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Holidays and Local Food Ramblings

December 12, 2020 by monte Leave a Comment

Quick Schedule Notes for the Holidays. We will be closed with NO deliveries on Christmas, Friday 12/25.

We will, however, be delivering on 12/24, 12/31, and 1/1/21!

We want you to be as safe as possible this holiday season and that means bring you as much food as possible without you having to leave the casa to go to the store.

Holiday Meal Notes: We will be rolling out our holiday meal offerings this week. Thanksgiving is more traditional and so a one-size meal offering made sense. But in New Mexico, holiday meals can vary from hams to enchiladas. So look for an email this week launching all of the yummy offerings that we will bring you. These will ALL be ala carte format so that you can mix n match to your tummy’s content.

Adding to the family. No, I am not pregnant. But with so much demand for the Meal Kits and Prepared foods, we have been hiring like crazy. Most recently for our baked goods. We have hired two bakers who will bring some truly innovative and creative tastes to the profile. As we all know, baked goods must be enjoyed fresh. Stay tuned for some awesome additions.

And this is where I need your help, amigos. We are putting an immense amount of energy and resources into building out the best fresh and prepared food offerings that you will find anywhere. So I need your feedback.

We are/will be working on various recipes spanning across the board from soups to entrees to a chocolate torte that I just tried out (which is phenomenal by the way). Please please feel free to share your feedback. Be a part of the process with me/us. This is uncharted territory for us and so your feedback is key.

I have to tell you that I really do not like the business culture that we have created in this country. Huge companies with no easy way to communicate with those in the company. So what ends up happening is people run to social media and rant. It is an ineffective way to try and communicate with a company.

We do not do that. Our phone number is 505-681-4060 and answered by live people who live here in NM. Also known as your neighbors. If you want to send me an email, please feel free I have thick skin and enjoy constructive criticism. That is how we get better. Your feedback allows us a chance to make changes that you will love. Again, be a part of the process with us. It’s a tasty journey.

I also want to use this time/space to reiterate my commitment to New Mexico, our suppliers, our communities, and our employees. The food world is dominated by giants. Companies that can afford to take short term losses, drive competition out of business, then reap long term profits through an essential monopoly. On paper, there is absolutely no way that we should be able to play in the food world with the Amazons and Walmarts. The only way that we are able to keep going and growing is through your support. I am grateful for that/for you.

I do not take your support for granted. It motivates me to do better and do more. We are constantly looking for partners we can symbiotically work with. People and products who can enrich our business and your lives. This is not a Zero-Sum game where someone has to lose. Consumers and suppliers can engage in transactions and walk away with everyone feeling like they have Won. This is what happens when businesses and consumers realize their responsibilities to one another. Unfortunately, this is not the norm in our marketplace. But we can strive to be a fantastic exception to the norm.

With that, know that as we strive to take care of you better, we also take care of our crew better as well. I felt a little discouraged that there will be economic support for folks not working, but our crew who have been working on the front-lines since March will be left out of that support. But as any family does, we help one another out. So we will make sure that all of our team members are taken care of this holiday season. And celebrate all the hard work and challenges overcome in this most crazy year, 2020. Again, thank you for your continued support.

Stay safe folks. There is light at the end of this dark tunnel.

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

The Biggest Week

November 28, 2020 by monte Leave a Comment

I have to begin this week by saying that I am so thrilled and proud of our team that we have. Let me lay this out for you…

Shelter in Place order. Grocery stores being shut down with too many COVID cases. On top of all that anxiety, Thanks-giving, the biggest food holiday of the year, intersects with that storm.

To further put this into perspective, the week before Thanks-giving, we had a 70% increase in one week. Follow that by Thanksgiving week being the largest sales week we have seen in 18 years. Oh and by the way, you only have 3 days to de-liver before the holiday. Last week was the most insane week of feeding New Mexico that I have ever seen. Lots of coffee, tons of breakfast burritos, a tiny bit of sleep, and we did it!

