johnny’s test farm tour

welcome johnny’s fans – consider subscribing and receiving an email update whenever this blog is update – its easy just put you email address in the box to the right.

 

like a dream come true, i was able to spend an afternoon touring the johnny’s test farm – with our host johnny’s seed rep ken fine.

but before we are able to get to that, we went on a quick tour to check out the warehouse!  most of it was what you would expect, loading docks, shipping area, bins full of cardboard boxes.  the real difference was in the cave. the cave is the cold storage area for bulk seeds.  seeds, seeds, seeds.  so many seeds packed floor to ceiling, row after row.  seeds from all over the world, purchased by breeders and grows from across the us, japan, china, and italy.  the smell of carrot and parsley seed pervaded the air.  i found it both delightful and overwhelming.

while seeing the warehouse was fascinating, the real focus of the tour was to see the research farm where the breeding and trialing happens.  flower trialscarrot and chicoriesleek and onions trialsfall lettuce trials – testing for cold hardiness. radicchio trials

what is going on with all these trials?  two things.  the first is to compare the johnny’s breeding projects against other varieties to make sure they are performing as well or even better than competition.  that’s only a small part of the trialing.  the majority of the trials are comparing varieties that are not breed by johnny’s but they sell.  tons of new seed offerings come on the market, some are improvements over old ones, some are not, the only way to know for sure is to grow them and compare.

tons of seed varieties are taken off the market each year.  often old favorites that are popular with small growers are deemed no longer to be worth the trouble to grow by the companies that supply johnny’s.  so they need to find a replacement.  many of those growing and breeding seeds are looking for things like uniformity, disease resistance, and a yield.  while all of these things are important, johnny’s is primarily interested in eating quality.  as ken is quick to point out it’s not johnny’s seeds – it’s johnny’s selected seeds.  one of the main reason to grow all these seeds out is to actually taste them and compare flavor side by side.

we stumble upon this testing in the melon patch where the discards of the mornings testings were left.like fine wine tasters they just cut out a chunk, taste it, and spit it out moving on to the next one.  the remains are left to the yellow jackets and butterflies.  a lot of food gets wasted on the farm.

moving from the trial plots to the breeding plots we come upon row after row of what look like the same varieties, but are carefully tagged and/or flagged for easy id of the different breeding stock.acres of tomatoes ripening in the field, soon to be picked and processed. an ocean of squash, the selected flowers are bagged to keep out pollinators, then hand pollinated with the prescribed cross, and tagged.  its hugely labor intensive work, done by local hired hands that act as “bees”while we are touring one of the farmers was out making notes about which lettuce seed to select.  since bolting lettuce is so unpalatable, it always gets ripped out around our gardens, but its nice to see how beautiful the lettuce is as it goes to seed.

on the way back to the car we look at the construction of these small hoop houses, made with just a pipe bender, chain link fencing top rail, and a couple of other parts.  we have been thinking of trying to put some up at work, and i wanted to look more closely at the construction.  seeing my interest in these, ken shared the next trick johnny’s has up its sleeve, a homemade rolling greenhouse.  they were still working out the kinks in the design but i’d expect to see the tools and plans in next years catalog.  it will be very similar to the hoop house seen above constructed from fence top rail.

after a couple of hours  is was time to head out and get on with our travels to visit family, and enjoy some relaxing on the maine coast.  ken was kind enough to guide us to the coast, and point us in the direction of our next stop.

you don’t have to have a tour guide to check out johnny’s test farm – it’s open daily for self guided tours!

added value brooklyn

i carved out a little bit of time to visit one of the many urban farms in new york while visiting the city.  added value is among the better known and longer functioning.  i’d heard about it for years in news reports, videos and photos.  on saturday morning i headed out from harlem for what turns out to be a pretty long trip via public transit.

added value is on a large chunk of land, or actually asphalt, as it’s located on former park land that is covered in black top.  compost and soil are mounded up about a foot thick, and plants are growing surprisingly well on what would at first glance seem pretty inhospitable.  certainly it proves how much can be done with underutilized spaces and a bit of creativity.

