THE FARMER AND CHEF SERIES: COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS.

 We don't, and can't really, grow everything chefs may want. Even if we did, we may not grow as much as they need. Though its true for most any produce, as we'll get to presently, this is especially true as it pertains to foraged items. I've said it many times before, but I can sell all the chanterelles I can find. Unfortunately, I can only find so many on my own. I need to employ other farmers to be on the lookout for them. Not for any discount to me. Not for any finders fee. But for reasons far more rewarding, and far less tangible.With our friends Sugar Camp Farm and Pond Creek Gardens, we began doing this "collaborative order fulfillment"––or COF as none of us called it––to a small extent this year, and I think we all benefited. Lizzie from Sugar Camp said she had a chef looking for sassafras root, but didn't have any more herself to sell. So she called us and we were able to fulfill the order. Or in another case, I needed more lambs quarters for an order so I tapped Christian, who helped me flesh it out. This sort of collaborative foraging, which could work just as well for general farming, holds a lot of potential for working with chefs. Farmers have their own relationships to individual restaurants, retailers, or what have you, that all have specific produce needs. Fulfilling those needs, I believe, behooves us all.Because, for starters, isn't finding a market part of the challenge in wanting to grow new and different things? It's hard enough to want to grow or raise something interesting without knowing how it will perform. Add to that not knowing if you can sell it and suddenly, what's the incentive? Perhaps having other farmers in your corner, who have their own relationships with their own chefs, could be a great way to move items you may not normally be able to throw at your CSA or market customers. Maybe those farmers know you grow ginger, and a chef mentions they're looking for it. For lack of a better sound effect––blamo.There are also definitely areas where chefs lack for enough of something––larger crops like onions and garlic, for instance. Maybe fingerling potatoes. Maybe sweet potatoes. But even greens or tomatoes. Ask the chefs. Or if you're a chef, tell the farmer. They may only be able to supply half of what you need, but chances are they know someone else who could supply the other half.So why would it "behoove us all" to involve other farmers in my dealings with my chef? Relationships. This is a business of relationships. If you are satisfying that chef's produce needs, while bringing more business to other farmers, that chef and those farmers will begin to think of you first when they need something. In a recent, and poignant, episode of Chris Blanchard's excellent podcast, Farmer to Farmer , guest Steve Tomlinson, from Great Road Farm pointed out that "[Chefs] kind of want to order from one place or two places, and not have a whole entire list." And I've started to see this, too. If chefs can count on you to do a percentage of their sourcing, that saves them time and helps build that relationship. Sure, it may be a bit more work on your end, but you also may get a call one day from a farmer you helped who has an order for beans, or squash, or carrots, or sassafras––locally pronounced, "sass-fris"––root. That's paying it forward. And that's a sale you didn't have to work for.Perhaps finding a way to make the execution of this easier on the farmers and chefs in your area to see what's available and what needs to be fulfilled would be taking this a step further. Tomlinson in his interview recommended the app Slack. A website could be probably be set up for your area. Instagram also has a message option where groups of people can talk and share photos. Group emails? Facebook? Texting? I say see what works for your chefs and farmer friends and take the winter to set it in motion.- Jesse.