December 2008
December 1, 2008
Finally a much needed break from the hectic pace of the last several months. To Stewart and me, fall marks the end of the year on the farm and December, the beginning of a new one. The end of the season was clearly defined this year with an early frost, abruptly freezing the summer crops we usually enjoy well into the fall. The we experienced an Indian summer as the temperatures warmed back up to the 80’s and grasshoppers continue to thrive! For the past several weeks we have been so busy with field trips of up to 300 students and their parents Monday through Friday and our Fall Festival which saw 300 cars full of families each weekend and private weddings on the farm, that we have barely had time to share stories of our days. “Did you see that father petting the bull with his toddler? ” I finally asked Stewart. He had. The man was with his little girl balancing precariously on the cattle-guard reaching through a gate to pet the neighbors 1,500 pound bull! Unbelievable! It blows my mind sometimes at how out of touch people are when it comes to safety on farms. Some parents let their kids pet horses and pigs without supervision and are surprised if they get bit. I actually put up signs that say; “Have teeth. May bite. ” (I wanted to add, “duh! ” but resisted.) Some folks are so accustomed to the clean, dust free conveniences of urban life that they are very uncomfortable in the country. One lady this year was mad that she had to carry her pumpkins too far. I told her that we provide free hayrides back from the pumpkin patch. She didn’t want to take a hayride and walked off in a huff that the garden was not close enough to her car! Another man was angry that the parking lot was in a different place than last year. I explained that we are organic and need to rotate our crops every year which means moving the parking lot. That didn’t seem to make him feel better. Another customer asked why the hayride was bumpy and another wanted a guarantee that there were no snakes in the garden. While doing pony rides I overheard a mother explaining to her child that ponies were actually donkeys mixed with regular horses and I saw at least five women here for the day in high heels! I am assuming that most of you are equally appalled at these behaviors, but maybe you’re not. Maybe I am much more of a country bumpkin than I thought. I wonder. I wonder how completely clueless I would be living in a city.
Now, we have time to take a deep breath and reflect on our successes and failures of the 2008 growing season. It is also a time to make plans for our December Christmas event and for the year to come. The pace has slowed and the intense summer heat has lifted allowing Stewart and me to enjoy a cup of coffee and conversation after the kids are off to school.
In many ways, this has been a good year for us. We have had more demand than ever for our local, organic vegetables. So much so, that we couldn’t keep up (we turned down a few restaurants, stores and farmer’s markets). Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) membership grew to 165 families this past summer who all received a weekly bag of our veggies. The farm itself had many more visitors and our website was visited by thousands. The down side is that for every dollar that was brought in, most of it went back out in labor costs to make it happen! In the peek summer weeks, we had 10-12 people working for us! Harvesting and washing and bagging produce for the CSA and farmers markets would take four employees three to four full days a week!
I recall a day in late July when I looked out into the pumpkin patch (the crops were just seedlings at the time) and counted 8 people with hoes weeding! During our festival, I had a pumpkin picker in that same field who complained about the weeds. I flashed back to that scene of hardworking people sweating in the July heat, clocking in hour after hour of payroll. I tried to explain to the customer with a smile that “…we are organic. The rains were steady and frequent and we did all the cultivating by hand. We couldn’t keep up with the weeds”. This explanation was met with understanding by this customer who completed my thoughts by adding “That’s just part of the experience, I guess! ”. Despite a few uncomfortable city slickers, most had a great time. Many teachers told us that our field trip was the best they’ve ever been on. A few families made a point of thanking us for opening up our place for them and we saw a lot of people who have made it an annual tradition to come to our farm each fall.
In reviewing our year, Stewart and I agree that we are good at putting on events. From Gabrielle Giffords wedding last November to our tours, field trips and festivals – “agri-tainment” is something we are good at. We finished planting the garlic this week that will be one of the stars of next June’s Garlic and Onion Festival and have added some “Day on the Farm” activities for kids in the spring. On the horizon, we are once again selling Oregon Christmas trees this month with moonlit hayrides, hot cider and Christmas cookies (check our website for more details) and are considering turning our very popular Easter brunch and egg hunt into a public event. But, as we move through December we are trying to figure out how to make farming more profitable. We need to find a way to reduce our labor costs and still grow a variety of good quality produce. We are looking into some equipment to make each step of the process mechanized and growing more crops in the protective environment of the greenhouse. There is much more to discuss over the next few weeks as we also continue planting our winter salad greens and other crops. I am welcoming the cool temperatures, warm fires and beginning a new year in 2009!
Agua Linda Farm is a 63 acre family run farm in Amado Arizona. Go to www.AguaLindaFarm.net for more information or contact Stewart and Laurel Loew at 398-3218 or email stewart@AguaLindaFarm.net. Fall Festival Hours are Saturday and Sunday 10 AM-5 PM all month.
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