It is Spring! 🌱- May 2020

It’s spring! The wildflowers are out in full force here in Anderson Valley, we’re eating fava beans and strawberries, and for some reason it's still raining? Honestly, this past week has felt a bit like November here as the hills are a mix of lush green and dry gold and I’m wearing rain gear. Though, we did have some lovely 85 degree days not too long ago that helped put smiles on faces and some sweetness in our strawberries (apologies to those of you living in cooler places that haven’t had any springtime heat yet!). 

While the country continues to adapt and react to the pandemic, things on the farm don’t stop, and with your help we’ve got some good news to share!

Good News!

• Y’all helped us have our best month of online sales EVER! Special shoutout to Heather F for sending out the most gift boxes to friends and family. I hope they all enjoyed the chiles!
• We received our Paycheck Protection Program funding at the end of April! This forgivable loan from the Small Business Administration provides funds to cover payroll for 8 weeks. This has been VERY helpful. 
• We got bees! Well. Gideon did. For the farm. He’s taking over next month's newsletter to teach you more. Whenever he starts talking about bees he gets really excited and it’s too much for this month, so you’ll have to wait!

What Store In Your Neighborhood Should Be In?

We’re incredibly thankful to have y’alls support, and we’re working hard to increase the number of stores (online and brick and mortar) that carry our products. We need your help in identifying stores, a website, or even a local meal kit that might be the perfect fit for us! If a place in your hometown comes to mind please share it with us either by responding to this message or shooting us an email at hello@boonvillebarn.com. We appreciate you taking a moment to help us succeed!

On the Farm:

We’re moving into planting season here on the farm. All of our pepper starts from February have made their way out of the greenhouse and are acclimating to “regular” temperatures outside next to the field they will be planted in shortly. Do you see how many chile plants are in that picture?! There’s also some vegetable and flower starts in the front that are for our staff garden and for the bees and butterflies. I’m looking forward to getting these babies (along with all the beans and popcorn) in the ground!

As the weather transitions into spring and summer across the country, it’s time to pull out your grills and get ready for grilling season. Might I recommend using our Smoky Piment d’Ville in any signature spice rubs you create? It’s my summer go-to. If you’re looking to start the season out right, check out our Pantry Starter Bundle. It has everything you need to make sure the first thing on your grill is perfectly seasoned. Missing your favorite grilling buddy? Send them one too! If the spicier flavors are your jam, check out the Hot and Spicy Bundle. Inventory Alert! We have a very small amount of our 2019 Comapeño left until November (which means we will also soon be sold out of our Comapeño salt!). If you want to spend the summer eating Comapeño Carne Adovada tacos, I would recommend purchasing some today!

Below you’ll find some recipes that we’ve been cooking up and I think you’ll enjoy. That’s all for today. Go make yourself something delicious. 

Best,
Krissy and the Boonville Barn Team

Food Inspiration for the Coming Weeks

I get it. It's been hard to figure out what to cook everyday. Here’s a few ideas to help inspire your next meal. Also - we’ve got some new recipes coming out soon so stay tuned for some fun summer flavors!

• Make an ice cream sundae - Okay, I realize that it isn’t 90 degrees everywhere (let’s talk for a second about the sunburn I got 2 weeks ago), but it’s spring and time to eat an ice cream sundae when it's nice out. Or even when it's not nice out because ice cream. Make a batch of Just a little spicy chocolate sauce. You can use Piment d’Ville or Comapeño in it depending on how hot you want the sauce to be. I highly recommend a sundae with this chocolate sauce, strawberries, and sprinkles. 
• Grilled Romano Beans - Are there green beans or Romano beans already coming in season where you live? I highly recommend making these beans. If you can’t find Romano beans, you can sub green beans and if you don’t have a grill you can make them on a hot cast iron pan. Life is about making compromises right now when you don’t have all the right ingredients and it is okay. 
• Pizza beans - This has been my go to “I don’t want to think too hard about dinner” meal. The original recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, but let me break it down easy for you. Cook up some Boon Beans if you still have them or any white beans or just open a can of beans, mix it up with some pasta sauce, add some cooked Italian sausage if you eat meat, a hearty pinch of Piment d’Ville, and dump into a baking dish. Cover this with grated mozzarella cheese and bake for about 20 minutes or until it's hot all the way through and the cheese is melted and golden brown. 
• Buttermilk Cornbread - I had some buttermilk in the fridge that I needed to use up and cornbread seemed like the right choice. I Smoky Piment d’Ville in place of the black pepper in their recipe (obviously) and topped it with a mixture of PDV/Comapeño/Salt before popping it into the oven. This was SUPER moist with a hint of sweetness and was delicious with a drizzle of honey on top.