Monroe Fundraiser

 

Thank you to all who have donated to our Gofundme page so far! Our goal is
to raise $14,000 so that Kyle may purchase a no- till planter, a very
expensive piece of equipment. This planter will enable him to plant some
crops on the farm without tilling the soil. Kyle is committed to
implementing these new techniques that conserve and build soil health. He
has already purchased two pieces of equipment and planted 5 acres of cover
crop that he will later plant into. All that is needed now is the no- till
planter! If each of our CSA members donates just $21, we will meet our
goal!! Every dollar helps get us closer to our goal, so please consider
donating at any amount. We are so proud of our membership and we believe in
the power of our strong community to help meet our goals in continuing to
steward the land. Join us.

For more info and to donate, visit our Gofundme page.

Newsletter – August 28, 2018

Dear Members,

This week you are getting Yukon Gold potatoes, Walla Walla onions, carrots, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, tomatoes and melons.

Fruit: You will be getting peaches and a couple of nectarines from Rancho Durazno!

History of our Farm: You know us as Monroe Organic Farms, but did you know we had other names? During Jerry Monroe Sr. lifetime, there were three other names for our farming operation. Lester Monroe (Jerry Sr. father) called the farm Monroe Farm back in the mid 1920’s through the 1940’s. He raised vegetables and sold them at a farm stand off of 5th Street and 14th Avenue in Greeley. Jerry Sr. sold produce door to door. He remembers selling a bakers’ dozen (13) ears of corn for a penny. He started at 7 years old and did this until 9 when they moved to the home-place off of County Road 47 in LaSalle in 1936. Now the Monroe’s had more land and therefore could raise more crops. Lester sold to many of the small grocery stores in small towns from Denver to the Wyoming border.

After returning from WWII and around 1947 or 48, Jerry Sr. and Lester started the Monroe Dairy and raised Jersey milk cows for their rich cream also known as butterfat. (They received more money for the cream than for the milk and Jersey cows were known for the large amount of cream they produced.) When milk processors started to demand milk with less fat and pretty much insisted on farmers switching to Holstein cows, this is when the Monroe’s decided to get out of the business in the early 1950’s. He went back to calling the place Monroe Farm. It was also during this time period that chemicals were being used extensively by other farmers. The Monroe’s had always raised produce organically (even though no such name existed in those days) and Lester had three strapping teenage boys to do all the work. In his mind, why did he need chemicals? Who would have guessed what he had created by not using those chemicals back in the 40’s!

During the 1950’s, Jerry Sr. was doing all the farming and delivering of produce along the Front Range. People would see him unloading his truck at various grocery stores and asked if there was any way they could purchase produce at a reduced cost if they came to the farm to pick it themselves. He told his dad about the prospect of having people come out to the farm and it was decided to start the first U-Pick operation in Colorado. There was also a farm stand where customers could choose to purchase other kinds of produce in smaller quantities. People as far away as Cheyenne, Nebraska and Kansas flocked to the farm. This continued for over 35 years.

Jerry and Jacquie took over the farming operation in 1986 and the business side of things in 1991. Back in 1986, we help start or attended the very first farmers markets in the area. Those markets included; Boulder County Farmers Market, Cherry Creek Farmers Market, Greeley Farmers Market, Fort Collins Farmers Market and Cheyenne Farmers Market. At the height of our attendance, we went to 17 markets a week. When we started attending these markets, Jerry Sr. liked the way Monroe’s Homegrown Vegetables sounded, so we used that name. We renamed the farm Monroe Organic Farms in 1992 and filed for our LLC in 1995. We started our CSA, one of only three, in 1993. Our first year, we had 38 members and 10 of those were working members at the farm. We did distribution for two hours from parks and at farmers markets. It was too much to handle selling produce to customers at market and trying to wait on our CSA members at the same time, so it was decided to create Distribution Centers in 1996. We only had five: Aurora, Boulder, Cherry Creek, Ft. Collins and the barn at the farm. We then added Centennial and Lakewood five years later.

