It's nearing the end of April and I don't think it gets too much busier than it is right now. The last couple of days have been chaotic. Off farm work commitments have kept me out of the field and frankly left me with a feeling of being out of touch. there are so many pressing projects to be done it's a little overwhelming. The weather is starting to be progressively nicer each week. That's great for growing things. It also puts the pressure on for things like setting up irrigation. All of a sudden everything needs water and I havn't even started setting up pumps or laying drip tape. Hopefully we'll get a little rain today to ease the pressure.
We are just hitting stride. Greens are on strong and we are able to offer product to a few more accounts this week. Farm to cafeteria deliveries start next week. Everyone is excited and we are getting lots of calls for deliveries. We are still having to allocate a little and making the difficult deciscions of who we are able to fill orders for. It seems we can't grow enough. Not a bad problem I suppose. I wish we could do it all though so it's a bit frustrating.
Farmers market begins May 6th and I can't wait. We will be having a nice selection of produce such as salad greens, braising greens, carrots, onions, green garlic, pea shoots, rhubarb, radishes potatoes, eggs and tons of plant starts.
All in all things are going well. Even though there are many things to be done, i know we'll get to them. We are off to a solid start and i'm looking forward to continued success.
All the best,
John Steward
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I was off island yesterday making a supply run. i had a little spare time so i was able to visit a couple of farms. One of my favorite activities. The first wad willie's greens in Monroe. They have 37 axres under cultivation and grow a wide selection but specialize in salad greens. pretty impressive to see the scope on which they operate. Abosulutely beautiful to see the long rows just beaming with new greens soon to be cut. They harvest about 3500 lbs a week. That's alot. we may do 6,000 lbs for the entire year. lessons learned? Dont't be afraid to think big and don't be afraid to invest in new equipment. Sure machinery costs money but it makes you more in the end. Lesson two. Keep up with direct marketing. Willie's has a contract with a wholesaler and are receiving a low price per pound. Obviously they are making it up in volume and direct marketing on that level would be difficult to say the least, but In the middle somewhere lies they key to success for a farm the size of Maple Rock.
My second stop was Hedlins Family Farm in La Conner. I have heard a great deal about there tomato operation and was able to see first hand how they do it. Just let me say I was greatly impressed. They have tomatoes that will be ready for harvest in about two weeks! How do they do it? Well, the seeds were started on December 27th. they use subsequent heat but not lighting. the seedlings eventually wind up in grow bags placed on the floor of the greenhouse. One plant per bag. They have an irrigation system that allows them to fertilize as they water. They plants are neatly pruned and trelissed. As the plants grow they are trained to run vertically and put out as many as 40 individual fruit sets. This allows them to have a harvest from May through November. Pretty Cool. Lesson learned? Don't be afraid to think outside the box. most people wouldn't believe you if you told them about having fresh vine ripened tomatoes in this part of the world in May. It's a very inovative system that was obviously well thought out and implemented. Having a heated greenhouse is more expensive but i think it's more than made up for in the end. Their pricing is set at $4.00 to $4.50 per pound and apparently they sell all they can grow. Again, Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.
Seeing both of this farms gave me a shot in the arm. They are obviously making it and that is very encouraging to see. It gives me hope that we can use some of their ideas to improve our own operation to increase our profits.
Take care,
John
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Here on the farm, the beginning of our growing season starts in late February. We are most busy in the greenhouse starting plants that are destined to be planted on the farm as soon as conditions permit. We also plant extras for retail sales. Starts have turned out to be a critical part of our early season cash flow. Many of these go to our good friend Lorna at Drtiftwood Nursery. Lorna has been in business for thireteen years and is a valuable resource for quality plants and information. Lorna's husband, Bob, operates Driftwood ranch here on Orcas. They raise several hundred head of cattle each year. Driftwwod Ranch is our sole supplier of manure. We use their product for sevearl reasons. First off we know the source. The cattle are grass fed and are not injected with steroids or antibiotics and it is economical and conveient for us to use. We receive two year old composted product and we know what we will be getting. It's not uncommon for us to go through six to ten dump truck loasd in a season. If we had to man handle all of this product, I reckon thats about all we'd ever be doing!
This manure starts out as either pasture or hay which bob cuts just down the road from us. The cows receive the nutrient and discard the excess. Bob piles the waste in the bottom of his field where the composting process begins. Microbes immediately begin to break the manure down and it is turned from time to time to speed up the process. We use the compost as a soil amendment where it feeds plants and improves the biological soil web and eventually turns into humus. So, by doing a little extra work, Bob brings in additional cash flow for his operation as well as keeps a tidy and healthy enviroment for his stock. Most importantly, he is using his resources to finality. Nothing is wasted.
