Our first growing season ended a few weeks ago, and each of us at HappyDirt has had an opportunity to reflect on how it went. It was quite a whirlwind to say the least! Plenty of successes, plenty of things needing improvement and, thankfully, plenty of veggies. I hope you enjoyed the veggies (and fruits) of our labor.
There are several big news items to share:
First is that Sari has decided to pull back from her work at the farm. This leaves a large void, since Sari has been responsible for all of our marketing, communications, bookkeeping, etc., in addition to running the stand, sorting, harvesting, organizing, delivering, etc., etc. Sari will be greatly missed. Fortunately for me, the off-season gives me a little slack in getting up to speed and filling her shoes.
And what is Sari’s reason for leaving? Here’s her words: “I learned an incredible amount this past year and I loved it. After many weeks of processing, I have made the decision to move on from HappyDirt Veggie Patch. My role at HappyDirt and the numerous hats I wore there has triggered the bug in me to get back into the world of business. I’m not sure yet what I’ll be doing, but keep me in mind if you have any creative ideas.”
Alongside this, Cameron has been pulled toward his first love of mushrooms, and will likely have less time to devote to HappyDirt in the coming season. Cameron was the backbone of our field work this season, and he plugged us into his extensive network of family, friends and associates that have benefited the farm in many, many ways. I’m hopeful he will be a big part of HappyDirt this coming season as well, but if the mushrooms call, I understand. In that case, he will still be our mushroom connection person. We do have plans to integrate mushroom cultivation into veggie growing, and Cameron is indispensable to that project.
So that leaves Jonathan and me here at the Veggie Patch. Literally! Jonathan moved into the cabin by the entrance gate a month or two ago. I am in the process of fixing up another cabin behind the Winery building to become my residence. This will change the dynamics of the farm substantially! We will be on-site, with lower overhead and lots of other synergies.
In order to streamline the transition process, we decided to dissolve our LLC partnership. I will take on the business of HappyDirt as sole proprietor, and assume the remaining debts. Jonathan will establish his own enterprise called Rural Craft, which is a farming apprenticeship program that also serves the labor needs of local farms. Jonathan and I will be working together very closely to develop new models of how to get the labor component of farming accomplished in the context of education, teamwork, and making a living.
The final big news is that I’ve decided to change our CSA program into a HappyBucks program. What this means is that instead of pre-paying for a specific box of veggies each week, customers can pre-purchase HappyBucks at various discount levels, and spend them at our stand whenever and however they choose. I’m still working out the final details, and expect to officially launch the new program in the next week or two.
The idea of this change is to give customers more choice and flexibility. It will also help customers save substantially on their food bill. I intend to expand the stand hours this season to make it more convenient for more people. I have also applied to be a vendor at the Rogue Valley Growers Market. If that is approved, HappyBucks will be accepted at our stand there as well.
Another idea in the works for this season is to offer email ordering (using HappyBucks) for retail customers from our weekly availability list, just as we currently do for our restaurant accounts. This could include the option of home delivery.
Well–that’s enough information for awhile– lets allow all that to sink in a bit…
Many blessings to you and your loved ones,
Matt
Letter from Sari:
Dear Friends,
I shared an abundant Thanksgiving yesterday with family and friends. I have had so much to be thankful for in this past year. I have been blessed to come together in very deep ways with friends and community. I also lost two very close friends early in 2009 and this touched me and connected me deeply with old friends and brought new precious friendship and ventures to me, including HappyDirt.
Some of my deepest gratitude from this year goes to my friend, Matt Suhr, who shared with me his love and understanding of farming. Beginning in January, Matt and I began planting seeds, digging out Bermuda grass, recording daily temperatures and reading the rain gage. I learned to mix soil, how to bump-up starts, how to properly label seed trays, techniques for laying transplants into the field, and how to make furrows and spread compost. Matt set me to work, laying and connecting drip line, taught me how to jumpstart the well pump, to time and drip the field beds, and something as simple as how to angle the hose just right when watering starts. I learned how to break the bind weed without damaging the crops, and to dig Bermuda grass out, without losing the root. I learned how to recognize when a tomato was ready to be picked for the ripening chamber, what a perfect, ripe eggplant looks like, and how to recognize when eggplant are overripe and tough. Matt taught me how best to snip and pop squash off the vine, getting them harvested without nicking their tender, shiny skin. And, I saw purple peppers for the first time this summer. I was mentored in just the right way to cut a head of lettuce from the bed, how to snap off leaves of kale and collards from the plants and how to snip and clean the cabbage in the field before pack-out. Matt showed me the intricacies of produce pack-out; soaking, spraying the fresh harvest with the perfect hose-head setting, snipping, trimming or peeling off layers to perfect produce perfection. And I learned how to judge if clean is really clean enough. I was taught the best way to pack produce into boxes. I discovered there were lots of details to packing out produce. Where else would I have learned that the white bitter juice from lettuce stems could run onto the other heads, affecting their leaves, if packed improperly?
Then came sorting tomatoes-thousands of pounds of tomatoes. I sorted by variety, size, and ripeness. Matt mentored me in the fine intricacies of tomatoes; how to palpate a bruise, catching a subtle sun burn, and finding the tiniest split that would cause the tomato to prematurely rot. I learned the difference between #1, #2, and #3 tomatoes. I determined what assortment a case of mixed heirloom tomatoes should contain. Some weeks, I struggled to find just enough perfect tomatoes to complete the boxes for our wholesale orders. If the ripening room didn’t have enough of the needed multi-colored, shining treasures, I’d strap on my kneepads, don my straw hat, wet my sleeves, grab a bucket and head out to the field to pluck the perfect gems.
Between the physical farming, mastering QuickBooks, setting up a wholesale marketing system and accounts, learning to keep a blog, and running a farm stand, it was a powerful year of exponential learning and growth for me.
I learned an incredible amount this past year and I loved it. After many weeks of processing, I have made the decision to move on from HappyDirt Veggie Patch. My role at HappyDirt and the numerous hats I wore there has triggered the bug in me to get back into the world of business. I’m not sure yet what I’ll be doing, but keep me in mind if you have any creative ideas.
I have loved my connection to you all through my part in the farm and am deeply grateful for your faith and support in our first-year effort. Matt will be continuing with the farm, as sole proprietor, working his magic with this incredible rich piece of land. And, I’m sure you may still find me there at times, dabbling in the HappyDirt.
In gratitude,
Sari
