Cover Cropping on the High Mowing Organic Seed Farm

I first heard the old adage of “no bare ground” while working for Gordon Tooley and Margaret Yancy at Tooley’s Trees in Truchas, New Mexico.  Gordon espouses many philosophies on life and farming.  However, the philosophy of “no bare ground” didn’t completely resonate with me in dry-land New Mexico.  Not long after I started on the Seed Production Farm at High Mowing, our Seed Production Manager said the same sentence, “no bare ground”.  I am not sure if Sir Albert Howard woke his wife Louise in her sleep, muttering this sentence.  Or maybe the thought first crossed J. I. Rodale’s mind when pondering soil health and organic gardening.  The idea of keeping ground covered, however, seems intuitive.  A drive across the expanse of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa or Kansas, through the middle of the country, through hundreds of thousands of acres of some of the world’s most productive landscapes crystallizes intuition.  However, the invisible hand of herbicide forces the landscape into repose between plantings. These acres wait to be planted and while they wait, time has slowed and ecology is frozen. The land lies lifeless.

As organic seed producers, we annually propagate life to be lived again the next year.  Every spring, mostly with seed we’ve saved, we begin the process of growing living vegetable seed.  To grow strong living seed, we work to maintain and build a healthy living soil.  Cover cropping serves as a key component to building healthy soil.  We sow cover crops in spring and fall, with some cover spread in summer.  Before sowing cover crop we run Perfecta cultivators over the ground to be cover-cropped.  The Perfectas gently disturb the soil, overturning any weeds that are beginning to germinate.

 

Spring Cover Cropping

This year we are spring cover-cropping just over 10 acres.  We spring cover crop with field peas and oats.  We mix a 2:1 pea to oat ratio and sow the seeds with a PTO driven broadcaster seeder on the tractor.  We spread rates of 100 lbs of peas and 50 lbs of oats per acre.  According to the Northeast Cover Crop Handbook, a mature oat spring cover can produce 6,000-8,000 lbs of dry matter per acre; field peas can produce up to 5100 lbs of dry matter/acre.  After the seeds are broadcasted, we cultivate with the Perfecta to better incorporate the broadcasted seeds into the soil.  We have an old International Harvester grain drill that hopefully with enough love, WD-40 and elbow grease, we can make work.

Oats (Avena sativa) germinate well in cool weather, grow well easily, produce allelopathic compounds that suppress weeds, grow a fibrous root system that prevents soil erosion, and facilitates the upward growth of the companion planted legumes.

Field peas (Pisum sativum) and their associated beneficial bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen compounds available to plants producing up to 172 lbs/acre of nitrogen.  Both require minimal tillage to prepare a seedbed that was fall-tilled.

 

Fall Cover Cropping

Our fall cover crops are spread either on fields that were in summer seed production or in spring cover crop that was incorporated.  We mostly plant cover crop in the fall with a mixture of winter rye, vetch, and crimson clover.  We seed a per acre rate of: rye 30 lbs, hairy vetch 25 lbs, crimson clover 10 lbs.

Winter rye (Secale cereale) exhibits great cold tolerance, able to germinate in temperatures low as 34° F, and can take up excess soil nitrogen.  Similar to oats, winter rye provides root structure below ground to hold soil and also above ground structure for legumes to utilize.  Rye produces around 3000-4000 lbs of dry matter per season.  Winter rye also exudes allelopathic compounds that inhibit weed growth.  Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) fixes nitrogen and provides weed suppression.

Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) provides fall weed suppression due to its ground cover type growth habit.  Crimson clover fixes nitrogen and does exhibit some shade tolerance enabling it to thrive under Hairy Vetch and Winter Rye.  Crimson Clover and Hairy Vetch can fix approximately 200 lbs of nitrogen/season.  We manage our cover crops while also spreading compost and other amendments in the spring and fall.

 

Patterns in Our Cover Crops

A theme prevails amongst our spring and fall cover crops.  The monocots–oats and winter rye–provide a root mat to prevent soil erosion, exude allelopathic compounds that inhibit weed growth, provide above ground structure enabling the companion leguminous crops upright growth, and produce considerable biomass that can be incorporated into the soil therefore building levels of organic matter.

The legumes–field peas, hairy vetch, and crimson clover–importantly, form the symbiosis with beneficial bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogenous compounds available to plants, forming a dense canopy shading out weeds both when living and after winter-kill, providing plant matter that can be incorporated into the soil.

Inadvertently, areas of the farm where we grow Brassica seed are cover cropped during seed harvest.  Enough seed escapes in the dry seed harvest process that beautiful cover crops of mid-summer mustard greens take hold.  Mustard greens suppress weeds, soil borne disease and release biofumigants into the soil that reduce numbers of predatory nematodes.  Baby mustard greens also provide a tasty mid-day field snack.

Every season on the High Mowing Seed farm, like farms everywhere, our farming gets better.  The evolution of our cover cropping practices hopefully will mature into a system with less tillage and less of a need for off-farm inputs.  As long as we keep muttering to ourselves, “no bare ground”, we work toward a living landscape that yields a strong living seed.

