Too busy to think, let alone write

Strawberry season is intense, relentless, and rife with potential.  Opening for both morning and afternoon picking makes for very long days for Farmer Bill.

This year the picking season started 2 weeks later than last year.  And looks like it will run only about 14-18 days.  The river field, which would have been in its 2nd picking year, is gone.  The 'new' field for this year -- the upper middle -- did not flourish.  The berries there are small and thus the picking is slow.  [Farmer Bill is talking about taking it out and starting over.]  The lower middle field is very good, and the upper field by the house has been reasonable.  So, with only one good field to pick, the operation will probably go to mornings only very soon.  It will be a short season which means less income and less expense.  The balance is hard to gauge at this point.

There are, however, a lot of raspberries ripening in the new raspberry patch.  So that needs to be mowed, weeded (thistles to be pulled), and prepared for picking.  Decisions about advertising for the raspberries need to be made & implemented.

Other crops,  melons & sweet corn, are in the ground and if we get the warm, sunny days we've been promised this week, we could probably stand in the fields and watch them grow.  They've been waiting anxiously for these conditions.  I have no idea when to expect sweet corn this year -- it's been standing still in the field waiting for the rain to quit and the sun to come out.  My guess is melons will be ready in mid-late August per usual.  We're still waiting for our coolers in the store to be finished, but hope to be able to sell corn, melons and apples in the afternoons at the farm.

The apple crop may be our savior this year.  It looks terrific right now.  If we can remain a hail-free zone (and keep the apple maggot population down), we'll have a very nice crop of apples to sell.

More about pesticides

Every year the USDA puts out a list of fruits and vegetables they've tested for pesticide residues.  This year apples topped the 'dirty' list.  But that basic report doesn't give enough information and is unnecessarily alarmist -- imnsho.  We don't know where the produce comes from, what pesticide practices the growers use, or when the last sprays occurred.  We can only assume that the produce is being grown 'conventionally,' which means the growers may be using synthetic chemical sprays. 

But now organic produce is starting to be tested.  And guess what?  Pesticide residue is being found in organic produce.  Because 'organic' doesn't mean no pesticides.  'Organic' means that the pesticides used by that grower come from a specific list of approved weapons against bugs and fungi.

For more information, read this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/06/18/137249264/organic-pesticides-not-an-oxymoron

Strawberry season

omg, strawberry season officially opens on Monday.

Bug night

It's Wednesday -- bug night at Straight River Farm.

Here at SRF, we prefer to use as few pesticides as possible.  In order to decide when to use a fungicide or insecticide on our apples, we use pheromone traps to attract the most worrisome pests and a data logger that logs degree days and leaf wetness.  Once a week, on Wednesday nights, I go through the orchard and pull out the trap liners -- covered with sticky stuff to trap the bugs -- and collect the data logger from its hook.  I download the data into our computer and print it out in table format.  The traps get new liners and the data logger gets re-activated and goes back out in the orchard.  Simple & effective.

The whole process is made a lot easier thanks to the MN Department of Agriculture.  They have an ongoing study of apple horticulture going on.  The data I collect gets emailed in and the MDA puts out a newsletter every week during the apple growing season.  Our data, along with data from orchards across the state, is published to help apple growers make decisions.  They provide us with the trap liners each year and gave us the data logger 6 or 7 years ago.  Knowing that they are waiting for the data and that we're helping others by providing it, helps me remember to do the counts each week.  If we didn't have that responsibility I'm afraid there would be plenty of times when we'd blow it off, or manage to 'forget' to collect the bugs.

Because of the data we collect, we haven't had any apple scab (a nasty fungus that is a huge problem in Minnesota) in the orchard for years, usually with only 1 or 2 sprays.  In an orchard with active scab problems a grower might spray 4-6 or more times.  In a strictly organic orchard, one needs to spray for scab every 10 days starting when the apples blossom, and in between those 10 day periods if there's a significant rain event (about twice a week this year).  We have minimal insect damage to our apples, too, because we're able to time the insecticide sprays to the developmental stage of the problem bugs without killing off all of the beneficial bugs.

