Congress shuffles while the economy stifles

Talking to a contemporary of mine today, he lamented he has not seen business this slow in his lifetime.  Of course neither he nor I were alive the last time there was 9% unemployment for more than 3 years.  Neither is anyone else now alive, since even the depression years of the 30s did not have such sustained levels of unemployment.  Of course, the social safety net as we know it did not exist in the 30s, so you either got any kind of menial job or you stood in bread lines.  Today's unemployed are still networking with cell phones and computers and many are collecting unemployment, but money is still tight, and I would guess there is a lot of pasta and ramen noodles being consumed.  Certainly they are passing on produce, since many items are in short supply and in a normal market situation prices would be much higher.  I think if/when this Great Recession finally ends, there will be sticker shock on most food items because of the uncertainty the weather has introduced to farmers.  Without the incentive of higher prices, there will be much less supply of produce and staples.  It's a Brave New World, even if few realize it yet.   Meanwhile, I'll keep pulling weeds and hoping for rain, or I'll have my own mini crop disaster at Casa Monzeglio.

Same old

The country's finances are in the last throes of the flush cycle in the economic toilet bowl, but you would think people would at least continue to eat.   Maybe they are, but it must be pizza and beer, since veg sales seem to be slow to nonexistent at the moment.  Of course, my observations are limited to the North Country, but at least two restaurants have closed in my immediate area in the last few weeks; a high end dining establishment and a southwest themed fast food chain entry.  So I guess both ends of the economic spectrum are hurting.  A mid price UNO restaurant opened recently and is still doing land office business, but I guess we'll see what happens when the novelty wears off.  What all this means in the short run is open to interpretation.  In the long run, we'll all be dead.

These are the times that try Salesmens' souls

And I'm sure some of you will say you have to have a soul in order to try it.  All I know is the weather is playing hob with the supply of produce in the north country and it is dulling the already pallid glow of our reputation as reliable suppliers.  I have already been reminded numerous times today that "You're killing me"  when I tell them we can't supply the load they booked 10 days ago.   It is impossible for them to cover the lost load out of California becuase the trucking time is 4 days, as opposed to 1 day from here.  As Rodney Dangerfield said, "It's a dog eat dog world out there and I'm wearing milk-bone underwear".

It's the weather stupid

Just finished inspecting a shipment of Nappa cabbage from a grower located in northern Quebec.  The cabbage looked beautiful from the outside, but showed at least 30 and in some boxes 85% internal tipburn and decay when the heads were cut lengthwise.  The high heat from last week probably caused most of the damage, but the entire season has been a struggle because of the weather factor.  The nappa grower has a good reputation and is in an ideal area to moderate the temperatures and he still fell victim to the heat.  Our own growers of iceberg and romaine are also skilled and are also facing huge losses because of the heat and lack of moisture.  If this is a taste of things to come, the standards used to grade produce will have to be revised drastically or there will be smaller windows where #1 grade produce will be available.  Many veg growers will either switch to commodity crops or demand higher prices for good produce to offset the larger losses they will suffer on a regular basis from variable weather conditions.  Of course, this is all a government conspiracy.

Aftereffects

When it is too hot, the immediate response is let's get this over with.  Unfortunately, the fallout from last week's heat wave will be with us for some time.  Lettuce and romaine that looked fine on Saturday shows internal and external tipburn today.  Endive and escarole has stopped growing and will probably show damage by the end of the week.  The baby arugula is bolting while still too small to harvest.  And that is only what we see and know right now.  The heat and dryness will affect yield and quality of field crops, fruit and even hay, as the second growth slows to a crawl.  If this is the new normal, I'm glad I'm closer to retirement than I am to starting in this business.  It won't be pretty if we can look forward to this kind of weather every summer.

