North Pulaski Farms

Why Arkansans should support SB820 "Farmers Market" law.

2011-03-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Every summer Saturday in Arkansas tens of thousands of dollars are spent on imported produce under the guise of “Farmers Markets”. It is no wonder that legacy distribution providers and Arkansas’s big agriculture corporations are opposing this bill. They have hired lobbyist to work the system using old arguments in hopes of preserving the status quo. They are claiming that the law is too confusing and would hurt small farmers. This argument is without merit and nothing could be further from the truth.

I don’t know what’s confusing about a law that says that if you call it a Farmers Market, that only farmers are allowed to sell produce there. It does not prohibit crafts and other non-produce items from being sold there; it just says for the PRODUCE that is sold there, it has to be farmers selling it.

This does not add work that most farmers are not already doing. Most professional growers maintain a list of the crops they grow. North Pulaski Farm’s list is published on our website and is a key tool in marketing our crops. This information can be used by the markets to help better supply the public. Markets can analyze the information and make recommendations to farmers with regards to projected supply. An example would be if everyone decided to grow tomatoes and no one was growing squash. The market could then make recommendations to its farmers accordingly. Farmers will be allowed to amend their list if they see an opportunity to fill a need.

This will require each farmers market to fill out a form and pay a small fee to get certified by the state. The AR department of Agriculture wants this process to be as EASY as possible. Small markets will not have to pay the same fee as larger markets.

Farmers growing and selling their produce will NOT have to buy a label gun. The farmer only has to identify what is in the container that the product is sold from. This is already happening.
This bill does NOT change the current tax rules. Today the ONLY people exempt from collecting sales taxes are farmers selling RAW produce directly to customers. This bill may increase sales tax revenue because the disclosure policy will force more accurate accounting of imported produce.

This bill will help small farms and increase food safety. Food recalls have and will continue to happen. Knowing who grew a product and where it was gown informs the public so they can make good food decisions. More small farmers will have access to direct distribution channels enable them to collect retail prices for their crops. A dollar spent with a small farmer re-circulates in the economy more than most any other dollar spent. This bill will help create jobs because it helps small farms be sustainable from a business perspective.

The argument for local foods systems is obvious, the greater the amount of local production the better for local communities. Study after study confirms that even small percentage shifts in buying practices create huge economic impacts. It’s what Arkansans expect at a farmers market, in 2009 the UA surveyed farmers markets in Arkansas and found that 71% of farmer’s market customers go to the market to for local reasons.

At a recent meeting of The River Market, I talked to a small farmer who has been spending his Friday nights for the last 3 years waiting on a spot to sell. Since he does not re-sell any products his attendance is based on when his crops are ready and does not score as well as others who mainly re-sell produce. Is it not enough that he is working the land and is subject to all that Mother Nature has to offer? Must he continue to sleep in his truck because legacy providers don’t want to give up their cash cow?

Arkansas should treat its small farmers better and this bill does exactly that.

Call To Action!!

Please contact the following state representatives currently serving on the Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee and urge them to support SB820.
There has never been a more critical time than now or a better law to help small farmers in Arkansas.

Senator Gene Jeffress, 870-689-3537 , Gene.Jeffress@senate.ar.gov
Senator Stephanie Flowers, 870-535-1032 , Stephanie.Flowers@senate.ar.gov
Senator Jimmy Jim Jeffress, 870-364-8291 , Jimmy.Jeffress@senate.ar.gov
Senator Jim Luker, 870-238-8588 , Jim.Luker@senate.ar.gov
Senator Mary Anne Salmon, 501-753-4521, maryanne.salmon@senate.ar.gov
Senator Randy Laverty, 870-446-5005 , Randy.Laverty@senate.ar.gov
Senator David Wyatt, 870-613-3014 , David.Wyatt@senate.ar.gov
Senator Mike Fletcher, 501-802-3114 , Mike.Fletcher@senate.ar.gov

What a difference a year makes!

2010-05-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last year at this time we were scrambling to put the finishing touches on Fred and get our transplants in the ground.
This year we are selling at 5 markets and have Ripe Tomatoes on the vine that will be picked tonight!
Our green beans are starting to arrive and our peppers, squash, zucchini and cucumbers are in full production.

None of this would have been possible without the great help from many hard working LOCAL folks who installed the fencing, laid the plastic, trained the tomatoes and of course pick every night.
Thanks to all of them for busting it this spring! Their work was critical in allowing the early success we have had to date this year.
For once, the cash is starting to flow in a new direction! We have more work to do, but I just saw a ripening BRANDYWINE from one of the plants on Brandywine Corner!
The little sprout on the corner in some of our random website photos has what looks to be a little over a pond brandywine hanging from it.

