Farmer Monte's Journal

The Scoop from the Farm

  • Home
  • Featured Articles
  • All Articles
  • Visit Our Store
  • Recipe Ideas

Pricing, Peaches, and Corn

August 11, 2018 by monte Leave a Comment

Send me to the Web Site

Well it is easy to say that August continues to impress me. Right after we get prepared for the beginning of Excelsior Orchards’ peach harvest, I got a phone call from Dean Schwebach (Schwebach Farm in Moriarty, NM) saying that his corn is ready for harvest. What??! Just when you think things can’t get any better, Local corn comes out of the field.

So for those of you keeping track (like I do), this week we have Sungold and Heirloom Tomatoes from Velarde, NM, Corn from Dean, and Plums & Peaches from Excelsior Orchards. I mean are you kidding me right now? I cannot remember a summer bounty like this in many moons… if ever.

Seeing all of these amazing items, I decided that it was time for me to head into a grocery store to see what the other kids on the playground had in their sandbox. And when you make the effort to leave the ranch, might as well go look at the biggest player in the market, Amazon.

I was nervous walking across the blacktop. How would our prices look compared to this international hulk that everyone loves to write stories about? Has Amazon cracked the code on how to get Organic produce to the people faster and cheaper than anyone else? My poor little heart fluttered as I stepped in the walls and began to look around.

Right away I was hit with this sense of “Wait a minute, this is it? This is what all the hype is about?”

First off it was not easy to find Organic products. Secondly, the prices are really high. And I challenge you to check this out. But Amazon’s prices for conventional non-Local produce is higher than our prices for Local, Organic items that we buy directly from the growers. Conventional peaches $4/lb, we bring you Organic for $3. Melons, plums, tomatoes, potatoes. I went down the list and there was nothing in price, quality or geography from any of the products that was so special.

I have to tell you that I felt so reassured leaving there in the work that we are doing. I feel it in my stomach every day, but to see it black and white with my eyes lifted me even more. We will never have the marketing budget to let millions of people know how important our work is. And honestly, I am fine with that. I am not sure that our model can support millions of mouths to feed without cutting corners. But it sure can feed thousands of mouths in a conscientious and thoughtful way. It also supports so many small local growers.

Look at today for example…we have 200 dozen ears of Corn coming in from Dean and Paul is dropping off 2,500 lbs of Peaches. That is a lot of food amigos and a lot of support for growers who don’t want to play with the Amazons of the world. Our model, through your support, is a viable option for growers who want to expand their production, but don’t want to deal with the dreaded produce brokers.

With our collaborative CSA model, growers will make 2 to 3 times the amount on their harvests as they would by going through the conventional market avenues. So know that your support does amazing things for small growers throughout our region. It gives growers a steady income stream when stores and the Farmers’ Markets can be so inconsistent. Our support of growers will not be deterred by a rainy Saturday morning when folks decide to stay home instead of going to the market. We bring the goods to you rain or shine 🙂

With all of that, let’s take a quick peek at what the field report looks like for August and this late summer.

Peaches. We are on the doorstep to a huge peach year. Get crazy with them over the next few weeks. Paul is keeping his prices down to help us/you move big volume of his fruit. So enjoy them fresh, dry them, freeze them, can them, or buy a case for a friend as an early holiday present. Western CO has one of the best fruit growing regions in the country and so take advantage of this incredible opportunity.

Shiro plums will have their last week this week. What a great season we had with them. More plums to come, but Shiros are my absolute favorite every year.

Corn. We are starting on 6-7 weeks of corn harvest. Enjoy!

Have a great first week back to school, Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter, Recipe Ideas

Blueberries and a Look at Fruit

July 22, 2018 by monte Leave a Comment

Send me to the Web Site

As you are hopefully by now aware, we have tons of blueberries for you this week. And eating these berries over the weekend has brought two things to my mind that I want to share with you.

First is the incredible journey that these berries have made to get to your plate. We have known Carey in LaRue TX for many years now. He grows an amazing blueberry in the acidic soil near Dallas. You see blueberries love to grow in acidic soils that can only come in areas of large rainfall (Oregon, WA, Michigan, and LaRue TX). So needless to say the measly 7-8″ of rain that we get around the Land of Entrapment, just ain’t gonna cut it for blueberries. So we have to bring them in from somewhere.

And so when we have to look outside our area, there is only one question that we look to answer; who is growing the best around? That is how we found Carey. A mutual friend of ours had some of his berries that he let me try. Oh man, those are the ones. So 10 years ago our blueberry grower became a staple for our summertime boxes to look forward to.

The berries are harvested fresh into the afternoon, placed onto a farm van, and driven throughout the night to our doors by 6am the next morning. I have no doubt in saying that you will not be able to find a fresher berry anywhere in the state. Compare that to the store’s berries that are often grown in Chile, put onto a cargo freighter, and then shipped for a week to a port in Los Angeles. Only then does it begin the trip to the store. The differences between the systems and the products are huge and you can taste the difference. So enjoy my friends.

