Addendum to 2017 year end survey:

Hello customers:

I have included some photos of the lettuce to support questions in the year end survey (part 2, section on lettuces).  Google forms is too stingy to allow me to send the form by email with the photos, so I was obliged to place them here for your reference.  I am only too glad to be using google forms for the very last time this year, and probably EVER!



Here are the types of lettuce that I have specific questions for:

 This is the variety of leaf lettuce called 'Lovelock'.  A predominantly green lettuce with some red.

 This is the variety of mini romaine lettuce called 'Freckles'.  Usually a predominantly green lettuce with red speckles, though sometimes the red coloring dominates.



















The next post - a post in progress...



In mid summer, several events led me to the conclusion that there would need to be some significant changes to the farm if it was going to continue to grow and be a successful business.

In previous years, I had been pretty good at identifying little efficiencies - so good, in fact, that each year my customer base grew, some tasks (such as harvest and delivery) continued to take about the same amount of time to complete.

Other improvements, particularly to the infrastructure (nursery, storage, irrigation, etc.) also allowed the farm to continue growing.

However, the rate of growth was very slow, and many of my business plan targets were falling behind.

Also, it was becoming obvious that the field was taking up more time than was reasonable.  The industry standard for operating a small scale mixed produce farm is one professional farmer for every 2.5 acres under till.  I was putting more time than I could afford into the field, working less than half the amount.  Clearly, something had to change.

I brainstormed many possibilities and drew up a list - everything from how I was going to continue operating the farm on a daily basis to how I would change our roster of crops, different models of delivery, and anything else I could think of.

During our camping trip, while I tended the camp fire in the evening as it burned down to coals, I stared into the embers and considered all of my options for change and the projects I wanted to commit time to.





Projects:



Hoop house:  Long-term, my goal is to take the farm further into the fall season.  Ultimately, I want to be able to serve up salad greens, lettuce, and spinach for the Christmas market.

Several techniques have been adapted by local small scale farms to make portable hoop houses that are affordable enough to make the effort worthwhile and easy enough for two people to build.

The portable houses have the additional benefit of being used to start the growing season early - heirloom tomatoes available in mid June!


Time to try my own.  Arrangements have been made with Dick for a suitable site on the farm, and the plans and materials have all been sourced.

There has been uch said about the relationship between walking and thinking.

Back when I was spending more time playing and writing music (was that my youth?!?!), a long stroll would often untangle a logistical knot or bridge an awkward gap between a verse and a chorus.


A lot of ideas came out of our camping trip.





Hiring:

Howmany times have I suggested that two people can do the same task as one in one third of the time?  Certainly, there are many tasks on te farm where a second pair of hands can make the chores go much quicker.

Also, ther have been many occasions where I needed to be doing two things at once.  The result was usually a rushed job, and sometimes it showed in the quality of the produce.

I confess to have been somewhat wary of taking on an employee or two.  After a lot of thinking (and walking) I came to the frealsisation that when I first put out my first advertisement, I had the same kind of "what if" fear.  Ands I was reminded about the nuberof times I said "...running away from what if's are no way to achieve goals..."

I've known all along that eventually I would need an employee or two.  Now must be the time.

Hey Everyone:

I mentioned during a previous post that the garlic was now sown for next year.  There is plenty of info on this elsewhere in the blog, but for now, some thoughts...

Earlier this season, I knew that I would have to do something different for next year. 

There were many options to choose from, and I wanted time to consider each carefully.

However, seed garlic is only available for a short period in late summer, and the varieties that I prefer sell out quickly.

One of my options included concentrating on high value crops, and garlic is certainly one of these.  It is easy enough to sell due to the high demand, and would fit any of myplans for nest year.

So the work begins...

First, I choose the beds.  In my rotation system, fruits, tubers, bulbs, and flowers occupy the same space, as they have similar fertility requirements.  This narrows down my choices to about one quarter of the field.  

Next, I check my records that no green onions were planted here in the past four years, as I often inter plant these with other crops - usually fruits but there are  exceptions.  

The final consideration is sunlight and water.  I keep my onions and garlic in the sunniest locations to allow for the most growth.  I choose beds that are in well drained areas, particularly during the spring melt, as the garlic (unlike onions) do not tolerate being in a very wet bed for prolonged periods.  .  

Having selected the beds, each are cleaned up and then amended.

I add rock phosphate (the white chalk-like residue on the soil surface, pictured), compost, and leaf mold.  These are worked in with the wheel hoe, and then the bed is raked smooth. 

The last step is to draw my lines (three rows per bed) and then cross lines (one plant every six inches upon each row).

Using a dibble, holes are pressed into the ground to receive the cloves.