 

Resources

  • Clark, Andy.  2007.  Managing Cover Crops Profitably.  3rd Edition.  College Park, MD.  SARE.
  • Maguire, Andy.  2003.  Mustard Green Manures.  WSU Extension Bulletin EB1952E       http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1952e/EB1952E.pdf
  • Mohler, Charles L.  & Sue Ellen Johnson, editors.  2009.  Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual.  Ithaca, NY.  Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service Cooperative Extension.
  • Sarrantonio, Marianne.  1994.  Northeast Cover Crop Handbook.  Emmaus, PA.  Rodale Institute
Posted in Beginner Gardeners' Guide, Large Scale Growing | 1 Comment

Don’t Forget About Fall! Seeding Now for Autumn Abundance

Growing is an act of faith and foresight. Faith because you plant these seeds, tiny embodiments of life, small parcels of potential, and you trust that with the proper conditions and care, they will grow.  Foresight because in farming and gardening, you are always thinking seasons ahead, anticipating the earth’s next rotation.

We choose varieties and plan successions while the days are short and the thermometer practices nose-dives.  We sow our first seeds in the greenhouse with snow blanketing the ground.  But we know that the seasons will change, and this is why, even in the height of summer, when our fields are frantic with growth, we need to slide our attention briefly to focus on planning for harvests in the waning light of fall.

There are many crops that can be planted in mid- to late-summer for fall harvests. Crops like carrots, broccoli, cabbage, kale, and cauliflower thrive under fall’s cooler growing conditions and can withstand light—and in some cases even heavy—frosts.  However, timing is essential in ensuring a successful fall harvest.

Determining Planting Dates

As a first step, it is important to know the date of first frost in your growing area.  If you don’t already know when this is, talk to other growers or check out a previous blog article on Fall Planting Guides By Region. It is also important to remember that plants’ growth rates slow down as the days get shorter; crops that you had a hard time keeping up with in the spring will be noticeably slower to mature in the fall.

Virginia Cooperative Extension has a handy formula to help you determine when to plant for fall harvest:

  • Take your first frost date for your area
  • Subtract the number of days from seeding or transplanting outdoors to harvest (this is the days to maturity)
  • Subtract the number of days from seed to transplant if you start your own seed
  • Subtract the average harvest period (this is the length of time you expect to be harvesting your crop)
  • Subtract the Fall Factor (about two weeks)
  • This equals your fall planting date

So, for example, if we say that here in Northern Vermont, our first frost date is October 1st and we want to figure out when to plant De Cicco broccoli for fall harvest, we could approach it like this:

The High Mowing Organic Seeds catalog lists the days to maturity for De Cicco broccoli at 48 days from transplant.  So, we need to add another 4 weeks, or 28 days, for the time from seed to transplant.  De Cicco has a long harvest window, so let’s say 21 days for the harvest period.

  • 48 days to maturity
  • 28 days seed to transplant
  • 15-20 days harvest period
  • 10-14 days Fall Factor

So, about 100 days before October 1st means that you’ll want to seed your fall broccoli around June 15th.

Some Stand-Out Varieties for Fall Harvest and Storage

Yaya F1 carrots – Sweet, uniformly straight and cylindrical.  Yaya F1 is a beautiful carrot variety and is perfect for the fall for several reasons.  One is that it is a quick growing variety, so it works well for fall succession plantings or later planting dates.  Another is that it has been a stand-out in our carrot storage trials for sweetness.

Deadon F1 cabbage – Deadon F1 is a savoyed cabbage with gorgeous color: purple-red blush on the outer leaves overlaying a lime green interior. This variety is amazingly cold tolerant and can withstand several frosts or freezes, which only make its flavor sweeter.  Deadon F1 is a late maturing variety so does require some advance planning.

Organic Impala F1 Cabbage

Organic Impala F1 Cabbage

Impala F1 cabbage – Impala F1 also takes a long time to mature, but this is our longest storing cabbage variety – up to 4-6 months!  It’s a round, green cabbage that can be used for fresh eating, cooking or kraut.

Primax cabbage – If you still want cabbage in your fall garden but you don’t have time to plant Deadon F1 or Impala F1 then Primax is a great choice. It won’t store as long, nor will it tolerate freezing temperatures, but its eating quality is more tender and juicy.

Fiesta F1 broccoli – This is a quality variety that does very nicely in the fall.  The harvest window is fairly concentrated, which is great for CSAs, an end of season market splash, or a fall vegetable processing party!

Siberian kale – Most varieties of kale will tolerate cold temperatures and frost well, and develop more sweetness for it.  However, Siberian kale has shown itself to be a particularly cold hardy variety.

Bandit leek – A stout shorty of a variety but one that withstands cold temperatures and frosts very well.  With mulching, this variety can hold in the field through much of the winter.

Renegade F1 spinach – Heavy leaves on Renegade F1 give this variety a lot of weight, and as a result this was the highest yielding variety in our overwintering spinach trials.  It is also fast-growing, deep green and tasty!

Posted in Beginner Gardeners' Guide | 1 Comment

Eat More Dirt: Raising Kids in the Garden

Gardening with KidsI began gardening with my father when I was very little. I don’t really remember much about it actually, as if it was so commonplace as to not be special. But special it was because my love of the garden as well as the woods both came from my father and directly led to my passions for seeds. He, in turn, was raised on an early organic farm in California in the 30′s and 40′s and told me stories all about it as I was growing up. I feel connected to that farm but when I drove past it two years ago, it was all houses – like a lot of houses!  But his childhood gardening and farming led him to do the same with me. When I first had kids, I couldn’t wait to do the same.

My girls, Ruby and Cora, are 11 and 9 now and have gardened every year of their lives. Maybe they’ve done it so much and for so long that they don’t think it is special. Maybe they even don’t like it sometimes. But I’ve learned a few things along the way that I thought I would pass on to other parents about gardening with kids. Please comment with your ideas and experiences too – I’d love to hear them.

