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I decided to buy extra chest freezers and keep them full over 10 years ago. After a few years of seasonal fruit harvests, a few containers of peaches and bags of raspberries end up at the bottom or line the freezer doors. With more fresh fruit showing up at the markets to eat and process, I have been brewing mead with local honey and old fruit. Even fruit that is freezer burned and not fit for jams and jellies has worked out to be refreshing mead with a nose of fresh fruit.

My evolved method is with a 5 gallon food grade bucket. Fill the bucket half full with any combination of fresh or frozen fruit. Add one gallon of local honey and seal the lid. Shake the bucket a couple of times a day for 3 days. Remove lid and strain fruit pulp into a 1 gallon glass jar to make vinegar. Top the bucket off with filtered water 2 inches from the top. Add yeast or 1/2 liter of the previous batch of mead. Install a $1 interlock into the lid to release carbon dioxide (CO2) pressure and seal lid on tight. Store in a cool place for 6 to 8 weeks until it stops bubbling and “choogling”. Bottle and drink or age for 6 to 12 months for best results. A 5 gallon bucket should yield 18 liters of 13% ABV. 

My favorite meads are usually mixed with sparkling water over a jumbo ice cube, rimmed on the inside of the glass with a drizzle of honey. My favorite combinations are:

Cherry Chocolate Red Chile ~ Port

Cherry Lime ~ Dry

Pomegranate Elderberry ~ Port

White Grape and Green Chile ~ Champagne

Meyer Lemon Pucker ~ Extra Dry

Grapefruit Raspberry ~ Dry

Blueberry Blackberry Marionberry ~ Sweet

Cleaning last years fruit out of the freezer makes room to defrost as needed and/or fill back up with half a hog, half a case of salmon or a quarter beef. We’re harvesting New Mexico Pasture-Finished Grass-fed Beef on a regular basis this summer and have a hog harvest date scheduled for late July. Our Alaska Wild Salmon supply is in excellent shape and the boats are fishing now! Please let us know if you’d like to place an order or review your freezer and pantry needs.

It’s time to shift our focus to harvesting, so we won’t be at the growers market this weekend. Catch us back in Los Ranchos next Saturday, July 4th!

I’d like to tell you a little story about some boats in my life.

I have enjoyed living and working on boats and around boat people. The tightest quarters was on the F/V Halcyon back in 1997-1999. Originally a 38 foot fiberglass LeClercq, it was stretched to 41 feet to safely flood the fish hold to 23,000 pound capacity. The 4 bunks were tight to the bow with shared foot space, so you hoped for short crew with a good sense of humor. The Halcyon had an Adriatic diesel stove for heat and cooking with a small inverter for a dorm fridge and small power tools. 100 gallons of cold water allowed week long trips, at most, from the home port of Alitak, Alaska. She was the envy of the fleet in the late 1970’s and a top producer at that time. Running on low fuel and with little ice in the fish hold, the Halcyon has a shallow draft of 13 inches. She is capable of seining salmon in 10 feet of water, rolling along a sandy bottom in small seas and a light wind. When a storm popped up, we could stick it out to 4 foot seas before we would run for cover to the Alitak cannery or anchor up and ride it out with a nap and a few good books (Hugo’s Les Miserables and Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land). It was a good introduction to commercial fishing and a great boat to learn the basics of seamanship. Fishing the Halcyon with good friends you could trust with your life was like camping with a small paycheck.

The most luxurious boat of my career was the 58 foot F/V Aleutian Belle out of Kodiak, Alaska. 6 large bunks for crew with warm storage for all your gear. The captain’s quarters includes a roomy bunk with a comfy pilot house on top. The galley can serve 6 for a month at sea with hot showers and washer + dryer. Fish hold capacity of 119,000 pounds of pink salmon held at 34.5 degrees F. Diesel fuel use of about 100 gallons per day. Satellite radio & tv, wide screen, 300+ movie collection, espresso machine, all electric full size oven/stove, full size fridge, chest freezer, toaster, microwave…EVERY amenity! The Belle has a deep draft, 8 foot waterline most of the time with a heavy deep net built for heavy seas and gale force wind in deep water on capes in heavy currents to catch the most fish. Aleutian Belle fishing is a serious commitment for pros only. These guys keep running hard, 18 hour days for 90 days straight (and that’s just salmon). It earned me good money and life long friends. I had the best set of my career on the Belle, we hauled 69,000 pounds of salmon in 20 minutes!

