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Monthly Summary – June 2013

June 11th, 2014 | Posted by RickMorris in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off)

Monthly Summary– June 2013

Logs reviewed and summary prepared by Rick Morris

General Observations: Extreme heat, heavy rains, and several equipment malfunctions interrupted the normal flow of day-to-day work. The rain allowed us to catch up on some administrative tasks, and a big push for planting at the end of the month kept the farm chugging along.

Equipment (50 hrs): The blessing of machinery is that it allows the farmer to get more done faster. The curse is that some months you just have to spend a lot of time tending to the machines. The ATV broke down three times and needed to be repaired. The big John Deer tractor had a mysterious leak. The Kubota ride-along mower stalled enough that it was left out in the field in the midst of an uncompleted job. Yet, the farming continues!! Some equipment was interchangeable – eg. the small International tractor could pull the ATV’s trailer while the ATV was out of commission.

Mike demonstrating an important element of the tractor.

Administration (48 hrs): Organic certification paper work was updated, filled, and filed by 2^nd year apprentice TH. The regular cycle of business paperwork continues, with its yearly, monthly, and weekly cycles. Federal and state property taxes were filed and paid, bank statements were reconciled, and the crew was paid. The long stretches of rainy days gave time to work on the website and catch up on emails.

Infrastructure (93 hrs): The grass was growing fast and mowing had to keep up. Keeping the alleyways between beds and through the fruit cluster is important so that the crew can move about efficiently. Keeping the weed pressure in check on the shoulders and ends of beds requires vigilant attention with the weed whacker. This work often occurs on days when light rain prevents other tasks, though heavy rain prevents the mower from operating effectively. Misters were purchased to increase irrigation capacity. We cleaned and opened the farmhouse pool! It was ready just in the nick of time for the Summer Solstice party.

Greenhouse (44 hrs): Greenhouse tomatoes were trellised and pruned a few times. During hot weeks the greenhouses need to be checked to make sure they are receiving adequate irrigation. Clear communication between the manager and crew was essential to make sure that the right amounts of crops were started in the seedling greenhouse.

Composting (15 hrs): We were able to spread compost during the drier parts of the first and last weeks of the month. 6 big garden beds and 6 flower beds were prepared early on, and a number of field beds (10+) at the end of the month. Efficiency was improved by teaching the crew the best positioning of the ATV trailer relative to the compost pile. A good position allows the big tractor to fill the trailer with minimal movements.

Planting (151 hrs): The 579 field received its first flowers on June 1^st! More flower beds were shaped and planted by the end of the week. Heavy rains prevented planting until the end of the month. The last week saw a big push for planting. One day saw a new succession of direct seeded salad mix lettuces, three rows of tomato transplants, and half a row each of pepper and eggplant transplants. Another big day gave us a new succession of transplanted kale, chard, mizuna, squash, and artichoke as well as directly seeded beans.

Crop Care (202 hrs): When rain abounds, weeding abounds all the more fully! The fruit and nut trees were grateful to be tended, but the delicate onions flopped over and exposed their roots. A gentle touch is required. To the delight of all, a brief interlude of sunshine enabled the crew to flame weed the carrot beds 7 days after seeding. The quickly growing tomatoes were strung in the first week, and newly planted beds received irrigation lines in the first and last weeks of the month.

Harvesting (286 hrs): Flowers started getting picked with Sweet William and peonies on the 1^st, during which we also picked collards, head lettuce, parsley, asparagus, and kohlrabi. The dry weather allowed for straw bailing. On Thursday of the first week, the crew arrived early (7:30am) to harvest the hardy greens and root veggies before the sun shone too strongly. The next day we harvested salad mix, head lettuce, and parsley in the rain. Saturday, more lettuce, parsley, radishes, and kohlrabi were harvested for the Sunday market. As the harvest month wore on, we noticed animal holes among the radishes in the corner garden, though they still yielded 37 lbs. By the end of the month, we harvested squash, tomatoes, onions, scallions, scapes, turnips, microgreens and bee balm in addition to the standard hardy greens and veggies. With a large diversity of crops heading to different markets and filling a couple of special orders, it is of paramount importance to maintain a clear and up-to-date harvest sheet. Keeping everyone informed and on the same page is key to efficiency.

A harvest of flowers ready for market!

Handling (80 hrs): The weight of the salad mix changes dramatically when it is harvested in a heavy rain. 85 wet pounds turned into 69 lbs after handling. Egg washing and packing continues with the lesson that eggs should be packed with their pointy ends down.

Marketing (141 hrs): In addition to the normal West Windsor and Summit markets, 80 heads of lettuce were sold to Brick Farm Store. Blueberries and tomatoes were purchased from Zone7 to sell at market. In a dramatic turn, Summit Downtown, Inc. duly informed vendors that the location of the market was moving. Mike and fellow farmers found the new location unacceptable on a number of fronts, rallied together, and protested the move. Read Mike’s article by clicking here. The farmers successfully convinced the board of trustees to vote against the move. Read Mike’s note of appreciation by clicking here.

Summit Market - here to stay!

Special Projects (8 hrs): Microgreens yielded a stead 6-8 units per variety. The number of trays per succession was increased to 4.

Weather:

Week 1: Started hot (90’s!), ended with a tropical storm.

Week 2: Rainy and saturated soil conditions. Serious thunder and lightening. Offered a day off to the crew because it was too wet for most tasks.

Week 3: Rain rain and more rain. The sun started peeking through by the end of the week.

Week 4: Sunny days turned into HOT days. Threat of thunderstorms all week, but they held off until July.

Sales:

WWFM– 6/1: $1103 / 6/8: $901 / 6/15: $1403 / 6/22: $1557 / 6/29: $1464 | Market Total- $6428

SMT– 6/2: $2685 / 6/9: $2634 / 6/16: $2340 / 6/23: $3210 / 6/30: $2980| Market Total- $13,849

Market Monthly Total: $20,277

YTD Market Total: $33,231

community organizing, equipment failure, flowers, Monthly Summary, rainy months, small farm, summit

Monthly Summary – October 2012

October 9th, 2013 | Posted by Kyle in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off)

Monthly Summary – October 2012

Posted By: KG Date: 10/08/2012

General Observations: For the most part October 2012 continued the smooth sailing of September, our cold-weather fall crops yielded well and gave us a nice boost in marketable product that helped soften the effect of the tomatoes tapering off. Looking at the data and writing this summary in October 2013 I can see some interesting comparisons. In 2012 tomato harvest ran from 7/13-10/5 (roughly 80 day harvest period), while our 2013 tomato harvest is running 7/24-present (75 days and counting). As of the time of writing it looks like we could get another week or so of yield.

By October last year most of the planting was finished, so we had the time to accomplish most of our fall tasks including crop care, cover-cropping and other end of season preparation and clean up tasks, while keeping up with regular harvests and markets. As the weather became colder with frequent rain we had opportunities for catching up on administrative duties and working on summarizing the data we collect throughout the season.

The rough patch came at the end of the month, with Hurricane Sandy making landfall and colliding with a Nor’easter over New Jersey. Considering the destruction wrought by the storm across the state and region, the farm came through relatively unscathed. The tally of damage was a broken window in the office, part of the walk-in cooler unit blown off, loosing the plastic on the FHG high-tunnel and damaged plastic on RH that blew off in a wind storm later that year. We also lost power, and subsequently our well water, for more than two weeks. Numerous trees were blown down, but incredibly none falling on any structures or equipment. A large branch from a willow tree that fell on the baby chick pen miraculously did not cause damage or injure any birds. Compared to others around the state, we were lucky. However our growing season was severely crippled following the storm. Already saturated fields were inundated by inches more rain and crops were damaged and lost. The lack of power and clean water meant no washing or refrigerating what we could still harvest and the widespread destruction across the state meant even when we were able to get to our markets (after many detours) we found many fewer customers who were able to attend and/or had electricity to be able to store the perishable vegetables we sell. A big thanks to those who could and did attend even as they themselves were dealing with their own part of the aftermath of the storm. It was a great morale boost and emotional support to see all the regulars, exchange stories of the storm and trade complaints about the aftermath.

Equipment 20hrs: Less time on the machines this month. This is a function of less planting and other field work as well as the saturated reality of much of last October. There was some equipment used on 10/11 as part of some final cover crop seeding. RR and KG received training on working in seed using IH265 with the Williams Tool Bar cultivator’s spring tines and the Ford towing the disc cultivator, then used ATV with roller to compress soil over the seed. On 10/24 the box truck had a minor accident in Hopewell when it collided with a lamp post. The accident was reported promptly and without issue.

