that man.”

Salud, Farmer Monte

Birthday Cake and Expanding the Vision

by Leave a Comment

I love March. The whisper of Spring gets louder and louder at the beginning of March. And above all else, the first week of March marks another birthday for Skarsgard Farms (or Los Poblanos Organics depending on how long you have been eating with us). 17 years ago, we broke ground on a farm, on a dream, and on a vision of what the New Mexico local food landscape could or should look like.

I am a New Mexico kid. Born during a Lobo basketball game and raised in the valley of the Rio Grande. I am well aware of all the quirks and faults that New Mexico burdens, but at the end of the day, I freakin love this place that we all call home. So when it was time for me to find some dirt (soil) to plant my dream, New Mexico made sense. And after almost 2 decades, this place still makes perfect sense to me.

I believe in the sunshine and the land of New Mexico, but more importantly, I believe in the people here. You can have the best tasting food on earth, but if no one is there to support you, then you have nothing. We call our work The Local Food Movement and it is aptly named; without support from you, there would be no movement. No energy. Only my wilted dreams.

On this birthday week, I am really excited to share the next step of our always changing vision for a better mañana.

Inhouse Chef. We have been on a path to help bring Healthy and Fresh to you in a more Convenient way. Maybe you have seen this trend taking shape over the last 6 months. But now, we have taken the step to hire an Inhouse Chef with a clear goal in mind; bring you all of our food in a more convenient and approachable way. This will not replace the Harvest Boxes, raw foods, etc., just expand how we can bring you options.

Chef Steven Peyer comes to us with nearly 3 decades of experience at the highest level. Part of the original farm to table movement in San Francisco’s Bay area, he has racked up years of impressive experience around the world from The River Café in London to Simply Balmy in Foxton Beach, New Zealand. Café Lago in Seattle to Forchetta Bastoni in Sebastabol, CA and many other places. I know that you will enjoy all of the flavors and diversity that he brings to the table.


How will this all work? Well for starters, we have redesigned the website a little bit to have some better organization and clarity for you. Take a few moments to browse around the site to see all of the new items and structure.

Next up, we are moving to making more of the meals here so the assembly for you will be a whole lot easier. For example, we have made all of the Lasagnas here so all you need to do is heat them up and toss the salad. Done. Dinner served.

Additionally, we have added (and will be adding more) ready-to-eat items like Sandwiches, Salads, and even Curry. As we expand this offering, look for this to become a yummy deli concept—Fresh, Diverse, and Convenient. High quality flavors at very affordable prices. This is NOT an attempt at fine dining. This is taking all of the amazing food we have in front of us and bringing it to you in fun ways.

These prepared food options will Not eliminate our Meal Kit program that we have built up over the last 6 months. So if you have been loving the Meal Kits (by looking at demand, many of you are), Chef Steven will help just make these a little easier for you to construct. We will try and make the sauces and dressings here to help make them more convenient and use less packaging getting the food to you. But as you will see on the website, the Meal Kits will not be going away.

Lastly this week, a little restructuring with our Delivery Fees. As I was explaining our delivery fees to a new customer, I found myself confused. The tier system of fees had me tripping over my thoughts. And so I really wanted to make things more simple. More Black and White in a world full of Grey. So starting this week we will have a $6.95 Delivery Fee for any order Under $75. And FREE delivery for any orders $75 or greater. Just 2 levels, Fee or Free. Up to you.

As I have written countless times, I Hate delivery fees! I do not want your $ for delivery fees. I want to feed you. So I encourage, plead, beg you to explore the website and see all of the amazing flavors that we have brought together for you. You will have an easy time getting orders to $75 then we won’t have to worry about delivery fees at all. Just enjoying great food.

Farmer Monte

New Mexico Grass-Fed Meats

by Leave a Comment

I am grateful for many things in my life. One of the things that I am most thankful for is a long list of influential teachers and mentors that I have had throughout my time on this rock. A good teacher is hard to find and even harder to forget. So I salute each of you who have made it your life’s work to inspire minds in our communities both young and old.

And as I was drinking my coffee this fine Saturday morning, my mind drifted back to my high school history teacher, Rob Williams. Besides being a history buff, Rob was a very talented guitar player. One of his songs that always used to make me laugh (and think) was about a herd of cows taking over the farm. He called it Bovine Revolution.

I honestly had not thought about that song in a long time, but today the Bovine Revolution made perfect sense. Why? Well because cows are pretty amazing creatures, but they get a bad rap in the food and environmental world. Let me explain.

Cows are happy out on the range. They are not finicky barn dwellers like some other animals. They are great at being mothers to their young as the feed and protect them. This is not common with all animals. Pigs for example are terrible parents and the piglet mortality rate is high. Just remember that if you every find yourself on Jeopardy. “I’ll take Farm Animals for $400 please Alex.”

Furthermore, cows actually do an incredible job of building a grassland ecosystem that can turn high desert hill country into the Serengeti of grasslands. Think about what cows do as they graze…eat seed heads off of numerous grasses and then “plant” those seeds in compost with a huge cow pie. So when cows are not over-grazed in a spot, they will help a ranch flourish and plant more grasses not destroying them.

Lastly, and I have written about this before so stick with me, grass-fed beef is actually healthy for you. It is full of protein, nutrients (from the grasses), and Omega-3 fatty acids. But now you’re like, “Farmer Mont, if cows are so healthy, then why isn’t McDonald’s a health retreat? Huh Mr. Smarty Pants??”

That is a great question. And the answer you might remember from your First-Grade teacher telling you that “You are what you eat.” I think I was eating glue though when she told me that.

But folks, it is true. Cows do not produce saturated fats. Grasses do not produce saturated fats. Corn does. So when we raise our animals on corn, we get animals full of saturated fats. The meat from those animals are full of saturated fats. But when cows are allowed to graze and be raised the way Mother Nature intended, they are leaner and have a healthier fat content that is similar to a salmon and not a potato chip.

We are what we eat; Our animals are what they eat. There is no magic that goes on here folks, healthy diets lead to health.

The poor cattle in our country get this bad rap not from anything that they do, but rather how our industrial agriculture raises them. Corn gets animals big and strong quickly, but the downside is you have unhealthy meat. Grass-fed animals take longer to raise, but you have a healthy meat. Again, no magic.

So about a year ago I made a promise to you. 2019 was going to be a year that we devoted to helping New Mexican ranchers. To help a local rancher the best you need to find a home for their meats locally. Connect the dots between rancher and consumer so that all the ranchers hard work does not leave the state. Local families feeding local families. A dream come true.

Not to brag, but we did a really great job making this happen in 2019. So much so that my phone started to ring with ranchers looking for us, rather than me cold-calling ranchers telling them about our food model. It is awesome. This is what I had hoped would happen. What does this mean for you?

You will see the variety of the Local Meats increase and the price decrease. As we can offer the ranchers more support, they can lower the price to you. Simple economics. This week, for example, look for a New Mexico Rancher Pack with 2 lbs of Ground and 2 lbs of Steaks. Save $10 on this pack! And thank you for all your support of our ranching families.

Enjoy, Farmer Monte