about 2 acres are cultivated and in the background can be seen the giant ikea store.  when added value was started one of the main ideas was a catalyst for improving community health.  i’m pretty sure the ikea store across the street was not part of that vision.

they have some of the most epicly large beds i have ever witnessed, eight foot across, with three feet walk ways in-between.  folks still have to walk in the beds to plant and harvest.  seem a little awkward to use to me.  garlic looks great.  didn’t ask what variety.they have a really nice outdoor pack area made up of bathtubs and simple plywood tables, with  a salad spinner stand type thing.

this stand puts the spinner at a better hight for proper spinning and also helps keep the spinner from rocking around nearly so much as you turn it.the pack shed also functions as a staging area, where they have excellent signage of the field, as well as the work list for the week, and day.the shelves inside the tool sheds are of well-organized with bins and labels.  i post this photo mainly to remind myself that it is possible to have a well-organized shop space.

a new composting project has just started this year.  i was surprised that they have been going for so long without a large-scale composting project, it would seem that growing on asphalt you would have to spend a good amount of money on compost to keep the system going.  even with the large amount of compost they are processing it seemed pretty small by comparison to the composting we are doing at work.  but it was also better managed.  leaf bins made out of chain link fence are used to hold leaves gathered in the fall until they can to be used in compost.  food scraps and field refuse are the other major component for compost.  all of these buckets are filled with food scraps. no really.  after the leaves and kitchen scraps have been mixed, piled, turned and allowed to break down for several months they get run though this sifter.   what comes out is some very lovely compost. for local community members a self-serve compost tumbler is made available to use.  it includes detailed signage and instructions.

much of added values work is based on improving access in the community for local food and to that end they sell to local restaurants and also have a farm stand.  they are also  training another generation of farmers, and have a crew of very talented young people working with them.  much of what they are doing overlaps with what we are trying to do at work.  it would certainly be worth another visit to spend more time and work side by side with the crew.

while touring the farm it is mentioned that a number of food trucks gather every saturday just down the street and serve up some of the best food from south american cuisines.  i find this difficult to pass up, and finish  my morning with a plate full of pupusas and a glass horchata, while sitting in the sunshine.  what a great morning day.

queens county farm museum

since we were in new york for the black farmer’s conference, i figured we should take an extra day and visit our friend leah and the farm that she helps manage.  leah is originally from detroit and was one of the first apprentices at one of the urban ag. programs here in the city and went on to manage market programs as well.  She has been out in new york for about 2 years, and i’ve meant to make a visit out to her for some time.

just barely inside the city limits, the queens county farm museum sits at the far northeast corner of queens.   at 47 acres it’s by far the largest piece of land being cultivated in new york city and with its history dating to 1697, it is the oldest continuously cultivated piece of farm land in new york state .   it’s a pretty special place.

about 2 acres of the land is in mixed vegetable production.

this field was wrapping up for the season, much of it sown to winter rye, but there will still plenty of radishes, broccoli, and kohlrabi.

because it is a farm museum, and not just a working farm, they feature lots of critters and other more ag. tourism like items such as corn mazes and pumpkin patches.  and while many of the critters might not be all that useful, i still enjoyed seeing them.

these bunnies were just running wild, but obviously domestic, they even let me touch them as they hopped away.

they have a couple of older glass greenhouse used for transplant production, season extension, and drying.  they had greens and beets growing which would be ready to take to market about the time that the stuff in the cold frames and the field had started to die.  they seemed to, like most everywhere i’ve visited this fall, have had a very warm fall, just getting a touch of frost so far.

last task of the day was to close up these crazy old cold frames, made out of cast concrete, and then we were off to fly out and back home to the d.  i was happy to see leah seeming so happy, finding a place that works for her, and being able to focus on what she really wants to be doing growing vegetables.