But the berries got me thinking about something else this weekend too and that was the size of fruit that we expect. This summer I have been looking at the produce that stores are selling (gotta see what the Joneses are up to right?) What I have noticed is that the fruit is huge. I mean grapes and cherries that look as big as a ping pong balls.

At first it is hard not to look at them and say “Wow! those look amazing.” But then the realist in my brain is like, “Dude, what the heck, those aren’t supposed to grow that big.” And the only way to get fruit that big is to dump water onto your fields to fatten up your fruit. With all of that excess and unneeded water on your fields though, you know what your fruit tastes like? Yup, water.

So what a conundrum for the grower, do we want great flavor or huge fruit? And we know how most of the grocery stores answer that question. This takes us back to what I was pointing out in the newsletter a couple weeks ago, we need to savor the flavor. We need to celebrate the taste of the fruit over its sight. So I encourage (ok beg) you to try and enjoy the cherries and blueberries and other incredible fruits that we bring you by themselves. Avoid crazy sauces and other toppings that can distract from what the fruit has to say.

I felt like I was at a wine tasting this weekend. I sat in my backyard with a bowl of Paul’s cherries and ate them one by one trying to discern the different flavors between the cherries and the different colors of the fruit. Sure it was dorky. But it was simple, quiet, and delicious. And you know what, those cherries are just as dark and complex as a good glass of wine. So let the fruit speak for itself.

In that, please try and not eat your fruit refrigerated. Sure refrigerate it for longer storage if you need to. But take the fruit out of the ice box before you plan to eat it to let the sugars relax a bit. The cold temp of the fruit will lock up the flavors. So do yourself a favor and plan ahead a bit with these babies.

Other than that this fine summer week, look for the Shiro Plums from Excelsior Orchards to be coming in next week. These are the yellow skinned Japanese plums that always are a favorite with our customers and chefs.

–Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter

The Market and an Insane Week of Food

June 16, 2018 by monte Leave a Comment

Items to look for this week…Peaches, Plums, Asparagus, Berries, Grapes, and much more.

Sign In to the Web Site

The Market

One thing that I have seen over and over in the marketplace is that nothing ever stays the same. Not so long ago, Blockbuster Video had an entire College Football Bowl game named after them, fast forward 10 years and kids these days will never step foot in a video store their entire lives. Businesses have to be thinking about what is coming around the bend or they will end up a speed bump to the speeding semi truck that we call Progress. Demands change, lives change, and so businesses have to change in order to be relevant as calendar pages turn.

And I have to tell you that a year ago when Amazon bought Whole Foods I felt a major shock-wave go through the small farm movement that I had been a part of for over 15 years. I knew at the time and still firmly believe today that after the buyout of Whole Foods, our Organic food industry was in for a wild ride. And it has not disappointed. The last year has seen some of the most challenging times food providers have seen in probably 50 years.

So I have spent very little time over this last year reminiscing about the past. It has been a daily puzzle to think about where the movement is going and where the heck are the opportunities in this changing market? How does a small group of producers play the game in a world of giants? What is our competitive advantage that has not only brought us 15 years into this movement but will also propel us for the next decade and beyond. I have never liked/wanted to chase the “fad” of the Buy Local buttons and bumper stickers. For me this small farm movement goes a lot deeper than a sticker.

Our aim is to change the way our community eats and perceives food. I don’t want a really successful day at the market on one Saturday, I want to feed your grand-kids years from now and not just you today (no offense). Admittedly, this is not an easy task. But as my Norwegian grandpa used to say, “If it was easy, the Swedes would have already figured it out.”

So this daily grind to bring a better food landscape to our neighbors and families cannot be willy-nilly or random. We have to be laser focused on the mission. So I want to plant this seed with you today and share with you the vision of where we will be heading moving forward.

And just as you would begin any journey, we have to start with a goal in mind and then work backwards from there. We cannot launch our road-trip without even knowing where in the world we are going. So with that, there is a notion that I feel keeps coming back to my future vision of our food landscape and that is Experience.

You see if we view the world like Amazon, everything comes down to price and convenience. That is great and that marketing pitch speaks to a lot of people in this country. But you know what, Convenience is freaking uninspiring and boring. So the idea is that if we have this incredible force of Convenience/Prices in our marketplace, there must be the counterpoint. So what is the antithesis to Convenient anonymity? Yup, you guessed it, Experience.

So the next chapter for Skarsgard Farms in our community will be a mission rooted in Experience. Then a hand pops up in the front row, “But Farmer M., dude, how do you cultivate an Experience for people through home delivery?” Great question Ted (Ted is my go-to fictitious name for the over-achieving student who sits in the front row btw).

The short answer is that we cannot fully incorporate an experiential shopping/learning opportunity through the home delivery service by itself. We need more. We need better.