We grow plants from seed. We nurture, touch and love them. The seedlings are then transplanted into our special blend of potting soil that we make right here on the farm using liberal quantities of the compost. They mature for a bit longer and are either planted here or go to the nursery for sale to the public. It's neat! When you purchase one of our starts from Lorna you are buying a porduct that was grown by a farmer you know and trust using local inputs and sustainable methods. You feel good because you are supporting local agriculture and are supporting a local economy and increasing the multiplier effect of your dollars. In a nutshell, the multiplier effect relates to the number of times money flows through a local economy. The money we receive from sales flows directly back into the economy through wages and purchase's of goods and services even further increasing the multiplier. We try to be wise with our expenditures and keep our dollars within our own economy as often as possible.
There is mor to the story here than just money. It's about being resourceful and using the resources we have at hand from beginning to end. I know Lorna feels good about seeing a bi-product of the ranch come back to her in a life giving manner. She also likes having a local source for a product that she would otherwise order from off island. Her customers like it too and they are receiving a better quality product that was chosen as a proven winner for our locaL conditions.
Our actions as producers and consumers directly affect the health and vibrancy of our local community which translates into a quality of life issue for the entire island. We are so fortunate to be part of such a special place. Our food options and quality of food here are more diverse than any other place I've even seen.
So I urge us all to make a conscious decision when we are spending our dollars and ask ourselves "can i get what I need right here at home?" You may be surprised how many times the answer is "yes"
Keep well friends,
Your farmer
John
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Strawberries are in! They will be in full production by June. All we have to worry about now is how we will harvest them. I'm hoping for some u-pick evenings this summer. How fun will that be? A little bbq. a little dip in the pond. Who's making stawberry shortcake?
Today we will be transplanting out Walla Walla sweet onions, Nero De Tuscana Kale and Gailann, which is a peppery flavored broccoli raab. It reminds me of a cross between asparagus and broocoli. This will complete the plant out at our westbeach site. The secomd succession of peas and fava's are just coming up there too. I was able to get the last run of fencing rolled out, now I just need to stretch and attach it to the poles and we are done with that. Should just take an hour or so. Finally!
Hopefully we can get sunflowers direct sown and the 1st succession of peas cultivated today at Our crow Valley plot. Don't forget to thin the radish's. We may also get to raking more rocks and setting the last four beds over at the Mt. baker Rd site.
We are already out of space. Happens every year. Where is it all going? There is a ton of stuff to be planted out that is potted up in the greenhouse. It's time to sow more greens and there's more stuff that's a couple of weeks off from being transplanted. Hopefully today we can come up with a semi final farm plan to sort it all out.
Last weeks cool weather set the soil temp back down so potatoes will have to wait just a bit longer. We need the soil temp to be at least 50 degree's or the poor things will just set there and be at risk to pest's and disease. This is our last "big" plant out project. I will have certified organic potatoes for sale at the farmers market from our seed supplier Alden Farms. I am bringing in a few hundred pounds of three or four varieties.
This is the time also when we are concentrating on cultivation and thinning. We had a good session of that yesterday. It's really an everyday project right now. The weeds grow so fast with this kind of weather. They can overtake a bed in no time at all. I do love our new flame weeder though. I can already see it is saving us hours.
Well then. That should do it for today. Carry on Chaps!
Farmer John
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Lots going on on the farm this week. Today we will be installing our strawberries. Should go fairly smooth. We will have four 110ft beds with a total of about 1400 plants. I know that sounds like a lot but it should just take a half day or so.
We need to do a bunch of thinning and cultivating as well, Beets, turnips radish's, lettuce and broccoli raab.
Still need to install the final run on our last fencing proiject. The second succession of peas and fava's are just starting to come up and we need to get the fence finished so the deer don't just wipe them out.
Potting up! We have started potting up tomatoes and brassicas. Plant's are just about ready to be available for delivery to our commercvial accounts and to our home gardners. We will have plants available at the first farmers market which starts May 7th. You can also buy direct from us at the farm. We have over 1,000 tomato starts alone! We will be terminating the greens in our big hoop house and installing the first plant out of Toms next week. Our timing looks to be right on as the outdoor sown greens will be on just about the time the indoor greens are done. This is a good thing. We will be having ripe tomatoes hopefully towards the end of June.
We are close to being out of room in the hoophouses for our flats and yet there is still one more round of starts to be sown. Time to sell some flats and begin the seemimgly never ending shuffle of pots.
All in all it's going well here and we miracuously seem to be keeping up on everything. One project at a time and lot's of focus. it's always a big push this time of year. We just have two more Saturdays here on the farm before the market begins so we will be going non stop. Let the madness begin!
Take it easy,
Farmer John
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