2011 Young Farmers Conference and Slow Tools Summit

On November 28th, I drove out to Tarrytown, NY to attend and present at one of the best conferences I have been privileged enough to be involved in - the Young Farmers Conference at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, NY. They define 'Young Farmers' as people who have been farming professionally for 1-10 years.

The mission of Stone Barns Center is to create a healthy and sustainable food system that benefits us all.  Located 25 miles north of Manhattan, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a 501(c)3 nonprofit institution.  We operate an 80-acre four-season farm and work to:

• Increase public awareness of healthy, seasonal and sustainable food.
• Train farmers in resilient, restorative farming techniques.
• Educate children about the sources of their food, and prepare them to steward the land that provides it.

I was scheduled to present at this event, and arrived a couple days ahead of time to set up a moveable caterpillar tunnel made with our new bender for my workshop. Jack Algiere, who is the Four Season Farm Manager for the Barns, was kind enough to provide me with the help of Zach Wolf, Stone Barns field foreman, and Josiah Venter, field apprentice. Together we got the job done over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday.

The conference ran Thursday and Friday. Our marketing manager, Patti Lennon and our commercial sales rep for NY, Amber Flint also came out on Wednesday to attend the conference. The first day, I went to a few seminars, like this one Jack did on greenhouse management and like a nervous mother, kept adding finishing touches at the tunnel. I was also asked to do a filmed interview, presumably for the "Voices of the Young Farmers Conference" clip that Stone Barns usually posts on their website. Mine was to be a single-question interview: "What are the top 3-5 season extension methods for young farmers to know about?" That was also nerve wracking, but I got through it. :)

On the second day, Eliot Coleman and I had a roundtable discussion just after breakfast with anyone who wanted to attend (we got about 50-60 takers) around Innovations in Tools. Eliot had a 30 minute slide show where he presented some of the ideas he has had over the years, including some that Johnny's has brought to market. I then petitioned the audience for suggestions as to what products we could bring to market that would help them do their job? We got several suggestions, that were mostly related to projects we were already working on, which just confirmed our own suspicions of those projects' viability. Each time someone would suggest something, we'd start grinning at each other before they were finished. Too funny.

Eliot's daughter, Clara Coleman (Divide Creek Farm), also attended. It was great to finally meet her and have a chance to talk. She is one of the nicest people I have ever met.

Later that morning, I attended a presentation by Ben Shute, who is involved with the National Coalition of Young Farmers and Farm Hack.

Ben spoke a little about his organizations and had us break into groups to brainstorm ideas around specific aspects of farming to come up with ideas for ways to improve the way they are done. This was a fun exercise. He also spoke about the launch of a new Farm Hack website which will be complete with forum software to categorize participants ideas and serve as a central depository for them as well as a resource for the future. This, I think, is a tremendous idea and I am very excited about it.

In the afternoon, it was time for my Caterpillar Tunnel Workshop, which Amber was nice enough to help me with. A group of about 30 attendees followed me out to the North field, where I spoke first about low tunnels, then small hoophouses and caterpillar tunnels, and then on to moveable tunnels. We bent some pipes on the bender I had mounted on a picnic table and went over just about every square inch of the tunnel, talking about its construction and operation and how it differed from a fixed tunnel. People were invited to come inside and at the end, we removed the clamps, released the plastic, and moved the tunnel up and down the rails. There was a lot of participation by the group and they had many questions. Overall, I think it went very well.

Prior to the conference, Eliot and I had organized a meeting scheduled for the Saturday after YFC at Stone Barns with several industry professionals to do something similar to what Ben Shute had in mind - get together and brainstorm new tool innovations. Eliot had been working with Barry Griffin, a mechanical engineering professor from Harvard on a project they call "Slow Tools". Stone Barns has even agreed to fund one of their projects - a simple battery powered light cultivating tractor. Eliot's agenda for the meeting read like this:

Ben Shute and some others were also invited, but were unfortunately unable to attend. Friday evening, we got together over dinner with a few folks who were already there, got to know each other better and of course, discussed tools.

On Saturday morning, we assembled at the Barns and started right in by introducing ourselves and suggesting two or three ideas of interest. We then began to talk about some of those ideas and eventually settled and spent a lot of time on the tractor project. Around noon, the Barns graciously set us up in a private dining room for lunch. We then got back together and stayed until after 5:00, talking about how to get these things done. One recurring them was the notion that often times ideas become public and then die right there. We all vowed to keep this thing going. To that end, Josh and Barry offered to set up a listserv to allow the group to stay on the same page and communicate efficiently.

