A few housing-keeping notes that I would like to touch on this week. And seeing how the hint of fall is upon us, let’s start with green chile. Within a week or so here we are going to be flooded with green chile. The plants that were slow to take off with the early summer rains have caught their stride and looking very strong right now.
With all that said, we need to find homes for all the chile without going into our freezers. We cannot afford the freezer space and honestly, I do not want to make space for it…I want you to in your kitchen.
You see when we have to start freezing chile it gets expensive. In order for us to distribute 1 bag of chile for a week, we need space for 1,500 bags in our freezer. But then the rest of the year that space is empty. So it does not make sense for us to store chile for the winter.
The solution (always have to love solutions) will be Fall Days with the Farm. Now I am not sure if that name is cute enough for this string of events, but I am still on my first cup of coffee this morning so please forgive me.
But here is the idea…the week after Labor Day, we will begin roasting chile on Saturdays at the warehouse (3435 Stanford Dr NE) from 9-1pm. We invite you to come by on one of these Saturdays and buy your chile for the winter. We will be roasting thousands of pounds a week, so you can take home 5 lbs or 100 lbs if you want.
Furthermore, we will have rancher packs of meat available to pick up at that time as well. We will get you the details on the individual packs coming up, but the idea is like I was writing about a few weeks back, fill your freezer (not our freezer) and save money. So we will put together various sizes of beef and pork bundles that you can take home for your fall and winter cooking.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, it does (am I ready for a sales job with Home Shopping Network?). I would like to clear out some space from our cider and wine cellar, so we will be offering all of our wines and cider for sale at 25% off retail prices.
The goal of these Fall Days with the Farm is to see if we can add a little twist to your shopping that saves you money on amazing local foods, but also adds some adventure to your kitchen. Try some new cuts of meats that you do not usually use or some new recipe with your go-to meats. But let’s face it, if you have a freezer full of meats, roasted green chile and a cellar with wine/cider, well you will be sitting pretty this winter.
Lastly this week, it’s the Return of the Workshare. This is not a cheesy sequel to an ’80s classic, but rather a way for you to come help the farm and help yourself. If you find yourself with even a few hours a week of free time and you are debating whether you should help the farm or dance in your living room with Ellen DeGeneres, choose the farm. It is much safer. None of our volunteers has ever thrown a hip. Ellen probably can’t boast the same track record.
Our volunteers help us out immensely and it is a good way to get your Harvest Box at half price. Also please remember that these volunteers are not all about weeding, we need help on so many fronts. If you are willing, we can find places to fit you in. If you are interested in more info about this, please email .
Have a great weekend,
Farmer Monte