black farmers conference

i was fortunate enough to have the chance to speak along with my co-worker and friend at the recent black farmers and urban gardener conference in brooklyn.  it was a great day full of amazing workshops and great keynote speakers.

the next day were tours.  i had wanted to go on the brooklyn tour, as in one of the workshops i had seen someone speak from the bed-stuy farm and felt a good amount of connection between their farm and the one i work with.  I also have been wanting to see east new york farms as well, but the brooklyn bus was all filled up.  seems i need to plan a trip to new york just to visit all the projects i missed seeing.  but the bronx was still open and karen washington was leading the tour.  having never been to the bronx, and wanting to visit, this was a very close second.  you will have to excuse the quality of the photos – taken with my crappy camera phone (which amazingly enough is still working after being dropped in a mop bucket full of water).  my much abused camera is off being fixed – again, this time it was in the same bag as a bottle of goat milk which exploded all over it.  goat milk fries cameras.

first farm of the trip was taqwa farms

bobby and abu led us around the gardens showing off all of the stuff they had packed into a relatively small space.  a shed, rainwater catchment system, chickens, playground, stage, beehives, and lots and lots of fruit trees.

bobby and abu both framed the work they do in the garden as a simple passion, and a political action.

most of the gardens that we visited were very similar in this way.  not young white foodies, but mostly immigrants or transplants from the south.  gardening was something they did to connect with their heritage, and to provide them with quality food that was difficult to obtain in their neighborhood.

having chickens was an important aspect of many of the gardens, as were these little huts – i think called casitas and a result of the puerto rican culture in the neighborhood.

this photo is from the community garden that karen washington is a part of – garden of happiness.  they are used as a gathering places and for celebrating.

perhaps most impressive to me is the level of organizing that has been done with the community gardens in new york.  many of them are a part of a land trust so that they can be basically preserved forever.  i left feeling the need even more so to get organized and get our stuff together here in detroit.

seed savers exchange

when i first started saving seeds, i was in awe of the varieties and stories behind the heirloom seeds featured in the seed catalog for seed savers exchange, as well as its directory of those seeds that were being saved seeds across the united states by members.  the amount of varieties being saved is remarkable.  seeing as seed savers heritage farm was not that far from new forest farm, we figured why not go and check out the farm and see all the plants growing.

the drive took us along the mississippi, when we crossed into iowa we stopped at a park for lunch, where we were able to enjoy an amazing vista.

the view

from the river seed savers was about an hour away.  most of the view was of this.

corn field

corn fields as far as the eye could see, either cut or in the process of being harvested.  ma and i decided we prefered the landscape of wisconsin, she likes looking at cows.

allergies plaguing both of us we had to take it slow deciding that nothing would get the blood pumping quite like shopping.  i obtained several packets of tomatoes for next years product line, as well as the aptly named complete book of garlic.  it might be among the more overwhelming books i’ve read on a single vegetable in its thoroughness and downright nerdiness.

with a little energy and the promise of cows and apples ma and i were off on a walk, but not before checking out some of the vegetable gardens.

there was this giant swede aka a rutabaga.  i couldn’t really find out that much info about it, nor if it was even fit for human consumption.  it seemed it might be a fodder crop.

also these gorgeous purple veined collards.  i’ve never seen them offered in seed catalogs, but i’m so smitten by them i might have to look into trading for some seed or buying the seed directory in order to find a commercial source.

and then these garden huckleberries – which are supposed to become tastier after a frost, but are still best cooked and with plenty of sugar added to it.  i found the taste pretty bland, and rumor has it that they are toxic uncooked.  i’ve never found the idea of growing them all that appealing, i prefer fruit i can eat out of hand, but was still happy to have tried them.

but none of this was cows or apples.  i certainly hadn’t driven almost 3 hours out of my way for bland huckleberries!  it was the taste of heirloom apples that enchanted me.  we ventured off in the direction of the orchard, having much trouble finding the orchard but no such trouble finding cows – since ma had not seen a cow in at least two hours helped take off edge of her withdraw from wisconsin.

mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

i practiced my cow speak – which with full disclosure i have to admit was strictly obtained from repeatedly opening and closing the barn door on the fisher price barn as a child.  though now that i have gone back and listened to the moos, i have to say that the student has surpassed the teacher, cause when i used my cow calls on these cows they perked up and started walking toward me, which made me really nervous cause i didn’t know what i was saying in cow.  i tried to assure them that i only wanted to be friends.

but they mostly seemed interested, not annoyed or angry.  but my new-found cow whispering skills didn’t fill my belly with the taste of heirloom apples.  and while ma was tired, she was a trooper and after we had already decided to make our way back to the car, she could see my eyes aglow when i found a sign for the orchard.  up a big hill, both of us breathing heavy from allergies.  at first i thought it was a bust, but didn’t realize that one side was all young trees, and the other side was full of more mature ones.

it was very late in the season, and most of the apples were done, but i still tasted a couple of dozen varieties.  on many trees all the apples had fallen off the trees and you had to guess which tree it had fallen from.  while i know that apple favors vary tremendously in theory its not that often that you get to experience so much diversity in a such a short period.  the few hard cider varieties that i tried were especially interesting – as expected not particularly good for eating out of hand, but you could see how it would be useful to balance out sweet varieties and add depth of flavor.

this especially glorious tree was filled with golden-colored russet apples that tasted wonderful – and wouldn’t you know it no tag was on the tree.

in the far back it seemed as though at one point they planted trees as whips and never replanted them, leaving a dark strange-looking apple forest instead of the usual orchard.

after about an hour of wondering the apple forests and orchards we headed back toward the car, wisconsin, and eventually home.

new forest farm visit

in 2007 i took my permaculture design certificate class with midwest permaculture at mark shepard’s new forest farm.  camping for a week in a chestnut grove and hanging out with a guy like mark can really change your perspective.  when ma and i were planning a trip to wisconsin i knew we had to stop by and see the farm and visit with mark and his family.

new forest farm is 106 acres of polyculture tree crops, dominated by hazelnuts, chestnuts and apples, with plenty of pine nuts, blueberries, plums, heartnuts, walnuts, butternuts, hickories,  and asparagus too.

it’s a little off the beaten track, and in order to find it we are instructed to look for the wind turbine.

wind turbine

what a wind turbine it is, i’d guess at least 120 feet tall.  i’m glad i’m not the one who needs to service that thing.  the turbine supplies all the power for the cider house and then some.  when we were poking around the farm the wind was blowing at over 25 miles per hour – some serious energy.

mark was in the middle of mowing when we arrived, so we gave ourselves a tour of the farm.  walking the farm is really quite spectacular – very much like walking though the midwest woodland prairies that it is modeled after, more like a walk in the woods than a farm walk.

one of the major issues with utilizing perennial crops is that they take a long time to yield, and you need to have cash flow in the meantime.  annual vegetables were at one point part of the business plan, but now that so many perennials are yielding well, the only annuals to be found are in the kitchen garden.  some of the first yielding perennial crops were the asparagus.  the waving fronds of asparagus are amazing in the windy sunshine.

the crop that really captures my imagination is the chestnut, because of the chestnut blight very few of us have the chance to spend any time with these majestic trees.

chestnut leaf

by the time we got back from our walk mark was done with mowing, and was ready to give us a little tour.

when i last visited they were still constructing the cider house – it was now mostly completed, they have plenty of product ready to be sold, but are still waiting on the county for permitting.  we are provided with a couple of lovely samples, shown the fermenting room and the labels.

cider labels

in the back there is a small washing/grading station, as well as a press for apples.  many of the apples trees planted are cider apples, they could never be sold fresh, and since spraying methods – organic or otherwise are not used, the apples wouldn’t look too great, but they do make great juice.

in the same area where the apple press is housed there is  also the hazelnut cracker.