So, when they are under three, freedom is the name if the game. When our girls were really little, we gave them total freedom; freedom to spill seeds (good thing I had a plentiful source), freedom to kill seedlings by loving them too hard, and certainly freedom to eat dirt. I think that we don’t eat enough real dirt in this country anymore, but that is another topic entirely. Little kids pretty much just mess things up in the garden and you just have to let them or else they won’t like it and you’ll never have the chance to teach them some helpful skills.

By the time our girls hit about three years old, they knew how to plant seeds (we would usually make the rows) and how to handle seedlings pretty safely. While planting seeds is super cool, something about setting a little plant in the ground and tucking it in always seemed a bit more satisfying for Ruby and Cora. And harvesting their favorite veggies took on a new level of joy once they became more mobile.

When the girls got to be about 4 and 6 or so, they were regularly getting sent on missions to the garden by Heather and I. Carrying a basket and scissors with a little list in their heads was really fun for them. Many times when we had friends or extended family over for dinner, our girls were very proud to show them “their” garden and would very capably snap off kale and chard leaves or pull some carrots. Imagine being a grown-up and having a five year old identify veggies that you don’t know? That’s a special kind of pride that always made me smile. It also made me question how far we can get in life sometimes without knowing such basic things as how to harvest. When a plant is ready, which leaves do you pick, how do you get them out of the ground without breaking the tops off?  My girls seemed like little geniuses in a country of food system illiterates. I could tell that they were proud of themselves and what they knew. And it was a good motivator for them too.

From 6 years old and up, our girls started having their own gardens. They sometimes didn’t want us “messing up” their space. And they didn’t want to bother planting veggies they didn’t like. Potatoes, carrots, edamame, snap peas and cabbage seemed to be the favorites. They even started saving their own seeds and totally “got it” when we talked about saving from the sweetest or strongest plants.

Now that they are 11 and 9 I am a bit unsure about what this gardening season will be like. They love coming to the High Mowing trials fields and certainly have their favorites that they want to plant at home too. Ruby began taking photos of everything last year as a way of making it more interesting to her. And Cora loves to cook and harvest anything.

I expect that it will change even more in the coming years, but the most important thing in my mind is that they don’t think of it as a chore. I try to have fun whenever I am working in the garden so that is what they will remember when they think back as much as the specific tasks that they did. Oh, and one last thing: bugs. Kids of all ages love bugs and a garden is an awesome place to attract them. So, let a few broccoli plants bolt this year and see who it brings into your garden.

 

Posted in Beginner Gardeners' Guide | 12 Comments

Starting A Farm

I didn’t know what to expect in May 2009 when I started my first day as a farm crew member.  It was on a small start-up farm in Northfield, Vermont called the Green Mountain Girls Farm.  It was their first year running a veggie CSA, I was their first employee, and as the season progressed there were many more firsts to be had.  Fresh out of college with a BA in Environmental Studies and English, I decided to spend the summer on a farm, deepen my relationship with the food I ate, and hopefully start to eat meat again. (I knew that if I were to give up vegetarianism after six years, I’d have to be intimately connected to the animal I ate.)

What unfolded over that summer was more than I could have imagined: rooster attacks, 400 pound pigs running after my bucket of grain, goats jumping over fences to decide themselves where they’d graze, eating kale for the first time, working the soil until it worked itself into the creases of my fingers, roasting my first chicken, eating spit-fired goat, farm-sitting and discovering the delight of running out to the garden to harvest dinner, finding the rhythm of milking as the goats leaned against me, finding myself in a rhythm with plants, animals, land and my fellow farmers—a rhythm that pulled me in, cradled me when I needed it and invigorated all my senses.  Mari and Laura, the owners of GMG Farm, say that they “farm relationships,” growing food and community.  The relationships that grew there turned my summer job into a lifestyle that I craved and haven’t let go of since.

In the last four years, I’ve WWOOFed in New Zealand, worked as a School Garden Supervisor in Fairbanks, Alaska, lived and worked on a diversified livestock farm in Northern Vermont, and most recently worked in the Trials Field at High Mowing Organic Seeds.  In June 2012, my husband Edge and I bought a piece of land in Worcester, VT, and spent the summer envisioning how we’d build our own farm.  In August we had an acre tilled and broadcast cover crops; in September we put up a yurt, brought over our flock of Icelandic Sheep, and began building a small barn and seed house; throughout the winter we’ve continued work on the barn, plan our CSA and create a financial plan.  As we go, we draw on all the experiences that have led us to this point and the lessons we’ve learned that now help us shape our own farm.

Plan your time AND be flexible.

Whether you plan your time or not, you’ll be busy.  The difference is that with a daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal plan, you give yourself the gift of foresight and end up with fewer things on the “urgent” list and more on the “important but not urgent” list, so when the pigs decide to take a walk-about or a hot dry week forces you to spend days irrigating by hand, you’re not completely thrown off your rhythm.  Planning will also allow you to work on projects that will improve your efficiency and the overall health of the system (maybe it’s time to get a new fence charger or finally set up drip tape), which in turn affects your mental, emotional and physical health—feeling stressed and at your wit’s end never helps anything, so take a half hour each morning to eat breakfast, drink some tea or coffee and go over the to-dos for the day.

At Calypso Farm and Ecology Center, where Edge and I met, we had weekly farm meetings that included everyone from the owners to the apprentices.  In the farm office was a large desk calendar and a white board where folks could write down specific events and things to go over at the meeting, which allowed our meetings to stay focused and productive.  Edge and I have adapted this to our own small system with just the two of us, and it does help keep us organized and aware of all the pieces we are working on.