By 7 pm Wednesday evening, the last of the orders were hit-ting doorsteps. It was an incredible ballet of people and products throughout the week. And you just cannot pull something like that off without an amazing team. So I stuffed my pie hole on Thanksgiving with smoked turkey and Wild Turkey feeling truly grateful for all of the people who come together to make sure you get fed during easy weeks and difficult weeks. Cheers to our team, I could not be prouder of them.

As part of that crazy week, I was able to log some miles under my belt from Santa Fe to Las Cruces and all over ABQ. And driving with a truck full of Organic/Local food is a pretty good time for some self-reflection. No emails, just some quiet time to think about what we are doing well and what we need to improve. Over all of those miles, one common thread kept coming up in my head and that was Opportunities.

We are obviously in some of the most challenging times as an economy and as a society that our nation has ever seen. It is an anxious place to be. But here is the silver lining, there will be some amazing inventions that come out of this struggle. The world will be a different place when we emerge on the other side of Hurricane COVID.

With that, now is the time that we all need to be looking for opportunities within the storm. How can we take these challenges and make the world a better place?

Home Delivery. We began home deliveries 18 years ago be-cause I could not afford a store, but I could afford a delivery van. Sure it looked like a kidnapper van that you might see on Dateline, but it began the journey for us.

What started out as a financial proposition, turned out to be the future of direct to consumer food distribution. It takes the average shopper 20 minutes to drive round-trip to the grocery store. So effectively 3 deliveries per hour. Our seasoned chariot driver, John, can do up to 23 deliveries an hour. Home delivery is 8 times more environmentally friendly than driving to the store yourself. How awesome that you can feel like royalty and save the world at the same time.

My hope now is that we can work with more NM businesses to add their products to our website for you to support. Continue building a website market that will support food and non-food local businesses all while bringing more convenience to you. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg for opportunities to build home deliveries and offer you more local products.

Prepared Foods. Under Chef Jules’ leadership, our prepared food offering is showing signs that we may be a flagship model for prepared foods in the nation. Let me highlight a few things.

Uber Eats, DoorDash, and all of the other vultures are preying on small restaurants. They keep fees relatively low to the consumer, and then charge the restaurant 30% of the bill for delivery. So picture you are the restaurant and you have a $40 sale. You have to turn around and pay the delivery company $12. Leaving you with $28 income for a $40 order.

We are fortunately the delivery company for our restaurant. So that 30% stays with us and we can bring you more value.

Furthermore, all the national meal kit companies are not from NM. So you will never get green chile, fresh posole, or red chile pork carnitas tacos. Our food offerings are made For New Mexicans, By New Mexicans. This is really important as we look at improving our local food system.

Crapola, I ran out of space this week. Anyway, more to come.. Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

Planning Ahead

November 7, 2020 by monte Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving Schedule. We will NOT have any deliveries Thursday (Thanksgiving) or Friday. Our crew has been working so hard this year. I want all of them to relax and enjoy their holiday as much as possible. Plus you will be stuffing your pie hole with leftovers and will not need any more food those days. So Please adjust any standing orders away from those days.

Turkeys. We will have 200 birds available for you this year. Each bird weighs between 14-16 lbs. They are on the website now and you can have them delivered any delivery day up until Thanksgiving. Important note: If you order one now to be delivered closer to Thanksgiving, we will put it aside for you. You do not need to take them this week if you don’t have space.

The turkeys are a free-range, Non-GMO, antibiotic free bird.

Chef Jules Full Thanksgiving Meals. So one of the great things about having a chef on our team is that we can bring you incredible flavors to make your holiday memorable. Not that you will forget that Thanksgiving photo with everyone wearing a mask, but you know what I mean. This has been a very stressful and anxious year, so I want to make this holiday easy.

So we have planned a fantastic meal that will be fully cooked and ready for you to heat and eat. All you have to provide will be fermented grape juice. What does this menu look like?

Thanksgiving Meal Kit to serve 4

Entrees
Herb & Roasted Garlic Smoked Half Turkey (~9lbs)

Sides
Green Chile, Garlic & Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
Pecan & Blue Cheese Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Chimayo Chile Cornbread & Croissant Stuffing
Winter Herb Pesto Roasted Vegetables
Char Roasted Shallot Turkey Gravy
Dinner Rolls

Dessert
Excelsior Orchards’ Cherry and Apple Cobbler with NM Pecan & Gingerbread Crust

Price: $124.95

I can promise that you will not find a better value for amazing local food anywhere. This has been a challenging year for all New Mexicans. We want you to be able to support local producers, have a yummy/easy feast, while being very affordable for all families. You have supported us so much this year and we want to support your family with an incredible meal.