And that is why we are moving. Moving? Yes moving. We have an absolutely incredible opportunity to launch the next phase of our mission. The new space (and I am going to hold you in suspense for a bit before we tell you all about it) will be our new headquarters not only for the home delivery, but also for a retail market concept that we have been brainstorming and designing.

It will be home for cooking classes, plant sales, gardening classes, wine/cider/beer tastings, farmers’ market, local baked goods, meats from our ranchers, fresh coffee, chile roasting, juices and a slew of other items that we are putting together. Basically a year-round hub to highlight all of the amazing flavors that our state does so well. This place will be our final exam that we have been building on for the last 15 years.

Thank you for the years of support, Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter

Local Support: the Follow-Up

October 21, 2017 by monte Leave a Comment

Don’t worry, I am not quitting my day job to start a Fruit Art Gallery, but I did just stuff my pie hole with the other half of this melon and wanted to share it with you. These came in today from Las Cruces. Holy Moly for some serious flavor. You’re gonna love them.

What else?? Ah yes, we will be highlighting Nocco’s Green Chile Fettuccine in the Harvest Boxes this week. Amazing with some yellow summer squash and olive oil.

Another huge treat, Paul brought us some Pear cider from some of his blemished fruit at Excelsior. Limited and so I am only going to offer it through the Harvest Boxes this week.

I’m Hungry, Take Me To the Web Site

 

We have some truly amazing members. After last week’s newsletter examining the idea of support for our local food network, I got flooded with emails. The root of all the emails was basically the same; how can we better help local suppliers? So I want to lay out an opportunity for you to chew on and about two changes that we are implementing.

But to begin the festivities this week, I want to look at our Cooler Deposits. We get a lot of complaints and frustrations around the cooler deposits. People don’t want a bunch of money sitting around in deposits. I get it. And we hear from people, “Dude, Farmer M., I am home when the order gets delivered, why the hairball do I need a cooler??” Again, all good suggestions and I get it. So no worries, I have a plan.

All orders will continue to Default into Coolers with the associated deposit. If you do Do Not want your order that week packed in a cooler and would rather have a cardboard box, simply add the “Cardboard Box” product to your order. This will alert our pack team to use cardboard. Again, All orders will Default to Coolers, so you will have to add the cardboard box to your order weekly or set it as a Recurring item. We’ll leave how you want your order delivered to you!

Next up, a financial opportunity for you. As I look at various grassroots community support models for small businesses, I realized that we have already offered a similar strategy in the past, the Prepayment Incentive. The idea is really simple. For any amount of money over $500 that you prepay onto your Skarsgard Farms account, we will add a 10% bonus to your prepayment. So prepay $500, get an extra $50 added to your account. Easy. Check the web site for more details.

We will run this throughout the fall as a win-win for you and for us. In the past, I have seen folks use this 10% bonus that we add to try new items out and actually increase their order size which helps all of our producers. And looking at order sizes is a good transition into my next point that I need to bring up, which is a change in our delivery structure.

As you know, we have not changed the delivery structure of our home delivery model in a long time. Well, actually since January of 2015 to be precise. And with all of the changing tides in the food market right now, I have been dissecting our model to see where we are winning and where we are losing. As part of this self-audit, we came up with a very important number, $9.25. Now you are asking “What the heck is that?”

$9.25 is the average cost that it takes us to buy a truck, insurance, gas, hire a crew to prep/pack and deliver your order. So leaving out any fixed costs (rent etc.), it takes us $9.25 to stop the truck and bring an order to your door. And I might add that we are extremely efficient at our deliveries and so there is not a lot of fat in that $9.25 to cut.

So then I started looking at our delivery cost incurred compared to our order size and something jumped out that made me get a little queasy. Our delivery cost is 37% of our minimum free delivery order. And that is before there is even any food cost associated with the delivery. Way too much.

The conclusion that we easily reached looking at all of these numbers is that we currently lose money on orders under $30 and make a tiny bit of money on orders $30-36. And I have to tell you that we receive No subsidies, No grants, and No gifts. We are socially-conscious, environmentally-friendly, for-profit business. But…we cannot afford to run a philanthropy. Each of our deliveries has to help support the greater good.

So effective immediately we will be adding a $5 delivery (sustainability) fee to any orders under $36. We will keep minimum orders at $25 but we can no longer offer free delivery with our smaller orders. Let me say this though, I would rather feed you than charge you a delivery fee. Enjoy more local items that we have to offer and the delivery fee will be a moot point and then everyone is happy and fed!

Thanks for your understanding on this issue. And if you still need reassurance that we bring amazing value for your money, please check out Instacart’s delivery policy– $10 fee for orders less than $35 and a $6 fee for all orders over $35. Even with a small delivery fee, we still offer the best value.

Thank you for your support, Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter, Recipe Ideas

New Mexico Needs You!

