A huge, and I mean huge, thank you for all of your patience as we rolled out the new web site. Judging by the numbers this week, many of you took a breather for spring break and missed the transition week. But for all of you who stayed, I owe you a thank you. It is so difficult to launch a new web site when it has to be operational 5 minutes after you launch it. Kind of like trying to complete an oil change on a car while it is moving. You’re gonna have some spillage.
Fortunately, it looks like everything is coming together finally and the majority of frustrations for you (and us) are in the rear-view mirror. So we will lick a few wounds then prepare for a great spring that lies ahead of us.
And what does that spring look like for a bunch of crazy foodies like us? Well, for one, we start to see the geographic map of the food origins shift. The wonderful Arizona farms that have kept us fed since Thanksgiving are beginning to wave the white flag and let the heat win. When Phoenix starts hitting the mid to high 90s consistently, farmers begin to eye their “off-season.”
Yes, while most farmers are huddle around a warm fire during the winter, Arizona growers are at their peak. Conversely, many Phoenix farms head into their down-time as most of us are tending to baby plants and waiting for some warm weather to plant. Truly amazing all of the diversity that our region gives us in 400 short miles. We are fortunate to be in such a tasty food region. No shortage of flavors around here amigos.
For our farm, we are putting the final touches on a very exciting greenhouse project at our warehouse. Seeds are going to be hitting the dirt (soil please) this weekend and then it will be off to the races from there. As a part of this big plant out, we will be raising all of the starts for your home garden.
So put it on your calendar and get ready for the Annual Plant Sale, May 6th. And yes for you horse-racing fans out there, I do like to plan the plant sale on the same morning as the Kentucky Derby. The first Saturday in May is a great time for baby plants, 2 year old horses, and a Julep or two.
The plant sale will begin at 9am and run until 1pm. We will have many varieties but usually they fall into the following plant categories: tomatoes (slicers and cherries), eggplant, zucchini, melons, herbs, peppers, and maybe a handful of other things that we think are fun to eat.
Our plant sale is pretty unique (I think) because we like to offer you varieties that we Know grow well here. I have worked in the nursery business and do not like when people sell plants that are not good growers in their area. If you look at plants sold in the big box stores, they are selling the same varieties in Ohio as they do in the Southwest.
I bet that I have grown over 80 varieties of tomatoes throughout the years and 75 of those were absolute junk in the SW. They may have won the State Fair in Florida, but in the SW they did not grow. So I will not sell you plants that are not great for our climate. We will also hold some gardening and irrigation classes to help get you on your way the right way. This will probably be a great time to show off our greenhouse project too. So we will host some tours of the house so you can see where your plants are coming from.
Lastly this week, I need to apologize to you for the pears this week. We had lots of complaints that the pears ripened at a supersonic rate. From crisp to mush in a day. I am sorry for that. There are times when produce does weird stuff. Ripens, acts, or reacts just in a crazy way. I hate when it happens, and we will credit anyone who was unhappy with any of their food. No questions asked.
But let me just say this though, I would rather deal with a finicky piece of produce than bring you some consistent self-stable piece of cardboard. Produce is a tough game. The best a strawberry tastes is the moment before it goes bad. So we tango this dance every week between something that is amazing and something that is too ripe. Most of the time I think that we hit it. But there are (and will be) times when produce acts all loco and it won’t be good to eat. When that happens, please just let us know and we will make it right. We want you to be happy. No hard feelings and no judgements. I promise.
Farmer Monte