So tonight is bug night.  But I have a new work schedule at the library and I'm off every other Thursday, so tonight I'm ignoring the bugs and will go collect them in the morning since the data doesn't have to be in until 10:00 on Thursday morning).  It's not totally laziness... it rained 2 inches yesterday and today and everything is just plain wet out there.  I'm waiting overnight to let things dry up a little bit...  And, since Farmer Bill took the night off to go to the Twins game, I'm also planning to slip down to my quilting table and work on a project for a little while tonight.  If he can take the night off, so can I, right?

More Customer Service

Okay, a good story to counteract the previous one.

A youngish man (late 20s, early 30s) was using our Workforce computer station to apply for a job.  He had rudimentary internet skills and worked on the application for a long time.  Finally, he came to the desk and asked about printing it out.  I walked over with him -- to see what kind of document it was and how many pages.  Turns out it was 18 pages long, almost 3 dollars to print, and we don't take plastic at the printer, or have an ATM in the building.  He has completed some of the pages, but wants to print it out & complete the rest by hand, then return to type them up later.  If he leaves to get cash, he'll lose the document -- his terminal will log itself off from lack of activity before he could return.  I could just print the document and ask him to come back and pay us on a future visit -- I've done that before in similar situations.  But instead I ask him if he has anyplace he could print the document if we saved it on a USB drive.  He says yes, his wife would be able to print it out for him.  Eureka, problem solved because:

Our regional library system recently got a grant to help job seekers.  Part of the grant pays for a job-seekers database where you can write, store, and get advice on resumes, link to job listings, write cover letters, get encouragement, etc.  A small piece of the grant went to providing about 25 USB drives to each library -- for librarians to give out as they see fit.  I hustle back to the service desk and get one of those flash drives.  Returning to the patron, I stick the drive in, show him how to save something to the USB drive, and how to access the drive -- and the saved application -- from any computer -- and I pull the USB drive out & hand it to him, saying "This is for you to take with you."  When he says, "But don't you need me to pay for it?"  I am able to tell him that it's free because of a grant we received.  His face lights up with pleasure at this problem solved, and he leaves the library a happy customer.  One who may even sing our praises, or at least won't bad-mouth us. 

I didn't like or dislike that man.  But he was polite and respectful while we found a solution to his problem.  And I was polite and respectful in return.  He didn't demand that I perform an expensive service for him for free; he just asked me to try to help him.  I like to help patrons solve problems and answer questions.  Most public librarians are librarians because they like to help others.  [It didn't hurt that he said "Thank you" to which I was able to reply "You're welcome, I'm glad I could help,"  and mean it.]  Those are the interactions that keep me from chucking it all in & going farming full time.

Customer Service

Both of my jobs require a lot of customer service.  Some days I get to wishing that I could just go to my bedroom and read a book, or to my sewing table and work on a quilt.  Serving the public is often challenging, to say the least.  And being polite to people who feel no requirement to be polite in return, is downright hard.

A regular patron at my branch library has returned, now that we are re-opened for business.  He is older -- probably mid-80s -- and obnoxious.  For some reason he always gets under my skin.  I give myself pep talks about how I shouldn't let him get to me, especially since he treats everybody the same way.  But I am usually unsuccessful.

This week's example: Mike came in and wanted 2 addresses.  One for William M. Daley (President Obama's Chief of Staff).  This is no problem.  The Chief of Staff has an office in the West Wing of the White House, so you can send mail to him at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C.  The other address was for George Mitchell, who just resigned (May 20, 2011) as the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace.  Mitchell's home state is Maine.  There is no public listing via online telephone directories for a George J. Mitchell in Maine. [Surprise, Surprise]  Mitchell no longer has an office in D.C.  He does head an Institute in Maine, at which he would, presumably, receive mail.  I offer the address and telephone number for the Institute as a possibility.  Mike's reply: There is no one there -- I don't know whether he will ever get anything I send there -- why didn't I pick up the phone and call Washington to ask them for Mr. Mitchell's address?  My reply: we can't make long-distance telephone calls for patrons: here's the number if you wish to call.  Him: is it an 800 number?  Me: no, there is no 800 number.  Him: what good is the library to me if you won't do these things?  I say this to try to convince you to take initiative and go the extra step.  Me: I'm sorry, but long-distance calls are actually blocked on our telephones.  My job is to try to find the contact information for you, then it's up to you what you want to do with that information.  Him: if someone asked you this question, someone that you liked, would you do this for them?  Me: no, we're still not allowed to make long-distance phone calls for patrons.  Him: do you have reciprocal agreements with other libraries who might do this for me?  Me: I can give you the telephone numbers for any other library that you wish to call and ask; my belief is that they will all tell you that it's up to you to make the telephone calls.  Him: are there services that will do this kind of work for people?  Me: I expect there are for-fee research services; I don't know of any off the top of my head.  Would you like me to find some contact information for them for you?  Him: what about the number for the State Department?  Me: There is more than one number for the State Department, I have a directory here that lists quite a few.  Him: are they 800 numbers?  Me: no, they are not.  Him: I need a piece of paper.  (I gave him a sheet of scratch paper to use and offered a pen.)  He said: Thank you -- sorry to bother you.  And walked away from the desk.