First Inaugural Slow Tools Summit, 2011

That evening, we again went to dinner. Afterward, I ended up with the guys from Four Season Tools until after midnight, going over what they had accomplished over the past couple years and reviewing photos on Greg's laptop. They had a lot of savvy suggestions for me and I want to thank them for that.

I would like to thank the Stone Barns staff, particularly Fred Kirschenmann, Jill Eisenbarger, Erica Helms, Nena Johnson, Jack Algiere, Dan Barber, Zach Wolf and Josiah for their participation and cooperation in making the YFC and STS a success for us. Special thanks also to the Slow Tools Summit attendees that had to travel and make time in their busy schedules in order to make that a reality. I'm very excited about the direction this is all going and I am very much looking forward to our next meeting.

It was a long, groggy ride home on Sunday, but wow. What a week!

Here's the complete gallery:

Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager

Twilight Meeting at Tangerini Farm

Last night, we attended a twilight meeting, sponsored by UMass Extension Vegetable Program, hosted by Laura and Charlie Tangerini at their farm in Millis, Massachusetts.  commercial sales rep for Massachussets, Ken Fine and visual assets coordinator, John Dillon came along as well. Laura and Charlie have a great operation and a devout CSA following. They are just beginning to offer late winter CSA shares, enabled by some of these season extension and storage techniques and they already have customers signing up.

Laura and Charlie Tangerini (speaking), with Ruth Hazzard (seated) looking on.

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Info Taken from the flyer:
Tangerini Spring Street Farm is a 67 acre working family farm that was established in 1995 on land that has been in agriculture since the early 1800’s. The farm’s diverse operations include growing a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, cut flowers, perennials, hanging baskets, and annuals that are sold through the on-site farm stand and through spring, main season and winter CSA, as well as at farmers markets (main season and winter). In 2010 the Tangerini’s built a custom-designed, half underground storage facility for winter vegetables that has three bays with separate T and RH controls. They are experimenting with low tunnels with the use of various covers for season extension.

The full program will include:
Storage of Vegetable Crops. Start planning now for next winter! Hear about the process the Tangerini’s went through in determining what storage facility was needed to fit their farm needs. A representative from Cranney Home Services of Danvers MA will join us to discuss the design and installation of their new three bay storage facility and cooling systems.

Using Low tunnels. In the fall of 2010 three low tunnels with three different covering were erected at the farm. The Tangerinis will talk about the process of installation, winter stability and their thoughts on the differences between the covers. Come see the difference between the kale outside of the tunnels verses inside. UMass and UNH will have information on temperature and light differences from low tunnel trials at research stations. We will discuss benefits of low vs. high tunnels.

Winter Marketing. Open discussion about the various types of winter markets – CSA, farmers markets, wholesale. What does it take to establish a winter CSA? How can you identify a reliable “back-up” winter market? Winter farmer markets – how did they do in 2010/2011 season and where are they going? 

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Ruth Hazzard and Amanda Brown from UMass Extension were also present. This was a great meeting. Growers had a lot of information to exchange and I hope to be comparing Johnny's trial results with Ruth, Amanda, and eventually Becky Sideman, as we all have done a great deal of work in this area.

Here's the complete gallery:




Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager

High Tunnel Manufacturing at Ledgewood Farm

While I was visiting Hank Letarte at White Gates Farm, Hank asked me if I wanted to go see Ledgewood Farm, which was only 20 minutes away. I had always intended to stop by there, but never got the chance. This was just too convenient. Hank even drove. Thanks, Hank!

The scoop on Ledgewood, quoted from their website:
Ed Person owns and operates Ledgewood Farm a 22 acre retail vegetable operation in central New Hampshire. The farm also manufactures greenhouses and high tunnels for the commercial market.  The farm has been in his family since 1947 and he has manufactured greenhouses since 1987. The business operates with one year round employee and eight seasonal employees.
http://www.ledgewoodfarm.com/

Ed was out. While there, I met Rob, who is with him full time and does on-site set up of the high tunnels for farmers chosing that option. After checking out the shop, he graciously gave us a tour. Thanks, Rob!



This was a great visit and an unexpected bonus for me. Awesome.

Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager

Johnny's Quick Hoops Hotbed Trial at White Gates Farm

On 12/6/10, we met with Hank Letarte, a farmer/entrepreneur in Tamworth, NH. A renaissance man of sorts, Hank has been an engineer, power plant operator, landscaper, cattle farmer, and now a biodiesel manufacturer. He teaches classes on animal processing and lead safety, among others. With the help of the NRCS , he recently added two Ledgewood high tunnels to his property. He now sells vegetables, beef, poultry, and pork at his farm and a local farmers' market. There's more info in this blog entry on Hank and White Gates Farm:

Farm Visit - White Gates Farm 3.30.11
He has a sand pit on his property and when the local tree service needed a place to dump wood chips, he decided to take them.