If you do not need/want an entire meal, we will also have some great dishes that you can find a la carte as well. These will come on the website as we get closer to Thanksgiving.

But for now, Please please help us help you by reserving a Meal early. Knowing how many mouths we need to feed will help us immensely. The Thanksgiving meal is on the website now, feel free to add it your order for the week of Nov. 23rd.

Other than that, I know that folks are exhausted with all of the political drama that has been unfolding. My hope is that we can all remember that we love this country. No party or person gets to claim a monopoly on patriotism. We show our love in various ways, but in the end we all want the best for the United States. So let’s try and remember what connects us.

And that is what I love about food. Food is not a political statement. Red and Blue can come together over a bowl of Green (chile). Also, if you feel like a loser right about now, you will win again. Conversely, the sweet taste of victory will be salty tears of defeat someday. Nothing is permanent in life nor is it in politics. But at least for now, we can move on and get back to our lives and trying to dig out of a pandemic.

Have a thankful November, Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

Navigating the Storm

October 16, 2020 by monte Leave a Comment

So we have a saying around here that “Numbers don’t lie.” Numbers don’t get hunches, have feelings, get political, or get emotional. Numbers tell a story whether you like it or not. And right now, COVID numbers in our enchanted state aren’t good.

And I cannot look at the numbers in New Mexico without thinking about our 40 employees and thousands of families who depend on us for healthy food and a healthy work environment. So I want to lay out a few things here as we prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I will be the first person to tell you that we were not ready for the first wave of the Corona virus in March. We did not have the vendors, vehicles, employees, refrigerated infrastructure, website functionality, etc etc to handle such an increase in demand for our food. I am not sure any company was ready for it, but we duct taped stuff as fast as we could. Fortunately, we learned a lot and tooled up since those early days in April.

Now I do not have a crystal ball and have no idea as to what will be coming around the bend, but we are prepared and I want to let you in on a few things to give you peace of mind.

Invest in loyalty. Looking back at this year, I realize that we should have capped our growth. Instead of capping growth, we cut programs like our Meal Kits, Juice Bar, and limited offerings. Moving forward I do not want to do that. We will be focusing on our current/loyal customers before we get too far over our skis. I promise to take care of the people who have taken care of us over the years. What will this look like?

Expanded Delivery Day Options. I want to have more delivery days available to you every week. Personally, I miss my cut-off deadline often. I am sure that I am not alone in that oversight. So instead of having to wait a week, I want you to have another option to fill your tummies. Look for more delivery days being added to your account coming up. Choose the day that works best for you or get 2 deliveries. Up to you.

Household Needs. The pandemic has made me realize that we need to offer more than just food, we need household staples too. Look at the website for items from face masks to soaps. I do not want small things like dish soap to force you to the store.

Local Meats. During the first wave, my brother texted me and wrote “Bro, your Butcher Shop only has beef jerky and mustard, is that right?” Uh (tail between my legs), Yes. Our local ranchers were not prepared for the demand that we saw after the national supply chain left shelves empty. We have added ranchers to our team and now are very well supplied with the best local meats that you’ll find anywhere. We got you covered.

Coolers. Folks, I just do not see us returning to the use of reusable coolers. I ask (ok, beg) that you just hang onto and use any cooler that you may have. Those coolers are $35 at the store and your deposit was about half of that. So I hope you can look at the coolers like you got a really good deal on a sexy cooler. The other way that you can look at is you have a vintage piece of memorabilia. A badge of honor that you were with SKRS Farms when we had coolers.

We have so many coolers left around here that I have already picked one out that I will use as my urn. So if you ever see a lime green Coleman cooler floating down the Rio Grande, don’t open it; I may be stuffed inside!