This last week customers in all of our markets asked for ripe tomatoes, we here ya and here ya go!

Crops in the Ground!

2010-03-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks our team transplanted over seven thousand seedlings, built over 16k of beds and busted their tails getting our early spring crop in the ground.
Props to Shawna Woods, Antwon Jones, Brandon Hughes & Tom Hearty for their great attitude and hard work, it would not have been possible with out them. I have heard many farmers lament the difficulties in finding good help. We have had success in finding help using craigslist and recommend it across the board. Leveraging online resources is one of our farms core methods and so far, it has worked. The LOCAL folks we hire are quick studies and hard workers. Props to craigslist.org for making it so easy.

We have started the seeds for the rest of the summer crop and plan on filling out Fred’s rows in April. The weather has been fantastic to date and most of our seedlings are doing well inside Fred. On these sunny days, Fred is a toasty 85 degrees and the young ones seem to like it. I have never watched the weather like I do now; I use the Vilonia AccuWeather 15 day and Weather.com 10 day outlook for my temperature forecast and the Cabot Weather.com 10 day outlook and hour by hour for my rain forecast. All of which does nothing to my chances of weather having a negative affect on my crop, but at least it keeps me busy worrying.

Well I hope this next round of weather is uneventful. I am listening to Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry”, Who does not love an 8 bar bridge of “Everythings Gonna Be Alright”? I think I will try out my baby spinach this eve, quality controlling the crop is a tasty responsibility that is a priority with me.

Spring is here and Summer is near!

2010-03-09T09:09:00.001-08:00

This week we are preparing Fed’s beds, enjoying this wonderful spring weather and transplanting over four thousand seedlings.
Watching these little guys grow over the last several weeks has been a pure joy. So far this year, we have not made the same mistakes we did last year and it shows. Our plants are healthier, our fall and winter fertilization plan has enriched our soil and we are staying a head of the game with our spring crop.
While we still have some work to do around Fred’s French drain, we look forward to our investment in these high tunnels paying some dividends.
Putting tomatoes in the ground in early March is a risk because of possible spring freezes, but Fred was able to keep out the frost and cold last fall until the first week of December. This spring our high tunnels combined with floating row covers (a light weight cloth designed to help hold heat) “should” keep our young ones warm enough to make it thru April. We have almost doubled the number of varieties this year and they can be found under the “Produce” section on our website. Pictures of all of our seedlings and growing systems can be found on our Facebook fan page, “North Pulaski Farms”. We are keeping a photo journal of our progress. Our customers can know when, where, how and (when I fix the grainy webcams) even watch every step we take growing their food. This not only supports our record keeping processes with pictures, it demonstrates our commitment to transparency.

Many folks have often asked me, what’s with these Flintstone names? This is a practice that was done in the early years of my IT career. At World Wide Travel Service our computer room was called the 4077th and we used MASH (from the movie, not tv show) character names to identify the particular servers. Our main login server was Hawkeye, our communication server was Radar and our fastest server was named Hotlips. Anyway, now that I am a farmer, I figured it would be a good time to get back to Bedrock in the Stone Age. Fred is our large production system; Wilma is our hothouse where our small ones are taken care of. It seems to work and is easy for my workers to remember.

This post would not be complete if I did not share my disappointment in my cities political leadership (or lack there of).
I want to thank Jody Hardin, Eddie Stuckey, Sam Profit, Melissa Smith, Christi Jones and my sister Julann Carney for attending the meeting. While we all would have liked different results; it added a measure of comfort knowing that I was not alone with this cause.
The administration and city council sent a clear message to the small farms in our area; they don’t believe you can provide variety and stability for their market.
Many times over the years as CIO of my former company, I was challenged with convincing the business leaders to follow a path they did not agree with.
Online travel was not very welcomed to travel agents if you can imagine.
Fortunately for me, I could use tools like data, risk assessments and subject matter experts to explain the benefits of the path I was recommending AND THEY LISTENED. The Jacksonville City Council had already made up their mind to disregard the data and do what they think was best before the meeting ever started.
For the record I want to share the numbers shared with them and add my own at the end.

71% percent of Arkansans surveyed by the University of Arkansas in 2009 go to farmers markets to support local produce or economies.
243 new jobs could be created with a 10% movement towards local foods according to one Ohio State study creating and additional 344k in tax collections.
13% was the growth of farmers markets last year according to the USDA.
151 was the member count of Keep Jacksonville Arkansas Grown’s FB fan page (its 219 as of this post)
MILLIONS are spent by the USDA to promote “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food” programs and in grants for high tunnel production to extend seasons.
40 is the number of State legislators who think state law should require that if you call it a Farmers Market it should be for farmers only.
3 were the number of folks who spoke to Keep Jacksonville Arkansas Grown and 2 out of 3 was the number of city employees who spoke in support of allowing imported produce.