Noticing that they were composting and creating heat, he got an idea – why not harness that heat and use it to grow winter vegetables? He created a windrow 40 ft long by 8 ft wide on top. He then added six inches of loam on top. His thought was some type of hooped structure or tunnel on top to retain the heat. At that point, he enlisted our help. This is how it looked when we arrived.

This thermometer, inserted just beneath the loam, read out at about 60 degrees F. When fully inserted into the middle of the pile, it settled around 140 degrees F! We were both impressed and intrigued. I decided that the best structure for this would be six ft wide Quick Hoops low tunnels, because the wood chips could support them. We offered to help him with materials and as the conversation progressed, it was evident that he would need more than just materials, so we offered to help him set it up and plant. We went back to the farmhouse and laid out some rough plans.

Thinking that a certain size heap (or cross-sectional area in this case) would be needed in order for the chips to reach ‘critical mass’ for adequate composting, we asked him to create a second windrow, about half the height as the first, to see if it would generate the same heat. In other words, how deep do they need to be for this to work?

Threading the needle between winter storms, Adam and Andrew Mefferd went back on 12/9/10 to plant and set up. It never got above 12F in the pit that day. We knew the loam wouldn't have sufficient nutrients to sustain the trial, so we had a 2 yard sling bag of Compost Plus delivered from Vermont Compost. Unfortunately, the compost was frozen solid 3-4 inches in from the outside. So we had to hollow it out like a big pumpkin.

We spread a 2-3” layer of compost on top of the loam, which itself was also frozen solid and attempted to work it in with the Tilther. This worked in some spots and the Tilther just bounced around in others. So, for the most part, this was going to be just a heavy top-dressing.

After tilling and raking, we used the bed prep rake with tubes attached to the tines to mark three rows.

Then, we planted:

Tytan Parsley

Vit Mache

Mei Quing Pac Choi
Red Ace Beet

Elegance Brassica Mix

5-Star Lettuce Mix

Hakurei Turnips

Rover Radish

Bright Lights Swiss Chard

Along with the seeds we brought, Hank also had three trays of lettuce seedlings for us to plant.

Erecting the hoops. We drove t-bars in the ends as deeply as we could and used hand pegs to secure the Agribon and plastic.

Both windrows had mirrored plantings for easy comparison. Hank was also going to add sand along the sides to make the tunnels extra secure.

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On January 20th, 2011, our QA manager, Bonita Nicolas and I stopped on our way to the NOFA NY Winter Conference, to check on the trial and install some temperature loggers.

There already were signs of life in the big tunnel.

 

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On January 24th, we stopped in the pit at 9:00 at night and picked up the loggers.

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On March 30th, I returned again to check on the trial.

 Hank, removing the cover.

 In the tunnel on the big windrow:

 In the tunnel on the smaller windrow:

Summary and conclusion: There's really no new product as such that we were trying to develop here, just investigating the feasibility of a different method for season extension. The heaps definitely produced heat. The fact that anything was growing in January (after being planted in December) is pretty impressive in and of itself. However, the trial definitely had its challenges. The cover blew off several times, the thin layer of potting soil we added only had just so much nutrition to offer, the soil was quite dry when inspected in March having never been watered, and we were trying to grow vegetables during a period know as the 'dead zone' with very short day length. What I can conclude is that the heaps definitely produced heat, and the bigger one produced more than the shorter one. We saw anywhere from a 10 to 34 degree temperature differential between the inside and outside air. It also had better results than the shorter bed in the way of overall plant germination and growth, so the added heat promoted earlier growth. As for feasibility, I'm not quite sure. Hank plans to do more with hot beds, but that is just in the planning stages right now.

Max	Min	Average
34.2	9.6	21.3

This was a fun project and Hank was great to work with.  The entire gallery can be viewed here:



Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager

Agricultural Renaissance at White Gates Farm

On 3/30/11, I visited Hank Letarte, a farmer/entrepreneur in Tamworth, NH to follow up on a trial we were doing there. A renaissance man of sorts, Hank has been an engineer, power plant operator, landscaper, cattle farmer, and now a biodiesel manufacturer. He teaches classes on animal processing and lead safety, among others. With the help of the NRCS , he recently added two Ledgewood high tunnels to his property. White Gates Farm is an interactive farm in Tamworth, NH. They raise grass fed beef, pasture raised chickens, pork, and produce. They also produce organic compost, maple syrup and biodiesel fuel and they welcome farm visits any time. Here is a brief gallery of photos I took while there, plus a few from their facebook page:

Here is a video produced by the Tamworth Lyceum:


Also:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/whitegatesfarm

Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager

Early Spring at Fisher Farm

While we were in Winterport, Chris Hillier and I decided to see if we could stop in at Fisher Farm.
http://www.fisherfarmcsa.com/

Their farm stand, which was being renovated had a prominently displayed poster size copy of one of our catalog covers, featuring a shot of their display at the Common Ground Country Fair.