Administration 101.5hrs: Time spent on administrative tasks tripled from September, but was roughly the same as October 2011. As the season is winding down and days growing shorter, darker, colder, and wetter the appeal of spending time in the office tabulating data and summarizing the season increases.

10/2- “Payroll, Email, Website updates”

10/4- BY posts October 2011 Summary, discussion on how to organize and date photos

10/9- Staff Meeting at Farmhouse w/ coffee! Agenda for meeting is to engage crew to brainstorm task list and priorities. Notes:

-discussion of willows, desire and need to cut back from shading greenhouses
-discussion of chickens, need to renovate chicken tractors
-need to split firewood for winter, much of wood split did not fit in wood-stove
-inventory of supplies and restock: irrigation, marketing, seed, greenhouse, etc.
-need to clean out equipment shed
-focus on summaries, financial data entry
-prep. Garlic for planting
-fence fruit cluster

10/16- Data entry: MR on oversight, payroll, accounting/bills; RR on greenhouse summary; KG on financial data entry into Quicken. Also our organic certification inspection took place on this day. Our inspector was kind enough to let 2nd year apprentices KG and RR take part and get some experience of the process. Notes:

-Cow Pots added to application as an ‘input’
-Manure: “not applied yet, will report as applied”
-RR and KG assisted audit of greenhouse and production. Swiss Chard chosen for audit, needed to track production of crop from seedling through to market sales to show it was grown by NSF. Found 220ft bed yields 480 bunches total over a several week harvest period.
-KG presented crop rotation map and description of rotation.
-Reiteration that a physical barrier must be maintained between organic and non-organic crops in truck and cooler. At minimum, cardboard that is discarded can be used.
-Tour of fields and production areas (greenhouses)

10/17- MR interviewing potential candidate for program next year

10/20- MR receives ‘BFF’ Award from NOFA-NJ for “Contribution and Support for NOFA’s Beginning Farmer Program”. BFF stands for Beginning Farmer Friend. Congratulations MR!

Infrastructure 104.5hrs: General clean-up jobs typically fall under the infrastructure element. In October that means a lot of things coming out of the fields to prepare for winter; used drip tape, tomato stakes and trellising string, etc. The ongoing wood splitting also falls under this element.

10/3- Tomato field clean-up, ½ field finished.

10/3 to 10/5- Cleaning out adolescent chicken pen in preparation for them moving in. A concrete block floor was installed. Chix moved in.

10/29 to 10/31- Various hurricane clean-up jobs. Much of our Remay was ruined; a note in the log reads “wet, muddy, ripped, tangled!”

Greenhouse 12hrs: By this time of the year there is not too much left to do in the greenhouses. The few hours logged were mostly clean-up although an entry on 10/2 reports that the FHG tomatoes were “pimped out”, pruned, clipped, and cleaned-up.

As the hurricane approached we opted to leave the plastic on the greenhouses and secure them as best we could. During the hurricane we observed some serious bending and racking of the Farmhouse Gothic greenhouse as the plastic was catching a lot of wind. The call was made to cut the plastic in the hope of preventing the loss of the structure. It made for an exciting time in the middle of the storm! We were able to cut the plastic using an improvised tool (harvest knife taped to a long pole) to cut along the ridge line and secure the two halves. The structure survived and the plastic was replaced the following spring.

Composting 12hrs: Some of RR home-made compost tea was applied to GH tomatoes. Also regular compost applications prior to direct seeding in the BGBs and garlic planting.

Planting 39.5 hrs: There was not much planting going on in October. The BGBs were seeded a final time on 10/13; 2 beds of salad and 1 bed spinach. 4 BGBs where also cover cropped in a rye, pea, vetch mix. On 10/18 we got our garlic planted. MR, TH, BY, RR, KG were crew for the planting. Notes remark on the beautiful weather and the increase in efficiency from the previous year. Four beds with two rows each were planted. Below is our planting sheet which contains some of the calculations we used.

The space we had available was:

4 Beds X 2 Rows X 2640 inches (220ft bed length) / by our spacing of 5 inches.

This means we need 4224 garlic cloves to fill the space, rounded up to 4500 to give us a buffer.

We had 48# of our own garlic saved; on average we get 46 cloves per pound of garlic yielding 2208 cloves. From 15# of our own small garlic, yielding 88 cloves per pound, we got 1320 cloves. Together 3528 cloves of our own seed stock.

We also had 12# purchased seed garlic, at an average 42 cloves per pound yielding 504 cloves.

Final total of available garlic for planting was 4032 cloves, which was 200-500 less than we calculated for, however since the field in which the garlic was planted is prone to flooding on it’s ends it was not necessarily a bad thing to shorten the beds up.

Crop Care 117 hrs: As fall deepens the cold temperatures become more common and frosts more frequent and severe. This can give us a bit of a break with the weeds, as certain varieties will not survive the cold and everything is growing slower, but it means another crop care job moves to the forefront; Remay. Remay is a lightweight fabric row cover we use in conjunction with metal hoops to protect our crops from cold damage. It can be frustrating to handle, especially if there is any wind. This past year we started using wider sections to cover more beds with one length, and it makes the job a lot easier. Instead of using 6 pieces for 6 rows, we can use 1 piece for 6 rows. On 10/11 the log notes “First Serious Frost Warning, Cover Crops!!!”

Harvesting 277hrs: Regular Wednesday (for Hopewell), Thursday and Friday (WWCFM and Summit) harvests continued. Notes:

10/5 Final field tomato harvest
10/10 Winter Squash harvested. Very small yield and undersized
10/22 Echinacea and Nettle harvested for tea

Handling 121.5 hrs: Regular Wednesday, Thursday and Friday rinse and sorting continued. In addition, on 10/10 sorting, stripping, and breaking cloves apart of seed garlic was completed.

Marketing 165 hrs: In addition to our regular markets, CH attended the market at Gravity Hill Farm with an offering of specialty dried herb teas.

Hopewell– 10/3 – $346, 10/10 – $370, 10/17 – $348, 10/24 – $474 | Market Total- $1,538
WWCFM– 10/6 – $1458, 10/13 – $1108, 10/20 – $1322, 10/27 $1327 | Market Total- $5,215
Summit– 10/7 – $2644, 10/14 – $2810, 10/21 – $2975, 10/25 – $2215 | Market Total- $10,644
Month of October Total- $17,397
Year to Date Total- 114,596

Special Projects 9 hrs: Most of the special project hours this month logged by KG for the Micro Green project. Thanks to RR for helping with another late night harvest by flashlight on 10/13.

On 10/15 North Slope hosted a NOFA-NJ incubator interview and social dinner for NOFA Beginning Farmers Tom, Jonathan, and Taylor. The log reads “excellent evening, nice energy and enthusiasm” and I must agree, it was a fun time.

Weather: October was wet, and then Hurricane Sandy hit on the 29th.

Week 1: Humid and Rainy

Week 2: Rain transitioning to cold and dry. “Hard frost warning”

Week 3: Wet, strong winds and cold nights. “No hard freeze yet”

Week 4: “Sweet and mild” then “Forecast Darkening” and “Super Storm Approaching”

2012, Monthly Summary, North Slope Farm, October

Monthly Summary July 2011

July 10th, 2012 | Posted by miker in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off)

Monthly Summary– July 2011

Logs reviewed and summary prepared by MR, July 10, 2012

General Observations: Just over an inch of rain is recorded for this month, with a Heat Wave noted by mid month. Lightening storms chased the crew from the fields at least twice but the brief showers simply increased the humidity. Early in the month we were appreciative of the mild heat and weather as tales of Woe registered from the South and West – both Drought and severe Flooding. During the heatwave hours were adjusted to harvest earlier and break early, though Infrastructure and Handling continued on until their responsibilities were completed. It is a busy month, catching up with large weeds, trying to get final planting for fall production in and harvesting the newly yielding crops of Tomatoes.

Equipment 40 hrs: Mostly the Kabota, mowing, also Ford 4600 rototilling and mowing, JD2240 Chisel and Moldboard Plowing, and the IH140 bedforming. 3 hours of the Walk Behind tiller and 1 hour of weedwacking noted. Sad signs of aging equipment reared their head, the JD Loader blew its seals on one of the Cylinders which had to be rebuilt by Everitts Equipment in Ringoes. The Kabota also lost its muffler but a replacement was quickly retrieved from the Kabota Dealer in Titusville; Mid-State Equipment Co.

