Send me to the Web Site

Over the last decade and a half, I have written a ton of newsletters. Probably in the neighborhood of 700. But this week something happened to me for the first time ever.

I had my weekly newsletter all done. I had rushed through my proof reading like I usually do. I am sure that there was a grammatical error like their usually is. And just before I was going to print and email it to you all, I read an article.

The article basically laid out how the huge savings that customers could (did) expect from Amazon buying Whole Foods were just a mirage. Amazon isn’t going to be able to waive its magic wand and fix the grocery game. Transportation, ingredients, and packaging costs were starting to eat their proverbial lunch. Only way out? Raise prices.

So why did this article have such an impact on my newsletter this week? In fact it is a pretty benign article. The irony of it was that I had just written about how we have been able to cut our prices and give you better value more than we have been able to do at any point over the course of our journey. And I think that we (finally) may be at the tipping point for the local food movement. Let me break this down a bit.

The ultimate goal for the Local food movement has always been offering something better, healthier, and more sustainable than the industrial agricultural food model. You have heard all of the buzz words for almost 20 years now… Buy Local, Less Food Miles, Support the Local Economy. But then there comes that time of self-reflection when you are looking at yourself in the mirror and question, “Are we really making a difference? Are those buzz words becoming reality or are they just buzz words that people like to dream about?”

I have to be honest that there have been times when the path has gotten a little faded and I have questioned if the Little Engine That Could would actually reach the top of the hill. But this week has reinvigorated me. Sure part of it is our move into a new warehouse. However, it is also seeing that what we have been doing for all of these years is moving the needle. Of course there is no Finish Line in this journey, but things are getting better. And that makes my gray beard smile.

All of the partnerships that we have been cultivating for years are giving us stability in this time of rising food costs. The Local food movement is (more and more) making good Economic sense and not just good Common sense. And this has been the pivot point I have been wanting to see. In order for the Local food wave to really reach its potential, we need what is good for the earth and what is good for our wallets to be in accord with one another. I think we are on the doorstep.

Back to my original newsletter for this week…we have seen supply of Local and Regional healthy food choices explode. This increase in supply, along with short miles to travel, has brought better value to you than we have ever seen. We are now able to offer you more food for fewer pesos than ever. Organic food is seeing more growers and better growing practices. That combination drives prices down and value up. A win-win situation for everyone involved including Mother Nature. We are in the doorway of a major shift of the industry; food free of chemicals has transformed beyond just a fringe food offering. We have to be thrilled about this.

Secondly, and this is huge, we arrived at this place through the will and the want of the people. Think about this, there has been no law passed to make people eat Organically grown food. Every bite of healthy food has been a choice made by a person. It is the reason why they say “Eating is an Agricultural Act.” What we put into our mouths shapes our agricultural industry. We are here today because of decades of conscientious eating in our communities. One bite at a time.

Thinking about all of those years of support for the Organic movement has made me think of how we are still in business today. And it is because of you. We have never had a billboard, no big dollar marketing campaign, shoot we have never even hired a salesperson. We grow and have grown throughout New Mexico strictly on our members spreading the good word of our food and of our mission.

For all of the word of mouth advertising you do for us, we want to thank you by giving you a $20 credit for every Friend Referral who signs up and orders. Plus they will enjoy 15% Off their first order. Thank you for keep us going/growing.

Onward and Upward, Farmer Monte

I would love to take a brief second here to look at how the winter crop production is shaping up. Seeing as how we are about half way through this winter season, it is a good time to take notes on where we are going and where we have been.

Greens. This has been a very good winter season for greens. Greens are not huge fans of major temperature swings, so protected winter growing is always preferable to the manic days of a New Mexican spring or hot summer. Look for lettuces, chard/kale, salad, and spinach to continue to be strong here for the next couple of months.

Apples. We are still enjoying some of the incredible fruits from Excelsior Orchard in Paonia, CO. As you have probably noticed, the apples have just been getting sweeter and sweeter. As we hold them in cold storage, the sugars continue to develop and intensify in the fruit. So any little bit of acid melts away and you are left with super tasting winter apples. You honestly cannot get apples with this kind of flavor before heading into the New Year. They need time to mature.