weight and potatoes

Now a New England Journal of Medicine article says consumption of potatoes can lead to weight gains in adults!  Just what a struggling industry needs.  The fact that generations of Irishmen were raised on potatoes, milk and a little butter and didn't seem to suffer from obesity doesn't seem to matter.  According to the authors it does not matter what toppings people put on the spuds.  Somehow, I can't imagine people eating plain baked or boiled potatoes. 

relief

Temps in the 50s this morning feels practically arctic after the past week.  It's still dry, but the virtual certainty of thunderstorms over the area today should give us some relief from the dryness also.  I dug up the rest of the garlic and replanted the bed with lettuce and cabbages yesterday and the sub soil moisture is starting to go away.  Pretty soon even deep rooted plants will be scavenging for water.  You can see the corn starting to wilt in the intense afternoon sun.  Crops like potatoes need lots of water now in order to bulk up the crop under the hills, so as the old timers put it, an inch of rain now would be a "million dollar rain" simply because of the timing.  In my case its more like a few hundred dollar rain, but it would be just as welcome.

The heat goes on

A trucker sent us a picture of the thermometer in her garage.  It was over 100 in the shade.  This is the third day of miserable heat and now I think we will see the damage this heat wave will do for the next several weeks.  Young plants will be burned and stunted and will cut yields.  Customer complaints will multiply and even the air conditioning will not blunt that heat.  People don't want to understand, but plants can only adapt so much to extremes of heat and cold.  At a certain point, their internal systems change to keep the plant alive at the expense of vegetative growth, fruit and seed production.  It is an overworked trope, but plants are like people.  They can suffer heatstroke as well as frost damage.  It's funny, we understand that most plants suffer and die below 32 degrees.   Similar things happen when the temp. goes above 100.  We may be back in the 70s by Sunday, but for many plants, the damage is already done.

tipburn and other joys

The heatwave is bringing August to the North Country a couple of weeks earlier than usual.  The dreaded scourge of tipburn is making its insidious way across the farms up here.  In many cases you can't even see the damage because it happens as the plant is growing, and new growth covers up the damage.  An individual consumer cutting a head for a salad will pick off the spot and probably not complain, but the big lettuce processors have a fit, since their machines are not nearly as acute as a human eye and the necessity for speed when you are processing many tons of lettuce per hour makes it nearly impossible to get rid of the problem.  So, many hours are wasted debating and scoring percentages of tipburn which is more of an art than a science.  The other problem with the heat is the labor slowdown.  It's not easy spending 8-10 hours stooped over in 95 degree heat harvesting lettuce.  Hell, it's not easy standing in the shade in this kind of weather.

more on the heat

Isn't it funny that we are not hearing from climate change deniers now that most of the country is roasting.  A little snowfall in D.C. last year and Al Gore is a fool.  Now I guess he is a genius, but I don't hear the Krauthammers, Limbaughs, et. al. saying it.  No, they'll turn up the A/C and put in the earplugs.  So predictable.  Meahwhile, 1500 cattle dropped dead in the Dakotas and the heat wave is predicted to continue til August.

Hot Hot Hot

Compared to Memphis or Dallas, it is not really hot here, but anytime the temp hits 90, it is cause for concern.  Most of the major crops in the North Country such as spinach, lettuce and the cole crops stop growing in hot weather.  Minor veg crops like peppers, cukes and tomatoes love the heat, but they are not the bread and butter of most shippers.  Besides, hot usually means dry, and that is not good.  Most growers are not set to irrigate but to drain fields of too much water.  It looks like a long hot week and weekend ahead, so we can expect some heat damage to lettuce and romaine and bolting in some of the herbs like cilantro.  Still it's better here than in the Midwest or South.

veggie opportunities

According to some economists, we are now in the midst of a consumer bust.  People don't have money and they don't have credit.  They are retrenching and not buying big ticket items.  One consequence may  be more time for cooking and more elaborate meals at home.  Another way to look at it would be less business for food service and restaurants, but if the glass is half full, let's assume more veggies will be sold.  Perhaps this will reprise the golden days of the produce business when local was king and people cooked every day and everyone sat down to dinner together.  And maybe pigs will fly.

