Forest to Farmstand Construction, Part 3

We made another trip to Williamsburg today, tracing the semifinal step in the journey from the woods to the construction of our new farmstand building.  Dan Pedersen has been working away for the past two months at shaping the timbers into Lok-n-log pieces so that  will come together into the form of a barn structure in just a few days once they arrive at the farm. While we were there, we got the special treat of seeing our former apprentice, Sam Deboskey, who is working on the project too.  Sam has decided he wants to be a carpenter, and so he was thrilled at the prospect of learning the task of timber-framing while also contributing to this new development at the place where he learned about farming 2 years ago.  

Sam is at ease in his new profession

Dan wields "the persuader" used to get stubborn joints to fit together

Dan's shop is a greenhouse that he built by his house after seeing a greenhouse go up at our farm.  While our greenhouses are full of vegetables, his was full of the timbers that we had followed from the woodlot to this location.  Dan takes a careful plan, and cuts notches and holes in the timbers so that they will fit together nicely.  The timbers are always worked while they are green, since they are most perfectly straight and square before they start to dry.  Pine and hemlock are relatively stable, but the cuts and notches are all made in such a way as to allow for some expansion and contraction as the wood dries.  Many of the cuts are made with a saw, but then chisels are used for the finer shaping.

This cool chainsaw device is used to make plunge cuts like the one to the right

The details of this cut were finished by hand with a chisel

As Dan talked about the timber framing industry, I was struck by the parallels with the organic farming movement.  Timber framing as a craft was largely abandoned and forgotten starting at the turn of the 20th century as builders switched to 2X4s and nails.  Interest in timber-framing was revived during the back-to the-land movement in the 1970s, and people re-learned the skills and techniques by moving old barns, taking them apart and then rebuilding them in a different location.  Today, timber-framing is a small part of the overall building trade, but demand for those skills is strong and growing.  Dan credits an organization called the Timber Framer's Guild with keeping the knowledge alive. Dan has many connections with the local food movement, since a large part of his business is repairing and renovating the barns at local farms. We're glad to be able to support this local craftsman. If you're interested, you can find out more at timberpointbuilding.com.

"How do you move the timbers into the shop, anyway?" "With this dolly!" "Really?"

Really!

Forest to Farmstand Construction Part 2

A large log ready to cut

Wednesday morning, we got a text from our builder: "David Lashway just called to say that he is milling the last of your timbers tomorrow and Friday if you want to get some pictures."  So Friday morning we carved out some time to make the trip to Williamsburg to see the next step in the process of turning trees into a building.  David Lashway operates Highland Community Lumber in Williamsburg, and his passion for local wood products and for the local land-based economy is clear.  The technology in his saw mill is consistent with what was used at the turn of the century (the one that occurred in 1900, not the one that we can still remember in Y2K.)  Much of the sawmill is engineered to move heavy logs to the saw, slide the logs into the stationary saw, and then moving the lumber away to it's stacks.  Where I have often joked that moving heavy things around is a big part of my job as a farmer, we never handle anything as large as the trees that they move around at the sawmill.

David sharpening the huge sawblade

The pine from Foxbard Farm had already been milled, but today he was working on cutting up hemlock for the main timbers for our farmstand.  David usually steers framers away from hemlock, because of the tendency to rot.  But Ernie Kelley, neighbor to the Paynes at Foxbard Farm, had a stand of beautiful hemlock trees, and he wanted them to go for a higher and better use than the bridge timbers that are the usual fate of hemlock logs.  David's frustration was palpable as he showed us the hemlock logs that were beautifully straight and true, and showed no sign of rot from the butt end of the log, but then revealed rot upon sawing into the log.  He estimated that even with the nice big straight trees he received from Ernie, half of the wood would be below the standards required for timber framing.  He showed us one of the five large timbers that will be the purlins for our farmstand and that turned out to have dry rot along one side.  That wood can still be cut up for pallet lumber, but those are much smaller pieces of wood and therefore more labor to cut, and would fetch a much lower price.  I asked him if he would get 10% of the price that he could get for the larger timbers, and he said "Oh no, not nearly that much."  But his perseverance did pay off and we saw four massive timbers that will form the main structure of the farmstand.

