I'm sure your inbox is full of messages from companies you purchase from regularly (as well as some that you bought something from once like 3 years ago) letting you know about the incredible deals that start this weekend or reminding you how many days you have left to shop the biggest sale they have ever held that they've never done before.
Email marketing this time of year is exhausting and exhaustive. I hope, instead, that you read this as a message from a friend and understand the reality of why we at Boonville Barn do not offer Black Friday/Cyber Monday discounts.
At the end of November, we're just wrapping up our chile processing season. In fact, our team is grinding 2024's final batch of Piment d'Ville today. It took us a solid 10 months to get here. It began with germinating chile seeds in our greenhouse in January that went into the fields in May, with beans closely following. The plants experienced a wildfire in the middle of the growing season, but survived, and harvest began with dry beans in late August and ended with Cascabel chiles about 10 days ago (wow that feels like a lifetime ago - truly).
The holiday season is an incredibly important time for small businesses/farms like ours. We've spent the past 320 days growing each of our crops and making it into something delicious for you and it is a sprint to have it ready in time for the holidays. The end of the year is our chance to recover financially from the large expense of harvest, and to get some cash in the bank to not only start the process again in January, but also hopefully help with some of the big expenses that we have ahead of us (still working on a new tractor!).
While getting a slamming deal can be great, it is not a financial reality of what a small farm can offer. We don't discount the hard work it takes to make our chile powders and we will never put our team's labor on sale. We don't want to join the race to the bottom for low prices. If we did that, we wouldn't be able to produce the high quality chiles that you know and love nor would we have the incredible team that we do.
What we can offer are incredibly fresh and versatile chiles that you won't want to cook without. We can offer California grown options that haven't traveled across oceans to get to you. And we can offer the starting flavors for something delicious to gather around with your friends and family.
Whether you send a gift bundle to your friend across the country or are making sure you have what you need for your holiday recipes, we so appreciate your support. If your spice drawer is already stocked with your favorite chiles from our farm, please send us a message with how you are using our chiles this holiday season! It takes all of us to make this farm a success, and we really do read all the emails, the order notes, and instagram messages - they make this time of year easier!
What we're cooking
This week is about making simple dishes with lots of flavor.
- Tonight we're having Carina Wolff's Eggplant Parm Quinoa Bowls. It sounds hearty and satisfying and will be perfect with Calabrian Chile Flake.
- Tomorrow is Clare Langan's Persimmon Caprese (Maybe with some toasts with tuna on the side? Protein TBD!). It's the perfect vehicle for the persimmons on my counter and the radicchio in my fridge. If you're still trying to figure out what to bring to Thanksgiving, this recipe is a perfect option!
- I've decided to opt out of a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thursday (I'm too tired to make the food!) and am making Thai Green Curry, Fresh Spring Rolls, and a Coconut Pumpkin Soup instead. But if you are making a turkey and are really nervous about having to make gravy, I recommend making Piment d'Ville Chile Cream instead! It's much easier and honestly more delicious!
- Since Sunday is the first day of December, it's finally time for gingerbread flavors. I'll probably end the weekend by making a Spiced Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf.