Drought and prices

Another day of promises, but no rain to speak of.  At least we are not experiencing the withering heat the Midwest and South are suffering.  That is not as consoling as I would like it to be.  Every time I pass the potato patch and see the luxuriant   vines thatwill not make much of a crop without a couple of inches of  rain shortly.   All the planning, planting and work involved in making a crop are for naught if the weather doesn' t cooperate.  Some lucky duckies will make money this year if the fickle finger of fate grants them the conditions necessary bring in the crop.  Others with just as much skill will be left in the lurch. TANJ (There Aint No Justice)

supply and demand

Why aren't more cucumbers available to satisfy a demand which is pushing the FOB market into the $25.00 range?  The pat answer is the lousy weather early which delayed planting and caused disease and insect pressure.  The more likely possiblility is the farmer is his own worst enemy.  One Quebec grower had 30 acres of cukes ready to harvest last year at this time, but wound up disking most of them and dumping some already packed.  So he cut his acreage by two thirds this year.  So of course, he'll make money in this market and then probably increase his plantings next year and give all the profit back.  The common wisdom is to plant the same amount each year, or at least increase very slowly.  Unfortunately, most farmers chase the dream of hitting the home run with a large planting no one expected.  But of course all their neighbors were gearing up at the same time, so they all wound up in the red.  So much for the common wisdom.   It sounds pretty similar to Congress voting for all manner of unfunded programs for 10 years and then deciding we must cut the deficit despite all the evidence this will only make the situation worse.  At least most farmers are generous, optimistic and hardworking, unlike most of the fools we elect to represent our interests.

weekend warrior

Two beautiful days and warm humid nights.  All we need is a little rainfall and we'll be up to our necks in fresh produce.  The planting, weeding and harvesting are all reaching a crescendo and every waking moment is devoted to thinking about growing or selling veggies.  The local farmers are putting in 18 hour days and probably thinking there has to be an easier way to make a living.  The only saving grace is the certainty that it can't last much longer than another 3 months.  Then we can all relax and start thinking about another spring.  As my mother always says, "It's a great life if you don't weaken".  Words to live by.

slow produce weekend

As always in the produce business, there are as many rationalizations for poor business activity as there are participants in said business.  The further away from the field, the more esoteric the explanation.  I think the simplest reason is the best; too many unemployed people with too little disposable income.  The high earning college educated will continue to eat their veggies because they have been taught it will lead to better health and longer life, and because their parents taught them.  The lower earners are more likely to be unemployed and they are looking for high calorie foods to fill them up.  Unfortunately, they didn't get the "produce for better health" message the Produce Marketing Association touts.  Besides, their parents probably were not on the produce bandwagon either.  There are millions of these marginal participants in the produce business and if they cut their consumption by a very small margin, it has a big impact on the total business.

Good day sunshine

Looks like a beautiful summer weekend coming up.  The weeds are not putting on sunblock however.  They are sucking up the sunshine and putting on a lot of vegetative growth. Unlike later in August and September when they put most of their effort into producing seed, the lamb's quarters and pigweed and even galinsoga are lush and bulking up under the sun.  Armed with a sharp hoe and various rototillers I will do my best to put a stop to this unauthorized sunbathing.   I also have garlic to harvest this weekend.  There is nothing like the smell of hundreds of garlic plants curing in the garage.