The Warehouse. I want you to have complete trust in the cleanliness of our warehouse facility. We never let the public into our warehouse. Only employees are let into the warehouse so that we prevent anything from coming into the warehouse that we do not want. Employees wear masks and never work if they are feeling sick. We even encourage mental health time off if folks are feeling tired or anxious with everything going on in our world now. Without a healthy team, we have nothing.

Delivery Vehicles. Our delivery trucks/vans are Not someone’s car. These are dedicated delivery vehicles that have steel cargo areas that are cleaned and sanitized. It kind of boggles me a bit when folks order meal delivery and it comes in the back of some dude’s car. I can’t help but picture some Golden Retriever sitting (possibly farting) on the same seat where my Nacho Bell Grande is riding. My mind goes to dark places, what can I say?

Let us help keep you and your family safe. If you need/want something that we do not have, please let us know. We are like Morgan Freeman in Shawshank…we can find you things.

Keep smiling under those masks! Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

Chasing the Mirage

October 9, 2020 by monte Leave a Comment

Over the last 17 years, we have seen a pretty wild roller-coaster in the business. And let me say that I know that we are not unique. Every small business is on a bucking bronco of a ride. It is not for everyone, but I can honestly say that I have not had a boring day in the last 2 decades.

We grew through the “Buy Local” bumper sticker days of the early 2000s. Buckled up and had loyal support through the Great Recession of 2008. Weathered the storm of huge start-up companies getting into the home delivery game. And of course most recently, fed tens of thousands New Mexicans during the worst health pandemic our world has seen. It has been a turbulent adventure and one that I enjoy engaging in every day.

I strongly believe that there is no Winning the game of business, being able to continue playing the game Is winning in my book. And every year that we are able to keep food coming to you is another year I am grateful for. It is easy to lose sight of how important financial support is for small local businesses, but even small amounts keep our local economy turning. So I know that I speak for all local businesses when I say Thank You for supporting local Mom n Pop businesses during this time and all of the time. Your support is the fuel for our state.

I bring this up because over the last couple of weeks, I have felt a sense accomplishment for our little business. This is not in some arbitrary sales goal, but rather seeing the fruits of our labor finally starting to take shape.

In business, and in life, there are times when we work hard for our goals. For our mission, vision, or whatever you want to call them. But lofty goals do not come to fruition over-night. You must stay focused and work towards an end that you cannot even see at the moment. Chase the mirage in hopes that something amazing will materialize out of a New Mexican dust devil. We have been on this journey for quite a while. At least it feels like it when I look at myself in the mirror.

With all of that, we have some really cool and tasty things at our fingertips now and I want to make sure that you know about them. So here is a quick breakdown on what the fall will be looking and tasting like around here.

Produce. A pretty phenomenal year from all of our local growers. Heirloom tomatoes, garlic, and all of the fresh tree fruits from our buddy Paul at Excelsior Orchards.

Local Meats. We have put a lot of energy this year into building out the best local grass-fed meat program in the state. I can tell you with confidence that you will not find a higher quality meat offering anywhere. The care for the animals and the earth are second to none. On top of that, be-cause we are connecting you to the ranchers directly, you get huge savings and the ranchers get paid top dollar. A true Win-Win.

Bakery. Again, we have added many great partners to our bakery category and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have brought Bob (owner of Wolfe’s Bagels) in to bake the highest quality Local bagels that you can find. Myra, from Authentic Cookie in Santa Fe has been having huge success with her pastries and pies. Andre from Wild Leaven in Taos has added his fermented breads made from Locally grown grains. Pastian’s from ABQ has joined the team with their hoagies and yummy macaroons. They all join up with Sage Bakehouse from Santa Fe and Swiss Alps in ABQ to offer you the best bakehouse options throughout the state.

Juice Bar. If you are like me you love fresh juices, but hate the trouble and mess of making them. This was the driving force behind our Fresh, Cold-Pressed, Unpasteurized Juice Bar. Don’t be a typical juice bar, be better and different. You see our juice bar is not a business, it is an avenue for our growers to sell more Organic produce. And since we are working directly with the growers, you save money while supporting our farms. I never want you to say “I really want that juice, but it is too expensive.” So I can promise that you will find a better value juice option anywhere in the state. Cut costs, not quality.