Jerry Sr. & Jerry Jr. visited and talked to several CSA’s back East and armed with that info; Jerry and I tried to set up a CSA that would work for everyone. We spent 5 years developing our CSA using a Core Group of members to review changes and assess their success. You have those hard working members from the early 1990’s to thank for this CSA you enjoy today! Now… if we could just get the weather to cooperate every year for us!!!

Farm-to-Table Dinner

Kyle Monroe hopes to continue the legacy of caring for the land by purchasing and utilizing a NO- TILL PLANTER. By using a no- till planter to plant some of the crops at the farm, he will be able to capture more carbon in the soil , doing our part to preserve ecosystem and soil health and in turn leading to healthier, more nutrient- dense crops.

We will use funds raised at our farm-to-table dinner and Go Fund Me page to purchase the no- till planter and to pay for soil tests to measure the impact of the planter on the quality of the soil. We aim to raise these funds by the end of this growing season so that by next year, Kyle may begin to experiment with the planter.

The dinner will be held at Monroe Farms on Sunday, September 23, 2018.

The minimum donation for the dinner is $125.

We already know we cannot accommodate everyone who would like to come to
the dinner.

But we also know several of you would like to help us raise funds for the
no-till planter.  By using the GoFundMe account, you can donate any
denomination you can afford and it helps us reach our goal to fund this
planter.  Thank you in advance for making this a reality for Kyle!

For more info and to book your seat, contact Carly at monroefundraiser@gmail.com

Newsletter – August 21, 2018

Dear Friends of the Farm,

This week you are getting white onions, garlic, kale, squash, cucumbers, jalapeno & bell peppers, tomatoes, honeydew and our main season red watermelon called Crimson Sweet.

Remember me telling you that some crops were ripening anywhere from three to four weeks early? Well this also means that crops will be dying off sooner too. Basically, we are in between fields on carrots & beets and a lot the crops we have planted for fall have not come on yet… because we are still in summer season!

Olive Oil: I have heard several members speak about how wonderful the olive oil is and wished they had ordered more of it. You can still do that! Karl tells me he has plenty of oil and if you would like to order more he can accommodate us. Please email Dani so that we have something in writing to add to our files. We still have deliveries in September and October yet!

Final Payment Due: Just a reminder that all your fees for your 2018 Summer Share, Western Slope Fruit, Honey and Olive Oil are all due September 1st. Late fees will be applied on September 4th and any produce that remains unpaid by September 10 will be will not be delivered. Contact me/Dani if you need more time to pay – share with us what you intend to do and we will work with you.

Now & Then: With the farm being 82 years old; I thought you might be interested how prices have changed over the years! When Jerry Sr. was a kid in the 1930’s & 40’s, he tells us people could load a Model T truck (it may have been called something else) with watermelon for $1 and could get 13 ears of corn for a penny. He started his U-pick farm sometime in the early 1950’s. Customers could pick a bushel of beans (30 pounds) or pickles (45 pounds) or a box of tomatoes (25 pounds) for a $1! When we closed the U-pick farm in 1992; people were able to pick a 25 pound box of tomatoes for $5, get watermelons for $1 each, 45 pounds of pickles for $5, 30 pounds of beans for $5 and pick up muskmelon for $.25 each.

Jerry and I have been running the farm for 32 years. We either helped start or attended the oldest farmers markets in the area: Cheyenne, Greeley, Boulder, Cherry Creek, Longmont, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs. Back in the 1980’s farmers markets were a very new concept. We had to have people stand out at the street and wave to customers trying to attract them to the event. It was hard to make a living back then. As an example; we sold tomatoes 5 for a $1; 3 muskmelon for $1, 12 ears of corn $1, 4 squash for a $1 and one watermelon (any size) for a $1. Today I average $2 for one tomato, average $8 for watermelon, average $5 per muskmelon, $1 each for squash and $.50 an ear for corn.