To a sprout free world

News that the authorities allowed a German sprout farm to reopen after the e-coli outbreak that killed 53 people is enough to get me to swear off sprouts forever.  According to the article in the NYT, the government is blaming a shipment of Egyptian fenugreek seeds for the outbreak.  That means every single shipment of sprouts should be held for at least 24 hours and tested before shipping to customers.  Want to bet it happens?  As long as farms buy seed from 3rd world countries with minimal safety regulations and sprout them without testing, you might as well play Russian Roulette with your fork as eat non tested sprouts.  Unfortunately, in this country, our regulations are tougher for foreigners shipping to this country than domestic producers.  So I think I'll take a vacation from sprouts.

weather and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Fortune is what some people will make and others lose as the weather heats up across the US.  With temps over 115 degrees in parts of the south crops will suffer at the best and collapse with any other stresses.  Add the fact that many acres will never be planted due to flooding and there will be less commodity crops harvested.  Also, throughout the east and midwest, veg growers are facing the same challenges as their row crop counterparts.  Flooding, late planting, heat and now drought are setting markets in motion.  Farmers with average yields on many crops will make money.  Others with poor or no crops will lose.  Oh Fortuna.

lettuce follies

I can see from my own garden what is probably happening on a larger scale throughout the Northeast.  The green leaf lettuce is growing like gangbusters at a rate far faster than I can get rid of it.  It looks lovely, but after the first flush of enthusiasm for new local lettuce, many people have gone back to packaged salads and eliminated the tiresome washing and drying involved in the DIY salad process.  I have a feeling the farmer's market will be slow this Saturday and much of my lovingly grown green leaf will find its way to the compost pile.  Now where are the tomatoes?

One man's trash

I called on one customer in New York this morning to offer him new crop daikon radishes.  He seemed eager to start buying, but he asked if they could be packed with the tops still on.  This seemed a fairly unusual request, but according to the customer the radish tops are used in Indian cuisine.  So instead of throwing the tops on the ground, the grower may now have a new, profitable crop.  Now if only we could find a market for weeds...

timing is everything

Got a nice little half inch rain last night which should keep the garden growing for the rest of the week.  If we could get two rains like that each week it would be gardener's heaven.  We are finally starting to ship spinach and cilantro to New York markets today.
Timing is crucial there as well.  A hot spell in New Jersey will probably decimate their crops which should set up the market for upstate produce.  A $10 crate of spinach can turn into $20 with a little assist from the weather.  Here's hoping for a little more rain here and a lot more heat in the Mid Atlantic states.  Timing....

weather obsession

You can't farm or garden unless you obsess about the weather.  A cold wet spring and now a hot dry summer.   There is no justice in the farming world.  Since I have only limited watering capabilities, mostly confined to germinating seedbeeds and transplants, I have to depend on Mother Nature to do the heavy lifting for maturing crops like corn and potatoes.  Unfortunately, she seems to have decided to take a summer vacation.  We have not had a decent rain in three weeks and the top 3 inches of soil is dry.  There is abundant subsoil moisture, but for veg growers, the top of the soil profile is just as important.  The forecast is for isolated thunderstorms, but in my experience, the more you need the rain, the less likely it is to fall. 

the joys of yardwork

It   was shaping up to be a really productive day in the yard and garden.  Transplanted some broccoli and cauliflower, planted a bed of beets and killed many thousands of weeds, then decided to do a little mowing around the border fence prior to painting.  Big mistake!  One of the belts on my 44 inch Toro mower was starting to sever, and I tried to help it reseat.  The next thing I know I am dragging my crushed and bloodied thumb from between two rollers.  Made it back to the house and was promptly shut down by my better half.  Fortunately , having nurses in the family is like having your own private ER and Alicia's fiance who was a combat medic cleaned me up as well as the hospital could have and with a lot less wait time.  So tomorrow it's off to the doctor for the standard tetanus shot and dressing with admonitions I will have to ignore.  Hopefully I can still swing the golf clubs and keep transplanting.  My thumb nail is already a nasty blue color and I'm sure I can anticipate growing a new one over the next several months.  I wish I had been more careful, but that's not really me.