Then the cloves are brought out from the barn, where they were sitting out of the sun - garlic is very sensitive to sunlight.  Each is placed next to the holes while I ensure that the best cloves are being used.  If I have any final doubts about their health, now is the time to cull them out.  These are sent to the house, peeled, pared and frozen for personal use. 





The very small cloves are reserved for the green garlic.   These are planted in a different bed, as they will be harvested a lot earlier than the rest of the garlic. 




I use small stones to separate different varieties.  Most of this bed is Fish lake, with a little Puslinch filling out the end. 

After the cloves are patted into the soil, work on the next bed starts. 


One important consideration for placing my garlic (this applies to several other high volume crops as well) is whether to block them together or separate them. 







Separating crops beds helps ensure that if a pathogen or insect gets into one bed, it will not easily spread to the rest of the crop.  However, with onions, green onions, and garlic all growing on a sinagle acre field, it would be impractical to place much distance between these closely related crops. 

I also separate crops for seed saving, but as garlic isn't propagated by pollination, so this is not a consideration.

By placing high volume crops together, harvesting work is a little more efficient, as I will not have to move about the field; it also makes it easier to compare growth rates of different varieties.


The last step is to cover the beds with spelt straw.  This prevents the cloves from freezing in our Eastern Ontario winters.  I usually tot his in two stages.  After the first layer has matted down from some rain, I can see where any thin patches in the covering are

And so we wait for next year, when the increasing warmth and sunlight cue the garlic t o start growing. 

Hey Everyone:

Finally, some time to write. 

Anyone who’s visited the farm knows how much I enjoy describing all of the tasks that need to be done, the reasons for doing them, and how I learned the various tasks from my mentors, research, and trial and error.  So it is not without regret that I have not had enough time this season to write more often. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, and to many of you during our first meeting, I also believe it is important (and maybe fun) to learn about your food as it goes through its various life stages from the ordering of the seed to arriving on your plate.  You appreciate your meal more, and have a better understanding of what a farmer has to do to fill that plate.

I’ll start with some very good news.

When I was an intern, Tom impressed upon us the value of being consistent in our methods.  There are many variables to consider as potential impacts upon produce yields.  By reducing these variables, it is easier to pinpoint why a crop has performed well.  He noted at the time that it is often easier to infer why a crop had done poorly. 

Last year, I planted ten beds of kidney beans: eight light red variety and two dark red variety.  Each snack basket took ¾ of a Lb, and each picnic basket 1 Lb. 

This season I sowed ten beds of light red and two and a half beds of romano beans to reserve for dry bean harvest. 

The romano’s seemed to do ok, but one bed of harvested plants were shucked by the chipmunks.  I left the remaining romano’s in the field to dry on the plant.  




This can be done  too much rain can cause the plants to mould.  In the end, we had a fairly dry September, but there were still losses.  Some pods began to break before the entire bed was ready, and so some beans were lost to the field. 

Today, I finished weighting and packaging the light red kidneys.  The result is ¾ Lb per snack basket and 1 ½ Lb per picnic basket, from a total of seven beds.  Almost a fifty per cent  increase in yield.    

I have gone through all of the possibilities, and can find no explanation as to why the increase was so great. 

Last year’s notes indicate:

-First time growing light red kidney variety, a replacement for light pink which was discontinued as organic seed by our suppliers.

-Less than 5 per cent plants lost to white mold – down from previous seasons owing to keeping better air circulation around plants late in the year as the temperature cools. 

-Four beds planted in the new field, where the soil fertility is weaker. 

-Plant yield fairly uniform throughout the various growing fields, plants with seven or more pods reserved for seed.

-Overall satisfied with per plant yield but need to plant more for same number of customers next season. 

So I spend some time wondering the following:

Was all that rain at the start of the season a factor?  Beans don’t do well if their leaves are wet.

Could the saved seeds (which were chosen from the plants that did best in our soil and growing conditions) have had that big an impact on the overall yield?  Only two and a half beds were planted with last year’s saved seed.  I realize now I should have measured the quantity from these beds separate from the rest. 

My compost and amendment regime has not changed, though the four beds in the new field will have had improved fertility after a second year of amending.

I just don’t know why...

The only decision now is to whether I should reserve some seed from this year.  I selected plants this season based upon number of large pods per plant, and the overall appearance of health. 

As I shucked these for storage, I noticed very quickly that there was considerable variation in the bean color, suggesting that the romano’s might have crossed with the kidneys despite being given as much distance separation as I can in our small field. 

These beans that have crossed might not provide a light red kidney; they could take on any number of characteristics from the romanos, including needing more time to mature or cook. 

I have already purchased a considerable amount of kidney beans for next year, but I know I am still short about four pounds. 

Farming is about thinking, calculating, and inferring. 

And planning for next year...next post to follow shortly...