Prepared Foods. The only thing that I can say about our prepared food line is Wow! Convenient, great fun flavors, incredible value, and supporting local producers. What is not to love about that combo? Eat like a local celebrity and pay the same that you would for mass-produced fast food. We are and will be pouring tons of energy into this new category for you. Please check out all that flavors that Chef Jules has for you.

Stay healthy and happy amigos, Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

Excelsior Harvest and Update on The Stand

September 11, 2020 by monte Leave a Comment

Take me to the website

Excelsior Orchards has begun the apple harvest. Apples have become so ubiquitous that not many people get all that excited about an apple harvest. Well I am that food nerd who loves when our Colorado apples begin. We will start the sea-son with Galas. Again, most Galas are a rather pedestrian piece of fruit. But not from Excelsior.

Paul’s fruit is grown in some of the best orchard land that we have in our entire country. Couple that with the fact that Paul is meticulous about details. And you will taste some of the most amazing flavors you can find. I find myself saying, “Oh crap, that is what Gala is supposed to taste like??” So do yourself a favor and load up on some of his fruit. You will be so proud of yourself that you did. Might even pat yourself on the back.

Quick note about his Apples and Pears:
Pears are real troopers. They will stay in your fridge for many weeks. When you are ready to eat them, take them out, give them a day or 2 on your counter, wait for the yellow tint, and dive in. If you like pears to have a crunch, eat them while they are green. There is no wrong or right way to eat them.

One thing that you will notice though as they start to tint up in your kitchen is the floral aroma that pears develop. This is actually why I like Pear Cider more than Apples. Apples are great, don’t get me wrong, but pear cider has floral notes that hit your nose as you drink it and it really adds a complexity that I love to the nectar. So additionally, I really recommend that you try some of our fresh cold-pressed pear cider.

Apple storage. Galas have more sugars in them than the up-coming Fujis. What this means is that they are obviously sweeter than Fujis, but they do not store as long. Galas are good for about a month once they come off the trees. Fujis have more “legs” and can last 8-10 weeks off the tree without losing quality or crisp. Honestly though, the apples are so good that they get munched quickly. But if you are interested in storing some, go for 1 month max on Galas, 2-3 months on Fujis.

We also have a new addition to the Excelsior family of fruit and that is the Grape. First harvest for grapes this year. Like all of the other fruit we get, these grapes are phenomenal. Enjoy.

We have been receiving many emails and calls wondering what is happening with The Stand. So here is a quick update.

We are wrapping up an insane month of demo in the space. The transformation from a pharmacy to an industrial feeling produce market kicked up a lot of dust and dumpsters.

A very fun project though. As we started to peel back the layers of the onion, we began to see the history of the building. Originally it was a mechanic shop, pizza joint, pharmacy, café, etc. Incredible journey that is marked by some really funky use of walls, colors and spaces. Our goal is to keep that character present in the building’s future. So there will be steel beams that seem out of place, wood ceilings that don’t match (because they were built in different decades), and concrete floors that were stained green. I love real things. I love things that have a bit more grit to them rather than polish. Besides, grit is more fun.

And let me touch on the roll out for a moment. The main goal of the Stand is to provide more unique and prepared foods to our entire distribution network. We needed a commercial kitchen to help get the home delivery model to where I want it to go. Only when we fulfill all the demand for our home delivery customers will we open the doors up to the public. So know that the brick n mortar store will not detract from your experience as a customer. It will only be enhanced by the kitchen.

And this is why I think the Stand will be so successful and unique; we do not need this space to operate like a typical restaurant. I can promise you that it will be different than any restaurant that you have ever been to. The theme of the restaurant is Our Favorite Flavors of NM. Period. It is not Italian, Asian, Mexican, or any other theme. Menus will be designed based on what we have access to currently. And menus will probably change more than some of us change our undies.

Fresh, Local, Yummy, Fun. This will be the mantra of the food we produce from the Stand. And rest assured that all of the flavors that Chef Jules is cranking out of the kitchen will be available to all of our customers, not just walk-in customers. Our home delivery model has never had a kitchen, now we do!