Whether it is a physical calendar, a white board, your iPhone or computer, choose what works for you and stick to it.  Weekly meetings are the best way to keep communication flowing and systems working, even if they only last 30 minutes.

Keep records.

Working in the trials field at High Mowing taught me how to take record keeping to a new level, and while it isn’t necessary for a CSA to spend the amount of time HMS does on record keeping, it is good practice to keep notes throughout the season.

Some things to record are:

How much of each crop and variety are you planting?  Do certain varieties have pest or disease problems while others are vigorous?  What tastes the best?  What are customer favorites?  Do you wish you had planted more or less of something? Did you have a wet, dry or unusually hot or cold summer?  All this information and more will be invaluable as you plan and make decisions for the next year.

 

Scale is crucial.

At my heart, I am a homesteader.  In other words, a small-scale system that can be run mainly with human power and the help of a few animals is where I feel most comfortable.  I didn’t realize this until I worked on a mid-sized farm that required daily tractor use.  During that summer I felt far away from the roots I put down that first season of farming, and as a result lost confidence in what I was doing.  Even though I loved the people I worked with and lived in a beautiful spot, the scale was just too big for me.  It was a more difficult summer, but looking back it helped wake me up to what kind of farming I wanted to pursue.

There are a lot of questions you must ask yourself when making the decision of scale: How many people do you want to feed?  What kind of systems do you want to create?  How much time do you have to put into the farm?  How do you want your farm to fit into your community?  What does your ideal lifestyle look like and how does a farm support that lifestyle?  Looking deeply at these questions helped Edge and I define our goals and narrow our land search until we found our home.

The most successful farms are those with a triple bottom line.

Farming is not an occupation one typically pursues for the money, but rather for the lifestyle and value of providing an essential part of life to the community: food. Without money, however, a farm business cannot sustain itself.  Creating a business and financial plan is not something that comes naturally to me, so throughout this winter and spring, I’ve been taking the Whole Farm Planning for Beginning Women Farmers course, offered jointly through UVM Extension, WAgN and the New Farmers Project.  The Holistic Management International curriculum has transformed my perception of farm planning and reinforced that farming can be a sustainable lifestyle that pays a living wage.  The basic tenant is the triple bottom line: environmental, social, and financial.  This allows you to create a holistic goal that accounts for the land, the community and your bank account, which in turn supports your quality of life and the lives of those around you.

There will always be more to learn.

Perhaps the thing that surprised me most in 2009 was the fact that there will never stop being “firsts.”  In other words, there will always be more to learn no matter how many seasons you have worked the land, because the land is a living system which grows and changes just as we do.  This fact now comforts me, and oddly gives me confidence to try new things.  Trying, after all is the best way to learn, and though mistakes may slow you down for a moment, in the long run they will help you create a sustainable working system.

Posted in Large Scale Growing | 4 Comments

Field Walks: Staying Connected to Your Crops

Paul examining summer squash in the fieldsIn my mind, I am a now junior grower.  I figure you get one freshman year, and then a bunch of sophomore years.  After 12 seasons, I am unwilling to consider myself a senior grower, but I get a little closer every day.  I remember when I first started farming I felt the need to see everything on the farm everyday.  There was so much going on it was hard to know what to pay attention to and what to look for.  It took a little while before I had a handle on how fast plants change from day to day and how quickly field conditions can change.  Now that I have a few seasons behind me, and am familiar with the varieties I grow, I can see a little further into the future and get a feel for how the farm will look.  I am still amazed at how quickly weeds can pop and become an issue, but that’s a different topic for another day.

At least once a week, I take the time to see the whole farm.  It’s important to set aside a time to walk your fields.  There are occasions where the only chance I get to do that is when we head up to the fields to harvest but I try—and prefer to do it when I don’t have a crew with me.  I take the time to look at all my fields and make mental notes about where things are and when certain jobs need to happen.  This is also a good time to catalog all the little jobs that take only a few minutes.  They’re good for the end of the day when we have those few extra minutes to spend.  My farm is small enough that I don’t put much down on paper, but it’s not a bad idea.  There’s a lot to keep straight and remembering can be half the work.

Examining lettuce in the fieldsOne of the most important tools that I carry on my walks is some emotional armor.  These walks are often where the problems get discovered.  My motto is “Detach and Persist” and I know that I need let go of the disappointment and focus on the work.  There are times when what I learn from my walks is the beginning of the end for a particular planting.  Keeping the emotion around the crop out of the decision making process is a good skill.  It’s ok to be upset, but it’s better to move on quickly to the next step when things aren’t going the way they should.  The longer a problem goes unattended, the worse it inevitably gets, and sometimes the best solution is to till it under.

I also make sure to take the time to really look hard at the plants; the base of the lettuce, the underside of the leaves, to dig around a little for root crops, anything that can give me an insight into what the crop needs or when it will be ready.  Vegetables are a high value venture, and they are worth the time.  In a lot of ways, the time I spend poking around is some of my favorite on the farm, and it can also be the most valuable.  There’s always something interesting to see; I get caught in the beauty of the farm, the energy of the plants, all that goodness.

Someone once told me that farmer’s footsteps are the best fertilizer.  It’s often true.  I think of my farm as a mirror, reflecting the energy that I put in.  Spending focused time has benefitted me in learning to see through the noise, and hone in on what’s important, making me a better grower every season.

I hope the upcoming season brings you everything you need.

