Blog Archives

155: Howard Prussack of High Meadows Farm on a Happy Farm, Business Development, and Transplant Production

1/25/2018

Howard Prussack of High Meadows Farm raises crops, potted herbs, and vegetable starts with his wife, Lisa, in 30,000 square feet of greenhouses as well as out in the field in Putney, Vermont. Howard has been farming since 1971, and High Meadows Farm was the first certified organic farm in Vermont.

We dig into Howard’s history and the growth of the farm, Howard’s early off-farm job and how that helped him learn the business, and the logistics of marketing to retailers. Howard also shares his tips about transplant production, training employees to water plants in the greenhouse, and the overseas education work that he has done.

Sponsors

Farmers Web: Making it simple for farms, farm cooperatives, and local food artisans to streamline working with wholesale buyers. Lessening the administrative work that comes with each order helps producers create a more successful relationship with their buyers and can help them work with more buyers overall.

Vermont Compost Company: Founded by organic crop growing professionals committed to meeting the need
for high-quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production.

BCS America: BCS two-wheel tractors are versatile, maneuverable in tight spaces, light-weight for less compaction, and easy to maintain and repair on farm. Gear-driven and built to last for decades of dependable service on your farm or market garden.

Quotes from the Show

We joke that we get paid in scenery here but we try to balance it out with real money.

Cheap is a state of mind and do you really want cheap food or do you want good food?

Business takes a life of its own. It evolves in the way that it just evolves if you're paying attention. What you
should always do is pay attention to the standard business practices of maintaining the financial integrity of basically more money needs to be coming in than going out.

You make more money doing bookkeeping than you do farming because you learn the mistakes. You learn what makes money. That's where good decisions are going to come from.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode is brought to you by Earth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America. And by Osborne Quality Seeds, a dedicated partner for growers. Visit osborneseed.com for high quality seed, industry-leading customer service, and fast order fulfillment. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.

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154: Richard Wiswall of Cate Farm on Managing for Profits and Quality of Life

1/18/2018

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Today’s show is a repeat of an episode I recorded in the spring of 2015 with Richard Wiswall Cate Farm in Plainfield, Vermont. Cate Farm has sold produce through a CSA, farmers markets, and wholesale accounts, and has been in business since 1981. Richard is also well known for his excellent book, the Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook. We take a hard look at the business side of vegetable farming, with some quick pointers for how you can start to understand the cost of production and marketing on your farm to inform better decision-making on your farm. We also take a look at framing both big-picture and day-to-day decisions on your farm.

Sponsors

Hoss Tools: The complete solution for all your market farming tools and supplies. They manufacture and carry only the highest-quality tools that are built to last a lifetime. From their time-tested Wheel Hoes, precision Garden Seeders, heavy-duty seed trays, drip irrigation and OMRI certified pest control solutions, they have you covered. FREE SHIPPING and outstanding customer service at www.hosstools.com.

Local Food Marketplace: Providing an integrated, scalable solution for farms and food hubs to process customer orders – including online ordering, harvesting, packing, delivery, invoicing and payment processing. Manage multiple product and price lists with ease. Maximize your sales by selling multiple product pack sizes out of the same inventory. Local Food Marketplace will help you reach more customers and save time in fulfilling your customer’s orders.

Vermont Compost Company: Founded by organic crop growing professionals committed to meeting the need for high-quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production.
The transcript for this episode is brought to you by Earth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America. And by Osborne Quality Seeds, a dedicated partner for growers. Visit osborneseed.com for high quality seed, industry-leading customer service, and fast order fulfillment. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.

Show Links

Organic Farmers Business Handbook (Richard Wiswall)

Deep Root Organic Co-op

The Holistic Management book

Holistic Management Testing Questions

Richard’s Favorite Tools:
Greenhouse Trolley for moving flats in and out of the greenhouse
Fred Cain Ripper – mini chisel plow for cutting slots between the wheel tracks

Richard’s Favorite Resources:
Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association – Richard uses the organization’s listserv to ask questions and seek solutions from a large number of beginning and advanced growers.

Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers program at the University of Vermont Extension – Richard gave a shout out to Vern Grubinger’s great work, which I’ve also benefitted from tremendously over the years. Vern also wrote a book that I highly recommend for beginning growers, Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-Up to Market.