hazelnut cracker

since no one has ever bothered to try to grow american hazelnuts commercially, no one has ever bothered to come up with the machinery for shelling and processing american hazelnuts.  which is why they have had to work to develop the machinery to do these tasks.  they are still working on more equipment for processing, mostly for sorting the shells away from the meat.

stirring hazels

they have to get stirred daily as they dry.  there are tubs and tubs of hazel nuts drying,  having already sold 4 tons of hazels that year.  when the conversation turns to breeding of nut varieties, it means we needed to take a tour of the chestnut forest in order to discuss more fully.

new forest farm is not just growing chestnuts, they are breeding them.  on the slops of the farm are american and chinese chestnuts in various states of crosses.  varieties are  selected for yield and quality of nuts, seeds from these varieties are grown out and then the process of selecting the best begins again from those trees.  in doing so they have created varieties that are hardy to a much harsher climate than they are native to as well as high yielding, disease and pest resistant, and low maintenance.

chestnut

not all the chestnuts had been gathered for the year, and by careful searching we are able to gather a nice snack.

foraging for chestnuts

very few folks have had the joy of foraging for chestnuts, and i have to say it’s quite a pleasure, these chestnuts are sweet and delicious.  i had been hungry, but quickly fill my belly and makes waiting for dinner no problem.

mark invited us to dinner, which his wife jen lovingly  prepares, and as quickly as she whipped it up is obviously an expert at quick whole foods cooking.  while jen is not as involved as she once was with the farm, it was obvious that her vision and passion were just as much on the roots of each tree on the farm as mark.

we sit and enjoy dinner, conversation, and when jen and mark’s boys return home, banter about school, a chess game, and an  impromptu concert.  it is obviously a household full of life and love, and i felt a spark of energy in myself from the time shared with them.

ma and i leisurely walk back to the cider house in the moonlight, where we would rest our head for the night.

in the morning  a bargain is struck of trading some labor for some chestnut and hazelnut seeds.  while i felt like the food and lodging where enough for me to feel the need to put in a mornings labor, i wanted those seeds and was more than willing to peel and sort hazels and chestnuts.  we left the farm with what will be the future plantings of many detroit vacant lots, breeding stock, and a lot of inspiration.

the farm

d-town harvest fest

saturday as i rolled home from work, i took the usually route heading toward mt. elliott to go though eastern market and i was faced with thousands of bikes.  seems the tour detroit event was headed in the same direction as i.   i’ve been wanting to ride in this event for years, but it never seemed like i could take the time off work, or if that was the reason i wanted to take the time off work.  so i figured i might as well ride with them, as who knows when i will get another chance.

tour detroit

amazingly enough out of over 3000 riders i bumped into at least 4 folks i knew.

making my way home, i headed out to the d-town harvest festival.

d-town farms

last year i had a great time at harvest fest, getting to see a bunch of my favorite people.  this years fest was a little more subdued, as i think that the weather kept people from coming out.

d-town is the two, soon to be five acre model farm run by the detroit black community food security network.  it’s located in rouge park, and a wonderful spot to feel like you are out in the country.

d-town farms

it’s an all volunteer run operation, which makes it all the more impressive.

in addition to the vegetable crops they also have bee hives

beehives

and one of the only operations in the  city doing mushrooms, specifically in shopping carts.

shopping cart

oyster mushrooms

they also have reshi and i think shitake mushrooms

greenhouse

and a greenhouse – which they built a couple of months ago, and thankfully for this chilly day, they had not yet planted, so we were able to hang out and get a cooking demo, and watched a presentation by andrea king collier on black mens health, and the importance local food movements.  while i think she is funny and a good presenter, i still am concerned about the attitude that black women need to be responsible for black men’s health.  it just seems a little enabling.

i stayed for the closing – left feeling closer to others, contemplative and introspective.  the air was chilly, and the signs of fall were going strong, but i felt warm inside, feeling a deeper sense of community, connection and hope.