We will continue to have Paul’s apples hopefully into early March. But he also has pressed some apples and pears into Ciders for us. After pressing them, we freeze them so that we do not need to pasteurize or add any preservatives to them. After you get them thawed out, you will have about 2 weeks to drink them before they will start to ferment in your fridge.

If they do ferment a little bit, they are not bad. So please do not throw them out. They will have just a slight bit of alcohol in them. All grapes, pears, and apples contain a natural yeast on their skins. So if you do not pasteurize them, the yeast can start eating up the sugar and, viola, you get hard cider. Thank you Johnny Appleseed for all of your hard work. Look for these ciders in the Harvest Boxes.

Citrus. You cannot even talk about winter food production without mentioning (or thinking about) citrus. We have such an amazing group of citrus growers in Arizona that keep us flooded with these wonderful bits of sunshine throughout the winter months. It has been 8 years of working with them and seems to just keep getting better every single year.

Valencia oranges will start a transition into a variety called Arizona Sweets. They are like a Valencia, but just a bit sweeter and less acid. Those will start next week. The Navel oranges are also about a week out. We will highlight both of those fruit varieties in next week’s offering.

Lemons and Limes have been as consistent as the sunrise. And look for the Grapefruit to begin their transition as well into a sweeter less acidic fruit. The longer the grapefruit sit on the trees soaking up the Arizona sun and cool nights, the acid mellows out and becomes a lot sweeter. So good for those of you who love sweetness and not so good if you love your grapefruit with a strong bite. Overall just the best time of year to be enjoying our regional citrus program.

And a little citrus fact for you to chew on (pun most definitely intended). Most produce distributors come out of California, the Salad Bowl of the United States. California will not accept Arizona grown citrus into the state to protect their industry. What happens then is that all of the fruit that comes into NM is grown in CA because the distributors for grocery stores come out of CA. So AZ citrus is almost impossible to find.

California has great citrus, but I personally don’t think that it is as good as our neighbors to the west. And I can promise you that it is not as fresh. You are getting fruit that is less than a week off the trees. No other store can give you that. So enjoy the incredible varieties and flavors that we have to bring you this winter.

Lastly, our Local Pasture-Raised Meats. As I’ve mentioned before, I love produce. This farm was built and remains rooted in plants. But we have had some fantastic ranch partners come to the table with their locally raised meats. This pastured-meat program that we have put together for you has taken the better part of a decade to fill up. But I think that we are finally getting to a great spot. 2019 you will see better cuts and types of meat than we have ever had available. Right now check out the Virgin Farms Lamb. Raised in ABQ’s South Valley. Truly the best lamb I have ever had and I know you’ll agree.

Enjoy amigos, Farmer Monte

What a year 2018 has been. We have been working on some pretty incredible stuff behind the scenes and much of this work has culminated in a slew of new launches that we have brought to you this December. Well…just as in any classic thriller, we have saved the biggest/best for last. And before we dive into the Big News, I want to share some back story to it.

As I have mentioned, 2018 marked our 15 year anniversary. And I have to tell you that this year has been one of serious soul searching for me personally. As any of you know who own small businesses, it is impossible to differentiate yourself from your work. This place, our mission, and our employees are on my mind constantly. But I would have it no other way. I found my life’s calling when I was 24 years old and I have not veered off the path for a day over the last 19 years. My passion for local food and local producers is just who I am; as inextricable as the stripes on a zebra’s ass.

So 2018 has been been shaped by what the next 15 years will look like for us. I love where we are now, but how can we use this as a springboard for growth rather than a slumber of complacency? In life and in business, I firmly believe that if we are not growing and trying to make things better, then we are dying. We need to find ways to make our lives better and in doing so, we will drive innovation in the marketplace. In meeting challenges head-on, we will encounter opportunity.

And one of the biggest challenges that we will face as a society in the upcoming years can be distilled down to one word: Connection. Or lack of Connection as the case may be. Technology allows us to shop conveniently from our homes. Technology allows us to communicate with people without even talking to them. We are surrounded by technology.

Technology can do a lot, but it cannot cultivate a genuine and authentic Connection for people. In order to develop that connection, we as human beings still need to see/smell and taste/hear something in order to fully connect to it/them. We need to experience something firsthand to truly love it or understand it. There are no shortcuts to build real connections.