You can see why we were so excited about the farmers markets. We could get grocery store prices for our produce! Jerry and I both went to a farmers market every day of the week and family members would go on weekends to help us out. In total, we went to 17 farmers markets a week. With the amount of energy it took to go to that many farmers markets every week; we knew we could not keep this pace up forever. We started our CSA in the summer of 1993. As the CSA grew, we discontinued going to the farmers markets until we got down to the few we attend today. You can find one of us at each location on Saturdays: Cheyenne, Boulder, Cherry Creek and Longmont.

Until next week…enjoy your goodies!

Jacquie, Jerry, Kyle and Sam

A reminder about the Monroe blog

Just a quick reminder – no one from the farm checks the blog for comments or questions. If you wish to sign up for u-pick days, have questions, want to change share size, etc – you must contact the farm directly. The best way to reach them is by phone, but you may also email. Keep in mind that Jacquie does not check her email very often, especially during the summer, so response time will be slow. Thank you.

Phone: (970) 284-7941
Email: jacquie@monroefarm.com

Newsletter – August 14, 2018

Dear Friends,

This week you are getting Yukon Gold potatoes, red onions, garlic, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, green bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, red tomatoes and each distribution day will receive a different type of melon; muskmelon, watermelon and Canary white flesh honeydew. Tuesday will also get a Greeley Wonder melon. Everyone will get a specialty tomato which could include Black Beauty, Terra-Cotta or Cherokee Purple. Black Beauty is the world’s darkest tomato. Same antioxidants as blueberries with a thick red flesh. Its great tasting with a savory, earthy taste. Terra-Cotta is a unique tomato that has an orange tinge to it with green mixed throughout. Its flavor can be fruity to outrageously acidic! It’s the acidity that gives tomatoes their flavor. Cherokee Purple is an old Cherokee Indian heirloom from the early to mid-1800’s. Deep red to purple color with a green tinge. Wonderful sweet, ‘old time’ full flavor and is considered in the Brandywine family.

Tomato/chili Picking: Just like the peaches, the tomatoes are coming on early and all at once. We are taking names of those members who want tomatoes by the box. It will be a short season and will not come on at the same time as chili peppers. Call or email the office to get your name on the pick list. We will need to know your name, phone number and whether or not you want chili peppers. I will call you to schedule and we may not be able to get everyone out to pick. Picking will be on Sunday morning only.

Fruit: Rancho Durazno (Peach Ranch) will be bringing you a full 20 pound box of peaches. At this time, each box may be a different type of peach. The whole entire orchard is starting to ripen, instead of one variety at a time. (This is happening to all the fruit vendors.) Because of this, the peaches will be coming all at once. The season will go by fast, so we are trying to fit in as many peaches as we can! To make this easier on you, half the peaches will be ripe and ready to eat (top layer). The second or bottom layer will need to be ripened. Leave this layer outside of your fridge while you eat the top layer. After three days, check them every day for ripeness. When ripe return the peaches to the refrigerator until you are ready for them. Peaches are easy to can and freeze. Check out our canning and freezing guide on our website!

Honey/Oil: Those members receiving monthly and bi-monthly honey will be getting that today. Those of you who get a one time delivery will have to wait until September to get your honey because we want you to get the 2018 harvest which is happening this month. Monthly and Bi-monthly olive oil will also be delivered this week.

Farm to Table Dinner & Tour Fundraiser: This event will be held September 23rd during the fall solstice. Hours have not been set, but will be in the late afternoon and evening. We will be implementing the Slow Food method of eating. A menu is in the works…so many choices, so little time! Our intention is to have several small courses that will include meat dishes with vegetarian options and desserts. We want this to be a casual, relaxed, fun experience for everyone! Tickets will go on sale August 20th.