October 13, 2017 by monte Leave a Comment

I’m Hungry, Take Me To the Web Site

Amigos, Foodies, New Mexicans, lend me your eyeballs. I need your undivided attention as we jump into the deep-end and look at a very important issue facing our local food system now. So grab your orange floaties and let’s do this.

         Grandpa Skarsgard in North Dakota

Competition. I have to tell you that I love competition. I love playing sports, watching hot dog eating contests, and have been known to bark when my little Scottie Monopoly piece is about to win the game. Competition gets my blood flowing.

So that is my preface to this week’s journal and to let you know the competition in the food world right now is intense. Some seasoned grocery folks say it is the most challenging the industry has been in 40-50 years. Access to food has not been this easy since the cavemen found a suicidal Woolly mammoth. I don’t think they had psychiatric vets back then.

My point is that we (as consumers) are living through an extraordinary time of food right now. We are surrounded by food choices and low prices. Our grandparents were used to paying 20% of their income on food. Now, folks still find room to complain when, as a society, we pay less than 7% of our income on food. The lowest percentage seen in history.

So how do food prices and competition play into a pressing issue for our local food system?

Well right now throughout our entire state, CSAs, Co-Ops, Farmers’ Markets, and Mom n Pop food providers are in a battle to find space in your kitchen as the large box stores rage their price wars with one another. You would be very hard-pressed to find a Local food provider/supplier who is doing better now than they were 3 years ago. SKRS Farms is no exception. The competition is that intense and widespread.

When Amazon bought Whole Foods, my initial reaction was that this is a huge opportunity for the local food suppliers to step up and fill a void for our community. But then it hit me… We already have an amazing local food network. Local dairy partners, all the local pork and beef that we need. Thousands of pounds of local produce weekly. Honey, cheese, baked goods, roasted coffee, kombucha, teas, fermented foods, fresh pastas, and tortillas. I mean the list of what we have to enjoy from this great Land of Entrapment is huge.

So I have realized that it is not a matter of the local producers stepping up to serve the community, but will the community step up and support our local producers?

Our local food system is in a Sink or Swim situation right now. I am not going to sugarcoat it for you. We saw the very same erosion of support happen in Arizona. First, sales at Farmers’ Markets cooled off. Then a CSA closed. Then the landslide hit. We saw 8 CSAs and home delivery models close down in the span of 16 months. Box stores winning the fight. Right now, NM is showing the same cracks in the ship.

Fortunately, New Mexico is not as far down the rabbit hole as Arizona was at the time. But without community support, we are going to see a very different local food landscape 2 years from now. But honestly, it comes down to you.

I have written this so many times and I will write it again; the businesses that call our communities home are a direct reflection of the values of the people. Realize that. Businesses are not around by accident. They exist from the support of the community. Economic democracy where $$ are votes.

Whenever I would read that old bumper sticker “Think Globally, Act Locally” something never seemed right about it. For me, thinking globally is the easiest way to lull yourself into a state of paralysis. We can become so worried about events in Las Vegas or hurricanes along the coast, that we become desensitized to the impact that we can actually create in this world. The wording of that bumper sticker should have read, “Think Locally, Act Locally” We need to focus our energies on what we can create at home. What we can build?

So here we are in our most transparent attire. I need your support. All of our local suppliers need your support. Our community needs your support. You hold the key to shaping our local economic landscape. How is it going to look?

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter, Recipe Ideas

Harvest Boxes 3.0

September 22, 2017 by monte Leave a Comment

I’m Hungry, Take Me To the Web Site

Recipe Idea: Green Chile Stew

Quick note on our Harvest Boxes and Dinner Bag. For several months we have been offering meal “kits” to help you plan and cook easy, delicious, and healthy meals at home. I have liked the idea of these for a while, but I have to tell you that I have not loved them. No goosebumps when I talk about them. This week, that changed for me and I have had a very profound Ah-ha moment. Don’t you love when those happen?

The root issue of why I haven’t Loved them is that they have been too rigid. A menu filled with items. No customization. So if you have onions at home and do not need them in your meal kit? It has been “too bad, you are getting more of them.” And I hate feeling like I am force feeding our members. You all are adults and know what you need. So I shouldn’t have to make you get anything you don’t want. If you want a vegetarian option for the recipe, we should have it. If you hate garlic, I won’t pass judgement (ok, well maybe just a little).

So let me introduce you to this idea of Harvest Box 3.0 or whatever version we are up to now.

This may not surprise you, but people love our Harvest Boxes. If Harvest Boxes ran for mayor, they might just make the run-off. Over 90% of our orders have a sexy Harvest Box included. It is a fun way to shop and it is the backbone of what we do. The first week we opened our CSA model in June 2003, we had one item you could buy…The Harvest Box. No bread, beef, eggs, or hard cider at that time. Just the HB!

So what we are going to do now is keep the bones of the Harvest Box but add the option to include items to make weekly recipes that we suggest. Let me give you an example for this week since I love examples.