I have a boat idea in my mind that I want to share with you. I want to create some of the boat experience without the cold water and sharks. I want a cellar underground to cure meat and ferment honey for myself and others. I want to bury a 30 foot fiberglass or wooden boat in the middle of my New Mexico farm. My style of B&B will privately sit in a sea of wildflowers and food growing all around. Is anyone interested in a farm tour culminating in a landlocked sailboat with appetizers made on site beside an oak fire with a glass of boat made Sovereign Meade I make from local honey and hand picked fruit? Entertainment to education, or maybe a bit of both, we call it: edutainment. What is the value of this experience? From farmy to fancy…

Common topics and salons:

Commercial Fish Training 101

Smoke Salmon like a Pro

Knife Sharpening and Ax Throwing

Sovereign Meade Prospectus

Honey Ice Cream Prospectus

Hunter-Gatherer Stories: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Spontaneous Healing through Food and Fellowship

Church of Food

Sustainable Living

Thanks everybody, have a great week! Now I’m hungry, I’m going to fix lunch.

Cheers,

Kenny Aschbacher-The FishHugger

Great news! We now have a limited supply of our New Mexico Pasture-Finished GrassFAT Beef back in stock including ground beef, beef roasts, soup bones and a few steaks! This beef was processed at a small family-owned USDA facility in Raton, NM. Same great beef, same great taste…all packages are paper wrapped instead of our typical vacuum sealed packages.

As always, we appreciate advance orders. All unreserved products will be sold on a first come, first served basis — no limits!

In an effort to make you feel safer, we will be adhering to the governor’s public health order by wearing face coverings and latex gloves at the market. If you’d rather not visit the market, we are now offering delivery in the Albuquerque area on Saturday afternoon. We already have measures in place for a completely contactless delivery. We accept cash, check, zelle and venmo. With minimal contact, we can accept applepay or debit/credit at the time of delivery. Orders $200+ will be delivered free, orders under $200 will have an additional $15 delivery fee. If you would like to pick up at market or schedule a delivery for this Saturday, please email your order by 12:00pm tomorrow, Friday, May 22. For deliveries, please include a complete address and a phone number so we can contact you when we’re on our way!

Should you have feedback, comments, questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at anytime. We sincerely appreciate each and every one of our patrons, customers, co-vendors, growers and market managers…we couldn’t do this without you! It is our pleasure to provide you and your families with our premium quality salmon and beef!

In Health & Happiness,

Kenny & Brenna Aschbacher-The FishHuggers

We’re happy to be back in New Mexico for our summer growers market season! We’ll be beginning the Los Ranchos Growers Market this Saturday, May 16. New summer market hours are 8am-11am. In an effort to get everyone through the market as quickly and efficiently as possible, we are now accepting advance orders. No worries if you don’t want to order ahead of time, we’re bringing extra salmon! If you’d prefer not to attend the market, we’ll be delivering orders in the Albuquerque area on Saturday afternoon. Orders $200+ will be delivered free and orders under $200 will have a $15 delivery fee. All orders must be in by 9pm on Thursday, May 14 for market pick up or delivery this weekend. If you prefer delivery, we’ll need your complete address and a contact phone number (preferably a cell number so we can text you when we’re on the way). Please be sure to check out our current product list as we are temporarily out of stock on some items. Further inquiry welcome anytime. We look forward to serving you this summer!

Cheers,
Kenny & Brenna 

Hello there Phoenix FishHuggers! We’re here in Arizona through the end of this month before we begin our summer harvest season out of state. We’re currently accepting orders and scheduling appointments for pick up or delivery EVERY DAY through next Thursday, April 30. Check out our current list of products and pricing here: https://fishhugger.com/our-products/price-list/ and order via email or text/call Brenna at 602-576-1878.

