If 2019 was the year of happy go lucky, 2020 changed things up. It was early February. I was in our caterpillar tunnel planting early season greens. Preparing the bed I noticed carrots that had been growing since the season before. They were the tastiest, sweetest carrots, I had ever had. There was a new restaurant in town, so I called Little to see if Chef Brent was interested in them. He wanted them all.
I had never been and upon entering the restaurant it was great with applause from the customers. I stayed for breakfast and ate two plates of food. The next time I delivered there customers were no longer allowed to eat inside and the entire staff was wearing masks cooking to-go orders.
The pandemic created heightened levels of uncertainty. We were doing our best to keep up with new information heading our way. It was unclear if there would even be farmers markets that year.
As grocery stores shelves were picked over, food security was a growing concern. Our CSA nearly tripled overnight to accommodate a new influx of customers. This growth coincided with leasing an additional 2 acres, the Taft Farm. We broke ground in April and planted a vast crop of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, tomatillos, and melons.
Lockdown made people hungry to get outside and connect. The farm became a volunteer hub with people showing up every morning to lend their labor and time. Luckily too, because once those summer crops hit all we were doing was harvesting.
As we approached Labor Day the weather turned. Snow was in the forecast. With an acre of tender crops ripe, I called for help and people showed up in droves. We harvested every tomato and chile that day. Thousands of pounds of product. The storm yielded a mild snow and I was left wondering how to sell this amount of peppers.
Chilefest was born on a borrowed roaster. We invited our friends at Hoka Hey Kitchens to serve up frybread and proceeded to roast bushel on bushel of chiles. It was a hit and once again people showed up ready to stock up for the winter.
Covid was a strange yet beautiful time. The farm buzzed with activity, a world peacefully moving along. Plugging into media and the human-centric world, that year carried a magic that left people isolated and anxious.
Small business depend on people looking outside national chains in search of quality, connection, and something different. Without local buyers we are nothing. When people shop at a farm stand they are making a conscious choice to take extra time and purchase local products. Our gratitude for this cannot be understated because it provides the wind in our sails.
Retaining customers is a challenge and a goal we are constantly working towards. I find myself grateful to restaurants like Little that stuck with us even when their doors were shut. They made a choice based on core values to support local agriculture and stuck to their guns.