Chris' notes sum it all up very well:

We didn’t have a scheduled tour at Fisher farm, but we decided to stop by anyway. Beth Haines' in-laws were there, so Rose Fisher showed us around. They have two greenhouses set up with seedlings started. They have chickens and sheep near their tool barn. Their 30x96 hoop-house was stocked full of chard, beets, tatsoi, arugula, kale and other greens. Most was ready to harvest. They also had thrown in a row of overwintered onions. They have a 50 family CSA and go to a few farmers markets. They have diversified vegetables and eggs and cut flowers. There wasn’t much happening today, but you can tell it’s a bustling place to be during the growing season. Beth and her husband live in an “off the grid” house with solar panels, water pumps outdoors next to the outhouse. Quaint and rustic – a beautiful farm.

Three farms today - all had chickens. I'm seeing a trend here. :)

You can view the complete gallery below.

Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager

Overwintered Quick Hoops at A Stone's Throw Farm

Chris Hillier and I also visited the farm of Paul and Christine Lipsky in Newburgh, ME last Thursday. They have been to our twilight walks at the research farm many times and since we were in town, we thought it would be great to see them and their farm.
http://www.mofga.net/MyProfile/tabid/88/asuid/1488/showtab/products/Default.aspx




They use Quick Hoops extensively on their farm that is literally carved out of the woods. Paul showed us around their property. He said that he removes snow from his low tunnels, so he doesn't really have to worry about collapse. He said he was challenged by voles though. For this, he had homemade boxes with Intruder mouse traps in them as recommended by the Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman.

These are Chris' notes from the trip:

Paul and Christine also have a backyard farm in Newburgh, ME. They had three garden plots plus a chicken house/plot. Two of the three gardens had quick hoops set up with overwintered onions (Bridger), spinach and Encore Salad mix. They also had some hoops set up to keep the ground warmer to plant early broccoli. That is one crop they have identified in their market that many will pay a lot for getting early to market with it. They are also looking to build some more soil up to put in some moveable hoop-houses. He probably has ½ acre tilled up. They sell at two farmers markets, Orono Buying Club, and two natural food stores.

You can view the complete gallery below.

Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager

Quick Hoop issues at Living Land Farm

On Thursday of last week, I went with Chris Hillier, our commercial sales rep for Maine, to visit one of her customers, Mark Allen at Living Land Farm in Winterport, Maine.
http://www.mofga.net/MyProfile/tabid/88/asuid/1792/Default.aspx

Mark runs a commercial operation and CSA on just 1.75 acres with 3/4 of an acre in production.

I had spoken with Mark at the MOFGA Spring Growth Conference last Saturday and he told me that he had structural failure in his Quick Hoops. This was the first actual failure I had heard of, so I wanted to investigate what went wrong.  Eliot Coleman's concept for the Quick Hoops Bender a few years ago was born out of the need for hoops that wouldn't bend under snow load like PVC hoops do. In our trials at the farm last winter, the 1/2" EMT hoops held up extremely well, but when the soil moistened up in spring, the hoops tended to lean and cut through the soil without bending.

This was the case at Mark Allen's farm, only worse. Due to the very wet conditions caused by drainage challenges at his farm, the hoops under snow load leaned over, then started to widen out as the bottoms of the hoops poked through the soil. Now much wider and with greatly reduced strength, the hoops then caved in. Also, once one hoop moved, the entire length of plastic was now loose and able to catch much more snow. The result was a domino effect. Mark had tied off some of his end wall hoops to the end stake, but since the hoop ends cut through soil, they were of little help.

Mark stated that he intends to do some work to aid in soil drainage. My recommendation for him for next season is to run a rope purlin the entire length of his tunnels, tying off to each hoop individually and to stakes on either end. I also suggested he use beefier stakes like T-posts driven deeply, as they will need to bear the weight of the entire tunnel's snow load. Hopefully, this will work for him.

After analyzing his low tunnels, he gave us a tour. Eliot Coleman's influence can be seen in many of the methods employed on his farm, including soil blocking, wire wickets, and the use of Quick Hoops.

You can view the complete gallery below.



Thanks!

Adam.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Manager