Posted in Articles by Farmer Paul Betz, Large Scale Growing | 3 Comments

Striving Towards Sustainable Employee Management

How to Keep Yourself and Your Farm Staff Happy – by Becky Maden

In the fall of 1995, I found myself living in the loft of a barn, surrounded by a heap of hay, piles of mouse droppings, my pack of belongings, and a small mattress.  Below me, the cows, horses, and sheep sighed loudly all night long, and I jolted awake each time one of them peed.  My six work days a week were filled with harvesting, weeding, carpentry projects, cooking meals, and asking vigorous questions of the other apprentices and farmers about how and why everything was happening.  And at the end of each month, I received $100 in pay.

I would never trade a moment of time on this farm, or on the several other farms where I apprenticed through my late teens and twenties.  But by the time I graduated from college with a full-blown passion for farming coupled with the expectation that somehow my college degree made me more valuable, I found myself looking for salaried jobs managing farms.  I had neither the savings nor the experience to buy my own farm, but I wanted to steer clear of ever working for a “stipend” again.  So I accepted a job managing a small CSA in Colorado, and suddenly found myself hiring my own seasonal interns that were paid a stipend.

Hiring a seasonal farm crew flipped my identity on its head.  I was 22 and not confident in much about myself except for my ability to efficiently follow the directions of a boss.  How on earth did I possess the wisdom to tell anyone – much less people who were older than I – what to do?

Twelve years later, I can still openly admit that management is my least favorite part of farming.  It is hard to do gracefully and impossible to do perfectly.  However, there are a few tricks to make management a rewarding role for you, your co-workers and your staff, and how to keep yourself open to change based on experience, feedback, and self-awareness.

Hiring

Hiring and retaining seasonal staff is the first step in a smooth management experience.  Who works at your farm is something you have control over, and it’s important to honestly acknowledge that we all prefer to work with people we like.

On our farm, we try to make the hiring process a relatively formal affair.  When we first get an inquiry about work, we write back asking for a cover letter and resume.  This is a great way to push someone into a little extra effort, or to help them realize that we are professional.  It also allows us to learn a little bit about the candidate on paper before we invest time interviewing them.

If we decide someone is qualified for an interview, we invite them to the farm, where we sit and ask a series of interview questions that are tailored to our farm business.  We then walk around the farm and have a more casual chat, allowing them to ask questions about our farm.

Throughout the interview, we are not only attuned to the information they give us, but to their vibe or overall demeanor.  I’ve learned not to underestimate our intuition of a candidate’s personality and if they would be a “good fit”.  We also take into careful account how our returning staff will fit with this person.  And finally, we think about how happy the candidate might be working with us.

Checking a candidate’s references is invaluable in getting a sense their potential to fit into your farm.  Sometimes references make or break the decision for us – a few years ago, we interviewed a woman who, although nice, seemed a little too fancy in dress, makeup, and demeanor to fit into farm life; but when her former employer (a renowned vegetable farmer) told us that she was one of the hardest and most wonderful workers he’d had, we hired her immediately.  And she was fantastic.  Similarly, we were on the verge of hiring a young man two seasons ago – who interviewed well and looked good on paper – but when his former employer agreed that he was really nice, but simply couldn’t stay on task, we didn’t end up offering him the job.

 

Balancing the Personal with the Professional: FARM MANAGEMENT

Hours and hours of mundane tasks with co-workers can lead to unexpected sharing and personal closeness.  The bonds of friendship that I’ve forged working on farms are some of the strongest in my life.  But from a management perspective, this closeness needs to be balanced with an expectation of professionalism and an establishment of boundaries that makes everyone feel safe and supported in the farm’s work environment.  Below are a few guidelines to managing a professional and friendly farm work environment:

Create a personnel manual.  While initially this task may seem tedious, it’s a great opportunity to articulate the expectations of your workplace both for you and your staff.  This provides everyone with an understanding of the legal underpinnings of the workplace, it provides them with the steps to take should they have problems, and it also allows you to clarify expectations that are specific to your farm.

Expect promptness.  Our crew gathers in the morning a few minutes before the work day begins.  If someone arrives a few minutes late, they often find the rest of the staff already in the truck, pulling away to start work.  This experience alone is enough to encourage someone to arrive promptly in the future; it’s a rare occurrence that we’ve had to talk to someone about arriving on time in the morning.  Similarly, they stick to a 1 hour (unpaid) lunch, and on most days, they quit when the clock strikes 4 pm.  This schedule might seem posh to people who are accustomed to their employees working long summer days, but for us it eases the management burden because we know exactly how much work to expect from our staff in any given day.  It also keeps them motivated and they feel secure in knowing that they will get a lunch break and will be able leave at a reasonable hour.  And for us, it’s wonderful knowing that everyone will be there at the proper morning hour.

Structured learning during the work week.  Keeping our staff happy is often related to communicating the how’s and why’s of the farm operations.  This should happen daily on an informal basis, and at least weekly on a formal basis.  At the cornerstone of our operations is our weekly planning meeting when we collaboratively make a giant list of everything that needs to happen.  We allow at least a full hour for this meeting, and it is usually incredibly informative for all of us.

Staff empowerment.  Because I don’t enjoy the “manage” part of management, it’s really wonderful to realize that trusting farm staff with responsibility eases your burden while enhancing their experience.  It’s hard for me to let go of jobs I enjoy, and it’s also hard not to quickly glance at a project that is underway and wonder what the heck is going on.  But knowing that a job gets done well and efficiently is far more rewarding than gazing over someone’s shoulder and offering suggestions of how you would do it.  I learn only by doing things (and by messing everything up once first); so offering our staff this opportunity to learn by taking on individual tasks strengthens our farm in the long run.  It also offers seasonal employees a strong vested interest in the farm – and keeps many of them coming back year after year.