As we look at the wonderful bounty that is coming in from the local fields right now, it is impossible for me not to think about green chile stew. Fresh meats. Potatoes. Onions. Chile. Tomatoes. Seeing all of that, my mind goes to my crock pot and starts making stew. But some folks want a Veg stew. Some folks want extra meat. Some folks love cilantro.

So it works like this. 1) The base Harvest Box will NOT change. It will be all produce just as it has been for the last 14 years. 2) We will offer “suggested” recipes for the week. These recipes are just suggested ideas. You can look at them or not. Totally up to you. 3) If the recipe looks interesting to you, we will have those items as Options that you can add in your Harvest Boxes.

To follow my example through here 🙂 Say Green Chile Stew looks interesting to you, then you will have the ability to add items (like meats, extra veggies or tortillas, etc) to your Harvest Box to help you make the suggested recipe. Again, I cannot stress this enough because I always get hammered with emails when I make changes… But all of these items will be Options for you to take advantage of and nothing forced on you. We will simply be using the recipe ideas to help “seed” your creative flare in the kitchen. What you do with those suggestions is completely up to you.

Additionally, many of our members have asked (ok begged) to bring more staples back to the Harvest Boxes. So this week you will also see the return faces of dairy to the mix. Milks, cream, and I even threw in chocolate milk to the mix because I know how much my kiddos love the chocolate milk.

All in all, I really want to make the Harvest Box a better cooking/eating/shopping experience. If you have ideas or items that you would like to see in the Harvest Box options, please let me know. I will say though that everything that we add as an option needs to help support our Local agriculture producers. So sugars and flours will not be coming back to the table. Although you can still get those items in The Storehouse section of the web site. Let’s highlight and support all of our local producers, growers, ranchers, and dairy folks.

Thanks for your support and happy arrival of fall. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any comments, concerns, or questions. You can also feel free to share your hopes and dreams with me too!

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter

The Great Food Shake-Up

June 16, 2017 by monte Leave a Comment

Produce Notes: Red, White, and Blue!
Red strawberries, White Nectarines, and Blueberries headline another phenomenal week.
Tomatoes, spinach, Romaine lettuce, and cukes will be at the party too!

 

The Dinner Bag for the Week

Fresh Pasta with Grape Tomatoes, Lemon, Garlic, Spinach and Shrimp.

Take Me To Your Web Site

In case you were hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and were without cell service, you know by now that it looks like Amazon will be the proud new owner of Whole Foods Market. So grab a coffee (or beer) and let’s look at what this means for the Organic movement and for the local food folks.

In my opinion, we should not fool ourselves for a single second that Amazon bought the Organic ideas, ethos, or philosophy of Whole Foods; they only bought the real estate. 460 stores worth of real estate to be precise. This is not a purchase of a brand, but it is Amazon’s cannon ball into the deep end to splash the food world and let competitors like Kroger and Wal-Mart know that Amazon is now in the Brick n Mortar food game. Amazon needed room on the Monopoly board game and they just bought Boardwalk and Park Place.

With that, we should read all of these articles about the Whole Foods sale as a death. Not a business sale. Because the company that brought us the Organic movement is gone and will never be coming back.

The Organic movement would not be where it is today without the presence of Whole Foods. Under the “question the status quo” leadership style of founder John Mackey, Whole Foods broke the mold of the unexciting stagnation that the American grocery store had become in the 1980s. Large manufacturers basically pulled the puppet strings of the grocery stores. So every store looked the same as every other grocery store and the food experience became a boring chore.

Whole Foods brought a fresh face to the grocery game. And part of that new look was a champion for Organic farmers and ranchers across the country. Organic became the buzz word in the ’90s which paved the road for the “Buy Local” food craze of the new century. Small Organic farmers driving around in beat-up trucks did not have the marketing influence to get folks to change their routine. People didn’t have choices when shopping and didn’t even know there was an alternative way to shop. Whole Foods planted the seed for consumers to question what was in the food they were eating. The 1990s was agriculture’s renaissance time here in the U.S.

This change of consumer behavior positively impacted farmers/ranchers both big and small in this country. Co-ops, CSAs, Farmers’ Markets, and Farm to Table programs all harvested the benefits of Whole Foods’ marketing campaigns. And for that, I am extremely grateful. We all should be.

But then an amazing thing happened; everything that Whole Foods tried to implement became available to all grocery stores. And the control that they held on Organic products ended. Beginning in January of 2015, Whole Foods became a victim of their own success. Other retailers wanted a piece of the Organic pie and got it. The monopoly was over.

Fast forward two and a half years later, Whole Foods experienced declining sales quarter after quarter. Add that with anxious stockholders and the next thing you know, Jeff Bezos is your boss. Oh, and that Organic ethos that was once the business card of Whole Foods is now in the recycle bin.