So (deep sigh) here we are at the intersection of the love of food and the realization that the successful marketplace of tomorrow will be one rooted in Experience, Sensation, and yes, Connection. We do not need to compete with the Amazons of the world, we need to be the antithesis of them. The vision moving forward is not to find something that someone is doing well and try to copy it; but rather look at what we have in our tool chest and bring you something completely new and fresh. So I want to introduce you to the newest member of the Skarsgard Farms family…

The Farm Stand is an 18,000 sq ft building that we have bought by the airport off Gibson and Columbia. We will move our entire operation into 8,000 ft of warehouse.

This leaves 10,000 ft of open space that we are looking for user(s) to fill. The space is diverse and honestly a blank canvas now. We can divide it up however the users want/need.

Here is the idea that we are putting together…conscientiously design and build out a Synergistic home-base for like-minded Health and Wellness businesses to operate and support one another. OK, that is a long statement, what does it mean?

What it means is that we Now have a space to house not only our efforts, but other local businesses as well. We are looking for people who believe (like we do) that we are stronger together than we are by ourselves. Who believe that our community needs a Hub where we can go for yoga, massage, music, art or mental health services, then be able to stay and buy food from local farmers, ranchers, coffee shop, or bakery. Consolidate the energies of many local visions into one space.

All of this leads me back to you! We have an amazing foundation for this space/project. But the potential really is held in who will join us on the journey? Which faces will fill in the windows to help take this from being a great project to being an Epic one? Are you looking for a new direction in your business or do you know someone who is? Let’s get the dialogue going and build out a space that makes us all proud.

Exciting stuff to come, Farmer Monte

Take Me to the Web Site

First off, have a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend. Be safe and enjoy.

Here is this week’s newsletter about some changes we have implemented. Check them out and jump on the web site. I think you will really like them….

When you are playing the game of business in the retail world like we do, you really have only 2 directions to travel; a) Be really clever and know what customers want before they even know they want it OR b) Listen to your customers very well and react to their needs/wants. I have to honestly tell you that I am not all that clever so it is a whole lot easier for me to zip my trap and listen to all of your feedback. Every cool thing that we have launched has come from you, not us.

So let’s use that as a foundation for today’s newsletter and fun changes that we are bringing to your kitchen.

Feedback #1: “Farmer M., why the heck does the price of the Harvest Box fluctuate so much? Can’t we have some consistency from week to week por favor?”

Feedback #2: “Dude, some weeks my kiddos are really hungry and we need all of the items in the Harvest Box; some weeks they get scurvy and we can’t eat a whole Box. But it is a real pain in the rump roast to delete my recurring order and add a smaller Harvest Box for just one week.”

The root of the problem that we keep running into right now is that our Harvest Box system is based on arbitrarily constructed “Credits.” 14 credits for the Large, 12 for the Medium and so on. But the glaring problem with that is obviously not all produce items come in $3 units of value. We cannot sell strawberries for $3 because we pay our hard-working grower more than that to harvest the darn things. So we end up with a very confusing Harvest Box ordering platform. I get it. It is totally weird and falls well outside the lines of common sense.

Secondly, why in the world do we have to limit how many items you put into your Harvest Box? I was shopping on our web site for Thanksgiving and I ran out of “credits” on my Large Harvest Box. So I had to save my Box then go into the veggie section and buy more sweet potatoes. It didn’t make sense. If I wanted to get 17 items instead of my allotted 14, why the heck wouldn’t the system let me??

Conversely, what if I only need 11 items this week in the Harvest Box and not 14? Can I not order just 11? Is the web site biased against odd numbers in the Harvest Boxes?

All of these very real issues that we have heard about has lead me to realize that our Harvest Box confusion has kept our members from having the best food experience that they (you) can have with us. And again, many of these issues stem from just some arbitrary line that we drew in the sand. So after 15 years of random limitations and boundaries, let’s start over.

I am happy to introduce you to our New Harvest Boxes. Same adorable name that you have learned to love and trust, but just new Bells and Whistles. Kind of like when you ditched your Walkman and got an iPod. Yup, now we’re cooking with gas!

Starting this week we will be designing the Harvest Boxes based on Value, not Credits. So the base price of your selected Harvest Box will be the Same week to week.

