hens cleaning up spent spring greens Labor is always our limiting factor in how much we can accomplish on our farm (even the hens get put to work, cleaning up spent crops). It's just the two of us grubby little farmers working out here every day, and while we don't pay ourselves an hourly wage (I hate to think what that would work out to), while we're working I am forever thinking, "how long is this taking to do, and what kind of return are we going to get on it?" We aren't looking to get rich, live extravagantly, or build an agricultural empire, but we do need to pay the bills, and look to enjoy an hour or two of down-time per day in the summer. And then there's the fact that I tend to be quite the stickler when it comes to efficiency, and prioritizing comes pouring out of my head as naturally as you breathe. A bed of baby greens that's gotten overrun with weeds might take 12 hours to weed by hand. That's likely to get mowed down and turned under if there are 50 other things that need doing on the same day. Out-of-season crops are sure to sell, but take much more labor to produce. And everything here is done by hand...I can guarantee you those $1.49/lb beans at the supermarket were picked with a mechanical harvester - no human hand has ever touched them.
The point I'm slowly getting around to that I don't really want to get around to, is that we need to go up on a few of our prices. You'll see a few increases this week, you'll probably see a few increases in months to come. Just a few. I always want to keep our prices at a reasonable, affordable level. I know that organic produce already tends to cost more (it's that pesky labor issue again). But if out-of-season lettuce is taking me far more time to produce, I need to ask a little more for it. Beans are easy to grow, but incredibly time-consuming to pick. I'm no slouch, but if snap beans take me a quarter of the day to harvest by hand, I need to go up a little on it. We've always asked a little more for Diva cucumbers, because they take at least an hour a day every day to pick, no matter how fast I move. I will never be able to produce carrots or squash for a dollar a pound, no matter how efficiently I go about it. If no one's willing to pay those prices, then logically we need to drop those crops from our roster, and focus on crops that do pay.
Anyway, enough about small farm economics, and on to what's been going on around here lately. Our kales and chard should be available for a few more weeks, but slow down a bit in the heat, and so we have smaller quantities available than in weeks past. The field lettuces are bolting in the long, warm days, but we try to have some sort of shade-grown salad greens throughout the summer, providing the water to produce them remains available - sweet crunchy romaines this week! Snap beans are here, as always, thankfully right after the peas are done (no one in their right mind wants to pick fiddly little peas and beans at the same time). We're also starting to dig potatoes. "New" potatoes can be large or small, what makes them lovely is that they have a higher moisture content and a sweeter, lighter flavor than stored potatoes. We dig up new potatoes as needed for a few weeks until the entire crop needs to be pulled up and stored for the summer...new potatoes are truly a short-lived seasonal treat!
The point I'm slowly getting around to that I don't really want to get around to, is that we need to go up on a few of our prices. You'll see a few increases this week, you'll probably see a few increases in months to come. Just a few. I always want to keep our prices at a reasonable, affordable level. I know that organic produce already tends to cost more (it's that pesky labor issue again). But if out-of-season lettuce is taking me far more time to produce, I need to ask a little more for it. Beans are easy to grow, but incredibly time-consuming to pick. I'm no slouch, but if snap beans take me a quarter of the day to harvest by hand, I need to go up a little on it. We've always asked a little more for Diva cucumbers, because they take at least an hour a day every day to pick, no matter how fast I move. I will never be able to produce carrots or squash for a dollar a pound, no matter how efficiently I go about it. If no one's willing to pay those prices, then logically we need to drop those crops from our roster, and focus on crops that do pay.
Anyway, enough about small farm economics, and on to what's been going on around here lately. Our kales and chard should be available for a few more weeks, but slow down a bit in the heat, and so we have smaller quantities available than in weeks past. The field lettuces are bolting in the long, warm days, but we try to have some sort of shade-grown salad greens throughout the summer, providing the water to produce them remains available - sweet crunchy romaines this week! Snap beans are here, as always, thankfully right after the peas are done (no one in their right mind wants to pick fiddly little peas and beans at the same time). We're also starting to dig potatoes. "New" potatoes can be large or small, what makes them lovely is that they have a higher moisture content and a sweeter, lighter flavor than stored potatoes. We dig up new potatoes as needed for a few weeks until the entire crop needs to be pulled up and stored for the summer...new potatoes are truly a short-lived seasonal treat!
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