Administration 43 hrs: This months expense for payroll was $6,000, for 7 employees, (2 part-time). 2^nd Quarter Employee wages (April-June) was $20,386 compared to Market earnings by Mid July of $39,541. So this is the time period where financially the farm starts to tread water. To get to this point the farm has “borrowed” $30,000 from Savings, which it pays back slowly over the course of the season. Training time focused on BD and Primary Tillage, as well as discussions of the responsibilities of a third year Trainee. Each Trainee must post summaries of their intended focus and a summary at the end of the Season. Notes and photos taken during the season are critical to a meaningful summary, as well as beneficial to all, in understanding the activity of others. Also of note, Black Bird Meadows (@ NSF) began harvesting crops that were sold to North Slope and resold at our Markets, initiating the practice of providing market outlet for individual “Agricultural Ventures” on the farm, undertaken by Trainees and Contract Farmers. The Farm Manager is responsible for maintaining cooperation and synergy with these ventures and it was great to have ST take on the opportunity. ST (Black Bird Meadows) also hosted the Chef/Owner of Sprig and Vine,New Hope,PA, for a farm visit as they discussed the coming harvest and delivery schedule.

Infrastructure 98 hrs: KG and RR were given review training of the finer details of moving the Chicken coops – Please see – “Pastured Poultry -Factors to consider”. Primary Tillage was a significant focus, providing trainees (mostly BD, but also CH and ST) with multiple opportunities to Chisel Plow, Rototill, Moldboard Plow and Disc as well as bedforming with the smaller tractor. Fields Veg C south and Mid were plowed and disced and Veg B mid and north were plowed and rototilled. CH noted that her first round using the ‘Cut Harrow’ (disc) she did not allow it to go deep enough and might not have been nearly as effective in churning under weeds as it should have been. A second round of Harrowing at a deeper depth was required. Veg B south had been previously plowed and this month was bedformed 4 times, over the course of the month, to maintain “stale seedbeds” with the last pass to incorporate the summer cover crop seed of SunHemp and Oats. McGearys Organic Fertilizer was also purchased from Rosedale Mills,Pennington,NJ. It was stored in the Barn, elevated on pallets, with a plastic vapor barrier below and plastic sheeting to cover. (*by next season, the unused fertilizer became a major food source for rodents – requiring alternative storage, alternative fertilizer or immediate spreading).

Greenhouse 14 hrs: The last of the greenhouse seedlings were planted out by the end of the month. Activity in this Element was weeding and mulching Yardlong Beans and Cucumbers in Ralphs House and Much trellising of Greenhouse Tomatoes in the Farmhouse Gothic. Trellising and Pruning of the Greenhouse Tomatoes was a weekly task at minimum. Irrigation was also critical. ST was monitoring the Farmhouse Gothic, using the soil moisture sensors. ST noted the reading from 34 (“Irrigate”), then 1.5 hrs of irrigation to a reading of 4 (“saturated”). Missing from the notes was how long from a reading of Saturated back to “good”? We have a history of letting the Greenhouse crops get too dry, then flooding them. About an hour every two days would probably be best, but hard to sustain with lots of other water use to coordinate.

Composting 16 hrs: 26 cubic yards of Compost spread on 12 Field Beds and 9 cyds on 6 BGB’s.

Planting 59 hrs: 7/2 seeded Flowers (10 beds), 7/6 seeded 4 varieties of Winter Squash using Minimum Tillage and Mulching Strategy, 7/20 Seeded Lettuce into Big Garden Beds (BGB), 7/27 Transplanted last of the Greenhouse Seedlings to MulchField SEsouth (beets, scallions, chard and kale), 7/28 direct seeded summer Squash and beans in Mulch SEs, 7/28 seeded Bolero Carrots in BGBs. Also seeded Sun Hemp and Oats into fallow field VegBs and lightly cultivated then rolled with ATV and Roller. A crop Failure of the Hakurai Turnips was noted due to Overseeding. The pinpoint seeder that we use was set to allow multiple seeds per divot on the axle, it was determined the appropriate setting is to singulate the seeds, ie one seed per divot on the seeder axle.

Crop Care 188 hrs: Irrigation was the watch word for the month with 34 specific entries in the Log, or more than one zone being irrigated every day. On average we can irrigate 15: 100’ drip tubes, or 16: 200’ drip tapes, for up to 4 hours, in the BGB/Field Zones or 1.5 hours per zone in the Greenhouses. Weeding of BGBs and care and cleanup of the Kale/Chard/Beet beds. Cleanup of spring beds- hoops and bags from remay tunnels long overdue. And of course; Trellising of Tomatoes! Additional attention to Tomatoes included Trampling and Rolling the vegetative growth between the Tomato beds. It was noted that a roller/Crimper that could be pulled by the ATV would be a nice, low tech method of managing fallow beds without the use of a mower or the requirement of bare soil tillage. However it is done, controlling the growth between the Tomato Beds requires a solid strategy – enough space for mower or alternative control! Hardcore cleanup of BGB edges and pathways also noted. Machetes or serrated long knives are nice for cleaning edges of crops on top of the BGBs pre harvesting/weeding (field salad, carrots).

Harvesting 417 hrs: Basil 101 bn, Beans 156 lbs, Beets 400 lbs, Carrots 525 lbs, Chard 375 bn, Eggs 75 doz, Field Salad 335 lbs, Flowers 134 bn, Garlic 72 lbs, Kale 135 bn, Parsley 115 bn, Radishes 33 lbs, Scallions 245 bn, Strawberries 12 pints, Squash 640 lbs, Tomatoes 1,520 lbs. The first tomatoes were 7/7 – 3 pints cherry tomatoes and 1/5 tray of Greenhouse Tomatoes. Bulk of the yield was at the end of the month. We moved the old box truck to its place by the Tomatoes, to be used as a shady harvest/sorting area. Green Bean harvest was assessed as approximately 100 #’s main picking per bed or 50#/100’ (half of what Rodale’s Garden Problem Solver, p18, estimates) – Assumming 50 of our beds per acre – 5,000 #’s per acre, if we want to gross $20,000/acre, our bean crop value should be a minimum of $4/# wholesale, or $6-$8/# retail! Increasing the yield must be accomplished to reduce unit cost. Carrots were also noted as yielding 135-160# per BGB. Assumming 40 BGB’s per acre; 6,000#; (1/4 the estimated yield of Rodale); Wholesale value should be $3/#. Ideally we should work towards an increased yield up to 300 #/ BGB to get our cost value more in line with market value – currently at $2.50/# retail (1.25# wholesale value).

Handling 136 hrs: The Crew rotating thru the washing station, no one expressing particular interest. Scallions has become a major ‘to do’, usually leading to a shady spot designated for stripping and bunching. One day the notes express some pleasure at “cleaning scallions poolside”! Quote from Farm Manager, “As tomatoes come on, with Flowers and Fruit, the cooler and AirConditioned Office are FULL. Our time is Fully Required, how these elements are managed can ‘make’ or ‘break’ the operation. There can be little or no waste, Freshness and Quality Must be maintained and old produce Cleared Out!” Discussion focused on maintaining a system of what produce is just harvested vs ripe and ready for market. In particular, the Tomatoes are harvested with two levels of ripeness and they must be kept separate in storage to ensure the ripe ones go to market and ripening ones move forward for next market, without extra handling (confusion).

Marketing 161 hrs: First week markets were noted as being “off” from last year $500 down at WWCFM and $1,140 down at Summit. By mid month we are making runs to Solebury Orchards for their Peaches, then nectarines and apricots, to add to the blueberries. We also purchase weekly deliveries of Organic Blueberries via Zone 7 – produce distributor. By the end of the month Cherry Grove Organic Farm decided the Hopewell Market did not yield enough sales to continue, which helped increase our sales just in time for Tomato season. The Hopewell Market was always marginally viable for multiple growers, a basic problem for small town Farmers Markets – how to bring in a diversity of producers when the demand is low. RCM noted a check of Bio-Bag inventory and confirmed that our usual supplier, DinPak.com still appears to be the best – Copy of invoice filed in Marketing Element Folder. Biodegradable Produce bags cost .10 each, and bags with handles cost .14 each, plus shipping! Non Biodegradable produce bags cost about .01 per bag. North Slope takes a major financial hit to provide our customers with Ecologically Responsible packaging; no doubt we will be rewarded in heaven.