In conjunction with this event, there will be a GoFundMe account set up for the No-Till planter Kyle would like to purchase. If we do not raise enough money to cover the cost of the equipment, Kyle will get a loan to offset the price. All proceeds from the T-shirts, Hats and Cookbooks sold this year will go into the No-Till planter fund. The GoFundMe account will be live by August 19th.

Now and Then: Did you know it is the 37th anniversary of the personal computer? For $1565 you could own your own personal computer debuted by IBM in 1981. Though it was not the first, it was the most successful. A stand-alone model originally came out in 1975 that was considered a compact version and allowed third parties to program it. The basic set in 1981 came with a cassette recorder and a television set. I remember having one of these (purchased used around 1985) and did my personal finances on it. One problem I discovered was it did not work well on metal desks, which I had. Not sure why, but when I switched to a wood desk, the problem when away! Today we cannot picture our lives without computers….and now they fit in our hand!!

Until Next Week!

Jacquie, Jerry, Kyle and Sam

Newsletter – August 7, 2018

Dear Members;

This is week 9 of an 18 week season. You will be getting Yukon Gold potatoes, Walla Walla onions, red beets, garlic, squash, cucumbers, broccoli (if it is in good shape ~ the heat is getting to it), purple peppers, jalapeno peppers and red tomatoes. We are in between picking two different fields of melons. We thought there were enough muskmelons from the old field to send to all three days of distribution, but there was not. So unfortunately, we could not give it out. Hopefully the new fields of red watermelon and muskmelon will be ready by next week. As a surprise, all Full Shares will get to try a Greeley Wonder Melon this week! Everyone will not be able to get this melon in one week. It ripens slowly and will have to be spread out over time.

Greeley Wonder Melon: This unique melon was developed and grown in Greeley Co. in the 1890’s. It is known for its large basketball size and sweet taste. Gerald E. Monroe, Sr. tells how his father, Lester Monroe, living on the North side of Greeley, got the seed from a neighbor down the street and started growing it for his farm stand in the late 1920’s. It is said that farmers never purchased seed outside of the area in those days. Instead, seed was saved and either sold, exchanged or given to each other for next year’s planting.

Jerry Monroe, Jr, Gerald’s son, continued to propagate the seed through the 1980’s where the seed was thought to be “lost” due to a catastrophic hailstorm. The Monroe’s believed we were the last farmers to still have the seed for this extraordinary melon.

Kyle, Jerry’s son, found an old bucket of seed in the back of an old barn in the late spring of 2017 that his grandfather had saved the year before that storm. Knowing this seed was from the mid 1980’s; he was curious as to whether or not it would germinate. Selecting the 10 fattest seeds, he placed them between wet paper towels & put them in a warm place. All ten sprouted. An additional experiment with potting soil was performed on ten more seeds & placed in the greenhouse for germination. All ten sprouted. Excited about his prospects, 1500 seeds were selected out of the bucket and germinated then transplanted into black plastic raised beds. The melons matured & the seed was collected out of the largest melons. He then planted those seeds for our CSA members to enjoy this wondrous melon this spring. You will not believe the size of it!

Fruit: You are getting peaches and Shiro plums this week from Ela Family Farms. The Shiro plum is a small, yellow Japanese plum that is absolutely delicious. They do not have very many of these, but thought you would love to try them!

Total Fees Due! Statements went out last week. Your honey, fruit, oil and vegetable shares should be paid in full by September 1st.

Winter Share: We will start taking orders in September for the Winter Share. But if any of you are interested in making four monthly payments of $112.50; you need to be aware that you will have to make your first payment in September as well.

Overwhelmed? Now is the time to assess your family’s needs and determine if the share you are getting is too big or small for your needs. You have until the end of the month to make any changes to your vegetable share. If changes are needed, make sure you tell us which DC you use. This is a very unique thing we offer to our members. I don’t know of any other CSA that allows you to do this!

Enjoy the fruits of our labor!

Jacquie, Jerry, Kyle & Sam