Getting Connected at the NMFMA Conference
On March 9-10, market managers, vendors, volunteers and others from 43 markets across the state gathered together in Santa Fe for the NMFMA's 15th annual conference.
The theme of this year's conference was "Getting Connected," and focused primarily on connecting within the organization through the Board of Directors' adoption of policy governance, connecting with customers through social media, and connecting farmers' markets with the health of their communities.
Additional sessions included the annual training with the Department of Health for the WIC and Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs, food safety, a new manager meeting, and small table discussions on a number of topics.
Because New Mexico is such a large state, the conference also provides a rare opportunity for market staff from across the state to network and find out best practices from one another. As one attendee commented, "The conference provided very relevant topics interspersed with great opportunities to meet each other in between!"
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NMFMA Elects New Board Members
Member markets elected four new directors to the NMFMA Board of Director's during the recent conference. Congratulations to the new members: Diana Calkins, co-manager of the Alamogordo Alameda Park Farmers' Market; Martin Loretto, manager of the Jemez Pueblo Farmers' Market; Ed Lobaugh, co-owner of the Old Windmill Dairy in Estancia; and Aaron Sharratt, director of the La Semilla Food Center in Doña Ana County. Board President Nadine Ulibarri-Keller, a Socorro public health professional and farmer in La Polvadera, was also re-elected for another three-year term.
"We are very excited about the enthusiasm and experience that these new board members will bring to the organization," said NMFMA executive director, Denise Miller. "We're looking forward to accomplishing a great deal in the years ahead."
New members of the Board will join current members: Nadine Ulibarri-Keller, Rubina Cohen of the Firefly Innovation Group, Nora Haskins of the Permaculture Guild, Cindy Talamantes of the Los Alamos Farmers' Market, and Jedrek Lamb of the Albuquerque Northeast Farmers' & Artisans' Market.
The market membership and staff are extremely grateful to retiring board members Cecelia Rosacker-McCord, Robert Ardonvino, Eric Montgomery, and Doug Findley. Their presence on the Board will be missed.
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Growing Local Workshop Series Helps Farmers Get Ready for Market Season
By the Albuquerque Growers' Market Alliance
Throughout the year, seasoned farmers, extension agents, chefs, business experts, and others will offer dozens of free to the public workshops and events geared towards giving small growers the opportunity to start or expand their business. These workshops will give technical assistance to growers on business and crop planning, introduce growers to funding streams to start or expand their operations, connect land owners to farmers, connect farmers to other markets like restaurants and institutions, and help wholesale buyers understand the logistics of buying from small scale farms.
Upcoming workshop topics will include selling at Albuquerque Growers' Markets, navigating Environmental Health permitting, farm labor, sourcing local ingredients for restaurants, and more. For detailed descriptions and to register for any remaining workshops, click here. These free workshops and events are available to anyone who would like to attend, but participants must register ahead of time.
Whatever your interest in local food, the Growing Local Workshop Series has something for everyone. If you have questions about these workshops, call (505) 369-6758 or email info@abqmarkets.org or localfoodnm@mrcog-nm.gov.
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Listen to the Seasons and Cooking is Simple, Not Difficult
by Denise Miller for the Albuquerque Journal
Millions of people (including me) tune into Food Network shows like "Chopped" that offer crazy cooking competitions featuring ingredients like fiddlehead ferns and daikon radishes.
If any of this cooking entertainment inspires people to cook, then bring on the fiddlehead ferns, which by the way, are young furled tops of ferns found mostly in the Northeast during spring. They taste like asparagus.
Cooking, for the most part, should be a simple process by which we transform whole, fresh ingredients into delicious, nutritious meals.
Leave the recipes aside when you go shopping and choose what looks the freshest - you know, vegetables that still have leaves bursting from the stalks - and then go home and decide what you will create.
By letting the seasons decide what we eat, our meals taste better because the ingredients are fresher.
If you've just picked up a glowing bunch of kale or chard, cut it into small ribbons (chiffonade) and sauté it in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with onions, mushrooms and maybe a pepper. Cook this for a few minutes until everything is tender. Use the mixture to top a baked potato, fill a quiche or add to pasta along with some local goat cheese.
Hardly a recipe, this kind of cooking is instead more technique. What's most important is that the greens are extremely fresh and cut into small pieces. This makes the kale or chard less like the leaves that a rabbit chews, and instead more delicate and easier to enjoy.
Carrots, too, are best simply prepared. Last week I put several bunches in the oven to roast with a drizzle of olive oil at 400 degrees. When they caramelized, turning a nice golden brown, I removed them. They were devoured within minutes by my kids. My only regret was not buying more.
There will always be a place for beautiful, time-consuming food preparation. But on a daily basis, we should be primarily concerned with creating simple meals that taste great.
Your local growers' market - even in winter - is one of the best places to find the freshest, most nutritious foods. This time of year, kale, chard, lettuce, radishes, potatoes, winter squash, eggs, honey, cheese and more await your cooking inspiration.
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Carrot Soup 
Adapted from the New York Times
This rice-thickened French classic, known as Potage de Crécy, is simple and comforting. Serves 6.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 pounds sweet carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 quarts water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock
6 tablespoons rice, preferably Arborio
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as chervil, mint, chives, or parsley, for garnish
1 cup toasted croutons for garnish
Directions
Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium-low heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and ½ teaspoon salt, cover partially and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender and fragrant. Add the rice, water or stock, salt (about 1½ teaspoons) and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until the carrots are tender and the soup is fragrant.
Blend the soup either with a hand blender, in batches in a blender (cover the top with a towel and hold it down to avoid hot splashes), or through a food mill fitted with the fine blade. The rice should no longer be recognizable (it thickens the soup). Return to the pot. Stir and taste. Adjust salt, add a generous amount of freshly ground pepper and heat through. If the sweetness of the carrots needs a boost, add another pinch of sugar.
Serve, garnishing each bowl with croutons and a sprinkle of herbs.
VARIATION: Substitute 1 medium Yukon gold potato or ½ russet potato (about 5 ounces), peeled and diced, for the rice.
COOK'S NOTE: This soup can be made hours before serving, or a day ahead, and reheated.
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Winter Markets
Corrales
Corrales Recreation Center, Corrales Rd & Jones Rd
Sunday, April 1st (1st Sunday of month), 11am-1pm
Los Ranchos
6718 Rio Grande Blvd NW
Saturday, April 14th (2nd Saturday of month),10am-12pm
Alamogordo
Frontier Village at the Otero County Fairgrounds
Saturdays, 9:30-11 am
Las Cruces
Downtown Mall
Saturdays & Wednesdays, 8am-12:30pm
Los Alamos
Fuller Lodge
Thursday, April 12th (2nd Thursday), 8:30am-12:30pm
Red Willow (Taos Pueblo)
885 Starr Rd.
Wednesdays & Fridays, 10am-5pm
Santa Fe
1607 Paseo de Peralta
Saturdays, 8am-1pm
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