Hopewell– $442, $575, $886, $933; Total: $2,836

WWCFM– $875, $1,100, $1,920. $1,920, $2,485; Total: $8,300

Summit– $1,361, $2,088, $2,935, 3,000, $3,360; Total: $12,744

Total July 2011 Market Income: $23,880

Special Projects 24 hrs: In cooperation with NOFA-NJ, we planted SunHemp, a trial species introduced by the NRCS for a potentially high Biomass, nitrogen fixing, summer cover crop. We seeded a field section with Sun Hemp and oats, intending late summer nitrogen fixing and weed suppression, followed by “Winter Kill” then Spring Planting next season. Also of note, Black Bird Meadows began to harvest more Napa Cabbage than the Sprig and Vine needed andNorth Slope was able to provide an additional market outlet. The discussion focused on pricing – to encourage the farmer (ST) to set their wholesale value, whichNorth Slope pays then marks up for resale at our markets. ST started with market research and established a wholesale market rate of .85/#. His cabbages averaged 1.5# or $1.28/Cabbage. NSF estimated a good Retail Rate of $3/Cabbage and offered to pay $1.5/Cabbage wholesale. This process builds on our Marketing assumption that the wholesale rate ought to allow as much as a doubling in price from Farmer’s price to retail sale. ST also noted in log, “Started Kabota [to mow special project field] and muffler fell off.” Ah, the trials and tribulations of shared equipment, it was noisy but at least it cut the grass!

Weather: Hot and Dry with T-storms threatening towards end of Month.

Week 1: mildly hot and dry.

Week 2: 90*F, hot then .8” long drizzly rain (very much needed). Then another .3”.

Week 3: Heat Wave – 105*F.

Week 4: High temps, some showers and increased Humidity to finish the month.

July 2011, Monthly Summary, NorthSlopeFarm

Monthly Summary May 2011

May 3rd, 2012 | Posted by Kyle in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off)

Monthly Summary – May 2011

Prepared by KG May 3, 2012

crops hardening off in the hoop house

General Observations: This May, like 2010, was the second highest in terms of worker hours. That means a busy month. Added to the planting of BGBs and field succession plantings in May are the planting of our field tomatoes and flower successions. On top of all this the warm and wet weather is causing and explosion of growth both of crops and weeds, meaning more time must be spend on crop care and infrastructure keeping the crops ahead of the weeds and maintaining mowed pathways and access to crops. On 5/2 the groundhog who had been eating the seedlings on tables by the farmstand was finally captured! It was dispatched and making an effort to not waste the groundhog, stew was made. The stew was delicious, but the groundhog meat was less than enjoyable… Casey added his thoughts on the season so far to the log on 5/9. There was a power outage in the area on 5/26 that prevented some irrigation.

Administration 51 hrs: On 5/16 KG completed the May 2010 monthly summary. A rainy day on 5/17 was a good time for a staff meeting. A task list was generated; the greenhouse would need compost sifted and planned to start seeding the 4^th succession, under the planting element the need to trelise grafted tomatoes in the farmhouse gothic was highlighted and 6/15 was planned for as the 3^rd succession planting date. Preparation of the next successions field was also discussed. Various tasks related to cropcare were also outlined, including storing remay for the season and trellising of peas and tomatoes. On 5/24 there is a note in the log about sorting through email and creating a system of folders to keep the email better organized. There was also a note about calculating income/expenses to date. Also the regular admin duties of payroll and bill payment were performed throughout the month.

Infrastructure 68 hrs: Some of the various infrastructure work this month included a mowing of pathways and access lanes on 5/9, setting up a submain and drip-tape for the 579 Flower Field on 5/13, an intro to the weedwacker on 5/17 for first year trainees JR, RR, and KG followed by RR weedwacking around the electric fence line and posts, and the final cleaning of the farmhouse pool by RCM on 5/24. Also on 5/9 a note in the log about irrigation observes that 20 BGB drip tubes (4 beds) on full yields the ideal pressure of 12-14 PSI on average.

Equipment 57 hrs:

JD– 10 Ford– 9 IH140– 2 Kabuta– 17 Walkin Mower- 2 BCS– 4 Weedwacker– 13

On 5/2 the JD received an oil change and oil filter replacement. On 5/9 a metal plate was fabricated to allow the Walkin mower’s handle bar height to be adjustable, a note in the log reports making the operation of the mower “a little easier…”

Planting grafted tomatoes in cleared and composed circles cut in the salad mix in the Farmhouse Gothic

Greenhouse 64 hrs:On 5/1 20 flats of basil were seeded for Nomad Pizza, a note in the log declares the greenhouses to be full and tight. On 5/4 tomato grafting was completed. See this link for more information about how our grafted tomatoes did in 2011. Between 5/14 and 5/17 the third vegi succession was seeded. On 5/17, while seeding the forth succession of seedlings for sale, the seeding shed“Quilting Circle” was established and songs were written and sung.

Composting 68 hrs: In addition to compost sifted for the greenhouse, several applications were made to field beds. On 5/10 8 beds in VEG B mid, 5/12 Tomato field beds (Maddona North) were prepared- “rip, compost, rip, till, plant”, and on 5/13 7 beds in the 579 field were composted.

Planting 127 hrs: May is a busy month for planting because in addition to the regular BGBs and a field succession planting, our tomatoes are planted into the field. 5/3 was a full planting day; direct seeding (DS) of 2 beds of salad and 2 beds of carrots into the BGBs in the AM followed by transplanting (TP) of squash, beets, and chard in the PM. On 5/6 kale and scallion TPs made it out into the field. 5/9 saw 8 apple trees added to the fruit cluster. 5/12 and 5/13 saw the grafted tomato TPs planted in the farmhouse gothic as well as 1 row of sungold tomatos planted in the field. Also on 5/13 4 beds worth of Zinnea TPs were planted in the 579 field. On 5/15 CH and MR finished replacement planting in the fruit cluster, replacing trees that had been lost over the winter. 5/26 was tomato planting day, our field tomatoes were TPed out into the field! On 5/27 some direct seeding of beans, turnips, and beets brought the 2^nd vegi succession planting to completion.

Crop Care 351 hrs: Many worker hours went into crop care last May as the warm and wet weather brought with it vigorous weed growth. On 5/5 the BGBs were mowed and maintained. 5/10 saw the peas trellised. On 5/11 and 5/12 a straw mulch was laid around the strawberry plants in anticipation of fruiting, the straw acts as a weed suppressant as well as a barrier keeping the fruit out of the dirt, cleaner and easier to spot when harvesting. On 5/18 grass was cut away from the garlic to keep it from becoming overwhelmed and on 5/19 hand weeding of the BGBs took place, a note in the log calculated 5 worker hours per bed. 5/23 and 5/24 saw the asparagus beds weeded and on 5/25 BGBs and 3 field beds were scuffle hoed. Finally on 5/31 trellising of the grafted greenhouse tomatoes began.

Harvesting 214 hrs: In May last year NSF had the following crops available: Field salad, arugula, tatsoi, spinach, swiss chard, kale, fennel, radishes, peas, spring garlic from the 579 field, and for the first time available at market, our very own strawberries!

On 5/24 in the log there are extensive notes on strawberry harvesting, establishing a protocol for harvesting every 4 days ripe and 3/4ths ripe strawberries, sorting into pint and quart containers on tomato trays and topping these containers off once at market to ensure full containers overflowing with unblemished fruit for our customers to enjoy. The notes also include some detailed information comparing variety yields and fruit size.

Handling 69 hrs: On 5/5 the walk-in cooler was turned back on in preparation for the start of the WWCFM, the previous harvest having been frozen by a malfunction. Throughout the month washing took place, Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon of our crops harvested for our Hopewell and WWCFM markets.

Market 127 hrs: Our first Saturday market of the season began this month, NSF’s 8^th season at WWCFM. A note on the weather says it was a “beautiful day for first market” A 5/21 note relating to marketing said we had sold out of everything, and maxed out our weekly harvest for everything except for salad.

Hopewell– 5/4 $338.50, 5/11 $499.25, 5/18 $394.50, 5/25 $504.00

WWCFM- 5/7 $915, 5/14 $929, 5/21 $1025, 5/26 $1040

Total May 2011 Market Income: $5645.25

Special Projects 38 hrs: On 5/2 Veg C north was plowed by ST for his special project “Blackbird Meadows” the goal of which was to supply a variety of fresh produce on a weekly basis tailored to meet the needs of the local New Hope restaurant “Sprig and Vine”. The end of May saw hay baling, collection and storage of hay bales in the seed shed for later use.