David points out rot visible from the outside of the log

Our timbers are in the foreground

I was impressed in talking to David how his knowledge of the how trees grew informed his knowledge of the structural characteristics of the wood.  Yellow pine from the Montague Sand Plain has very nice structural stability and a lot of weight and strength due to it's slower growth in the nutrient-poor sandy soil.  Hemlock tends to rot because of it's tendency to grow faster and slower in better and worse seasons.  He also had a great perspective on his place in the network of local foresters and millers.  He delighted in telling us the names of all the other sawyers who he works with, and described himself as a "sawmill aficionado."  We got the sense that he sees the local wood
industry as an endangered one.  Many of his colleagues in the sawmill business are in their 80s and 90s.  None of the local lumber yards buy his timber; he sells it all directly to builders.  At one time, many farms had a mill onsite and derived some winter work cutting wood.  David has more modern income mix: we glimpsed the edge of a 2.4 megawatt solar array up hill from the mill.  It was inspiring to see one younger fellow (younger than his 80s, anyway) continuing on a New England tradition in the face of myriad difficulties, and to do our part to support his important work.  

Forest to Farmstand Construction, Part 1

On a cold January Saturday last weekend, Audrey and I bundled ourselves and our dog into the car for a different-than-average date day.  The kids were both busy, so we set out on the first step of our mission to trace the origins of the wood that is being used to build our farmstand.

Foxbard Farm in Shelburne has been farmed since at least the 1700s, as evidenced by the make of some mule shoes found in one of their fields.  John Payne welcomed us into his well-maintained 1812 farmhouse to talk with us about the history of the farm and the timber management.  John's parents purchased the property in the early 1940's, when John was a child.  His father pruned off the lower branches of the pine trees, and thinned the stand to select for nice straight trees with a minimum of knots in the sawlog.  This level of careful forest stewardship is much less common now than it was then, which is perhaps not surprising, given that the benefit was realized a half-century later by the next generation who now has grandchildren!

The farm produces two main products: grassfed Angus beef, and timber.  The farm is close to 1000 acres, of which about a third has been placed into conservation restriction programs.  John's hope is to have it all conserved before he dies.  John sent us down to the end of "the Long Mowing," a long hayfield that stretched along the contour of a hillside.  We walked through the woods, admiring the many huge pine trees still remaining, along with the flawless sawlogs stacked by the road, ready to be taken to the mill where some of them will become timbers for our farmstand structure.  We took great pleasure to meet this friendly and thoughtful steward of the land, and felt honored to be part of our local web of sustainable land managers that extends not just over to Shelburne, but back in time as well.

Now those are some nice looking pine trees!

Scout appreciated the careful stewardship
which has produced plenty of sticks in this woodlot

The view up "The Long Mowing" with some nice pine logs ready for pickup

Jeremy with a nice looking white pine

  "The Long Mowing" extends north from the farmhouse; it seems even longer on a map than it does driving by, but I'm sure that the guys picking up hay bales know just how long it is!

Planting tomatoes on a gray May day

8:25 A.M. Tomatoes planted with the transplanter

 

9:40 A.M. Driving posts for the  caterpillar hoops

 (any kid can tell you, Jackhammers are cool!)

 

10:40 A.M. Bows start going up! 

Starting to look like a greenhouse now!

 

1:30 P.M. Pull the plastic out with the tractor

2:30 P.M. The plastic is on.

5 P.M. The ropes have been deployed to secure the plastic to the tunnel, the tomatoes are safe in their new home, and we can all go home!

What's new for 2016?

It's December now, and it's supposed to be winter! This is the time to curl up with a cozy computer and crunch numbers; somehow it's harder to chain myself to the computer  when it's 50 degrees and sunny, and especially when there is a puppy in the house!

Nonetheless, the first round of number crunching is done, and the results are in:  The value of the share this year was a stunning $793.84, even before factoring in the Pick-Your-Own crops! That is based on the amount of produce that left the share barn times our farmer's market prices (which are based on grocery store prices) divided by the number of shares.  If you had above-average attendance or if you took full advantage of the Pick-Your-Own crops, this fantastic value would be even better.  We gave out 6420 pounds of tomatoes, 3078 heads of lettuce, and 5200 pounds of salad greens this season.  With this first round of number crunching done, we are ready to announce our changes for the 2016 season.
What will change for the 2016 regular share?
I think that many of you will be happy to hear that the answer to this question is "Not much!"  By far the majority of our survey respondents said that they like the share just fine the way it is.  So our basic share format will stay the same.  The price will increase to $600, which is comparable to most of our neighboring CSA farms and which still amounts to a 24% discount over the retail value of the 2015 share even before factoring in the value of the PYO garden.  You can lock in the $525 share price if you sign up and pay a deposit before December 31st.  We are eliminating the large share as an option. It is not possible to calculate exactly how much produce the large share members get, but even estimating something less than double the value of the regular share, we just can't afford to give away something like $1200-1400 of produce for $800.  If you use a large share's worth of produce, you can purchase 2 regular shares.