Have a great weekend. Stay safe and happy, Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

The Stand

August 14, 2020 by monte Leave a Comment

There are only a few times in life when you have opportunities to realize your dreams. Take, for example, when I wanted to play in the NBA. My work ethic was strong, but then my coaches started to measure my vertical jump in corn tortillas and not inches. Unfortunately, I had to let that dream go. But as one door slams in your face, another one cracks open.

Recently we were presented with an opportunity that was so glorious, I could not let it go. Skarsgard Farms is the proud new steward of the Model Pharmacy in Nob Hill. The business, building, and owner (Jack Lerner) have been icons in our community for the past 36 years. So with humility, excitement, and gratitude, we take the keys and promise to continue its legacy.

“You bought a café/market in the middle of the pandemic?? Farmer M., have you been kicked in the head by a mule?” I know it might sound un poco loco. But let me lay it out for you.

For 17 years we have operated really behind the curtains. Home delivery vans. Farmland. Warehouses in sketchy areas. When you break it down, we have fostered community from the fringes of our communities. We have not had a brick n mortar location that New Mexicans can enjoy as our flagship. A place where you can come eat, learn, and meet.

So what I will lay out for you here is my grand finale for the local food movement. I am getting old and tired, so this is my last push for New Mexico’s food scene. After this, you will put me out to pasture like an old milking cow, where someone stops by every once in a while and scratches my nose.

Without further ado, I would like to introduce you to our newest (ad)venture, The Stand by Skarsgard Farms.

The Stand is…A Market that will highlight all of the amazing producers and flavors that call NM home. There will be a retail presence, but it will also be our Curbside pick-up location so that you can Order online and then swing by and pick-up your groceries (if you don’t want to get home delivery).

The Stand is…A Learning Center (once Covid has lifted) that will host cooking, gardening, and health classes. A place where you can not only fill your belly, but enrich your life and Grow.

The Stand is…A Café. Currently, we do not have an efficient space to prepare food. We can give you tons of groceries, but we cannot bring you prepared food right now. And that makes me very frustrated I have to tell you. I love bringing you fresh raw foods. BUT, I also want to bring you incredible eats that are already prepared. Local healthy foods done in a fun, casual, and yummy way. This is Not fine dining. Again, this is highlighting the food from NM in an affordable and approachable way. You shouldn’t support NM producers just for special occasions; You should support them every day!

The café will be the hub for all of the prepared and Meal Kits that go into our home delivery orders.

The café will be the hub for a very efficient Grab n Go model that has the quality of a great restaurant, but the speed of fast food. In order to get our state’s food in front of New Mexican mouths, we need a concept that is Yummy, Affordable, and Convenient. If we can crack that code, there will be a huge increase in demand for our state’s food. So this food concept will be designed to tackle that challenge. This is not “Come see us for your birthday, and then we’ll see you 364 days later.”

Lastly, the Stand will be closing early, like 7. This will give us opportunities to have Pop-up Family style meals where we can highlight a style of food and have our chef prepare an educational food journey and not just dinner. Again, feed your soul and your belly. Connect to your food in a truly unique way.

“You keep referring to a chef…who the heck is it?”

My second introduction for you this week is Julian Griego. Or Chef Jules. I have known Jules for about 14 years. If you ever came to our Harvest Festivals in the Los Poblanos years, that was Jules. If you ever ate our food truck, The Harvest Truck, that was Jules, too. When it came time to find someone to lead The Stand, my speed-dial went immediately to Chef Jules.

He has been at Season’s, Savoy, Lead Instructor at CNM, and most recently, Electric Playhouse. He is as great a guy as he is a chef, so I am thrilled to have him on board with us. You will love his work and look forward to bringing you a lot more of his incredible cuisine. Buckle up, cuz this is gonna be fun!

Farmer Monte

Filed Under: Newsletter

Thrive, Don’t Just Survive

July 31, 2020 by monte 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

Filed Under: Newsletter

Transforming a Local Food System

July 11, 2020 by monte 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

Filed Under: Newsletter

Strawberries, Juices, and Meal Kits

May 30, 2020 by monte 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

Filed Under: Newsletter

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