Lastly, $500 is the amount of money I plan on giving any realistic challenger who runs against these folks in the next election.
Ignoring data and not following good processes yields predictable results and should not be tolerated in people charged with spending tax dollars.
Now as “Odd Ball” would say in “Kelly’s Heroes” “enough with the negative wave’s man”.

OK back to getting my hands dirty! Farming that is.

Jacksonville Farmers Market Opportunities

2010-02-15T10:37:00.001-08:00

INSHORT: Please concact Jacksonville City Council Members and ask that the Jacksonville Farmers Market be easy for farmers to use and that it keeps its Arkansas Only ordinance.
http://www.cityofjacksonville.net/Elected%20Officials.htm

Peculiar!
That’s how I feel composing this post. Peculiar because I find myself advocating that the new Farmers Market in my home town of Jacksonville be easy for farmers to use. Why I would have to do that just seems peculiar to me, I would hope that when the city of Jacksonville decided to build a Farmers Market their goal would be to build a place that is conducive for famers and the local citizens to use. This would provide a venue that would help distribute fresh market produce, something that Jacksonville could really use. This would seem to demonstrate a proactive approach to the cities health and well being.
One would hope anyway, well it seems that the city is hedging their bet to the determent of the very market the city is building. After several emails and phone calls to the administrative folks detailing the issues that I see with the new market, it seems they have fallen on deaf ears. Here is the content of the email I sent after I talked to the city engineer about the proposed work flow they envisioned for the market:

From: Kelly Carney [mailto:kelly@northpulaskifarms.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 2:48 PM
To: 'Jim Durham, Director of Administration'
Cc: 'Jay Whisker, City Engineer'; 'Gary Fletcher, Mayor'; 'Jody Hardin'
Subject: RE: Jacksonville Farmers Market
Jim,

Thanks for putting me in contact with Jay. He was able to verity the proposed process for Farmers to use when setting up at the Jacksonville Farmers Market.
While I would not begin to understand the procurement process for local municipalities with regards to construction projects, I can advise you that building a market that is easy for Farmers to setup and use should warrant consideration of a design review. In my opinion there is 1 critical and 1 major design flaw with the proposed market.
The one CRITICAL flaw that could keep farmers from this market is the requirement that the sales booth is separated from the farmer’s climate controlled storage facility (van or truck). This creates burdens on the farmer to either attempt to unload his produce in the booth area or have to leave their booth to replenish their tables. Either of these options is not ideal. Farmers who use refrigerated vans or trucks would not risk the potential spoilage by unloading and would have to make many trips to their vehicles there by leaving their sales area unattended. The setup time for coordinating several farmers loading/unloading could create bottlenecks as the market grew in popularity. I am no designer but the resolution of this may be as simple as removing the walls from the current design so farmers could back their vehicles up to the sides and setup their booths accordingly.

The one MAJOR flaw that could keep larger farmers away is that there is not room for larger refrigerated trucks to unload with a 10ft roof. I am not talking about 18 wheelers, but the smaller (9-10ft tall types used by many farmers and local merchants). This flaw could be mitigated if the unload requirement was not in place because the larger trucks could just back to the edge of the roof and work from there.

I have visited only 2 covered farmers markets. Memphis and Little Rock’s markets support farmers utilizing their vehicles for storage as part of their booth.

End of email

The cities solution to this was to say (in the Arkansas Democrat attached article) that the farmers could setup in the parking lot of the market. As a taxpayer in Jacksonville, I find this to be absurd. Hey here’s an idea, lets build a farmers market pavilion and ask the farmers to setup in the parking lot of it.

Now for the Ironic part of this post. The city in what seems to be its desire to sell produce at the market at any cost, is considering removing the current ordinance that requires farmers to only sell Arkansas grown or produced products. The mayor in the attached Leader and Arkansas Democrat Gazette article seems to claim that you can’t have variety and locally grown food at the same time. Well I don’t know if the mayor has been to a farmers market recently, but I guarantee that a successful Arkansas Farmers Only market has more variety that any Wal-Mart Supercenter or Kroger has. At the Argenta Farmers market in NLR, you can find dozens of varieties of tomatoes, green beans, squash, greens, melons and more. The fact is local farmers grow not just the plain vanilla easy to sell produce staples, but much much more. Does the local grocery store have shitake mushrooms or fresh basil or cilantro? Not the last time I checked. When you drill down on the data, you find that it’s the farmers markets that have the variety, not peddlers selling out of state products. Additionally it’s an educational platform that can be used for local schools to teach where food comes from, why certain foods are abundant during certain times of the years and the importance of farmers in the local economy. Why do I have to advocate locally grown to a city who has invested in consultants who tell them of the revenue bleed that happens within its city limits? Do they think that produce peddlers selling out of state produce keep their money local? The oldest manufacturing job that exists is that of a farmer. The money I spend growing my crops is re-circulated many times in Jacksonville. Sam Proffit who helps part time at my farm, pays rent in Jacksonville and buys from local merchants. I am no economist, but it seems pretty simple to me that the more money that is re-circulated in a small town the better the economy for that town becomes. Hello Jacksonville? Are you getting any of this?
The entire country is in the midst of a local foods title wave and we have the opportunity to embrace this. Let’s not miss this opportunity!
Jacksonville should have a farmers market that is easy to use and fair to the farmers. If they do this, while it probably won’t happen overnight, farmers will show up to sell, more new farmers will want to be a part of it and the variety that will be found there will be second to none.