OK, so what does all of this mean? As this departure from the Organic ideals leave the company, they will be back-filled with the same products that every other store carries and the focus will solely be price driven. So instead of the manufacturers pulling the puppet strings on the grocery stores, the mega-stores (like Amazon and Wally-Mart) will be the ones calling the shots for the manufacturers. The pressure to cut corners to get the consumer a cheaper product will be so intense that by the end of the day, all we will be left with are cheap products.

It is on days like today when I realize the importance of the work that we do. We will continue to give a voice to the small farms and small producers. We needed someone like Whole Foods to act as a catalyst and bring attention to our work, but we do not need them any more folks. My dad took off the training-wheels on my bike one day and I had to ride that Huffy bike all by myself. Today is the day that the marketplace took off the training wheels for our community.

It is now up to all of us to support the local food producers or our food diversity will just be another casualty in this giant grocery consolidation that is shaping up.

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter

Food Hours vs Food Miles

April 7, 2017 by monte Leave a Comment

Quick Note: We have morphed our first recipe kit (The Enchantment Box) into a little thing that we like to call “The Dinner Bag” Pretty catchy little name right? The idea is that we will have 2 dinner plans every week with all ingredients and a cute recipe card included. And you do not have to worry about anything because “It’s in the Bag!” Ah, now you’re following the marketing thread.

We will be expanding on these ideas once we get our feet wet and feel comfortable swimming in the deep end. For this upcoming week, we are running two tasty menu items 1) Mahi Mango Lettuce Wraps, and 2) SKRS Farms Green Chile Sausage Links with Brussels Sprouts, Winter Squash, and Caramelized Onions. Very scrumptious. Y healthy. Check those out online. Less than $7 a serving.

Take Me To Your Web Site

Food Hours vs Food Miles

Our greenhouse project is finally done and I could not be happier or more excited about this project. You see, in the midst of launching a new web site, adding more delivery routes to help feed more New Mexicans, and restructuring our regional business model, we thought it might be a good time to change the paradigm for how urban agriculture functions. I’ll explain a little bit so that you don’t think I’ve gone mad.

OK, so to lay this discussion out we have to first look at the inherent conundrum that all urban farmers face; you want to be geographically close to your customers, but it is almost impossible to financially grow carrots on residential land prices. Cities have the consumers; rural areas have the land prices. What is the answer?

And first off, let me say that I only know the answer to this question because I failed the test the first go-round. I thought that we could grow crops viably while paying too much for our land. Seeing as how I am a stubborn optimist, it only took me 8 years to realize that I was fighting a losing battle. Our model had to change or the house would have fallen in on itself. We had to reinvent ourselves and the model.

What I quickly realized (after almost a decade) was that we needed to look at every single crop on a case by case basis for its needs and for its financial productivity. What began to come clear is that land extensive crops are not meant for urban growing. Extensive crops I look at are crops that just take a ton of land or space to grow. Corn, potatoes, onions, and fruit trees come to mind off the top of my noggin.

So for this new model, we have to almost concede the fact that those kinds of crops are not meant to be grown in/around the urban areas. We can bring those in from rural parts where land is less expensive and that kind of farming makes sense. So what that leaves us with are land intensive crops. These are crops like greens, lettuces, herbs, roots, etc. that do not need a lot of land to be productive. For example, a head of lettuce needs less than a square foot of space to become full grown. So knowing that space in our urban setting is a premium, we needed to fine-tune our crop plan.
But then working on this new crop plan, a dim flicker of a light went off in my head; these Intensive crops are not only the food that does not need a lot of space, but they are the most perishable of all the food we eat. You would have a hard time telling me if an onion was harvested this week or 3 weeks ago, but you could sure as heck tell me if a head of lettuce was harvested 3 weeks ago. So then, all of the sudden, the local produce game shifted for us. We have already tackled how do you cut food miles from the farm to you, but how can we cut Food Hours from the farm to you?

Wow. This question honestly changes everything. What does a system need to look like in order to cut Food Hours to your plate? The simplest answer is that you need to get your point of distribution as close to your point of production as possible. In an idealistic Farmer M. utopia, the distribution warehouse would be holding hands with your farm. Same place. OK, so let’s try it! That was the feeling in November last year. Fast forward to April and we have finished the greenhouse and now have over 7,000 germinated seeds and baby plants beginning their journey to your plate.

The logistics for this are actually simple (we like simple around here). It plays out like this. Each day as the order cut-off time passes, we head out to the 3,400 square foot greenhouse that is in the parking lot of our warehouse and harvest the needs for that day’s pack. No guess work, no over-harvesting. If we need 300 heads of lettuce, we grab what we need for that pack. Those heads are then brought into the warehouse, prepped, and put into your order that evening for delivery the following day. So you will have fresh food that is no more than 24 hours from harvest when you are eating it.

In total, this greenhouse will be able to comfortably house 15,000 plants at a time (100,000 a year) and be as productive as a 5 acre farm with outdoor production with 10% of the water usage. To say that this will be a real game-changer would be the understatement of the day.