That's how my interactions with Mike always go.  It doesn't make me feel any better that the other librarians get the same treatment and have the same issues.  I wish, just once, that he would come with a straightforward question I could answer to his satisfaction; although it's possible I would never satisfy him.  He's right, of course, that I don't like him.  But I work hard at being polite, giving him a pleasant welcome, and answering his questions despite my personal feelings.  That isn't the first time he's wanted me to make long-distance calls or use a research service (at the library's expense) to find information for him.  He also has a germ phobia (I think).  When he sits waiting for us to do our searches for him, he turns his chair so it faces away from anyone; same when he stands near the desk; he stands turned away from people (rotating as necessary).  Once when he came in a librarian at the desk had the remains of a cold & coughed while he was there.  He demanded the manager and threw a fit, insisting that she should not be in the building because she was sick.  He also insisted, by phone and by letter, that there was no need for our building to be remodeled, it was a complete waste of time and money.


And, he doesn't even have a library card.

Staff

Stafffing is an ongoing issue for Straight River Farm.  For most businesses I guess.  Our friend who is a manager in a food co-op is regularly hiring new staff.  At the library, we wish we could hire more staff because there aren't enough hands to do everything we need to do and we play perennial catch-up.  Farmer Bill does have some workers who have come back several years for the strawberry season & we really appreciate them.  He also has a couple of good, hard-working 'hired men' who come and help him on a regular basis.  It's hard to find good employees because Farmer Bill doesn't have year-round work for anyone, and he isn't eligible to pay unemployment so his seasonal workers can't collect unemployment.  [Who knew you had to be 'eligible' to pay unemployment?  Since the States and the Feds pay a big chunk of unemployment, they don't let everyone in because when we lay people off we just increase the costs to them...]

One year 2 or 3 years ago, when Farmer Bill advertised for workers in the local Workforce Center, we got zero inquiries for one of the jobs.  There were no unemployed persons who wanted to take a temporary, seasonal job on a farm -- even in the middle of a recession -- imagine that.  [It's enough to make one want to turn a little bit to the right.]

So every year is a bit of a scramble to find enough people to help manage the strawberry picking, go to the Farmers Markets, and keep up with the weeding, watering, and fertilizing.  Not to mention someone to do a little maintenance on the machinery.

Weather

I assume that all farmers are obsessed with the weather -- but I sometimes suspect that Farmer Bill takes it to an extreme.  One day (actually many days, but who's counting...) I came upon him checking the radar on the National Weather Service website.  [Farmer Bill & I agree that using other weather websites makes no sense, since they all get their information from the NWS anyway.]  He was looking to see whether we could expect rain that afternoon.  I looked at him watching the radar screen, I looked out the window at the black clouds gathering in the western sky, I looked at him watching the radar screen.  I shook my head -- figuratively or literally I don't recall -- and went on with whatever I was doing.  He's got reading the radar movement down to a fine art and is surprisingly accurate a lot of the time.  His daybook/calendar is a Minnesota Weatherguide calendar that I've bought for him every year for about two decades now.  Christmas morning wouldn't be complete without Farmer Bill paging through the calendar and coming up with a couple of trivia questions about Minnesota weather.