Kristin Griggs who is in charge of the market has asked for feedback about the new market. If you share my perspective on this, please call or email her at 501-982-4171 or kgriggs@cityofjacksonville.net . As of last Friday she said she received 3 emails about this new market, please help in adding a few digits to that number.

Check out these links for more farmers market information:
Wikipedia - Check out the picture of the Durham NC Market -:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers'_market

USDA Farmers Market Fact Sheet:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5080175&acct=frmrdirmkt

USDA Farmers Market Website:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FarmersMarkets

Conferences, Tomatoes and Farm Heroes

2010-02-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

This last week has been one of the coolest ever. I attended my first farm conference, the Missouri Organic Association annual meeting in Columbia. The MOA is an association of farmers, chefs, gardeners, health professionals and consumers who advocate organic food. I met many experienced organic farmers and look forward to getting to know all of them better. There were workshops on Organic advocacy, high tunnel production, pest and soil management as well as marketing using social networks. I picked up some Amish made organic tea that I am going to dilute and feed my seedlings with. They had planned to hold a “silent” auction for a fund raiser when one of the Amish members volunteered to actually call the auction. The Amish are well known for their farming skills and their produce auctions. When the auctioneer pulled out a 2.5 gallon of Hummus Tea, I could not help but bid on it. One can’t help but wonder how many pounds of tomatoes this fine gentleman has sold. The
MOA members are clearly part of the “early adopters” in organic farming and were happy to share their insights with this rookie.
I would be remiss if I did not offer my thanks to Jody Hardin for inviting me to join him at this conference.

This leads me to the Farm Heroes section of this post. The MOA members referred to many of their members as “farm heroes” for their contribution in helping fellow farmers. Making it to my second year as a farmer would not have been possible with out the help of one of my farm heroes. Jody Hardin with the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market has committed his life advocating for the small farmer. He was a speaker at the MOA conference, is obviously very well respected by his peers and his vision for Arkansas small farmers helped created the states premier farmers market in Argenta. Jody Harding has probably forgotten more about farming than I ever hope to learn.
The Jacksonville Military Museum hosts a War Stories Lecture Series and recently featured Lt. Col. Keith Moore with the Arkansas Army National Guard. Lt. Col. Moore is leading the Arkansas Agricultural Deployment Team to Afghanistan.
He detailed their plans to help rebuild local agriculture in a country that has lost much of its knowledge base to over 30 years of war. I have to admit that I was very skeptical so I planned on attending this event to learn more details. History has not been kind to foreign armies in that country. Lt. Col Moore was the first to say that we are not going to teach farmers who have been farming since the beginning of time how to farm. Their plans are to help rebuild irrigation infrastructure, assist with building markets and do what it takes to rebuild local agriculture as a means for economic development. Lt. Col Moore and his team of volunteer guardsmen many of whom are farmers are doing this under the most challenging conditions imaginable with little to no resources. This will keep our local agricultural challenges in perspective.

Finally I am proud to announce that our seed germination is in full swing. Our spring tomato crop has been transplanted from their germination flats to 2x2’s, and our spring spinach has been transplanted into the ground in Wilma. We have started our cucumber, pepper, lettuce and melon seeds and look forward to filling our ebb/flow growing tables with these youngsters. I have some very nice Amish tea I am sure they are gonna love.

What Wonderful Winter Weather

2010-01-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

So with snow, sleet and ice covering Fred & Wilma (our greenhouses), I could not help but think what a great time to start our Tomato seeds.
We started Wilma’s spinach seeds last week and they have already started to sprout.
Seed starting is one of my favorite parts about farming. I get my hands dirty and in 3 or 4 months from these tiny little seeds I will deliver my popular grape tomatoes. Last year at this time we were focused on our construction goals and missed the chance for an early crop, this year we hope will be different.