5 star orchard

our last full day in maine we decided to go for a drive with no real destination, but my aunt had told us the drive toward brooklin was especially nice, so we headed in that direction.  driving along the road and seeing a sign that says organic peaches is enough to make me halt my car, and so we popped down the road leading to 5 star orchard.

they had a little stand in front of the house and we purchased a quart of peaches for a pretty pricey seven dollars.  quite a bit more than i think you could get in michigan, but who else is selling organic peaches in maine.  plus i know my mother would love the peaches, and i like supporting the local farmers.  we asked if we could see the orchards, and were instructed on how to get down to the trees.

i’m glad we did.  once we got down to the orchard we met one of the farmer tim. he was nice and friendly, but didn’t have time to sit and chat, but made it clear that he was open for any questions, but that he needed to pick peaches.

the standard trees were loaded with fruit, so heavy that sticks were used to prop up the branches and keep them from breaking.

peach tree

and they were surprisingly bug free

peaches

i consulted with tim about his pest control measures as well as his pruning methods.  while talking it became apparent that in all likelihood he was the one that supplied many of the trees for our orchard at work as he grows lots of the stock for fedco trees.  it was exciting to see where all the trees were from.  and i took a picture of some of his nursery stock, thinking how much fun it would be to come back and do some grafting and pruning with him and his parter.

whips

i’m so glad that a random sign for organic peaches would lead me to the path of the origin of the trees in the community orchard.  in addition to the peaches, they have a variety of other fruits and a community cider house where they press their own apples as well as those of others in the community.

a visit to helen and scott nearing’s

visiting eliot’s farm had the advantage of a bit of a two for one deal.  in addition to his great farm – right next door is the final estate of helen and scott nearing.  this is not chance, eliot’s farm is actually located on land that the nearing sold to him in 1968.  it helps explain why he his is farm in such good shape, and while the soil is of such a high quality after 40 years of hard work.  the fact that the nearings sold the land to him for the same price they paid for it in 1952 helps explain one of the reasons his farm is so financially successful.

the nearing’s last home was a little more modern than their earlier designs – but is still certainly rustic.   for those not familiar with the nearings and their legacy – it would only be a slight exaggeration to say they are responsible for the entire back to the land movement.  their book the good life was the inspiration for many people to create a new life in the country.  making a journey to their home seemed a symbolic event – a paying of  homage to those that went before us – whose work continues to inspire us.  of course in this case it’s trying to live a simpler, good life in the city.

the garage/tool shed on the right, the house on the left

the view from the front of the house is absolutely amazing especially with a few lupines still blooming.

the view with lupine

the caretaker kevin was kind enough to show us around the house, the extensive library they kept, the simple kitchen, and then into the gardens.

the passive solar greenhouse

helen was an early adopter of the south-facing passive solar greenhouse design.  the north wall is built of their beloved stone, and acts as a passive solar collector storing heat in the day and radiating it out at night.  the foundation is stone as well with three-foot foundation to keep cold temperatures from creeping in.

the nearing's walled garden

the walled garden reminded me of a european kitchen gardens, utilizing the ever popular rocks to create shelter,thermal mass, and keeping critters out.

and of course i had to take a photo of the stone outhouse – cause what could be stronger than a brick shithouse?  i’m thinking stone.

stone outhouse

we wandered back into the woods and found these little amazingly well constructed yurts, one large one for meetings, and a smaller one that apprentices used to stay in.

big yurt

little yurt

who would have guessed that when i started this blog that there would be so many pictures of yurts?  certainly not i.  the nearing’s estate seems to be struggling a bit, we made sure to leave a donation as we left.

i left feeling a little sad, i’m not sure why, maybe because helen and scott had such strong vision for the world, but if anything all those things that helen and scott were fighting against are accelerating so much faster.  and maybe part of it was that the estate seemed so empty and slightly forgotten.  and maybe part of it was that so few people have picked up the torch of helen and scott – not just the lifestyle – but the politics of what they were fighting for.

no matter what i was glad to have spent the time i did at the nearing’s estate – to feel their spirts in the work we still do.  i’m inspired to read their books again and the ones i’ve not read before.