But you will have 100% control of your customizations. So if you do not need all of the items in your Harvest Box, take some out and you will pay less than the standard box cost. If you are feeling like cooking more than usual, add more items to your box and the system will not cut you off when you hit some magic number. You decide what the magic number is.

So when you log in to customize your Harvest Box now, it will not tell you how many Credits you have to select, it simply says “Unlimited.” Add the items you want, discard the items that you don’t want. You can design a Harvest Box with 2 items in it or with 25 items in it. Totally up to you.

“But Mont, I don’t customize my box and I get the (awesome) selection that you choose for me. How will things change for me?” Good question, they won’t. Every week we will continue to “seed” the Harvest Boxes with default items like we do now. And you can rest assured that the price won’t jump around. Consistent from week to week for your budget.
Lots of fun things coming your way. Stay Tuned!

Happy Feast, Farmer Monte

Send me to the Web Site

And just like that, with the snap of your fingers and we are preparing to make a turkey dinner again. Yes, it is time for the annual food lovers final exam. Do you stick to the staples or got out on a limb and throw some red chile in the gravy to spice up the usual? So much fun with food this week I just love it. Have a blast with the planning and preparing for your master piece.

So as you prep for the feast, tune into our web site for help. Victoria and Sarah have brought in a ton of items to help you plan an incredible meal and stay out of the grocery store. My stress level planning the perfect day is a lot lower while I order food with a glass of wine sitting on my couch. Let us help you stay as cool as a cucumber this year.

Speaking of cucumbers, they will be in the box next week for Thanksgiving. But we will also have all of the usual suspects that you would expect to see on Thanksgiving. Potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, herbs, lemons/limes, sweet potatoes, spinach, greens and anything else that you can probably think about when you think about Thanksgiving.

Now as for schedule, here is what you should plan on. ALL Deliveries & Pick-Ups for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be happening Business as Usual. If you typically get your order on a Thursday or Friday in ABQ, our Wednesday afternoon delivery will be your last chance at amazing food before the holiday. Our crew will be eating with their friends and families (and taking the subsequent nap) on Thursday and Friday (National Leftover Day). Then we will be back in action on Sunday for our Sunday deliveries.

We will have pies, breads, produce, and all sorts of other goodies. But we will Not have any turkeys. This is the one thing that you need to grab yourself. We used to offer turkeys but I hated leaving a 20 lb bird on the doorsteps unattended. They have been known to get into trouble when left unsupervised you know.

Our Chariot Driver John. We had an anniversary birthday this week. Mr John Prosser officially turned 10 years old with the farm this week. That’s like 70 years for dogs. And I am sure that it sometimes feels like 70 years for him. He has done everything for us from admin, to packing, to driving. Whatever we need, I know that John will jump in with a smile, positivity, and focus to do amazing work.

In a business world where people change jobs more than they change their undies, having loyalty like this enables us to test ourselves to be better. If you are constantly training new faces it is impossible to feel comfortable enough to push the boundaries. John has helped us change these boundaries and expand what is possible for our local food system.

And I need to share one of my favorite stories about John. I was delivering boxes to Placitas one day and it was a route that John usually ran for us. I knocked on the door to drop the boxes and when the manager of the store came out she looked at me and was visibly disappointed. She grumbled “Where is Brad Pitt this week?” I made some joke about John being on the set of A River Runs Through It Part 2 but she definitely didn’t think my joke was funny. At least she and I could agree that John is a rock-star. So Cheers to 10 more John!

Lastly this pre-holiday week, I want to remind you about the Gift Boxes we will be offering this year. There are so many incredible food producers in New Mexico that it would be a shame to not highlight the work of all these local folks.

We will have several boxes to choose from ranging from the the Sweet Tooth to the Chile Addict looking to spice up their holiday season. Look for all of those on the web site. If you have a business or lots of gift boxes you are looking for this season, please contact us soon so we can help build out a memorable holiday gift idea with you. And a reminder that we have delivery trucks going from Los Alamos all the way to El Paso. So wherever your holiday needs take you, we will bring the cheer. Enjoy amigos, Farmer Monte

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Farmer Monte

Send me to the Web Site

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Farmer Monte