We have finalized our 2010 retail crop plan and it can be found under our “Produce” tab. Our popular heirloom tomatoes are back and we hope to have some Grape tomatoes ready sometime in May. This year we are introducing three different melon varieties, an heirloom green bean and are trying our hand with some lettuce and spinach. February will be spent germinating and transplanting our spring crops seedlings into 2x2’s for later transplanting in March & April. Currently Fred’s winter cover crop or rye grass is coming in strong and I expect much better soil fertility in the spring. Shutting our production down this winter was not an easy decision but one that I am confident will pay off. Soil fertility is the most critical element in growing healthy plants, taking the time to build our soil over the winter will increase the likely hood of that outcome. Our farms first and foremost method for insect and disease management is a healthy plant.

I have been waking at 5 am almost daily for the last year without the assistance of an alarm, this last week it’s been 4:45, I just can’t seem to get my hands dirty enough.

Finishing up our first year

2009-12-28T12:39:00.000-08:00

First I would like to thank Nancy Dockter with the Arkansas Leader for the opportunity to be interviewed about my new career choice last week. Nancy is not only an excellent reporter; she is a local farmer.
She stands as one of the examples of why I maintain you will find no finer group of peers to work with.

It was sad to see our tomato and pepper plants succumb to the cold a few weeks ago, but keeping heirloom’s alive from April to December is one of this years success stories.
One of our lessons learned this year was that while high tunnel greenhouses are very hot in the Arkansas summers, they do a fantastic job of water management.
Keeping the rain off the tomatoes and most of the rest of our crop was most likely the key to their success. Fred was a bear to build and his soil has a long way to
go, but I suspect he will be a very productive growing system within the next few years.

Another success this year was finding great people to work on the farm. None of what we accomplished this year would have been possible without their help.
So thanks to Shawna, James, Sam, Brady, Mike, Gump, Steve-O, Justin, Jon Paul Sr & Jr, Tony, Josh, Tom, Tim, Ryan and Cody for all the hard work.
This group of local workers rose to the task of keeping this years construction and growing schedule on time and I could not be more thankful for their effort.

The next few weeks will be spent getting Fred ready for winter. We have spread leaves, lime & litter and will be lightly tilling it into the soil.
Afterwards we will seed rye grass for our winter cover. This process will help build our soil fertility and assist in the prevention of nutrient run off.
Starting in March of 2010, we will begin building our beds and transplanting our young ones.

Finally I would like to thank all of our customers. Thanks for the feedback and continued support. I am excited about next years crop and look forward to re-uniting with everyone in the spring.

Happy New Year!

Rainy Afternoons

2009-08-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

OK, so Mia Vermillion’s “In the Dark” set’s the mood for a smooth afternoon listening to B.B. King’s Bluseville on the satellite radio. Farmers usually love August rain and I am no different, but do for different reasons. For me, it’s a chance to work in Fred without the brutal heat. I have some aphid collecting to do and get to try out my super duper bug sucker (leaf blower vacuum).

We have learned many valuable lessons with this year’s crop and continue to learn more every day. We are starting our fall crops and look forward to testing the limits of Fred this year. The tomatoes are starting to produce and the green beans have received good reviews. The Tyria’s have been a big hit at the market and their size certainly has been a fun conversation piece. We have learned much with regards to our cantaloupe. I think we may choose a different variety next year. We are loosing a very high percentage of these very fragile melons. We have started another row of Yellow Squash and Zucchini and hope to have some by the beginning of Oct. We are starting our spinach, basil and cilantro next week.

One a more personal note, it was a beautiful drive to Northern Virginia to help my oldest daughter Michelle move for her new job at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A big thank you to my nephew Joe for his hospitality, from a parent’s perspective, it is comforting knowing that your child still has family around who can help if needed. So thanks to Joe, Lesa, Jules, Adeline, Missy, Bill, Kerry & Joe (jr) for having the insight to move to the DC area all those years ago. I have no doubt that my little girl’s new career will take off and her new employers will see her value quickly. Those who know me, know that I have never let a little geography get in the way of being with my daughters and I look forward to more trips to our nations capitol.

I also look forward to more rainy afternoons and Mia Vermillion can sing the blues for me anytime.