Structured social times outside of work.  Even though it might seem like everyone has seen enough of each other during the day, structured social activities outside of the work day can allow everyone to appreciate each other in a different setting.  We try to have at least one staff party each year that includes partners and families of our staff.  Numerous other social events happen during the year, from after-work happy hours, to outings to other farms.  All of these events help round out the work-oriented understanding we have of each other’s lives.

Mid-season check-ins and end-of-season interviews.  Even in the midst of a sweaty July, we make sure we schedule a meeting with all of our staff to learn about how the season is going.  Offering our staff members the opportunity to sit down in the shade and have a conversation about what they’d like to do on the farm (Drive the tractor more?  Work more CSA pick-ups?  Not be stuck weeding all the time?) and also to hear how they feel about the season is an invaluable conversation.  We also ask them what we could be doing better as managers, and since this happens mid-season, it allows us time to improve for the remainder of the season.  At the close of a staff member’s seasonal employment, we have a final chat that allows us to revisit some of the topics and goals we discussed earlier in the summer.

Open-minded humility.  My experiences both as an employee and as a manager have taught me that you can never get everything right, and if all you see is the mess of all your shortcomings, there will be no peace at night.  Farming is so full of the juxtaposition between gentle beauty and messy reality.  I see this no more clearly than in my own approach to farm management, when one moment I am listening compassionately to a staff member’s relationship dilemma, and the next moment I am sprinting across the field to catch an irrigation blowout.  There is some magic place where these two extremes overlap, a place that exists between extreme toughness and tender gentleness, and it is in this middle ground that I think the best management exists.  Many days, shaken by the stresses of farming, I crave the simplicity of that hay-strewn loft and my hundred dollar monthly salary.  But good, efficient staff management is just one more fiber in the giant web of sustainable farming; and without it, many of our businesses would never thrive

Posted in Large Scale Growing | 6 Comments

Container Gardening

If yard space is your only limitation, you can still grow a vegetable and herb garden successfully on your patio, porch, or even your door stoop. With the proper container, amount of light and water, soil type, and fertilizer, you can grow a wide array of crops without even breaking ground.

Choosing Your Container

There are many types of containers that make growing certain veggies and herbs possible without having an in ground garden.  Hanging baskets, planter boxes, and flowerpots are just a few examples of container types that can be utilized.  When choosing your container, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. How much root space does each specific crop require?
Choosing the right size container is very important.  Pots that are too small will restrict the root area and cause the soil to dry out too quickly and stunt the growth of the plant.  Pots that are too large will hold excess moisture and can lead to other problems such as root and stem rot.  So in choosing your container, keep in mind that each type of vegetable or herb will require a specific amount of root space to develop properly.  Baby salad greens and micro greens require very little root development and can be planted in a shallow container.  Full sized leafy vegetables and fruiting crops have much larger root systems and need a deeper, wider pot.  And while root crops, such as radishes, beets and carrots are typically not the best choice for containers, you can still enjoy growing these by selecting certain smaller rooted varieties that are better suited to container gardens and by choosing a deep enough container to satisfy the needs of the plant.

2. Does your container have good drainage?
While container plants are more susceptible to drying out due to the limited soil space, it is still very important that they have adequate drainage.  Most plants require plenty of water to promote healthy growth, but cannot tolerate soil that remains wet for prolonged periods of time.  If this happens, you will see poor root development and eventually root and stem rot.  Your container should have several unobstructed drainage holes in the bottom at least a ½” from the edge of the pot.  Putting an inch or two of rocks in the bottom of your container before filling with soil, while at the same time keeping your container raised off the ground a few inches will improve drainage.

3.  Is my wooden container made with treated wood or a type of wood that will easily rot?
While using wooden containers and barrels can be very appealing choices, please take note whether the wood has been treated with toxic compounds such as creosote.  The treatment could easily leach into the soil in your container, damaging your plant and contaminating your food.  Also keep in mind that it is best to choose wooden containers made with wood such as cedar, white oak, or redwood that are fairly resistant to rot and will better withstand the outdoor elements for prolonged periods of time.

Light

Most vegetables require full sunlight.  Full sunlight is defined as at least 6 full hours or more of direct sunlight.  Fruit bearing crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants require full sun and benefit most from 8 to 10 hours of direct light per day.  Leafy crops such as lettuce, spinach, specialty greens, and herbs prefer full sun to partial shade.  While partial shade is defined as 3 to 6 hours of direct sunlight, these crops benefit most with at least 5 to 6 hours of sun.   Keep in mind, if your only spot to garden is in partial shade, try to orient your containers from east to west, so that larger plants will not shade smaller plants as the sunlight changes throughout the day.

Water

The amount of water your plants need will vary greatly depending on your climate.  Containers are prone to drying out faster than an in ground garden.  During hot, dry and windy weather, daily watering may be required, while during cool and rainy weather, you may not need to water much at all.  Although, it is important to monitor your plants daily to keep an eye on their needs.

Soil Type

Choosing the proper soil makes a big difference in container gardening.  There are many different types of soil mixtures on the market and each of these are suited to different aspects of the gardening process.  Some mixes are best suited for in ground use, while others are better suited as potting soil.  And further, some potting mixes are specifically for germinating seeds, for use in seed starting trays, soil blocks, or small containers.  While there are many brands on the market, VT Compost Company Fort V potting soil is a great example of such a mix.  This is the type of mix you will use if you are starting your own seeds, but once you are ready to transplant your starts into their final container, you will want to select a potting mix more suited to larger containers.  This type of potting soil has a coarser texture and provides proper drainage and a better structure for good root development.  VT Compost Perennial / Large Container Mix is a great example of a container garden potting soil.