4 season farm visit

i’m not sure if i’ve pointed out before how critical eliot coleman’s books are to my entering the profession of farming.  i’m certainly not alone, his book the new organic grower is on the book shelf of nearly every organic vegetable farmer, and his methods are considered among the most innovative.  his book was one of the first farming books that i really found useful – and  i read a lot, sorting though nearly every book on organic farming in my local library before finally stumbling upon the super useful tome.  while the book itself was very useful, it was the cover photo that really inspired me.  which can be viewed here.  here is man standing in his field admiring his crop, wind tossed hair, a bounty in his hands, tool at the ready, comfortable and clean cloths, and a smile on his face.

this is what i wanted to do – this is how i wanted to spend my days – standing out in the field and looking at stuff.

in spite of the reality check that there was lots of dirt, sweat, and no money involved in this line of work, i was hooked by the time i realized all that.

i was lucky enough to get to spend a couple of days with eliot when he did a two-day workshop at work last summer.  i very much enjoyed his stories and recommendations – and he was quite a character in person.  while talking with him i realized that his maine farm was not too far from where my mother and aunts always vacation in the summer.  when ma figured this out she figured she could use this as leverage to get me to finally take a summer trip to visit maine after years of threatening to take her.

she was right.  and with that in mind saturday’s big adventure was to find eliot’s farm – 4 season farm.

the sign in front of 4 season farm

the farm was open to poke around whenever the farm stand was open.  i figured if they had a farm stand that they must be on a busy road, but that assumption was quickly brought to a halt as we seemed to turn onto smaller and smaller roads until we were on a one lane dirt road in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere to me.

the farm stand

even though it was in the middle of nowhere they seemed to be doing brisk business, several groups of folks coming in and making purchases while we were there.  ma and i wanted to poke around every nook and cranny of the place – while my aunts and mother where over it pretty quick.  but i did warn them that i was going to want to spend a good amount of time looking around.  they took off and we carried on.

the fields

more fields

and more fields

one thing i was stuck by was just how neat the fields were and how well tended.  everything really was in straight as could be rows, and cultivated about as clean as could be.  i’ve often wondered if all the photos of his farm where staged, and they quickly got out and cleaned everything up before taking photos.  as an illustration of just how neatly everything was i took this photo of a recently prepared set of beds.

beds prepped with extreme care

i feel a little bit better about the standards i keep, i always feel as though i am asking to much of people to have the beds in really good shape with very fine seed beds.

artichokes

among the more unusual crops being grown are the artichokes – which were for sale.  why didn’t we buy any?  we can only eat so much stuff in the next couple of days.

chicken tractors

also very interesting where these chicken tractors – in a design i’ve not seen before.  several aspects of them made them very sensible, though it did require the addition of an electric fence.  these look much easier to move and lighter weight than other designs i have seen.  they do not sit on the ground, but are set up on bike wheels.  this means they don’t have to be dragged across the field but can relatively easily be rolled to a new place. it also strikes me as less potential for chicken injury, as their legs often get stuck under the tractor as you try to move them.   since they do not sit on the ground the chickens can get under them during the day and get plenty of shade.  also because the bottom of the tractor sits of the ground and has chicken wire mesh it means that at night when they are roosting they don’t end up pooping all over the floor, it falls to the ground.

mobile farm stand

i also spent a bit of time poking around the mobile farm stand – note the license plate, it’s says vgtbls.  i would have liked to open the farm stand and take photos of the construction so perhaps we could build one, but everyone seemed very busy, and i didn’t want to be a bother.  i did spot mr. coleman out in the fields – we complemented him on the quality of the farm and gave him a t-shirt from work  as a souvenir of when he taught at there.  he had nothing but kind words to say about detroit and the work being done their.  glad to have another cheerleader for detroit.