Role Reversal with Channel 7

2009-08-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Jessica Dean and KATV for the opportunity to talk about organic farming. While I do wish that more of what I said could have been shown, I understand that television news stories have to fit within given time slots. It was a pleasure meeting Jessica and showing her the farm and talking about the value of organic foods.
You can see the story at the following link:
http://cfc.katv.com/external.cfm?p=chooseyournews&h=2000&menu=news

For over 20 years in the IT arena I have been on the side of science and it was interesting seeing me as the emotional defender when in fact there are many issues with the science the report was based on. The report from the United Kingdom was based on the evaluation of published studies over a 50 year time frame. I can say from a methodology perspective, this is bad science. The inconsistent data sets and lack of standard quality controls for collecting this data puts it in question to begin with. In fact, more recent U.S. studies that track antioxidant levels in plant based organic foods show completely different results. Keep in mind that it’s only been in the last 25 years that we even knew what an antioxidant was. Finally the study focused only on nutrient density and did not take a holistic approach. Any one who knows me, knows how I feel about making decisions based on only one piece of information, it’s not a good idea. Especially if we are talking about purchasing food!

Organic food is not just about the nutrient levels, it’s about the processes used to produce it. Organic farming is about sustainability and health. From a health perspective, not using petro-chemicals or any other synthetics in our process prevents any possibility that an accidental human error could cause an overdose to the plants or product. Recent studies have shown that plant based organics have higher levels of antioxidants and lower levels of nitrogen than there conventionally grown counterparts. The higher nitrogen levels are a real health concern. The fact is we don’t know what the long term effects of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are because they have only been in wide production for the last 40 years. From a sustainability perspective, we simply can’t continue to over fertilize and over water and hope to stay on the top of the food chain. Organic products are produced using natural fertilizers and management practices that can be sustained. Organic Farmers have to have a soil management plan that prevents fertilizer runoff and builds soil fertility. The fact that our soil gets better with use extends the life of the farm.
Certified Organic farmers are inspected by USDA certified auditors who verify our practices and test our soil. This 3rd party audit is an assurance that we are following the rules.

Here is a link to the recent report regarding higher levels of antioxidants in plant-based organic foods:
http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/5367_Nutrient_Content_SSR_FINAL_V2.pdf

Granted, I have a vested interest in organic foods, but the reason I chose to grow organically was because of the science, not the emotion.

Markets & Tasty Lessons

2009-07-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks of selling our produce in North Little Rock and Jacksonville has rocked!
Re-Connecting with many of my former travel colleges has been a pleasant surprise. I never knew that so many of them supported local agriculture and am thankful for it. We have sold several hundred pounds of squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. Starting soon, our cantaloupe will be here. Now understand I am perfectly happy being Mr. Squash Man. I like it and it has been profitable. But, if I am not Mr. Cantaloupe Man before fall, I will surely be disappointed. Our Sweet Granite’s are starting to mature and hopefully will produce thru the fall. Look for them online at www.cafm.locallygrown.net .
Additional produce information is available at our online calendar www.northpulaskifarms.com/calendar.html .

Last week, I harvested 8 pounds of sun scaled Brandywine’s. Deciding not to sell them was difficult, Brandywines are grown for taste, not appearance and I am selling out each week. Since the scald was pretty bad and for the good of our customers, I sacrificed them and made a marinara sauce. I am not a real cook, but have been known to play one at parties, the Brandywine Tomato flavor was very rich and now I am really questioning the logic in me putting up a shade screen to prevent the scalding from happening again.

This season has started slow for us, but we are stating to find our grove and our crops are maturing.
Meeting new customers and re-connecting with former colleagues, networking with all the local growers and sharing the experience with my daughters has been priceless.

Mr. Squash Man

they call me... Mr. Squash Man.....

2009-06-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

Despite what the thermometer said, Saturday June 27th was a very cool day.
Our first market was a huge success, if anyone had told me we could sell over 80lbs of squash in the middle of the summer I would have asked them to share whatever they were smoking! A special thanks to my daughter Danielle for getting up early and letting me exploit her cuteness and charm. She not only weighed all the baskets we sold, but handled many transactions herself.

Thanks to all our customers who purchased our squash and tomatoes. Growing quality produce is our farms first priority, if you folks are not satisfied for any reason with your purchase, we will gladly provide a refund. We consider service a privilege and are grateful for the opportunity to provide it.

I have been called many things in my life and a good portion of it is not fit for this blog. Saturday I was called the Squash Man by a few of our customers. I think it has a nice ring to it.

Mr. Squash Man

p.s. just wait until our cantaloupe come in

To Market We Will Go!

2009-06-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings folks, it has been a very busy two weeks, training, tweaking and testing all the growing systems here at the farm.
Minus a few small leaks in our irrigation system, things are starting to settle into a summertime pattern.
The heat has driven us to night shifts and we have removed Wilma’s poly in anticipation of the shade screen scheduled to be installed next week. We are still waiting on word regarding our organic certification and hope to have positive results before this weekends opening market.