Fertilization

Ensuring proper nutrients during your plants life cycle is another important consideration.  While many potting mixes often have compost or other fertilizer in them, you may still need to supplement your plants with more fertilizer.  This is especially true in climates that receive a lot of rain, as nutrients in the soil quickly drain out of your container before the plant has a chance to utilize their full benefits.  Also, the longer it takes for a plant to reach full maturity, the more fertilizing it may need.  While it is true that compost can make a good top dressing for your plant, it is more difficult for use in container gardening because of the limited space for soil in your container.  Be careful to leave about an inch of space at the top of your pot for rain and water to collect so that it does not just run off the top.  For this reason, many gardeners choose to use liquid fertilizers.  For organic gardening, you can use liquid fish emulsion or liquid seaweed such as Neptune’s Harvest.  Another great option is to make compost tea by soaking compost in water for a few days.  The nutrients and minerals from the compost leach in to the water.  The compost can then be drained out and you can use this to water your plants.  These are just a couple of examples, but any organic liquid fertilizer will do.  For best results, use a dilute solution with every other watering.  Remember, though, too much fertilizer can often be more damaging to a plant than not enough fertilizer.  Therefore, it is important to research the specific nutritional needs of each crop type you choose to grow.

Choosing your Varieties

Vegetables best suited for container gardening are those with a compact growth habit, such as bush beans, chard, chives, dwarf varieties of peas, peppers, determinate tomatoes, salad greens, spinach, most herbs, and root crops such as radishes, turnips, and some varieties of beets and carrots.  In general, crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash and zucchini, potatoes, corn, and most vining plants such as cucumbers and winter squash do not do as well in container production, although there are a few varieties listed below that might do better than others.

High Mowing Organic Seeds carries a wide variety of organic vegetables, herbs and flowers that are well suited for container gardening – check out our Container Gardening Varieties Page!

Posted in Beginner Gardeners' Guide | 6 Comments

Carrot Juices

Here in Northern Vermont, April tugs at our heartstrings as it dangles spring in front of us, while at the same time threatening one more winter storm to put our hopes for new gardens and fresh veggies on hold a little longer.   Last year, we were all fooled by an early warm spell only to be pelted by hail the next week.  Despite the unreliable spring weather, we can still find ways to brighten our days with veggies and fruits left over from last year’s harvest.  My favorite way to do this: juicing!

What is better than a fresh cup of bright orange carrot juice on a cold damp spring morning?  Not only does it transform the end-of-the root cellar carrots from their dirt-stained appearance (we store ours without washing them) back to a vivid orange, but it’s also good for you.  Juicing allows you to take in more vegetables and fruit at one time, thereby allowing you to increase the amount of nutrients you get with each serving.  Many people also notice an increase in their immune system functioning, and an energy boost thanks to fresh, raw juice.

I began juicing this past winter and became hooked.  I started off with basic carrot juice, but quickly learned that the only limit to juicing is your own creativity.  You can add any combination of vegetables, fruits, and greens for a delicious and healthy treat.  Here are three of my stand-bys:

You can also try different kinds of carrots for some fun variation:

Just put through your ingredients into the juicer and voila—you’ve made your own juice!

 

Classic Carrot Juice: 

  • 4-6 carrots

 

Carrot Apple Juice:

The apple adds a nice balance of sweetness to the juice.

  • 4 large carrots
  • 1 large apple (you can put the whole apple in—no need to peel or core)

 

Carrot Apple Ginger Juice:

The ginger adds a nice zing to make this juice uplifting and energizing. 

  • 4 large carrots
  • 1 large apple
  • 1 chunk of ginger (size depending on how much zing you want)

- Katie Spring

 

Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments

Carrots: A Look at Our Bejo Varieties

Organic CarrotsWe are fortunate at High Mowing Organic Seeds to have access to some of the highest quality seed sources available. This week two of our friends at Bejo Seeds, Inc. visited us here in Wolcott, VT. Bejo is a Dutch company that has two offices in the US, including a world-class research and demonstration farm in Geneva, NY. Jan and Tom joined us for a day at High Mowing to learn more about our needs and to further familiarize our staff with some of the Bejo varieties we sell.

Tom Gordon works as the Organic Seed Sales and Product Development Manager, bringing with him excellent perspective from nearly thirty years in the industry. Jan van der Heide has been working with Bejo for over eight years, after spending much of his professional life working as an agent with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Office. Jan works as the Northeast Sales and Product Development Manager for Bejo and is encyclopedic in his variety knowledge. Both of these fine gentlemen eat their vegetables.

Bejo Seeds has similar criteria to our own when it comes to selecting, breeding, and producing seed. Jan and Tom outlined four of these traits during our discussion this week. First, Bejo produces varieties that are easy to grow – those which have good seed and seedling vigor, produce a hardy plant, and are tolerant to diseases. Eating quality is also of utmost importance at Bejo. Their varieties have an appealing flavor and texture and are true to the expectations of the customer. Third, Bejo emphasizes early or predictable maturity, focusing on varieties that grow quickly, are available on schedule, and can yield over time. Lastly, Bejo seeks out varieties which have unique or special traits such as color, flavor, or yield that are otherwise not represented in the current market.

Tom, Jan and I spent part of the morning discussing the carrot varieties which we currently source from Bejo. I was impressed with the great detail into which they could each delve. Between their familiarity with the varieties, our trials results, and the feedback we’ve been getting from our customers, we had much to discuss.