I cannot wait to share more of this project and food with you as we move forward with its potential.

Have a great weekend, Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter

The Power of We over Me

January 27, 2017 by monte Leave a Comment

The promise of Spring is coming

www.SKRS.Farm

I have noticed something recently; social media seems to have been flooded with shots of crowds and not selfies with puckered up lips looking like a guppy fish. Our country seems like a fired up place right now. People marching in protest. People walking in support. And people jogging just to hang onto those final threads of their New Year’s resolution. Whatever the reason, there is a very strong sense of We right now in our country wherever your political flag is planted.

With all of this energy, I am sure that many probably feel uneasy, chaotic, or that the apocalypse is nigh. But I have to tell you that I love the energy of the people. I will take energy any day over the slumber of complacency.

And energy never comes from a person or individual; it stems from a group. As a fired up person people start to think you have a screw loose, like the guy who started yelling at me out of nowhere on BART when I was riding the train in San Francisco. But the energy of fired-up people is special. It is why we pack ourselves in like sardines to sporting events just to feel great when some stranger is screaming in your ear. Actually, I am usually the dude screaming in someone’s ear.

This type of herd energy makes us feel alive and like we belong to a cause greater than ourselves. Like we are A Part of the group and not Apart from the group. And yes, unfortunately, sometimes this energy gets misconstrued and some jerk throws a brick through a window. But overall, we need this energy to keep us going in life.

So that is my preface to tell you about an incredible trip that I took to Austin to visit and tour with Andy, one of the owners at Farmhouse Delivery. Farmhouse serves the Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio areas and has a very similar business ethos and model that we have here at SKRS.

You may not know this about me, but I am an online stalker. I like to find businesses throughout our region who are doing what we are doing (or close to it) and then see what they are up to. What are their hopes, dreams, worries, and concerns? It is amazing how much you can learn once you realize (and admit) that there is so much more out there to learn. Our pride is our greatest shackle.

So back to my visit. I was expecting to see so many differences between our models, but the more and more I looked at things, all I could see were similarities and opportunities. The staff there felt like I was looking into the eyes of our crew: young faces driven by a passion for food, positivity, and change.

These are not the polished offices where deals are made. Spaces like Farmhouse and SKRS are the gritty places where things get done. The front line of a changing food industry where success is judged by meals served and kitchens touched. These are the places that feel like home for me. And it was amazing to see what they are working on and how we can learn from each other. Collaboration and sharing ideas offer so many paths to making things better, so why is it the exception and not the rule in business?

Too often business gets painted with the brush of a zero sum game; someone can only win if someone else loses. And that secrecy is the only way to protect ourselves from “the competition” (insert horror scream). The truth of the matter is that we are our only competition. The best way that I can spend time is thinking about how we can bring you a better customer experience. The worst way is walking through boring grocery stores to see what the “competition” is doing.

Every year I like to pick a word that becomes my mantra for the year. 2016 was Focus. And it was in leaving Austin with a piece of BBQ brisket stuck in my back molar, when I realized what my word for 2017 would be: Authenticity. I know that the big box stores can bring folks everything in the world except for genuine Authenticity. And so that is the nail that I am going to hammer the heck out of this year; bring you so close to the source of your food in the most genuine and authentic way possible. So grab a bib and get ready for some truth soup. This is going to be a good year!

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter

Friends of the Farm

October 13, 2016 by monte Leave a Comment

Take Me to Login

What’s In the Harvest Box Next Week?

You Got Any Sales Happening?

286623_448376515222659_1392608219_o

I think that we all like to chew on new ideas. From cool new recipes, to interpersonal challenges, to feeding the world, we all have something that invades our thoughts more than everyday musings. And for a long time (over a decade now) I have been haunted by the shadow that good, fresh, healthy, and local foods have to be expensive. When I hear the phrase “Yuppie Food,” I get a pit in my stomach. But then I look at the numbers and they don’t lie. Unfortunately, good food commands a higher price tag.

But does it have to be that way? Do we have to just accept the fact that good food costs more, or is there something that we can do to make better food available to more people? Can we bridge this socioeconomic gap?

I have to tell you on a personal level that I have had maybe 3 major epiphanies in my life. One of them landed me in the middle of a field in 2000 when I realized that the generations of Skarsgard farmers did not skip a generation and I needed to follow the calling. The second one launched our home delivery business in 2003. Now the third one hit me last week. It is a way and The way that we are going to break down financial barriers when it comes to eating well. The paradigm is about to shift for me and consequently for our farm. So I would like to lay this out for you, so buckle up as we take a quick stroll.

319868_337636556296656_2003402064_nFirst, take off your customer hat and I want you to analyze our situation as an owner of the business. With that, the most expensive part of our service is packing and delivering fresh foods to your door. Scaling up your orders is not expensive. For our packers to double your order size, it might only add a few minutes to their day. For our drivers to double your order it might take them an extra 15 seconds. The only real cost difference between a $25 order and a $100 order is effectively product costs. Fair enough?