North Pulaski Farms will have summer squash and a small amount of Grape and Brandywine heirloom tomatoes for sale this Saturday at the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in the Argenta district of North Little Rock. I cannot express how much I look forward to this. One of the things I miss from my IT/Travel career is the relationships made during the course of our business. I look forward to the relationships built with this one. As always, props to James Franks whose effort and expertise is constantly evident at the farm. This weekend would not have happened without his help.

Wow What a week!

2009-06-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

This last week we finished Fred, built 44 325 foot beds, installed an 8 stage irrigation system and transplanted several thousand seedlings.
The end of the week was capped off with our organic inspection by Jeff Stearns of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. One of the differences with certified organic farmers and others, is the inspection process to get certified. Annual 3rd party inspections and audits of our farm and its systems is a requirement of the certification process. Jeff toured our farm, took soil samples from Fred, Wilma & Barney, reviewed our seed and fertilizer documentation, and reviewed our Organic System Plan with our actual practices. He commended us on our runoff prevention techniques and our water management design. It’s nice to know working all those buckets to catch the run off from the seedling tables and the design efforts for our drainage and irrigation systems did not go un-noticed. True Organic farming is more than just not using synthetics fertilizers and pesticides; it’s about doing so in a sustainable manner that actually enhances the land used. This inspection was our first chance to show how we plan to do just that.
Jeff advised they should have their results by the end of the month.
Thanks to all the teams that made it happen.

Later this month our Brandywine’s will be ready for market, check www.cafm.locallygrown.net and www.littlerock.locallygrown.net for details and of course you can watch their progress on Wilma cam.

It's beginning to look a lot like Fred!

2009-05-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

Fed is about finished. We have 8 of 11 bays skinned and the 2 inches of rain we received had little affect on the growing areas that are covered in poly.
I could not wait to get inside Fed when it was raining. We have a little bit of trench work in a few of the bays, but overall its fantastic!

We will finish the last 3 bays and install the side walls, but probably not bother with the end doors until fall. Check it out on Barney Cam.

One of the challenges with using high tunnel greenhouses in Arkansas is the heat. Fred is designed to mitigate heat risks with his unique venting systems and his luminance color. Not only does he vent from the ends, he vents thru the gutters.
One of the pics shows the roping system designed to allow us to push the poly up on the sides. This releases the heat build up in the tunnels and allows for more air circulation. Since the gutters are a 5 feet high, the ground area stays cool.

This next week we will be building our beds and transplanting our spring crops. Our first harvest will not likely start arriving until mid-July, but next year will be an completely different story.

Let it rain, let it rain let it rain……

What a difference the Sun makes!

2009-05-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Now that Mrs. Nature’s fit has subsided, the teams are making real progress on Fred.
The leg drilling is down to the last 50 or so stubborn legs. Each of the holes requires jacking multiple times to bust the rocks so that the legs may make it down the required 30 inches.
I have to brag on the teams doing this work, each of them have been patient while it’s been wet and willing to work when it finally dried out. There is a good chance that we might have a few bay’s skinned before the rain comes later this week, and that would not be possible without their Hard work. So, props always to James Franks for his expertise and hard work, props to the Proffit boys, James, Jon, Sam, Rodger, a hellava work ethic is in ya’lls bloodline fer sure, Mike Burges, Dustin Lovell, Tony Hart, Josh Stewart and lastly Cody Ballard for helping at all hours of the night.

Check the www.northpulaskifarms.com/Calendar.html for skinning dates towards the end of the week. Skinning is the process of installing the poly over the bays. It’s usually done early in the morning during non windy days.

Our fierce attack Labrador; Dostaff’s Nasserite Warrior is always on guard for any stick that makes it’s way into the irrigation pond.

Things are starting to come together nicely with Fred, several thousand plants in 2x2’s could not be happier.

Squash Anyone ?

2009-05-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Work continues on Fred, we have a great team of guys working their butts off.
Check out the weather and barney cam's for the best view of the construction.

Ever see what several hundred baby summer squash looks like? Us neither, but James did a great job of tranplanting them and we look forward to getting them in Fred.

Let's hope that witch Mother Nature let's up a bit on her cryin, this farmer and a few hundred others have work to do.

Rain Rain Go AWAY! or whatever......

2009-05-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

Things are pretty soggy at the farm and not much work has been done on Fred.
All told in the last 10 days we have had over 8 inches of rain. I am beginning to not like my Honeywell Weather Station. I feel compelled to always watch it and check it and talk about it and even now I am going on and on about it!
The weather will be what it is. That fact was one of the reasons we are investing in Fred to begin with. Once complete, we will have better control of the water and hopefully have the ability work during these beautiful Arkansas springtime’s.