Weather: No mention of any frost at night in the log.

Week 1: Sunny and beautiful weather, transitioning to storms and then back to sun by week’s end.

Week 2: Sunny, getting dry. Irrigation needed by the end of the week.

Week 3: “Rainy weather settling in” followed by “SATURATED” later in the week. Sunny day on the 21^st.

Week 4: Rain returns after a break on the 21^st. 40% chance all week delays hay cutting, but finally sunny and hot weather arriving on the 27^th allows for haying before going to seed.

2011, May, Monthly Summary, North Slope Farm

Monthly Summary November 2010

November 3rd, 2011 | Posted by Kyle in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off)

Monthly Summary – November 2010

Prepared by KG November 3, 2011

General Observations: By November we are getting late into fall and temperatures are falling below freezing many nights. WWCFM has ended with the exception of their pre-Thanksgiving market, and Summit ends the sunday before Thanksgiving as well leaving only Hopewell after that. November is the last month of the regular season and the crew must work through the colder weather and darker days to ensure there is produce for the remaining markets. Also, preparations for winter must be made to the farm. Last November also saw the beginning of a Winter Production Season as a special project by RCM and ST.

Administration 72.5 hrs: With the weather getting colder and the day to day workload on the farm lessening, November was filled with plenty of office work. On 11/9 accounting data entry was introduced and reviewed for ST and RCM. The checkbook and Quicken procedures were gone over, including file management, data entry, reports, corrections & splits, and finding and imputing income & expense data. On 11/10 ST finished entering checkbook data into Quicken and the approx. figure of $104,000 in expenses to date was calculated. Recommendations for saving money were discussed. On 11/11 CH did payroll. 11/21, a note in the log discusses the end of the primary market season and the beginning of the winter production season as well as noting lots of admin work to be done. On 11/21 MR did payroll and ST entered market date into Quicken. 11/30 meeting to discuss the past season as well as the new winter schedule. Winter hours would be Tuesday and Wednesday plus self directed work anytime with the priorities of chores, winter season tasks, marketing, cropcare/infrastructure, and a heavy load of 2009 monthly and 2009 and 2010 season summaries to be published on the website.

Infrastructure 47.5 hrs: Colder temperatures dropping below freezing on some nights necessitated some infrastructure work to prepare for the cold. On 11/2 ST and RCM received an introduction to turning the farm’s water system on and off as well as draining it. This process of draining the farm’s water system overnight and turning it back on when necessary would continue throughout the month. With winter production on-going in the greenhouses some rodent pressure was discovered and dealt with, rats were trapped on 11/5 and 11/8, a note in the log suggests looking into rat stew recipes. Chicken chores continued throughout November, with the 09 flock moved into Veg A North for pasture. The composting toilet was also cleaned this month.

Equipment 11.5 hrs:

JD- 2

IH140- 5

Walkin Mower- 2

BCS Rototiller- 2.5

Kabuta, Ford, Weedwacker- 0

On 11/4 replacement batteries for the JD were purchased. The IH140 was used to bed form in Madonna Field North in preparation for Garlic planting, furrows were cut and then compost added. On 11/18 the JD had difficulty starting, battery dead and heavy drain on new batteries. Started after being hooked to charger in the AM and ran fine. Diagnosis was that there is a short somewhere in the ignition system and the solution is to disconnect the batteries when not in use. 11/24 JD used to load compost for Ralphs house, battery disconnected after use.

Greenhouse 34 hrs: With winter production on-going much work was being done in the greenhouses, requiring daily management for temperature control. In addition to the daily greenhouse chores, on 11/11 RCM tightened up the heated greenhouse and noticed a broken heating pad smoking when plugged in.

Composting 21 hrs: Compost was applied to 8 beds in Madonna Field North in preparation for Garlic planting. Ralph’s house also received a treatment of compost in preparation for WP plantings.

Planting 47 hrs: Garlic was cleaned on 11/12 in preparation for planting, yielding 85 lbs of prime garlic cloves for seeding. The planting took place on 11/16, 8 beds were planted with a single row of Garlic, the curved side of the clove facing the bed’s edge to insure uniform stem alignment. There were two groups of plantings in the heated greenhouse for WP in November, one on 11/9 into bread and tomato trays and another round on 11/18 into flipped seedling tables lined with chicken feed bags with soil on top. Both plantings contained field salad, arugula, tatsoi and peas.

Crop Care 50.5 hrs: Remay management was a large part of crop care in November. Plastic/Remay tunnels for winter production needed to be regularly managed to insure temperatures did not stress the crops. This process meant opening the ends of the tunnels for cooling during the day and closing them at night. A note in the log demonstrates the necessity of the regular management, when it was discovered that when opening the tunnels at 10AM the temperature was already 90*F when the high for the day was only 55*F. On 11/11 the tomato patch was cleaned up in the field, and greenhouse tomatoes were cleared from Ralph’s house by 11/24.

Harvesting 186 hrs: Arugula, Beets, Carrots, Chard, Field Salad, Kale, Peppers, Radish, Tatsoi, and Turnips were still being harvested in November, as well as a diminishing amount of greenhouse tomatoes until finally the plants were removed on the 24^th.

Handling 54.5 hrs: Only 2 weekly markets for the month of November and Summit ending the Sunday before Thanksgiving meant less washing than in previous months.

Market 103 hrs:

Hopewell– 11/3 $430, 11/10 $445.50, 11/17 $403.60, 11/23 $470.50

WWCFM Thanksgiving Market- 11/20 $532

Summit– 11/7 $2180, 11/14 $2535, 11/21 $3360

Total September Market Income: $10,356.60

Special Projects 47 hrs: A note on 11/21 marks the end of the primary market season and the start of RCM and ST ‘s winter production season. The winter production special project which had been in planning and initial preparation before, was now getting much more daily attention. Plantings in the heated greenhouse and management of the remay/plastic tunnels were a large part of this, as well as harvest and handling for the Hopewell market. A summary of last year’s winter production special project is available here.

Weather:

Week 1: Freezing nights, milder days. Rain on the 4^th.

Week 2: Cold, temperatures around freezing at night, but sunny with highs around 60 most of the week.

Week 3: Warmers nights, temperatures in the 40s. Strong winds blow through on the 17^th, 35mph+ followed by a drop in temperatures.

Week 4: Cold nights continue, with forecast lows below freezing for the start of December.

2010, Monthly Summary, North Slope Farm, November, Winter Production

Monthly Summary October 2010

October 5th, 2011 | Posted by Jess in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off)

General Observations: Winter is coming!! That is what was on everyone’s mind this month. All three markets that north slope attended were still in full swing and therefore produce needed to be available. With temperatures dropping crop health was a concern. Measures were taken to regulate crop temperatures in the field and all of the greenhouses were prepped and planted for winter production. With winter coming clean up around the farm and creating proper storage spaces were also high on the task list for the crew.

Equipment 16 hrs: With winter coming the crew focused on necessary repairs and finding appropriate areas to store equipment. Started setting up “have–a-heart” traps in greenhouses to catch and remove groundhogs that were destroying green house crops.

Administration 54 hrs: There were a lot of administrative completed this moth with winter and the end of the season approaching. 10/1 crew meeting was held to discuss midseason check in, plan for third year interns and setting priorities. Manager met with each of the third years to further discuss their specific focuses. 10/5 Crew was given overview of what tasks needed to be prioritized for the month; work that needed to be done to prepare for winter production, tasks that still needed to be completed in both the greenhouses and fields, taking down tomato stakes and strings, weeding strawberries and blackberries, covering crops, equipment clean up and storage for coming winter months. The usual administrative tasks, payroll, accounting and bills were attended to as always.

Infrastructure 55hrs: Weekly chicken chores, moving coops, cleaning coops and adding new bedding. 10/13 mowing 579 diversions and field perimeters. 10/19 Old chicken pasture was mowed. 10/27 Started mowing the BGB not in production. Seed shed cleaned.

Greenhouse 10.5 hrs: Winter production seedlings were moved into the greenhouse and tables rearraged to accommodate trays. The green house gothic was seeded on the 6th for winter production.

Composting 0 hrs: Received a load of fresh compost on 10/1.

Planting 15.5 hrs: 10/6 greenhouse gothic was seeded for winter production 10/21 transplanted rudbeckia in tea garden 10/22 finished planting perennials in the tea garden. 10/25 turnips and radishes were transplanted into the hoop house for winter production.

Crop Care 113 hrs: Weeding as always! This month all of the crop care was focused on prepping for winter production. See “special projects” for further details.