So I started to play a little bit with a new type of price structure that Brick n Mortar stores cannot do, a sliding price scale. Let me clarify. A store will run a sale on soap or bananas, but they do not give you price breaks for larger orders. It is a linear pricing structure where you pay the same for a tomato whether it is the only thing you buy or the 50th thing that you put in your cart. Why though?

And for the past 13 years, we have been operating a food model completely different than a grocery store, BUT we have been charging our members on the same archaic price structure that grocery stores use. Examining our food model, we have identified that orders are more efficient to deliver the larger they are. The fixed costs of delivery become a smaller percentage of the total order the larger the order becomes. So why then not structure our pricing accordingly? Why not incentivize larger orders and ditch this linear pricing structure like a bad habit?

Holy Manure! Realizing this it was like taking the Blue pill (or was it the Red pill?) and stepping into the Matrix to see how things really work…or really could work. So I want to introduce you to a new membership level that we are introducing this week.morpheus-jpg_fde369bbd4e7baff2bead2164aee9a2a

But please let me preface this by saying that this new membership level is an Option for you to choose. If you are happy where you are at, you do not have to do anything. Everything will stay the same, so what follows is optional membership level that you can choose to take advantage of.

We are calling the membership level “Friends of the Farm” and it will look like this.

If you have a $75 order, we will give you a 10% Discount. If you have a $100 order, we’ll take off 20% your bill. And if you have a $125 order, you, we’ll knock 25% off your total tab. These are huge savings to our members, but they accurately reflect the savings that we see by delivering larger orders to your house. So I want to pass those savings back to you. Let you enjoy bulk buying discounts.

Furthermore, this discount will come off your entire bill. You do not need to buy a certain product or know a secret handshake to get these discounts. They will be taken off your bill as a gross percentage ($100 order becomes $80 at checkout) no matter what you choose to put into your shopping cart. What you buy is totally up to you.

Additionally, this membership level will have FREE Delivery on any of our routes both current and future. Standard routes, express routes, any route. There will never be a delivery fee associated with this membership. So for many of our members, you can order and have Same-Day delivery 6 days a week. You choose the day or days that work best for you.

14463207_1211281565598813_6994739823495509549_nThe cost of the membership level? $96 annually. Only $8 a month.

And I want to be very clear about another thing; our current prices will NOT change. We are not going to pull the ole “increase prices and then run a sale” marketing trick. Our current prices are working for us. We turn the lights on, gas up the fleet, and pay all of our employees a living wage with benefits on our current prices. So they will NOT change. Everything that we have been doing, we will continue to do. Again this membership is an Option.

I will not sugarcoat it or play smoke n mirror games; I want our farm to be a bigger part of your kitchen. The more we become an integral part of your total kitchen experience, the more loyalty and support we get from our community.

Every single one of our partner farms and producers wants to grow their business. Every single one of them wants to feed you more if they can. And the best way for us to help support them and our farm, is by increasing the volume of food that we bring to our members. And this membership is going to be a powerful move in the right direction.

Again, let me reiterate that this new membership level is completely optional for all members. Our services, our products, and our prices will all stay the exact same as they currently are and have been. The new membership level is targeted at those folks who want to buy larger quantities of healthy fresh foods, but where price has been a deterrent.

I want to offer a sustainable local food model that can bring as many people to our table as possible. And bringing down that financial burden of healthy foods will go a long way to feed more people in our communities. So with that, I ask for your help in sharing this new direction with family and friends who you think would love our food and the convenience of the home delivery service.420106_296832157043763_1849814156_n

If you have or are involved with a business that you think would benefit from healthier food options, please email so we can set something up (). From personal experience, I know that eating healthy is easier when you’re a part of a team. We have seen some really incredible success stories when offices/businesses tackle living better as a team. It is less daunting and groups come up with some awesome ideas on how to eat well. I would love to be a part of helping your office enjoy the good food journey. Plus you’ll have happier people taking less sick days.

Lastly this fine fall week, our web site. I know that our web site functionality is not perfect. It can be clunky or difficult to navigate. We have been working hard with our web designers to launch a better platform for all of us to use. And after many months and moons, we are getting close to making the change. We hope to roll this baby out within a month from now. It is way more “intuitive” than our current site and I can promise that you will love it.

I could not be happier with where we find ourselves right now. It has been a very challenging year both in the fields and with fine-tuning our services. But the greener pastures that we have been working diligently towards are almost here. After the dust settles, I know that we will have a better service and happier members. Please do not hesitate to email me/contact me with any comments, concerns, hopes, or dreams that you may have.

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Featured, Newsletter

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Sign up for our newsletter!

Featured Video

Archives

  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014

Copyright © 2021 · Farmer Monte 2016 based on Genesis (News Pro) on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in