Of course Minnesota has a lot of weather to talk about.  We have cold winters, hot summers, rain and wind, hail and sleet.  So Minnesotans, in general, are obsessed with weather.  We complain about the heat and humidity in the summer and the cold in the winter.  We complain if there isn't enough snow and if there's too much snow (which amount seems to vary from person to person, if you can imagine that).  We whine when it's dry and whimper when it's wet.  Except for Farmer Bill.  He doesn't complain, whimper, or whine about the weather.  Like so many things for him, it is what it is.  Now, he may privately think that getting 90+ inches of snow last winter was ridiculous.  And he probably doesn't like it much when it rains every other day -- putting severe cramps in his spring work schedule.  But he doesn't say much; he just gets on with it, whatever 'it' is.

The River Field

Straight River Farm was originally 30 acres.  About 500 feet wide and 1/2-mile long, the farm started at the Straight River and rose up in a series of long narrow fields, divided up the middle by a gravel field road.  The former owner had horses and farmed as a hobby; a lot of the farm was in pasture, some in alfalfa, and the rest varied from year to year.  Farmer Bill changed most of that.  A field on one side of the road became the apple orchard, the field across from the orchard was split into 2 parcels that became strawberry plantings.  At the top of the field road are the house and outbuildings on about 5 acres.  Above the buildings, abutting the township road, are 2 flat fields that also became strawberry plantings.

Then there was the river field.  The river field was next to the river -- hence its name.  It was a lovely little field, just over 3 acres tillable, surrounded by trees and brush on 3 side and the river on the 4th.  To get to the river field, you drove down the field road that bisects the farm, across a gravel 'bridge' over a backwash of the Straight River, and came out into a lovely, secluded field.  You never knew what wildlife you'd surprise as you came down: deer, wild turkeys, pheasant, racoons.  And I get a Bald Eagle sighting at least once every year.

The river field was the first planting of strawberries.  The plan was to have 5 strawberry fields in rotation.  A planting year, 3 picking years, and 1 year off.  Strawberries were planted in 2003 and tended carefully, to be the first cash crop in June 2004.  But Mother Nature had other plans.  In spring 2004, the Straight River flooded.  A flood like the locals said they hadn't seen for years, maybe decades.  The river came up over the bank and flowed across half of the river field, gouging huge holes and leaving behind sand, rocks, and debris.  Our pick-your-own option was out of the question -- it was no longer possible (safe) to allow customers in the field.  Farmer Bill found some workers to pick strawberries and changed his plan -- taking all of the berries to farmers markets.  More labor & expense involved, but since he was pretty much the only strawberry seller at the market, the berries sold well.

Then Bill brought in a bulldozer and filled in the holes, built up the bank again, smoothed out the field, and started over with the half that had been flooded.  But every year the river flooded at least a little, especially during snowmelt.  At the very least, the road across the backwash would get partially washed away.  Bill has spent a lot of time and energy rebuilding that piece of the road.

Then, the flood of 2010 occurred.  And in the fall rather than the spring.  It was a particularly wet late summer and early fall, with so much rain so regularly that the ground became totally saturated.  Then one night in September, we had 6 or more inches of rain in a couple of hours.  And the Straight River flooded as it had never flooded before.  The entire river field was under water for days.  After several days, when the water had started to go down, Farmer Bill took our canoe down, and he & Isidro paddled across.  Irrigation pipe buried 4 feet below the surface had been uncovered and tossed around.  The river carved itself a new path, half way through our river field.  When the water receded, it was clear that the field would never be able to be farmed again.  Rocks varying in size from golf ball to basketball size were strewn across the ground, and sand dunes were scattered here and there.  We were awed by the incredible power of running water.

What happens next we still don't know.  The State may be willing to give Farmer Bill some money in exchange for a permanent easement across that field.  What the easement means is not exactly clear.  We'd still own the land and have the use of it, is all I'm sure of.  Since small farmers like Farmer Bill can't really do crop insurance, a little money for an easement would be very welcome.  He's lost the income from that field -- $8,000-$10,000/acre from the strawberry crop on it -- for this year. 

Of course, since he bought 20 acres next door to Straight River Farm, he has plenty of other places to start new strawberry fields... but the 20 acre addition is a whole other story.