Harvesting 293 hrs: Chard, kale, beets, turnips, salad mix, green beans, arugula, tatsoi, last of the flowers (sunflowers, zinnas, and marigolds), tomato production decreased as the month progressed but still able to consistently harvest from both the field and the greenhouse. 10/6 crew was unable to harvest kale for Hopewell market due to rain damage. 10/15 Low yield of salad due to slower regowth, arugula showing cold damage.

Handling 68.5 hrs: Regular washing in preparation for the three markets NSF attends.

Marketing 109.5 hrs:

Hopewell: 10/6 – $464, 10/13 – $467, 10/20 – $399.50, 10/27 – $295 Average sales for month = $406.38

West Windsor: 10/9 – $1,422, 10/16 – $1,022 , 10/23 – $960 , 10/30 – $1068 Average sales for month = $1118

Summit: 10/10 – $2,080, 10/17 -$1900, 10/24 – $1780 , 10/31 – $1940 Average sales for month: $1925

Total October Market Income: $13,797.50

Special Projects 56.5hrs: This month most of the crew’s efforts went into preparing for winter production. The crews intent for winter production was “to extend the growing season of greens, lettuce, and roots to serve our existing markets; Hopewell Farmers Market, Nomad Pizza, and Zone 7.” 10/5 all of the seedlings for winter production were moved to the green house due to cooler weather. 10/8 Remey was brought out to cover 2 rows of chard, and beets and one row of kale. The crew determined that a single row of remey measuring 72″ was the easiest to manage. 10/13 Rebar was cut in 12 foot lengths and covered in recycled drip tube to span over BGBs. Each tunnel was covered with an outer skin of 6 mil plastic (13′ wide x 50′ long). 10/14 5 field tunnels at 40′ were covered and anchored with sand bags. 10/15 Strong winds pulled tunnel edges loose. Crew decided to shovel divots to set sand bags in to prevent bags from slipping on sloped edges of the beds. More sandbags were placed on beds to better secure plastic. The total remay coverage was WP tunnels (40′): 2 tatsoi, 1 arugula, 1 spinach, and 1 new planting of arugula. BGB with plastic: 4 salad mix (2 unharvested beds and 2 regrowth). Field beds with Remay: 2 chard, 2 beets, and 1 kale. 10/21 The crew observed temperature changes in the low tunnels. Opened one of the beds all day and recovered at 4pm found that temperatures reached 80°F. Left one of the beds closed all day temperature reached 100°F. Conclusion was that the low tunnels must be opened during the day and closed at night. 10/27 Crew observed that there was substantially more growth on the covered crops compared those that were left uncovered. An inner layer of remay was added under the plastic to the 4 beds of salad mix in anticipation of cooler weather. The addition of the remay was to help reduce temperature fluctuation. 10/28 The 2010 chickens were given a treat, 4 cups of first sprouted grain. 10/29 remey was placed over turnips and radishes in Veg B south.

Weather:

Week 1 – Storms, cold, rainy and wet

Week 2 – mild temperatures, good growing conditions, late in the week strong winds came through

Week 3 – strong winds with gale warnings, cold, scattered showers throughout the week

Week 4 – warmer than average temperatures (70°F +) at beginning of the week, windy, temperatures dropping towards the end of the week, cold frosty nights

Total rainfall for the month 6.25 inches

2010, Monthly Summary, North Slope Farm, October, Winter Production

Monthly Summary September 2010

September 8th, 2011 | Posted by Kyle in Monthly Summary - (Comments Off)

Monthly Summary – September 2010

Prepared by KG September 7, 2011

Image- Oats planted as cover crop on Veg B mid after bed forming

General Observations: September seems to be another month of transition. As May marked the transition from greenhouse production and season preparation to full scale production, September marked a return to the greenhouses and preparation for winter production as the last of the field successions were planted at the end of August. September is a busy month, with many priorities vying for the attention of the crew. Harvesting the remaining field successions was a key priority, as was harvesting the tomatoes which continued to yield through the month but at a reduced yield later on. In addition preparation for fall greenhouse crops and the planting of cover crops for the winter need to be done. Also, winter production was on everyone’s minds as NSF trainees were allowed to plan out and begin working on the various elements of winter production with the goal of providing fresh organic produce to our local Hopewell Market throughout the winter. On top of all this the daily chores and other needs of the farm mean that in worker hours September 2010 was the highest of the year with 1064 total hours.

Administration 52.5hrs: For administration September started with a Farm Review in the log on 9/1. Notes in the log talk about focusing on harvesting from the final field succession and a planting frenzy for direct seeded crops before the new moon on 9/8. The standard administrative duties were also performed, payroll and bill paying. Planning for winter production was another administrative project that took place last September. Interns RCM, ST, and SJ took on many of the planning responsibilities for winter production including the creation of crop plans, strategy/bed choices, seed and supply orders. On 9/29 MR trained SJ and ST on field layout and primary tillage of Madonna Field as it was divided into 3 blocks to be added into the field rotations allowing for a full season fallow for each block every other year, a bioextensive method to prevent soil from being overworked.

Infrastructure 70.5hrs: Mowing with Kabota and bushhog, diversions mowed 9/6 and 9/21. Field perimeters, as well as Veg C and D field were mowed.

Chickens: The new 2010 flock was moved into the old 2008 flock pen. The 2009 girls were moved to a fresh pasture.

Equipment 26.5hrs:

Kabota- 4.5

JD tractor- 5

Ford tractor- 17

IH tractor, Walkin Mower, BSC, Weedwacker- 0

Upon removing the backhoe for the JD tractor a leaky hydraulic hose was discovered on 9/1. On 9/15 the log mentions that there was trouble starting the JD which was solved by adjusting the charger and dosing the starter with ether.

Greenhouse 10.5hrs: Cleanup and bed preparation were the focus of greenhouse activity. The Farmhouse Gothic greenhouse was prepared for a direct seeded winter production crop, after a normal bed preparation procedure of composting, broad-forking, and rototilling the beds were irrigated to flush weeds before seeding a week later.

Composting 21hrs: Compost was sifted for greenhouse winter production seedlings. On 9/21 NSF received delivery of approx. 35 cubic yards of mulch. The big garden beds and greenhouse beds received compost prior to planting.

Planting 53.5hrs: On 9/1 two beds of salad were planted without composting or broadforking with a note in the log to observe the success of the crop without those preparations, however the follow up note was not found. Arugula and Tatsoi seeded for the new moon on 9/8. Spinach on 9/9 and carrots and radishes seeded in Ralph’s House GH on 9/11. Two more beds of salad were planted in the BGBs on 9/15.

Crop Care 155hrs: With fall almost here and winter following quickly behind getting cover crops planted and established is an important task in September. On 9/2 and 9/3 Veg B North was seeded with a cover crop of wheat and Veg B Mid was bed formed and seeded with white clover in the pathways and broadcast with oats. The practice used in Veg B Mid was particularly useful as the formed beds held their shape through the winter and could be planted in the spring without additional bedforming. Regular weeding in the BGBs and field throughout the month. The Asparagus also got some attention and was weeded on 9/16.

Harvesting 376.5hrs: Chard, Kale, Beets, Summer Squash, Peppers, Eggplant, Radishes, Field Salad, and Flowers continued to be harvested. On 9/14 the first of the winter squash was harvested. Radishes were cleared and topped on 9/16. The experimental corn plot was harvested on 9/21, yields were disappointing due to drought, for 12 field beds of corn approx. 20lbs of corn was harvested. The tomatoes continued to yield through September, however at a decreasing rate. The strong storms on 9/30 flattened lettuce and led to a lower yield of salad for the two weekend markets that followed; 14lbs. compared to 92lbs. the previous week. Calculations regarding the garlic crop were made, ¼ acre yielded 1,750 cloves of garlic or 50 lbs. bulk/ 44 lbs. cloves.

Handling 75hrs: Regular washing in preparation for the three markets NSF attends. Garlic was also cleaned, roots cut off and dirt removed from bulbs.

