Work Smarter, Not Harder!
February 4, 2009
Farming for 2009 has begun! The goal for this new growing season – uniformity and mechanization. We have determined that in order to reduce the outrageous labor costs we endured last year is to utilize our tractors more and our backs less. The first step in making this happen is to create rows in the fields that are all the same size. This way, we can set our implements in fixed positions to do most of the seeding, cultivating and even some harvesting with the help of our John Deeres! This may seem obvious, but it has taken some time to get to this place. Some crops do well in narrow rows spaced wide apart. Others can be seeded 2 or 3 rows to a bed, making the best use of the space. Problem is, if we can’t drive down the rows with the tractor, all work is done by hand.
For commercial growers, there is an amazing selection of specialized equipment to take “backs” out of most of the tasks of farming. Organic lettuce growers have invented a machine that harvests baby greens. One person drives a tractor down the row to be harvested, dragging a machine that has delicate fingers that make contact with the crop first, chasing rodents out of the rows. Then a series of sharp teeth cut the greens close to the ground. The leaves are then lifted out of the field by conveyer and into a chilled container; bean growers have tractor implements that harvest and sort pods; commercial corn growers never need to touch the plants they raise. Well, small community-supported farms like ours couldn’t possible afford these wonderful inventions. Not only do we grow lettuce, beans and corn, but we also grow at least thirty more fruits and vegetables. Specialized equipment is not an option. Innovation is.
This week we are planting onions. In the past few years, this has been done almost completely by hand. After the rows have been constructed by the tractor, Stewart used Bailey, our miniature horse, to assist him in plowing a wedge on top of each row. Then, as many as six employees and family members place onion sets (young transplants) by hand. Back and forth, up and down each row, walking on uneven ground, bending over every few feet, row after row after row was very time consuming and exhausting. Stewart then followed up with two more passes with Bailey and the plow to cover the roots of the seedlings. I shudder when I think of planting onions, yet, after the success of last year’s Garlic and Onion Festival, we have more than doubled our onion acreage for 2009. AHHH!
But, wait! This is the year of uniformity and mechanization! There are transplanting implements on the market that have seats that hang off the back of tractors where workers sit and ergonomically drop transplants into the ground. There is no budget for such luxuries, so innovation is born! Stewart invented our own transplanter that has made the job so much easier! In fact, as I lay on my stomach on the makeshift implement, in the warm, 70’ temperatures, Patches, my Australian Shepard sharing the space beside me, I felt like I was on vacation working on my tan as I dropped seedlings into the wedge that the tractor was creating. As we moved slowly down the row, a single shaft cut the wedge into the soil, Stewart and I alternated dropping seedlings in, then two more shafts buried the roots. Instead of seats, we lay on sturdy pieces of cardboard attached with baling twine. The job is almost completed (we are waiting for red onion seedlings to arrive in the mail). With half the workers and a fraction of the back pain, we are way ahead of schedule. When it is time to cultivate, 75% of the work will be done with the same tractor. We will still need to use a hoe to control weeds in the “in row”, the space between plants. We are now discussing the most efficient way to harvest, cure and store the onions in June.
Growing in the compact, controlled environment of a greenhouse is more intense. So, Stewart, the kids and I moved our 25’ by 40’ dining tent and reconstructed it next to the cold frame hoop house. We framed out the ends and covered the whole thing with giant sheets of transparent plastic to create a makeshift greenhouse. I am pretty impressed with our dining tent/greenhouse. It will give us a jump on the spring season, which begins in March, and it cost us very little. After we were done securing the plastic with staple guns, we transported rich soil from the compost pile. Two years of leaves raked from the yard, manure from the chickens, goats and cows yielded a rich, soft base for the space. Unfortunately, we had to move the two tons of soil by hand. The tractor with the front loader would have made for much faster, easier work, but it had a flat tire. So much for mechanization! Keeping up with flat tire repair is like washing dishes – it never ends. We have 86 tires on the farm and at any given time a third of them are flat. The large tires cost $500 to $1000 to replace! (UGH! There’s always something!) Maybe we should be in the tire business.
The new greenhouse – which we now call the “Big House”, was seeded last week and neat little rows have already germinated. Lettuce, kale, Asian greens, green onion, radishes, chard and more are scheduled to be ready for harvest the first week of March. We are having our first “Talk & Tour” of the year on February 7 at 11am and have begun signing members for our CSA, which will be month-to month this year. See our website for details! Hope we see some of you here!
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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