October 4th, 2007
Newsletter October 3rd
Ten good things that happened on the farm this season:
1. Even though getting killed by fusarium wilt, we got a fair amount of tomatoes from what we planted this year. At one point it didn’t look like we would even get 20 lbs, but somehow a lot of fruits ripened and we probably got around 400 lbs.
2. No meat chickens were killed by predators. This can be a very discouraging and frustrating problem to have, and we lucked out this year. I think raccoons might be the worst, as we have seen them kill 75 birds in a night (they just pulled the heads through the fencing and ate them off– I know its gross, but that’s what happens)
3. We weathered the cucumber beetle invasion. We got hit hard early on, and this can often be fatal, but we sprayed a couple of times (”organic approved” stuff, of course), and everything turned out fine. Squash and cukes are easy money for the small market grower, and we count on them to round out the veggies that don’t pay (green beans, peas, corn).
4. No fires. No floods. No major wind damage. No frost in June. No drought.
5. There were no real complaints by any customers. We do our best to make sure nothing gets sold or delivered that is not clean, totally fresh, and worth the price we are selling it for. I think the local grower has to have this kind of attitude to run a good business. Sometimes we have to throw out food that is perfectly fine to eat despite a few blemishes, but the pigs will enjoy them or the compost piles will grow. In the end I think it’s the best way to go.
6. The composting efforts we have put forth over the last few years are starting to pay off, as next year we will primarily be feeding our soil nutrients that were made here, grown here and broken down here. This is a big cost cutter for us, and our soil can use everything we can give it.
7. The new pump we bought allowed us to irrigate parts of the farm that previously needed to rely solely on rain before. Although there is a lot of extra work involved in lugging around hoses and sprinklers, it really has opened up our crop rotations to new possibilities, and it allows us to not have to rely so heavily on transplants (also labor intensive) to assure good germination.
8. There were no real problems with foragers this year. Very little damage was done by deer, woodchucks, rabbits or moose. Mice, however, continue to be a problem in the greenhouse and with winter squash/pumpkins. There does not seem to be many practical solutions. I suppose we can co-habitate with mice, as long as there are no rats. Rats are the worst thing in the world. I’m a fairly tough guy, but a fat disgusting rat popping up in the barn will make me run like a little girl all the way back to the house. We haven’t had them for four or five years, but still….they are awful. Not that this has anything to do with farming, but I always say my two biggest fears are rats and prison. I hate rats.
9. Although we made about the same amount of money as last year, I feel we have gotten a lot better idea of which direction to pursue in making this business sustainable for the future. A mix of animals, CSA and a group of small restaurants really seem to be the way to go. For the first time I have a great idea of what to grow for next year, and how much of each product. This is why I think we can do an ordering system for the CSA next year. The trick is to grow a wide assortment of things, and then sell a high percentage of them. We have little interest in trying to grow and sell 20,000 lbs of carrots.
10. We made it to the end of the season. Woo hoo! We are tired and need a break.