Market 163.5hrs:

Hopewell– 9/1 $709, 9/8 $764, 9/14 $643, 9/21 $679, 9/28 $542

WWCFM- 9/4 $1075.00, 9/11 $1385.00, 9/18 $1535.00, 9/25 $1545.15

Summit– 9/5 $2440.00, 9/12 $2284.00, 9/19 $2090.00, 9/26 $2625.00

Total September Market Income: $18,316.92

Special Projects 64hrs: The 2010 chickens got a treat when prime galensoga weed was harvested for them to eat. Rock Road East deliveries continued with the Farm Stand in offering fresh organic produce to our neighbors through September. And of course the TOMATO FIGHT took place 9/12, with lots of “fun, pizza, beer, and rotten tomatoes”. Nomad Pizza supplied the delicious brick oven pizza. 2010 Tomato Fight t-shirt sales plus contributions helped to cover the costs to NSF for hosting the event, our 5^th Annual Tomato Fight. A note in the log about the tomato fight claims ST and RC “obviously were the best” and should have won awards.

Weather: Conditions throughout the month remained dry, and for the most part hotter than average, continuing the two month drought that the area had been experiencing last year.

Week 1: Hot and Dry weather, with the temperature some days reaching above 100*F. Hopes that Hurricane Earl passing off the coast will bring some rain do not pay off.

Week 2: A new front moved in, bringing cooler temperature and some windy weather. On 9/13 a notable thunderstorm was recorded in the log. “Crazy, amazing thunderstorm at sunset turned everything orange and rainbows and lightning could be seen.”

Week 3: Cool, still dry. Despite last week’s storm only .6” of rain have fallen since late August.

Week 4: The heat returns. 93*F and still dry, although forecast storms finally arrive on the last day of September and deliver a stormy first day of October.

2010, Monthly Summary, North Slope Farm, september

Monthly Summary July 2010

July 1st, 2011 | Posted by RR in Monthly Summary - (55 Comments)

Monthly Summary –_July_, 2010

___RR__: Logs and records reviewed, and summary prepared 6/30/11

General Observations: When I think of July, I think of sitting on the porch after a long day of with my hand wrapped around a cold drink. And I imagine that’s just what the crew did last July after a long day’s work. With a massive heat wave and drought that brought 99-100 degree days, threatened crops and changed work hours to a 6am start up, a bit of relaxation must have been necessary. Thankfully, however, July didn’t seem to be all that bad. The month brought along the first exciting harvests of tomatoes, sungolds, eggplants, carrots, cucumbers, and garlic. Chickens were taken care of, equipment problems seemed minimal, the 3^rd succession of crops was planted, and other issues seemed to find quick solutions.

Equipment 20 hrs: July seemed like a month with few equipment problems. The John Deer had a bit of trouble starting one day which postponed composting and planting in a field. MR fixed it later that day with a jump start from the Ford and the battery charger. There was also mowing going on early this month. Maintenance was necessary for the Farmhouse and Ranch yards, waterways and for the cluster area. Field beds were also mowed down.

Administration 13 hrs: The website had some difficulties working and delayed the posting of the July 2009 summary. (The 7/09 summary eventually got posted. Just scroll down and click on “next page” until it pops up!) Other administrative duties included payroll, bill-paying and the quarterly tax statement. Non-financial tasks were out of the ordinary. MR gave a two hour tour to farmers from Philadelphia on 15^th. On another day, someone stumbled upon the old North Slope Farm logo on the computer and had plans to revive it.

Infrastructure 38.5 hrs: Our chickens were movin’ on up. The older girls got moved to fresh pasture. The young gals were given a new home in a bigger coop, within which, they were described as, “content and adventurous.” Heat and drought made bringing water to both groups of chickens a critical task. The office and shoop (an equipment storage facility), including the compost toilet area, received a clean-up and it was discovered that the shoop needed a new cover.

Greenhouse 2 hrs: Ralph’s house (the name of one of our greenhouses) was home to the tomatoes and some garlic beds last year in July. This particular greenhouse was cleared of weeds as workers harvested garlic. The remaining tomatoes received constant trellising.

Composting 7.5 hrs: The field we know as Veg B South had six beds composted in total in preparation for planting the 3^rd succession of crops. Fruit trees such as the Asian Pears and Clem. trees also got composted.

Planting 21.5 hrs: The 3^rd succession was planted by CH, SJ and ST. Crops included the transplanting of basil, fennel, red beets and zinnias on 7/2 and gold beets on 7/6. The 4^th and 5^th successions of field salad were direct seeded on 7/6 and 7/28, respectively.

CropCare 134.5 hrs: Weeding, weeding and more weeding. One bare-fallow field needed a hard weeding down the center of its beds after several passes with mechanical cultivation. Doing so was noted to promote less weedy beds for next year. Another bare-fallow field was weeded of big plants and then needed weeding of the smaller plants. Experiments regarding weeding and worker hours were conducted. It was concluded that worker hours were less when weeds were smaller in size. It was also concluded that philosophical discussions made the work go faster.

Harvesting 312 hrs: Last July they harvested: Kale (285 bunches), Scallions (176 bunches), Squash (396 pounds), Garlic (6 rows), Radishes (56 pounds), Zinnias (169 bunches), Tomatoes (25.5 trays), Sunflowers (39 bunches), Greenbeans (263 pounds), Field Salad (300 pounds), Sungolds (284 pints), Cucumbers (205 pounds), Carrots (184 pounds), Eggplants (64 pounds), Flowers (500 bunches).

Handling 66 hrs: The walk-in cooler was broken! RCM had a difficult time moving crates around and finding storage. She eventually settled on using the display cooler for blueberries. Dried loose-leaf tea was packaged and the harvested garlic was cut and stored. Also, ST, RCM and SJ received a detailed flower harvesting introduction. Fun handling observation: 17 pounds of wet salad mix becomes 12 pounds of salad mix after spinning! (5 pounds of water spun out).

Marketing 141 hrs: Garlic, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes were sold wholesale to Nomad last July. The Farmstand was also open and its revenue for the month totaled $297.00. Each week there was any combination of chard, salad, snow peas, scallions, beans, garlic, squash, eggs, blueberries, beets, cucumbers, sungold cherry tomatoes, and other tomatoes. Other markets are West Windsor, Summit and Hopewell.

West Windsor: (7/3) $1431.75, (7/10) $1328.00, (7/17) $1763.00, (7/31) $2111.50

Summit: (7/4) $2,200.00, (7/11) $2,500.00, (7/18) $2630.00

Hopewell: (7/7) $466.00, (7/14) $530.35, (7/21) $523.50, (7/28) 723.56 (Yea for tomatoes!)

Special Projects 9.5 hrs: Some of the fruit trees, sadly, did not do well in the heat and had passed on. Another special project involved discussing the future of our website.

2010, july, Monthly Summary, NorthSlopeFarm

Monthly Summary June 2010

June 14th, 2011 | Posted by Jess in Monthly Summary - (102 Comments)

Monthly Summary – June 2010

Prepared by Jess on June 14, 2011

General Observations: This month was all about switching everything into full gear. A lot of time spent establishing the grain fields now known as the Madonna field. A large amount of equipment training was given to the crew because of this task. 15 consecutive days without rain in hot conditions made irrigation a huge priority and management concern. Many hours were spent preparing beds to be planted. Harvesting time doubled and more time was spent handling the produce since the second market of the season started this month.

Equipment 34hrs: 6/3 Tires had to be replaced on Spring tooth harrow; 6/5 tractor used for tillage but overheated after less than an hour of use (90° day); 6/7 muffler broke on the IH 140 from rust; 6/9 chopper was pulled out of brush to get it ready to cut hay; 6/9 IH 140 stalled while bed forming but realized the next day that it was just out of gas!; 6/13 gasoline was put in the kabota had to empty tank; 6/15 the ATV still had not been repaired and the walk in cooler’s fan motor died and replacement is needed; 6/30 attempted to replace the walk in coolers fan motor but it was the wrong size and wiring diagram was very unclear

Administration 17hrs: Registered late for Summit market, payroll, bills, organic certification forms, normal tasks

Infrastructure 36hrs: 6/3 Veg A and B harrowed and Veg B and grain fields were fallowed; 6/5 bed formed half of grain field; 6/8 significant termite damage on the farmhouse estimated $1200 to treat and foundation needs to be cleared to 2 inches; 6/10 stucco finished on seed shed; 6/15 noticed that 5 chickens were lost due to fox attacks so moved chickens closer to daily activities in hopes of eliminating losses; 6/23 installation begun around the Madonna field; lots and lots of irrigation due to drought like conditions, well was fixed, pool maintenance, mowing diversions, pathways, and under electric fence; general maintenance

Greenhouse 45hrs: 6/8 started seeding third succession; 6/10 seeding for third succession was finished; 6/19 extra basil was seeded due to poor germination, additional flowers and basil were seeded for seedling sales; 6/28 thinned swiss chard and kale for third succession, seeded squash for third succession; clearing out old seedlings, clearing out old crops, seeding for third succession, watering

