Week 2 Newsletter

So, when it rains it pours. After a very cold and dry May, June is starting quite differently. The first week of June brought lots of rain and hail and then more rain and very hot weather. We received many local thundershowers that left the fields too wet to plant. Our sweet potatoes are sitting in the barn waiting to get into the field. They came in on Friday after being in a UPS truck for three days. Today we will temporarily set them in the ground as the chances for showers will last through Tuesday night. The fifth planting of sweet corn – while waiting in the greenhouse to be transplanted – has grown 4 inches in the last two days. If we have to wait another day it will be too tall and the plants will break in the process of planting, which will set them back irrevocably. I was planning on cutting more hay, but with such unstable weather I can’t take the risk. So far we have received four inches of rain in one week with more on the way. It will be Saturday before the ground will be dry enough to work.
We were also very disappointed with the first delivery, but at least we did not have to plow anything under, as in other years when we had crops come in too early. We have lost many broccoli rabe plantings because an early May warm spell with lots of moisture can make this crop mature from a small plant into the fullest of flower heads in a week. Our concern now is that all our plantings will come in at once. How much lettuce can you eat in one week?
Even the insects are late this year. Usually the European Corn Borer (ECB) that causes us problems in the early sweet corn can be found in high numbers this time of year. We have been working with Cornell Cooperative Extension on their project to use parasitic wasps to control the ECB. The scientists and extension agents will be hosting a field day on the farm to show other farmers how to identify ECB and how to use the wasps as a natural control method. They want to postpone the field day until the end of June because we haven’t found any moths in the traps and we won’t be able to identify the eggs – two important means of scouting.
On another note: We will not deliver any strawberries this season. We lost them to the weeds. We did not replant them this year for next season’s crop after I did a cost analysis of how much one of those pints actually costs us to produce. To plant half an acre of strawberries
we buy $1,000 worth of plants. We fertilize the field with about 20 yards of compost, which costs about $600. We spend about $3,000 worth of labor on planting and weeding and use another $600 worth of straw to mulch the berries. Given what our average pay on the farm is, it costs about another $2,500 to pick 2,100 pints – and that is if we have a good year. Extra strawberries are picked mostly by the local members who benefit the most from this enterprise. But the wealth is not equally shared; while some of you bring a five-gallon bucket of strawberries home, most of you have to settle for two pints. Those two pints cost you almost $4.00 each. We have had years where you only received one pint, as one week of rain can wipe out all your berries. We know we can do a lot more with $8,000 than to produce one or two pints of strawberries per member. We have increased some other crops this spring, including another planting of broccoli and snow peas; and in the fall, we will add popcorn. When you eat the extra broccoli, or the new snow peas and popcorn, don’t think for one moment that they compare in any way to those delicious strawberries, but realize that we try hard to serve you with a good value for your investment in us.
Talking about money, we are definitely hurting from the rising gasoline prices. Our fuel expenses so far are at 200% of last year's rate. We also had to give our workers a raise, as they simply can no longer live on the wages we paid in 2007 with normal inflation. Inflation for folks like us is more like 15%, as most of our income goes to heating oil, gasoline, food, and insurance. We might need to consider the introduction of a voluntary surcharge if we get in trouble financially as the season goes on. I will put the emphasis on “voluntary,” as some of you are most likely in the same boat as us. We still hesitate – we don't like doing this, as we strive to live up to our commitments. One thing we have done this year is to buy replacement equipment with credit. This allows us to keep more money in the bank – but we have broken our own pledge to never borrow money for equipment. Buying equipment is not an investment, it is the cost of running a farm and equipment depreciates rapidly. Money borrowed from a bank for equipment has led to the downfall of many farmers. We have no intention of joining them, but given the zero percent offers from our local dealer and our need for cash, we have made an exception to the rule this year.
On a more cheery note, our crew this year is fantastic. We are all very much into our work and it is fun to be around such motivated people. Next week we will introduce you to them. ~Jean-Paul