So far this spring, we have had just enough rain to manage without irrigation on the rented land. We started an irrigation system upgrade, and didn’t complete it until now, so we are glad the crops got enough rain. Phew! On the home farm, we have irrigation set up and running well. We’re really hoping we don’t have to let go of any crops this season due to drought.
Because the deer population is doing so well, we’ve had to install 8-foot tall fences around two of our fields. This is no easy task! So far only one deer was able to penetrate, but we hadn’t got our final gate up yet. There is just so much juicy produce for them to nibble on, they find it irresistible.
The two new greenhouses are being built by Brian and his team at Maritime Greenhouse Connections. It is a complicated build because there are climate batteries being installed in half of each greenhouse. The climate batteries (where soil 5 feet below the surface is used to store heat and cold) help moderate the temperatures by circulating air above and below ground. We are using a new design by Tim Clymer in Pennsylvania that should be even more efficient than the two climate battery greenhouses we already have. Our goal is to produce locally-grown greens year-round.
Talking about locally-grown greens, we are trying a few new ones this year based on requests from West African and Middle Eastern friends. One is Mulukhiyah. A fascinating, deep green, very nutritious, leafy crop. I tried a leaf yesterday and it was delicious! Another is Fenugreek greens, or methi. Fenugreek is a legume with seeds that are used to help flavour curries. They fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, and have nutrient-dense leaves widely used in South Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African cuisines.
We are still working on our goal to minimize plastic use in the field. With the right minimal tillage cultivation equipment, and irrigation reels, more and more crops are being grown without plastic tarps and drip tape. It is definitely a learning process. At the same time, we are experimenting with permanent biostrips between beds of crops. The biostrips can serve several functions: They provide a permanent sod for tractors or vans to roll over for harvesting. The 4 ft wide strips can be left unmowed for beneficial insect and pollinator habitat right next to the crop. Because the biostrips are permanent and not tilled, the beneficial fungal and bacterial populations underground are providing disease control and other regulatory services to the adjacent crops. The biostrips are a work in progress. We’ll see how it goes!
There is some really cool self-organization going on as AA employees are taking more responsibility for the farm and Market. It helps to have lots of returning staff who know what they are doing. It also helps to have a management team on the farm, and at the Warehouse Market who are really leading the charge required to run such a dynamic operation. Staff are also holding each other accountable to agreed-upon standards.
We are asking staff who approach us with any problem, to also make a proposal (or two) for how to solve the issue that we can discuss and then move forward on. This way, David and Jen are not faced with a wall of decisions to make, and constant problem-solving all day. This leaves us available to lead in the field (where we are happy), or on strategic projects. We are very happy to hear how employees want to solve problems, and often they know better than we do. When the problem is solved, they are so much more satisfied and frankly, happy.
Because we are presenting our financial information and doing a profit share every year, employees are learning more about the business as a whole, and are more interested in contributing to the success of Abundant Acres. We are also planning to sell the business to employees over the next 10-15 years, and that is one reason why we are moving the Market to King St, a 5-minute walk from our current location. This allows us to have a long-term lease, lots of parking, and more cooler space. The increased cooler space is key, and allows for more ergonomical movement of hundreds of pounds of produce. We hope this move will mean we have something viable and exciting to pass on.
Finally, we still have some farm shares available. The price is changed every week to reflect the number of weeks remaining in the farm share season. Please let your friends know. Thank you! For information, click on this link. To sign up and see the current pricing, click on this link.
