First of all, warmest welcome to readers of Megnut, and many kind thanks to Michael Ruhlman for the kind words on his introductory guest blog piece over there. I felt compelled to get a new post up here, though I am slammed with work for a restaurant. Which leads me to Reno, where I traveled last week.
I was visiting 4th Street Bistro, with chef Natalie Sellers and her front-of-the-house partner, Carol Wilson. Natalie was amazing, and (God bless her forever and ever) took me to two farms, one of which grows exclusively for her. The other, about 45 minutes to the west, was located near Beckwourth, in the heart of the highest alpine valley (once a lakebed) in the Northern hemisphere. This is Sierra Valley Farms, owned by the Romano family since 1936.
I'd met farmer Gary Romano in January at the Eco-Farm Conference. His operation fascinated me: he is clearly the New Farmer whose job description far outstrips last century's farmer's. No longer are brute strength, frugality, and good organization enough to succeed in farming. No, now you have to be a networker and more. Gary and his wife, Kim, have a diverse and visionary operation, which began back in 1989, when he bought the 65 acres that remained from his grandparents' original 900-acre ranch.
Since it's nearly 5000 feet in elevation, the farm is limited in what it can reliably produce: a mere sixty frost-free days a year put quite a damper on your hopes for tomatoes and peppers and other heat-loving crops. On the other hand, the custom mixed greens that Gary grows enchant both the eye and the tongue, and it's no wonder that a chef would drive almost an hour to get them, fresh-picked that day, for her customers. (And no wonder, with that kind of dedication to her ingredients, Sellers' restaurant celebrated its sixth anniversary earlier this month, with a steadily growing business and enviable customer loyalty.)
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