Organic Napoli F1 CarrotNapoli F1 – 55 days

The Napoli F1 carrot has assumed cult status with many of our customers who rave about its sweet flavor and uniform growth. Napoli is an early fresh market Nantes-type best harvested around 7.5 inches. The root is a deep orange color, and smooth with a slight taper and a blunt tip. Napoli fills out quickly, making this a great option for baby carrots. Superior in many ways to Nelson F1, Napoli is a must-have for any commercial carrot grower.

 

Ya Ya F1 CarrotYaya F1 – 60 days

The Yaya F1 carrot is another early fresh market Nantes-type carrot. Like Napoli F1, Yaya F1’s smooth root and blunt tip is easily compared to Nelson F1. Yaya produces very uniform roots and is easy to grow well. It is sweet and tender with excellent eating quality fresh from the ground. Yaya’s medium-length tops are disease tolerant and strong enough to hold up to bunching and transport.

 

 

Organic Necoras-F1CarrotNecoras F1 – 68 days

Necoras F1 is our choice for a main season storage carrot to compete with Bolero F1. Best harvested at eight inches, Necoras has smooth skin and a blunt tip. Necoras has strong tops, showing excellent tolerance to Alternaria leaf blight and is a popular choice for mechanical harvesting. With a sweet taste similar to Yaya, Necoras has a tender crunch that holds very well in storage.

Organic Negovia F1 CarrotNegovia F1 – 80 days

This carrot is worth the wait. A long-season storage type also similar to Bolero F1, Negovia F1 fills out well at eight inches. Negovia holds well in the field and is an excellent keeper in cold storage. Negovia has strong, disease tolerant foliage and handles heat and drought stress well. A stand-out in our summer carrot trials, Negovia’s sweet flavor and excellent texture was memorable to say the least.

 

 

 

Organic Yellowstone CarrotYellowstone – 70 days

If you want to add some color to your carrot selection, look no further. Yellowstone’s deep yellow color will not be soon forgotten. A smooth ten inch cylindrical root with long and sturdy tops, Yellowstone is a popular fresh market bunching carrot. This is a productive, widely-adapted variety with an excellent resistance to forking. Yellowstone is just as popular with commercial growers as it is with hungry kids.

 

 

Organic White Satin CarrotWhite Satin – 65 days

With unique culinary appeal, White Satin is an excellent specialty carrot variety. This carrot grows quickly to an ideal size of eight to ten inches. Straight and firm, with a juicy crunch, White Satin’s flavor is similar to a modern Nantes-type carrot. White Satin stores surprisingly well, with its flavor only getting better with time.

 

 

We take great pride at High Mowing Organic Seeds in knowing our product well. This enables us to stand behind the suggestions we make when working with our customers. We’re lucky to have such expertise within the company as well as within our network of growers. Please feel free to ask the hard questions and find the best fit for your soil and your market. If we don’t have the answers, we know who will.

Posted in Variety Highlights | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Mini Heads for Season Extension and Major Value

Organic Breen Lettuce

Organic Breen Lettuce

In recent years on our Trials Farm, we’ve fallen in love with the mini or midi type of lettuce – smaller sized lettuce heads that can be planted densely to maximize bed real estate and that offer great flavor. A particular favorite is the Little Gem type, a mini romaine with the sweetness and soft texture of a butterhead. We like to plant our mini heads at 6” x 6” spacing to maximize the use of our planting area.

Have you seen Breen?  This stunning mini romaine has pink-bronze leaves with lime green ribbing for eye-catching color contrast.  The heads are slender and elongated.  Rhazes is another amazing variety for color – deep garnet heads with lime green interior hearts.

Winter Density  isn’t technically a Little Gem type, but we’ve found this variety to be well-adapted to closer plant spacing for producing dense, compact heads.  It has good tolerance to both hot and cold temperatures and an attractive, dark green color.

The size and texture of these mini romaine heads make them particularly suited to open-faced sandwiches.  Cut in half lengthwise and serve each half, dressed, as a salad. The dense crispness of the hearts makes this a lettuce that can hold up to a little heat too – toss into a stir-fry or use to garnish a soup.

Last winter, we over-wintered several varieties of mini head lettuces in our unheated high tunnel.  The lettuce was seeded in late September and transplanted at the end of November.  The heads were ready for harvest in April.  In our zone 4 climate, most growers would be lucky to plant their first head lettuce in the field by the first week of April (under row cover), so this early harvest date certainly gets a jump on the season.  And, by planting into 6 rows in our 36” bed and spacing the plants 6” apart, the number of heads we harvested was more than twice what it would have been had we planted at the spacing that we normally use for full-size heads; 4 rows with plants at 10” apart.  We don’t sell at a farmers’ market, but I imagine that if we did, we wouldn’t charge quite as much for the mini-heads as for a large head of green leaf or Batavian lettuce, but we would comfortably charge ¾ of the price (despite being mini, the Little Gem types can pack some weight, and have a definite gourmet appeal), which means that at the increased planting density, we’d come out nicely ahead.

It’s not only the mini romaines that do well under close spacing.  Several of the oak leaf varieties – Oscarde, Red Oak Leaf  and Emerald Oak – make excellent mini heads as well.  Many of our customers who sell at farmers’ markets say that their customers go crazy for the smaller lettuce heads, appreciating the “cuteness factor” and the fact that these heads can be used up in a meal or two, rather than getting slimy in the crisper drawer.

Posted in Large Scale Growing, Variety Highlights, Winter Growing | Leave a comment