The good folks from Haygrove will be at the farm this Monday (5/4) assisting us with bending our hoops and providing some additional construction training. While this rain has pushed us back another week, we still should be complete by the end of this month. We have several hundred plants living in 2x2's that are waiting patiently for their new home to be ready.

Blooms & Gully Washers

2009-04-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

North Pulaski Farms received 3.3 inches of rain early this week and I could not be happier with the way the field looks. All the time spent building the drainage system seems to be paying off. Work on leg drilling has paused while Fred dries out, hopefully we can get drilling by the end of the week.
A month ago, this gully washer would have shut field work down for 2 weeks.

Wilma has blooms!!
Our marketing crops of Grape & Arkansas Traveler Heirloom Tomatoes have started to bloom. The Brandywines have a few very small buds as well.
We staked Wilma’s first two rows of tomatoes today and plan on suckering them later this week. Suckering tomatoes is the process of hand pruning the limbs that do not produce buds. This allows the plant to put more of its energy into fruit production than vine growth.

I just love the smell of tomato vines on my hands. I wonder if Channel will ever have a Brandywine#5.

Fred and Farmers

2009-04-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

Construction Continues on Fred.

The leg drilling is almost 50% complete and we have started to connect the end struts. The next phase will be bending and installing the poles for the hoops followed by the “skinning” of the tunnels. “Skinning” is the term used to lay the poly over the frame. Weather permitting; Fred should be complete by May 15th.

North Pulaski Farms attended its first farmers market this Saturday at the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in the Argenta district in North Little Rock.

Thanks to Christian Shuffield and Jody Hardin with the CAFM for letting me in on short notice. The only thing we had to sell was promises of good things to come, but we handed out flyers anyway. I got the chance to meet several other farmers and look forward to getting to know them better. Val Sviridov “The Russian Farmer” has even stopped by the farm. I welcome all the help I can get when it comes to farming, and will be happy to assist my peers with any tech knowledge I may be able to offer.

One thing is for sure, this new career of mine is putting me in very good company.

Fred has arrived!

2009-04-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

After a long journey, our main production system arrived today. The US Customs service inspected the contents and it seems that they did not pack the container back as well as it previously had been. Most of the legs and struts had shifted during transit from Charleston. James & CO had to manually unload most of the container and it took all day. We are almost finished with the trenches and will start drilling legs soon. I have added an event on the calendar page to keep track of the cam’s, so you voyeurs’ will know where to look for what.

Fred is in Memphis

2009-04-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that Fred (his future home in the photo above) just got unloaded from a train in Memphis and is scheduled to be delivered on the 21st. All the way from the UK to the Port of Charleston then by rail to Memphis then by truck to the Farm, Fred is close.
Check out http://www.haygrove.co.uk/ for more information on our field scale tunnel.
The timing is fantastic. We are finishing up the bay trenches and should be able to start leg drilling this week.

Look for updates on the calendar.

blues, bugs and blogs....

2009-04-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am listening to BB King’s Bluesville on satellite radio when they play Stevie Ray Vaughn and Lonnie Mac’s version of Oreo Cookie Blues (plugged inn) and I figure its time to give everyone an update on how things are going at the farm.

First of all a special thanks to James Franks for his construction expertise and hard work. Wilma, our well and our indoor plumbing would not exist if it was not for his efforts. Thanks man, keep up the good work.

We are happy to announce several new arrivals for the month of April. First, Fred has arrived in the port of Charleston and if all goes well he should arrive at the farm sometime in mid-April. We will keep our calendar updated with his status.

Secondly, our Brandywines, Arkansas Traveler & Grape Tomato seeds are sprouting daily. Check the calendar in early May for transplanting dates.

Lastly, we have 2 rows of Brandywine’s in the ground inside Wilma. During last week's storms, these 3-5 inch high plants just laughed at mother nature's tears, and no matter how hard she cried outside, they stood their ground and extended their middle leaf at her!!!

We had our first insect issue, and so far, Ants 0, Boiling Water 1.

We do make every effort to avoid burning fossil fuels, but we are a commercial farm. Leveraging technology to increase efficiency is a core part of our business plan and a priority. We try to balance this with our “no-till” practices and organic systems to help reduce the farms overall carbon footprint.

Our application for Organic certification has been sent to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry’s Organic Foods Section. They operate a USDA certification program. Why a certifier from Oklahoma? The simple answer is they are the closest one we could find. They are affordable even after we pay for their travel expenses. They have dedicated resources to assist farmers with the certification process and have been available to answer our calls. We are fortunate our neighboring state has made organics a priority and share their services with us.

We are continuing to get the field ready for Fred and working the seed tables in Wilma. Now that we figured out how to update the calendar, the odds are better that we will actually keep it up to date.

Thanks for taking time to read this and check out the cam’s sometime, you may catch us dancing...