RBR News | June 19, 2015

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Around the Ranch
The first couple weeks of June tend to be the busiest weeks of the season for agricultural production (and everything else) at Rock Bottom Ranch! We are harvesting the first rounds of outdoor cool season crops (salad, arugula, root vegetables, greens, etc.), planting outdoor warm season crops (squash, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.), and seeding the fall cool season crops.

The first kids’ camps of the summer started this week with participants helping harvest, and learning about cooking and food production. In addition, we have been preparing for farmers’ market, Picnicon the Preserve at Hallam Lake, and doing a lot of prep for our involvement in this weekend’s Cochon events.  

The Cochon US Tour is a nationwide series of events created to raise awareness of heritage breed animals, sustainable agriculture practices, whole animal utilization, and to celebrate cooking these products. We have been involved with Cochon for the last several years. Read about last year’s events here.  

Heritage Fire, happening in Snowmass Village tonight, features 45 chefs preparing over 3,000 pounds of sustainably raised meats, all cooked over a fire on Snowmass’s Fanny Hill. Rock Bottom Ranch has provided a broad spectrum of meat for this event including chicken, lamb, goat, rabbit, and pork. One of the main goals of the event is to showcase whole animal utilization; in addition to the familiar portions of the animal (chicken breast, legs, thighs, wings; pork chops, roasts, belly, etc.), every edible portion of the animals are incorporated in the menu including livers, hearts, kidneys, and feet.

Grand Cochon, the finale of the Cochon555 US tour, will take place Saturday evening, also in Snowmass. The ten-city Cochon555 tour pairs 5 chefs with 5 farmers in a friendly competition celebrating heritage breed pigs. The winner of each city travels to Snowmass Village to compete in the Grand Cochon event. Rock Bottom Ranch will be providing a pig and hosting an educational butchery event that evening. With the assistance of our agriculture team and a few chefs, we will show the participants how we butcher a pig to get to the common cuts. 

These events make for a fun and delicious weekend, but are also incredibly educational, raising awareness for heritage breed animal farming. We look forward to seeing you in Snowmass and at the Ranch!

Available Products
Products can be purchased at the Ranch during open hours, Monday – Friday 9AM – 5PM and Saturday 9AM – 5PM; at the Aspen Saturday Market from 8:30AM – 3:30PM; and at the Basalt Sunday Market from 10AM – 2PM. Please call ahead to confirm availability or to place an order for pick-up.

• We will have plenty of greens including spring mix, Swiss chard, kale, and collards. Be sure to ask Christian about the Fenberg baby romaine.  
• Sugar snap peas, spring onions, and radishes will also be available this week. 
• The first of the salad turnips will be available tomorrow with varieties including Hakurei and Scarlet Queen Red Stems. 
• A full pork inventory is available including chops, ribs, roasts, and several flavors of sausage. Unfortunately, we will be out of bacon until next week.  
• Eggs will be in extremely limited supply for the next four weeks and only for sale at the Ranch. Please call ahead to confirm availability – 970.927.6760  

~ Jason Smith, Rock Bottom Ranch Director

Rock Bottom Ranch is open Monday – Friday 9AM – 5PM and Saturday from 9AM – 1PM with Farm Tours each day at 11AM. For questions about Rock Bottom Ranch please email Jason at jsmith@aspennature.org.