THE FARMER AND CHEF SERIES: EIGHT LESSONS FROM ROCKY GLADE FARM.

If a farmer is truly trying to work restaurants into their sales, I found Rocky Glade's advice to be thoroughly insightful. So insightful, in fact, I couldn't fit everything I wanted into the last post. So I thought it necessitated one more short piece––a collection of eight interesting tips, ideas and stories farmers should consider when hoping to work more with chefs.

One - Don't call chefs. And definitely don't call chefs at night––while they're cooking––unless you absolutely have to. "I will not call you [in the evening]," says Julie, "unless it's something I have to have an answer on. But if I'm trying to beat cold, or beat rain, I am gonna call you because I can't wait." Email is generally preferred, but each chef may have his or her own preference. And as the chef gets to know you, and how farms function, they will understand the necessity behind the occasional phone call.

Two - Invite the chef to visit your farm. Help he or she to understand where you're coming from: "Our hoop house is just like [restaurant] tables," says Jim, "Our profit is how much you sell that table, but also how fast you turn it. You can't put a six month crop in a hoop house because you can't give up those three lettuce crops, or the four radish crops."

Julie adds, "And they get that because they don't want someone sitting at a table for three hours not ordering anything."

Three - Send samples, take pictures, physically show them what you've got. "If they can see it and touch it," that helps sell it.

Four - Pay attention to what they want, and don't send them things they can't use. "Early on, what we didn't send built the relationship as much as what we did."

Five - Indeed, build your relationship. A lot of farmers may view restaurants as an opportunity to dump ten bushels of kale every week. But it's not that easy: "We work that relationship just as hard as the CSA," says Julie. You have to communicate with them regularly, listen to them, anticipate and care about their business as much as your own.

Six - Eat there: Rocky Glade tells us they have only eaten at Rolf a few times, and "...actually seeing your food come out on a plate," Says Julie, "You go 'Okay, that's why. That's why you want this small. Or that's why you don't want it bunched...'. If I go and eat, and watch my food come out, it helps me do a better job in the field." -Julie

Seven - Have your chef be specific about what they need. Jim tells us, "A lot of chefs will tell you, 'I'll take all you can grow'. Rolf and Daughters is really good about telling you what the goal is and why."

Eight - Share the risk. This is something Rocky Glade is still working on and Julie tells us, "The only way I've found to share the risk is by doing a bunch of research, finding out how much something might cost, I tell him what I would have to charge and he decides if it's worth it." In the case of a very expensive seed, they say, "if [the chef] helped with the seed cost, [he] could buy it later at a discounted price." This sort of "risk sharing", since chef's are not as fond of the CSA model, might be the best way to safely experiment with new crops and new ideas without risking too much of your own space, money and time.

Big thanks again to Rocky Glade for all their insight–-what a great family and model farm. Don't forget to keep up with the Vaughns through their website, and visit them at the Franklin Farmer's Market.

- Jesse.