Hello
These last few weeks have been really hectic. Just as the Fresh Fork staff is getting in a groove for the summer, our college help goes back to school.
In the office, we are busy trying to get our ducks in a row to start offering winter subscriptions, and I'm driving Lauren nuts with how much meat I keep sending back to stock the freezer up for winter and to see if this is the winter that we can reintroduce the Carnivore Share.
But the farm is a different kind of busy. We have our daily chores of moving the beef, the hogs, and the broilers. The weeds won't leave the veggies alone. And we have to put up hay and make commitments on grains for the winter.
In the kitchen, we are trying to keep our heads above water and put food up for the winter.
Our Commercial Kitchen
One of the things that makes Fresh Fork unique is our commitment to a truly local supply chain. What does that mean?
It means that products we sell are produced with actual local inputs. For example, there are countless local bakeries baking with imported grains or western grains. We have crafted a line of baked goods using local, eastern flours. As a result, we will never have a crusty baguette.
Our canned goods and ferments aren't just made locally; the ingredients are sourced from our community. For example, you can find other local sauerkrauts that are awesome. Ours is made only with organic cabbage and offered only through us at a price much lower than most other "small batch" producers.
Last Friday was All Hands on Deck in the Kitchen
It was 5 AM and I could tell that he was blinded by the dust behind the tractor as he raced across the parking lot. I flagged down John with a couple clicks of the flashlight. He's usually our produce manager; today, he was going to help with the kitchen hustle.
"I'll hop on the 3-point. Take me out back for the skid loader," I told John as he pulled over. There was no time for Hi, how are you or small talk. My wife, Allyson, had the coffee brewing. We could get to all that later.
We raced back and forth moving everything into place before the 7 produce helpers, a few of their sisters, and one of our seasoned "grannies" showed up for work at 6. We had 4 bins of cabbage (approx 1 ton), 13 bins of corn (approx 700 dz), and about 2,000# of tomatoes to work.