Composting 11.5hrs: 6/10 compost delivered; sifting compost for seedlings, mulching tomatoes, 579 field, BGBs, and market garden

Planting 36.5hrs: 6/3 planted beets, scallions, celosia, zinna, peppers, and eggplant. Direct seeded beans turnips, radishes, squash and sunflower; 6/12 was a new moon, seeded corn, squash and beans; 6/14 grafted tomatoes were planted; 6/18 2 BGBs were seeded with field salad

Crop Care173hrs: 6/2 staking the tomatoes was finished; 6/9 tomatoes and cucumbers were trellised; 6/10 all leaf minor was picked off of the swiss chard; 6/17 finished mulching tomatoes; 6/21 greenhouse tomatoes were pruned and trellised and attempted to get cucumbers to climb on the trellis; 6/22 seven rows of tomatoes were strung; 6/22 springtooth harrowed the Madonna field; weeding (always weeding!), bed formations, prepping beds for planting, mowing

Harvesting 272hrs: 6/15 peas harvested, tracked time/yield and then established wholesale value;first week there was no chard due to infestation of leaf miner; 6/30 had to use box truck to store bulk items becaue the walk in cooler was not working; harvest time doubled this month due to the start of our second market at Summit.

First Week: salad, kale, turnips, garlic scapes, summer squash, snow peas, zinnia, feverfew

Second Week: salad, kale, chard, head lettuce, tat soi, turnips, radishes, garlic scapes, summer squash, snow peas, snap peas, zinnia, sunflowers

Third Week: salad, kale, chard, tat soi, turnips, radishes, beets, garlic scapes, summer squash, snow peas, snap peas, zinnia

Fourth Week: salad, kale, chard, tat soi, beets, turnips, garlic scapes, snow peas, snap peas, scallions, beans, zinnias, sunflowers

Handling 60hrs: washing and bagging salad, washing produce, packing truck for market

Marketing 113hrs:

Hopewell: 6/2 $315, 6/9 $247.60, 6/16 $558.85, 6/22 $510, 6/30 $457 Total = $2,088.45 Average sales = $417.69

West Windsor: 6/5 $957.25, 6/12 $1,209, 6/19 $1,118, 6/26 $1,142 Total = $4,425.25 Average sales = $1106.56

Summit: 6/6 $1,170, 6/13 $1,500, 6/20 $1,900, 6/27 $2,000 (estimated) Total = $6,570 Average sales = $1,642.50

Special Projects 10.5hrs: 6/11 hay was cut in the 579 field, 6/22 new batch of chicks picked up.

Weather:

First Week: Rain, hot and scattered thunder storms, hot and dry, cool and comfortable

Second Week: Cool and sunny, cool and breezy rain overnight, cloudy morning sunny warm afternoon, cool

Third Week: Great weather but a little dry, drying conditions, hot and dry, hot and dry

Fourth Week: Drought like conditions, hot and dry, very hot, little cooler still dry

2010, June, Monthly Summary, North Slope Farm

Monthly Summary May 2010

May 18th, 2011 | Posted by Kyle in Monthly Summary - (105 Comments)

Monthly Summary – May 2010
Prepared by KG May 16th 2011

General Observations: May was a very busy month. In worker hours it was the second highest of the year with a total of 1051 hours. Spring is in full swing, the vegetation around the farm is growing heartily and the weather is getting warm enough for outdoor planting to proceed as the risk of frost diminishes. With increased production comes an increased need for maintenance. Crop care, harvesting, handling and all the other elements are affected as more is being grown. May marks a shift in priority tasks, crop care and keeping on target with succession planting must take precedence while basic operations cannot be neglected. The result of this is a busier time as the farm shakes off the last of winter’s sleep and launches fully into the season’s production.

Administration 59hrs: The regular tasks of accounting and paying bills were attended to, as was payroll. A rainy morning was a good time for a crew meeting to discuss priorities for the month. MR reviewed by-laws and vendor regulations in preparation for a Hopewell Market Meeting. On 5/19 an accident report was made, the Hay Rake was crashed into and severely damaged by a car/truck.

Infrastructure 150 hrs: Lots of infrastructure work this month, by worker hours May was the heaviest of the year for infrastructure. Moving and caring for the poultry was a weekly chore with the chickens out in the field. Having the chickens in the field certainly improves their quality of life, but also exposes them to danger as was seen twice this month in fox attacks. On the 11th 7 of the ’08 chickens were lost, and on the 22nd 9 more were lost.

With everything now green and growing, maintenance of pathways and waterways became a larger task. In addition to maintaining the key arteries of the farm, beds needed to be mowed in preparation for planting.

Also in May, the pool was swept and prepared for use.

On 5/23 a problem with the farm water system was discovered, a burnt wire was found in the well pump control unit. Resetting the system frequently proved ineffective, and on 6/2 a repairman came and repaired the well. In the mean time the farmhouse water system was used to fill in as best as possible, but with some inconvenience.

Equiptment 90hrs: Lots of equipment training this month, second year interns SJ ST and RCM were trained on various equipment/practices including rototilling, tilling, disking and cultivating with a tractor.

The Kubota was serviced on 5/13, problems with the starter were troubleshot. A note in the log suggests the blades be replaced by this time next year.

JD received new application of Teflon tape which leaked at first but then held after tightening.

Greenhouse 69.5 hrs: With so much of the farm activity shifting to planting and crop care there was much less going on the in greenhouses this month compared to the last. By mid-month only one bed of Swiss Chard from last fall remained in Ralph’s house, the rest of the winter production was cleared.

Tomatoes were potted on and more plants seeded for seedling sales. On 5/30 the need to prepare for the seeding the next succession was mentioned in the log.

Composting 43hrs: Plenty of composting as field beds were being prepared for planting. BGBs and field beds being readied for planting received one trailer load per bed. Blackberries received a covering of mulch.

Planting 116 hrs: Lots of planting this month, with a heavy focus in the Big Garden Beds. There were two plantings of salad mix in May, as well as the planting of mixed beds of radishes with carrots and turnips with carrots. On 5/21 tomatoes were planted, in one long day of hard work all the available varieties were planted out in the field. About 100 each of Sungold, Brandywine, and Striped German as well as smaller numbers of Arbason, Crimson Sprinter, Corsalo, Cheroke Purple, and Green Zebra made it out into the field for the first time in their cowpots. On 5/25 some of the second succession was planted; Squash, Chard, and Zinnias in Veg B north.

Crop Care 215 hrs: With spring here and having crops out in the field weeding became a major part of the daily activity at North Slope Farm. Hand-weeding, scuffle hoeing, weed-wacking, mowing and tractor cultivating were all used to clear weeds. Strawberries were weeded and peas were trellised. A note in the log warns that “crop care could consume us all…”

Harvesting 129 hrs: May marked a change in harvesting as the greenhouse production came to an end and was replaced by crops from the field. Salad mix, Arugala, and Chard were harvested from the BGBs at first, with Kale left to grow larger. By the end of the month kale, garlic scapes and turnips were being harvested for market.

Handling 48.5hrs: Regular washing for markets, eggs washed for Bent Spoon. Strawberry plants potted on 3 to a container for sale at market along with other seedlings.

Market 118hrs: May 1st was the first of the Saturday markets at West Windsor, which meant now North Slope Farm was harvesting, preparing, and attending two markets a week. Seedlings helped to bolster market revenue and notes about selling out in the log indicate that overall markets this month went well. CH also set up a farm-stand file and spreadsheet to track deliveries, the farm-stand was cleaned up and display cooler turned on.

Special Projects 29hrs: Hay cutting in 579 field.

Cost calculations for poultry production were made comparing Winter and April feed costs to eggs produced. The cost per dozen eggs of WP was calculated to be $2.39 vs AP costs of $1.57 per dozen eggs.

Weather:
Week 1: May started off hot, 90* on the first of the month. By the end of the week however the weather had changed and conditions were windy and cold.
Week 2: Much colder, with some rain. Frosts overnight on the 9th and 10th caused some crop damage, loss of 50 pepinos noted in log.
Week 3: Continued cold this week, with some days of heavy rain. By the end of the week conditions were sunny and warm again.
Week 4: Warm and sunny for most of the week, conditions allowing for the tractors to get into the fields. Some heavy rainfall arrived at the end of the month, just in time to prevent the need for irrigation being used.

2010, May, Monthly Summary, North Slope Farm