Market Saturday

Staggered out of the house at 6 am. this morning to start bunching beets and harvesting herbs and lettuce for the farmers' market in Plattsburgh, but I immediately noticed I needed to water seedbeds and germinating carrots and fennel.  That took half an hour, which put me behind schedule to the point Pam from the market called me in the truck to find out what was keeping me.   I wished I had started earlier, but I was almost there by 9 am.  It's a kick to see people  eager to buy the veggies I have slaved so hard to produce.  Started to harvest a few garlic heads, since one variety, a Russian softneck decided to fall over this week.  the heads are fine, just not very large.  Oh well, it wasn't a very good growing season, but next year...Jerusalem!

confidence fairies

I guess the produce business is going to have to wait for the President's confidence fairies to get people to eat their veggies.  That's about the only help the government seems to want to provide.  Less government jobs in a time of high unemployment.  That's the ticket to economic nirvana.  As state governments slash jobs and fight over balancing budgets, the whole sorry spectacle of the US government wrangling over how many people to lop off medicaid and how best to screw the middle class is a commentary on how far America has come from the "can do" optimism of the 60s to the "we can't afford it" (unless it's tax cuts for the rich) ethos of 2011.  Marie Antoinette's admonition "Let them eat cake" seems eerily like the drivel coming out of Washington today.  At least they could say "eat your veggies so you can remain realitively healthy as you slide into poverty".  Now that sound like change I can believe in.

Thunderstorm tease

Standard summer tease.  We needed a decent shower on the garden to keep things growing as well as germinating later plantings, and the weather said we had an 80% chance of rain.  Well, we got it, but less than a tenth of an inch.  The only thing that much rain benefits is weeds, the all time champion scavengers of the plant kingdom.  The lovingly planted carrots will stay underground, but galinsoga and lamb's quarters will jump at even a hint of moisture.  It looks like a long weekend of hose dragging coming up.

Be careful what you wish for

Wanted/needed a little rain to germinate some seedings and water in some fertilizer, but looking at the radar, I think I got more than I bargained for.  A storm capable of producing 1 inch hail and 60 MPH winds just tore through the area.  I only hope I dodged the worst of it.  Otherwise I'll have a new offering at the Sat. farmers' market; pre-shredded veggies.

Ye shall reap what ye have sown and other fallacies

It's getting into the critical time of year when the garden can get away from you without warning and without mercy.  As you concentrate on keeping up your planting schedule so the weeds are infiltrating and choking previous plantings.  If you switch to weeding, you miss planting or spraying and something else gets past you.  I watched a row of snow peas grow from seed to flower to pods with satisfaction, then within a week they are already past peak and I only harvested enough for two dinners.  Meanwhile, the nearly constant rainfall of earlier weeks has abuptly stopped.  I have to water each planting til it comes up, which of course cuts into the time I need to plant, weed, etc.  I need to be reminded why I love this time of year.

After the 4th

Looks like the veg business is taking a not so well deserved vacation, just as the local eastern deals are hitting their strides.  Traditonally, August is the worst month of the summer for produce.  People are on vacation spending time together before school starts and healthy eating is not high on most people's priority lists.  But many shipper are saying the doldrums are here already and could last all summer.  I know I've said this before, but the economy is taking a toll on all sectors, and the fresh veg business is not immune.  It would seem a no brainer for people to spend money on things that make them healthier, and taste good too, but in the real world everyone is running 100 MPH and eating healthy seems to be the first casualty.  If you are unemployed you don't have money and if you have a job, you have no time.  One woman who had business at a local food pantry told my wife it was one of the saddest sights she has seen.  Many people were lined up and filling out forms so they can access the food available there.  Needless to say, almost all of it is boxed or canned.  No luxuries for the slackers among us.  I think as long as fresh produce is considered a luxury item by so many, the state of the economy will determine the state of the industry.

In the Zone

Some days are like that.  No matter what you do or touch, it turns to gold.  After a decent day at the office, I harvested some peas and strawberries for dinner, planted some basil, cilantro and dill, killed several million weeds, and started seedlings of lettuce and cole crops for later transplanting.  And finished before dinner and darkness.  It doesn't get any better than that.