The Demo Site

Made it to the farmers’ market a little later this week. To use last week's 'first-tracks' analogy, the best stuff had been skied off. Fortunately, I did bump into many more people I hadn’t seen in awhile, and there were still PLENTY of booths teeming with fresh and/or naturally-preserved foods. There were even some bell-peppers from the same folks who surprised me with them last week. Although visibly less firm compared to last Saturday’s January-crop, I scooted eagerly over at first glance. Turns out Ross Bird of Estancia Valley Produce had planted them in August but “I got froze out the other night, so I had to pick ‘em,” he said. “It’s tough keeping my 11,000 sq. ft. greenhouse warm at night. Next year I’ll do more cold-tolerant crops like most everybody else. Even though I can charge a little more for peppers this time of year, it just doesn’t work to get froze out.”

Ross also mentioned that he plans to install a cistern off of his huge greenhouse. An hour southeast of Santa Fe, he’s looking at capturing between 60,000 and 100,000 gallons per year—which implies a very big tank. At only a buck a pepper, I hope he has a friendly, patient banker or a talented grant writer.