Transcript

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153: Ryan Thiessen of Creek Shore Farms on Going Full Time, Small Scale Mechanization, and Winter CSA

1/11/2018

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Ryan Thiessen farms four acres of vegetables in two locations at Creek Shore Farms in St. Catharines, Ontario. With 110 CSA members in the summer and 72 in the winter, as well as farmers market sales, Creek Shore Farms provides a modest living for Ryan and his wife, Amanda.
While Amanda has been full time on the farm since its start in 2010, 2017 was Ryan’s first year with farming as his only job. We talk about the challenges he encountered while making the transition, and what he plans to do differently in 2018.
Creek Shore Farms is highly mechanized for a farm of its scale, and Ryan shares where and how he’s made choices about mechanizing, and how he’s taken advantage of farming two properties as a way to organize what crops are raised using what methods. Ryan shares his adventures with two-wheeled Planet Junior cultivating tractors and how they revolutionized weed control at Creek Shore Farms.
We also dig into Creek Shore’s focus on winter vegetables, including cropping practices, hoophouse adventures, and their storage, washing, and packing facility.

Sponsors

Vermont Compost Company: Founded by organic crop growing professionals committed to meeting the need for high-quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production.

BCS America: BCS two-wheel tractors are versatile, maneuverable in tight spaces, light-weight for less compaction, and easy to maintain and repair on farm. Gear-driven and built to last for decades of dependable service on your farm or market garden.

High Mowing Organic Seeds: The first independently owned, farm-based seed company proudly serving organic growers with a full line of 100% certified organic and Non-GMO Project verified vegetable, herb, flower and cover crop seeds. Professional quality seeds grown by organic farmers, for organic farmers. Purchase your seeds early and receive a 10% discount through our Community Supported Seeds program – visit highmowingseeds.com/save.

Quotes from the Show

It didn’t cost me that much to own [my brand new Kubota] for five years, and now upgrading it’s probably going to be the same thing.

A little bit of debt is okay if it’s well thought out and based in the right spot.

After a while, you’re not that young, new farm anymore, and you really need to let people know you’re established and that you’re here to stay.

For us, farming isn’t a career. It’s who we are.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode is brought to you by Earth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America. And by Osborne Quality Seeds, a dedicated partner for growers - visit osborneseed.com for high quality seed, industry-leading customer service, and fast order fulfillment. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.

Download Episode

Download Transcript

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152: Scott Chaskey of Quail Hill Farm on Thirty Years of a Member-Harvested CSA, Land Trusts, and Making Time for Poetry

1/4/2018

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Scott Chaskey is the Director of Quail Hill Farm, one of the original Community Supported Agriculture farms in the United States. Located in Amagansett, New York, on land donated to the Peconic Land Trust, the farm also delivers fresh food to local restaurants, food pantries, and the Sag Harbor Farmers Market.

Quail Hill’s 250 member families harvest their own food each week from the 35 acres of vegetable production, and Scott digs into the nitty gritty of how that process works. We also discuss the ways that Quail Hill works to keep the community involved in the farm through its advisory committee and other mechanisms.

Scott shares how he worked in the early years to build up the depleted soil at Quail Hill Farm, how they maintain it now, and how they’ve met the challenge of a nutsedge infestation. We also discuss the farm’s advanced apprenticeship program, Scott’s start in food production while living in Cornwall, and how Scott has made time and space for writing poetry and prose while managing the farm.

Sponsors

BCS America: BCS two-wheel tractors are versatile, maneuverable in tight spaces, light-weight for less compaction, and easy to maintain and repair on farm. Gear-driven and built to last for decades of dependable service on your farm or market garden.

Vermont Compost Company: Founded by organic crop growing professionals committed to meeting the need for high-quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production.

Farmers Web: Making it simple for farms, farm cooperatives, and local food artisans to streamline working with wholesale buyers. Lessening the administrative work that comes with each order helps producers create a more successful relationship with their buyers and can help them work with more buyers overall.

Quotes from the Show

We do have to grow some vegetables because people seem to want some vegetables, but building up the health of the soil is my favorite part of it.

You come on a Saturday and so many people will say "We really want to thank you for what you're doing." And we, the farmers feel like we want to thank them because they're keeping us going, but they can be incredibly gracious and appreciative of what it takes to farm.

I learned a lot about the soil, and working with the soil, and about plants, and about the patience it takes to be a gardener or a farmer.

It’s been a real privilege to be able to study language and to study the language of the Earth at the same time.