We’ll also be available tomorrow, Saturday, April 25 at the Roadrunner Park Farmers Market. We keep our market calendar updated here: https://fishhugger.com/events/category/markets/

Other ways to procure your favorite FishHugger Foods here in Phoenix:

AREA Farms Arizona is a local CSA currently offering delivery and pick up options for delicious in-season produce and a few local food specialties…you can now add Sockeye Salmon and Arizona Local Raw Honey to your order! https://areafarmsarizona.com

Arizona Worm Farm is currently offering our Arizona Local Raw Honey. They also offer worms, worm tea, worm castings, mulch, compost, seeds, chicken eggs and lots more! https://arizonawormfarm.com

Eat Well,
Kenny & Brenna Aschbacher-The FishHuggers

Hello Phoenix FishHuggers! Some of you may already be aware that Ahwatukee Farmers Market (Sunday) has closed indefinitely and Roadrunner Park (Saturday) will be closed this week, April 11, due to the Easter Holiday. As of this moment, we fully intend to be back at Roadrunner Park Farmers Market on the following 2 Saturdays: April 18 and April 25. We’re working to improve our social media skills and we are continuously keeping our website up to date, please check often for details: http://www.fishhugger.com/calendar.html

This week, we are offering staggered appointments for curbside pick up at our home (near Thomas Rd & 44th St) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, April 8, 9 & 10. Please order in advance via email, phone or text message to 602-576-1878. Over the years we have found that most FishHuggers prefer a custom order, but we offer some bulk stock up options year round: http://www.fishhugger.com/pricelist.html

Additionally, we are offering a $100 or $200 Grab Bag: a generous amount of wild salmon and local honey. If you need help determining your family’s freezer and pantry needs for the summer, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can also order by budget or storage space availability. We’re here to help!

If you’re looking for the best chicken eggs possible, check out Arizona Worm Farm. They currently offer on farm sales including eggs, worm castings and worm tea and now OUR Arizona Local Raw Honey! Arizona Worm Farm is open  – but please call 602-622-7663 so customers can be spaced for safety.
https://arizonawormfarm.com

We appreciate you!

Hey there Phoenix FishHuggers! We intend to be available at both Roadrunner Park and Ahwatukee Farmers Markets through April 26th this season (as usual). As you know, farmers markets are essential and are a great place to get the groceries you need directly from your local producers. As always, stocking up on nutrition is more valuable than stocking calories. We appreciate any orders placed in advance for a “grab and go” style pick up at the market. We prefer payment through zelle to further encourage your efficiency through the market…we still accept cash and cards. Vendors and management are taking many precautions to keep our customers and ourselves safe out at the markets.

For your convenience, we are offering curbside order pick up by appointment at our Phoenix test kitchen (near Thomas Rd & 44th St) on Thursdays and Fridays throughout the month of April. Call, text or email us your order.

In addition to our usual Alaska Wild Salmon and Arizona Local Raw Honey, don’t forget we currently offer: Pasture-Finished Beef (ground), Fresh California Olive Oil, Kenny’s Original Spice Rub, Kenny’s New Mexico Spice Rub, NM Organic raw Pecans, Herbal Infused Sparkling Water, Homemade Mustard and Pickles, Gray Sea Salt, Beeswax, Honeycomb, Pollen, Fresh-Frozen Elderberries and Lavender Tallow Soap!

Whether you buy food to eat or buy food to sell, you are essential. We need you to eat what we produce to keep you healthy and productive so we can keep feeding you and your family. This month’s demand will help determine next years’ availability. We will decide whether to scale up or down our production before harvest season starts in five weeks. Your input and support will have the greatest influence on what to do next.

Focus on what you can do:

Inventory your food and medical supplies

Calculate your need and a little more

If you need something more to do, create a temporary small scale business to help yourself and others in your circle to buy a supply together. Get involved.

We have weathered 9/11, housing bubbles, globalization, farmed salmon and fake meat. Confidence is high that American ingenuity will come up with good answers to the questions of today.

What I’m going to do today is share some simmering broth with the family and have a shot of cod liver oil.