The other thing that will change is that we will be building a new farm stand.  Once this is open, you will be able to come in to the farm stand any day of the week, and pick out a share-bag's worth of produce from a subset of the produce in the stand.  We will be supplementing our offerings with produce from other farms, so you don't need to worry about our running out on a given day; in fact, we hope to have a more consistent variety all the time.  The wheels seem to be turning slowly on this project, so we aren't able to promise when the stand will open, but we are currently hoping it will coincide with the start of the share season at the beginning of June.

What's new for 2016
We are offering 2 new ways to get a share in 2016.
1) The Flexible 10-week pass.  This allows you to purchase 10 share pickups for $285.  You can come in any time and fill up your bag, ten times during the season.  If you use up your 10 pickups, you can just get another pass; this option will start in June 2016 , but will extend into the winter next year.
2) The Pick-Your-Own pass for $200. This will allow people to get access to the PYO garden who don't want to commit to a whole share.  The PYO garden will include the same crops as in the past: strawberries, cherry tomatoes, beans, herbs, flowers, etc. This could be a great option for those who have their own garden but want to supplement or those who don't eat a whole share's worth of produce but really like to come and pick.
3) The PYO pass and the 10-week pass together are available for a discounted price of $400.

Meet the Farm Crew Part III: Erika Allen

Long-slanted afternoon light fills the Barkowski meadow as I walk out to meet Erika Allen last Friday afternoon. She drives up on the John Deere tractor, its bucket filled with fence posts.  It has been a long week for us humans, but the cows are excited to move to a new section of pasture, and a bovine chorus serenades us as we work and talk.

Discovering farming as a potential career saved Erika from a lifetime of lawyer jokes. I’m sure she would be a good lawyer: smart, personable, and ready to advocate hard for environmental good. After graduating from Appalachian State University in her home state of North Carolina, she worked for several years in the non-profit sector, doing grassroots campaign work for environmental and social justice issues. She took the LSAT and was working on applications when her best friend – who just began a farm apprenticeship in Puget Sound – started sending her photos. At the same time, Erika visited her grandparents’ farm in Ohio and got a glimpse into their life, looking at old family photos. The opportunity to work for the environment without spending all her daylight hours in an office beckoned, and soon Erika was off to her first apprenticeship on a small, diversified farm in Milbridge, Maine.

Simple Gifts Farm came highly recommended when Erika was searching for her next farm apprenticeship. She appreciates the opportunity to work at a somewhat larger scale and learn how to operate tractors and their implements. Working with livestock (as she pounds in fence-posts to anchor the electric fence around the cows’ eagerly anticipated new paddock) is another skill she is glad to learn. Sometimes the larger scale does overwhelm; she described how, earlier that day, the crew was weeding the big field of strawberries and finding it difficult to see the progress. However, the camaraderie of the crew helps everyone to power through such Sysiphean tasks, and eventually get the boulder to the top of the mountain (that is, get the weeds to stay out of the field. . . until they grow back).

Although the apprenticeship year wraps up at Thanksgiving, we are happy that Erika will be here over the winter and for next season. She is looking forward to a winter out of the slushy city; she recalls coming out in the snow to interview here last year and finding the farm-in-snow ‘majestic’ (I know, the snow last year was challenging, but it was beautiful!). Next year, she intends to focus on expanding the flower plantings at the farm. This is something we’ve long had on our list of things we’d like to do, and we like second-year apprentices to have an independent project that helps the farm.

Long-term, Erika would like to own or manage a farm that focuses on flower production. The family land in Ohio is a possibility, although it is fairly isolated from markets. Alternatively, Maine has a strong draw, as Erika really likes the ‘salty but kind’ people there. Wherever it is, there will be masses of fragrant peonies, her favorite flower. In the meantime, we are glad to have her as part of the work and community of Simple Gifts Farm.

