Where Do All Those Tomatoes Go? A story by Jim Pfitzer

Where Do All Those Tomatoes Go?

It’s that time of year again-the days we dream about in winter and count down to in spring. It is tomato time!

When I walked into the back room in the barn the other day and saw all the tomatoes carefully placed without stacking in flats covering every shelf in the room, I couldn’t help smiling…and salivating. Then I started wondering-just what do they do with all those tomatoes? I couldn’t imagine all of them going to the CSA, so I tracked down Farm Manager Jennie Bartoletti to ask her a few questions. It took a couple hours before she could make her way back to the office, (presumably because she was busy harvesting all those tomatoes) but when we did finally sit down, she was happy to talk about the business of selling what we grow.

Jennie takes a tomato order on the phone.

It turns out that the key word in the business of selling produce is, restaurants. And regarding tomatoes, Jennie says that, “everybody wants them.” Week in, week out, Crabtree can count on St. John’s and Table 2 to buy what we grow, but there are many other local restaurants interested in serving local veggies whenever they can, too. Jennie is excited about adding Lupi’s to the list of customers. They are currently buying tomatoes and cucumbers. “As long as we can supply it, they’ll take it,” she says of the local pizzaria chain that is becoming well known for serving pies made with local wheat crusts and local beef and sausage along with seasonal vegetables. This week, Crabtree will be delivering from Sluggo’s vegetarian restaurant in North Chattanooga to Blacksmith’s Bistro in St. Elmo.

When I suggested that it sounded like we are doing pretty good in the wholesale market, Jennie agreed, but not without some caution. “Right now we’re pretty good…but you saw the lettuce. A lot of it went bad. As long as we can sell those tomatoes we’ll be great.”

One of the challenges this year has been due to the sale of once-local Greenlife Grocery to Whole Foods Market. Last year Crabtree could count on selling Greenlife 200 lbs. of tomatoes every week in season, but not so anymore. Although Crabtree is growing heirloom varieties to high organic standards, the farm is no long certified organic, and that presents a problem for Whole Foods who is only willing to pay premium price for products bearing that organic label. Same goes for Earth Faire.

There is one market that has been buying from Crabtree all season, though. Mountain Valley Market in St. Elmo has been stocking lettuce, fennel, greens, squash and cucumbers, and Jennie is hopeful they might start picking up tomatoes as well.

Without the larger markets, however, Crabtree must rely more on the restaurants, and unfortunately it takes several restaurants to even come close to the volume one big grocery store will buy. That translates to more time on the phone making sales calls, more time in the van making deliveries, and less time farming. Down the road, that dilemma could lead to rethinking organic certification, Jennie says.

In the mean time, wherever you shop for groceries, wherever you eat out, ask for local, and if you see it on the menu, order it and thank your server for carrying it. Soon, thanks to Gaining Ground, there will be a Locally Grown logo appearing on menus, at farmers markets, and in grocery stores making it much easier for us to spot produce grown at Crabtree as well as produce, meat, eggs, and other farm products grown within a 100-mile radius of Chattanooga.

Now to slice one of those delicious tomatoes I got in my box this week!

The farm stand at Crabtree is open Tuesday-Saturday 9am-1pm. Come pick up your tomatoes here! Or visit us at the Main Street Farmers’ Market Wednesdays from 4-6!

Get your copy of the 2011-2012 TasteBuds Local Food Guide!

To get your free copy of TasteBuds, stop by one of our many Chattanooga partner locations, including: Neidlov’s, the Main Street Farmers’ Market, the Chattanooga Market, Good Dog, Taco Mamacita, Greenlife, Ruby Falls, and Terminal Brewhouse!

What is the Tastebuds Local Food Guide? TasteBuds is the guide to locally grown and crafted foods within 100 miles of Chattanooga. It offers food-related articles, recipes, and information about farms, farmers’ markets, community gardens, restaurants, food artisans, and grocers who source from local growers. For more information visit TasteBuds Online.

Savor Local Flavor!

Caterpillar Progress Part 2

Another day older! Today I saw them meet for the first time. I’m not sure if they are completly aware of one another as of yet. But they had a nice lunch date, and continued on their way.

Also, I got worried that they would get bored eating just dill, so I researched other things that might interest them and found out they love parsley too! Glad there was some on hand! The bigger found it right away.

Showing Up: A story by Jim Pfitzer

Showing Up

The flowers in the whiskey barrels are watered, the farm stand is loaded with freshly harvested veggies, and a new bulletin board hangs by the door to the barn. All this is the work of Ron Bohrer, and he does it all with a smile.

For the past five years, Ron has been working at Crabtree doing a little bit of everything from cleaning and maintenance, to helping in the greenhouse to his regular Thursday gig of running the farm stand.

According to Joel Houser, “Ron just showed up one day and adopted us. Since then he has looked for any opportunity to make our lives easier. And he has found lots of them.”

Indeed, a couple weeks ago Ron showed up with a new park bench for the farm stand area. Last year he bought the farm a new barbecue grill and the year before that, it was a lawnmower.

But it isn’t the things Ron buys that most impresses Joel. He says that Ron’s biggest contribution is his attitude. “He always shows up and always has a smile on his face,” Joel says with a smile.

While Ron might have “just (shown) up,” there was a reason for his initial visit. In need of hours for the master gardener program, Crabtree seemed like a good place to volunteer. And volunteer, has he ever! Just recently, Ron received his One Hundred Hour Pin from the statewide Master Gardener Program.

And Ron seems to inspire others to help out as well. With the recent storm damage, he is raising money to replace the destroyed high tunnel and build a new much-needed greenhouse. Already up to $2000, Ron says they still need about $5000. When asked how he manages to raise that kind of money, Ron chuckles and says “calling friends.” When I suggested that he must have a lot of very good friends, his eyes lit up. “I got $1000 from my friend Shirley in Cincinnati!” he said.

When he isn’t at Crabtree, Ron spends a lot of time working in the flowerbeds of his own meticulously kept yard. He also crochets and knits (socks primarily) – something he has been up to for fifteen years. Even in his hobbies, Ron is always thinking of the farm. Recently he made and sold pot scrubbers, and often knits dishrags to sell-all of the proceeds going to Crabtree.

Watching Ron water flowers, one would never guess that he spent forty years teaching Latin and medical terminology at UTC and has a PhD in classics with a focus on ancient Greek homicide law. “I’m just fascinated by it,” he says of his doctoral topic. “Anything that’s unusual I like.”

Ron has traveled all over the world with Larry, his partner of 32 years-Europe, western Asia, North Africa, Alaska, and later this summer he will traveling to Sri Lanka with an old college buddy. I asked why he wasn’t taking Larry with him on this trip. “Too rustic,” he replied. “Larry’s idea of roughing it is going to the Holiday Inn because the Hiatt is full” he said with a hearty laugh.

Fortunately for us, no matter how far he roams, Ron always comes back home to Crabtree, and always in the gentle spirit of ahimsa, or non-violence to all living things-a philosophy represented by a tattoo on his calf, just above his argyle NBA socks, and clearly embraced by the man who when asked what he wanted folks to know about him smiled, laughed, and said, “I’m old.”

To learn about how YOU can volunteer at Crabtree Farms, click here.