The economics of the CSA share

At one time in the history of the CSA movement, the conception of what a CSA share meant was that the farmer makes a budget at the beginning of the year, divides it by the number of shareholders the land can support, and that is the price of the share.  The farm itself may be owned by a group of consumers who hire the farmer to manage the farm for them, or the consumers might contract with an existing farm to grow their vegetales for them. The customers have a "share" of whatever the farm produces; it's a nice and simple idea and the vision of a cooperative and mutually beneficial economic arrangement between eaters and growers.  This problem with this vision of how community-supported agriculture should work is that there have been few if any farms that actually structure their shares this way.

I worked on my first CSA farm in 1995.  By that time, what many farms were offering and calling a "CSA share" was really more like a subscription service than a real "share" of the farm's total harvest.  Customers pay at the beginning of the season for the promise of vegetables every week.  The inflow of cash early in the season is beneficial to the farmer, and the customers share some of the risk.  Many already-existing farms got into the CSA market as a way of diversifying their marketing. There were also a great deal of idealistic young farmers who saw a CSA as a great way to start a farm, and then found that it was harder than they thought to provide a steady stream of vegetables every week (some of those young farmers are in their forties now and are still going strong). This type of arrangement is great for both the farmer and the eater; there is a real connection between the two, and the risk-sharing and early payment are a real boon to the farmer.  But it does differ from the older conception of a consumer-driven Community-Supported-Agriculture.

At this time, there is a wide variety of share types ranging from the urban box share where the farm drops off a box of produce somewhere in the city to an online ordering system where you customize that box. Some farms maket purely through a CSA-type outlet, others mix CSA with farmer's market, restauant sales, or wholesale sales by the truckload. What all of these share types have in common is that they are a way for farmers to sell produce and not so much the cooperative relationship between farmers and their eaters that was at the heart of the original CSA vision.  What the farmer grows and puts in the share is a decision of the farmer based on what they can grow well and what they think their members want to eat.  And the price is based on supply and demand; what other farms in the area charge is more important than the actual cost of production.

Our own farm is a hybrid, as many small farms are.  When we came to North Amherst in 2006, we thought we would transition over time to do all of our marketing through CSA shares.  The share format made sense for a farm that had been successfully preserved by community effort.  Our original business plan called for us to grow to 400 or 500 shares and stop going to farmers market by the third year.  We tried for a couple of years to advertise our shares widely and wean ourselves from farmer's market, but were unable to attract more than our current level of 250 to 300 shares.  We found that with all of the great CSA farms in our area, people shop very judiciously, and our base of people who like what we do and who are in our neighborhood is somewhat fixed.   Our share price is constrained by the price other farms charge; and while we might be able to achieve some economies of scale and reduce our costs by selling to a larger base of CSA members, we haven't been able to increase that base.  We also have found that some of our loyal customers who shop at our stand at market try a share for a year or so, and then go back to shopping at market because that fits how they want to do things better.  So we have kept going to market, but our goal has always been to sell most of our produce at the farm.  It has always seemed silly to us, with 10,000 people who live within a mile of our farm, to pack everything up, drive 3 miles to the center of town, unload everything, sell for a little while, and then pack it all back up again to go home.

Our current project to build a farmstand on the site springs from our hope that we can bring together all of our marketing into a single unified effort.  We hope that if we pour all of our energy into that one effort that is accessible to more people, we can increase the total output of the farm, and achieve more of those economies of scale.  By increasing our marketing volume, we can also grow more of those crops which are more profitable for us and let other farmers specialize in things they do well. This doesn't mean we will be turning the farm into a monoculture, by the way.  We just might leave potatoes, for instance, to a larger farm who can afford the specialized equipment to really crank out potatoes more efficiently than we can.  We have started this year buying potatoes from Atlas Farm, who sells them more cheaply than we can grow them.  We are contributing in this way to increasing the efficiency of our local food system.  And even a larger farm like Atlas has many different crops and is rotating their land through a diverse cropping system.

We are excited about the potential for this new farm stand to increase how much of our community we reach, while also providing a more sustainable income for Dave, myself, and our crew.  And we haven't even started talking about phase 2, which would be starting a kitchen to cook some of our great food for you all to take home to eat!