Vindication

Finally, an article in the Economist says what I have been saying for some time.  When the lesser depression hit with full force, people started buying less fresh vegetables and more processed substitutes.  That confirms the gut feeling many in our industry have had.  There is something satisfying about stocking the larder with seemingly indestructable canned veggies instead of watching the broccoli you purchased with no specific meal in mind turn to goldenrod in your crisper.  Not to mention the 3 bagged salads slowly fermenting in the same bin.  Even if you don't use the cans, it's an ant/grasshopper thing.  Of course, every couple of years we tend to clean the shelves and dispose of the oldest cans.  So much for thrift, but at 5 cans for a dollar on sale, it makes pyschological sense.

Trucking

If you are a grateful dead afficianado, the title of this post will have you humming all day.  According to some national owner-operator federation, there is or is not a shortage of long haul truckers to move the nation's freight.  Of course, anyone whose business depends on the whim of long haul drivers has know this for years.  Or at least, those of us in the veg business know there is a shortage of good truckers.  As far as I can see, it is a hellish job with little to recommend  it aside from the chance to see the underside of most American cities.  For the rest, it is bad food, long hours, low pay and abuse on all sides.  The story on NPR says the trucker can make $50 K/year before expenses.  I assume they mean drivers working for trucking companies.  In the bad old days, before cell phones and the internet, it was virtually impossible to track shipments if the driver did not feel like checking in.  Now, it is mostly impossible to avoid the calls of dispatch and customers.  No one cares if you had a flat, or the rush hour traffic killed three hours, or the early season snow storm kept you in a truck stop for 2 days.  I can't understand why thousands of people aren't  lined up trying to get these wonderful jobs.

No so snowy weekend

For those of us on the NCR, it was a lovely weekend.  Started out chilly on Friday evening, but warmed nicely on Saturday and Sunday was beautiful.  I got the fall garlic bed planted, harvested some beautiful lettuce for the co-op, and even played 9 holes on Sunday afternoon.  It was 36 degrees this morning as I left the house.  Meanwhile, the town of Peru, Mass. had to deal with 32 inches of snow.  As with real estate, weather is a matter of location, location, etc.

Correction

I guess you could call it a senior moment, but the title of the book I read as a teenager is "October the First is Too Late", by Fred Hoyle.  He was a mathemetician and astronomer.  The book was a complicated mish mash about time travel and double jeopardy, but thinking about it, I don't feel inspired to read it again.

October the 28th

Is too late.  Actually, the title of the Sci-Fi novel I read as a teenager was October the 29th is Too Late.  I don't remember the plot, which I will look up later, but I was referring to the first real frost of the season.  It was 32 degrees at Casa Monzeglio this morning and I'm pretty sure the basil and hopefully the galinsoga have given it up.  It's always bittersweet when the growing season is officially over, but a succession of 40 degree days have taken most of the starch out of growing plants.  The spinach, kale and collards are still growing, but beets, carrots and most other hardy veg are just marking time, waiting for the really hard freeze.  It will probably come quickly now as we are knocking on the door of November.  Meanwhile, in the wider markets, we are still stuck in a declining demand scenario.  Despite what the stock markets are doing, people still don't seem to be spending on vegetables.

MickyD and Walmart

As the pauperization of America proceeds apace, it would seem the ultimate winners (besides the 1%) are McDonalds and Walmart.  The middle class will wind up trading down to Walmart for their clothing and food, and to McDs for that all important night out.  A client who buys veg from me made the observation that McDonald stock is up.  However, Walmart is not.  One theory is while the lower echelons of the middle class have been Walmartized, the company is losing its core customers.  The vast underclass who live paycheck to paycheck are running out of money before the month is over.  Unemployment checks don't go as far, and if one spouse loses their job the money barely covers rent and food.  I guess the Dollar stores are the last resort for some of these people, and it does not bode well for the country if even mighty Walmart can't fight this tide.  One silver lining for the veg industry is when the poor can't afford the Friday night fast food fix, they can buy enough veg to feed their family for a few days with what they save on that QP with cheese.  We can only hope...

Ups and Downs

The weather here is not nearly as volatile as what they are experiencing in Colorado, but still resembles Wall St. lately.  The temps gyrate and the forecasters keep trying to make the permutations fit into their narrative of fall heading into winter.  We still have not had a frost, although tonight or tomorrow night should take care of that.  Even I am feeling this season should be over for the tender stuff.  The broader markets are so quiet it feels like the population must be on a fast food binge.  There is virtually no excitement.  WTF...

Sunny day

So far, the actual weather belies the forecast.  I think the weather service loves to feed people's primal fear of the change of seasons.  The last couple of days, the chance of light snow has dominated the weather discussion.  Of course, Denver went from 80 degrees to 8 inches of snow in 48 hours, so that plays into the foreboding forecasts.  Meanwhile, the constant incremental rainfall keeps me from planting the fall garlic crop.  If we don't get any rain through Sunday, I may be able to start, but at this point, I'll have to try, regardless.  Couldn't buy a raindrop all summer, now we can't shut the tap.  Still no killing frost.  The galinsoga was touched the other night, but the zinnias still look cheerful.  Unfortunately, I think Friday night may do it for all the tender crops.  Mid to upper 20s are forecast and by October 28, even I can see that handwriting on the wall.  The guys with corn and soybeans still in the fields are probably hoping for a hard freeze so they can get their equipment into the soggy fields. 

Where the money is

Drugs.   According to a story on NPR this morning, the drugs flowing into the US every year are worth at least $25 billion.  I don't know for sure, but I would bet that is more than all the vegetables grown in every state.  A one kilo brick of cocaine purchased in Columbia for $2,000 turns into a $100,000 payday when cut into gram size packets in America.   The Mexican drug cartels control most of the traffic, hence the third world violence in cities like Ciudad Juarez.  Its a short life for most of those involved in the traffic, but for the foot soldiers, it beats working for $5./day in the fields.  It is a brutal world that most drug users in America either ignore or take for granted.  Why don't we put the FDA in charge of all drugs in the country, legalize the trade and cut the deficit or finance social programs with the profits.  It would seem to be a better solution than the violence and misery we force our neighbors south of the border to endure.

It will soon be an unFriendly world

According to Mark Bittman, Friendlys restaurants will file or already have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.   He feels the filing is nothing extraordinary, and maybe addition by subtraction on the food scene.  He points out that many dining venues frequented by the American middle class have gone by the wayside recently.  These chain restaurants specializing in large portions of forgettable food at low prices were probably the entry level dining experience for my generation.  They replaced the Mom and Pop diners and small town eateries of the previous generation.  I can't say I will miss the Bennigans, Friendly's et. al.  Unless you are willing to pay for people to source fresh ingredients and spend the time to actually cook them in some reasonable time frame (within two to three hours) of your eating said food, you are basically paying for someone to defrost an entree that was mass produced using highly processed foodlike substances and then have someone else bring it too your table.  You can get the same or better in your supermarket's frozen food isle.  The only differences are you are overpaying in the chain restaurant and you don't have to do dishes afterward.  Real food cooked by people in a local restaurant using high quality ingredients can cost the equivalent of enough raw food to feed a family of four for a week.  Maybe that is why niche restaurants continue to do well.  They cater to a clientele who can afford the gastronomic experience.  Meanwhile, even the Olive Gardens of the mass market had better watch out.  Just as Macy's customers have downgraded to Walmart, the O G's customers will be lining up at Micky D's.  Next stop Tender Vittles....

Frosty start, marketing and weather

Both Mother Nature and the Produce markets are off to a frosty start this morning in most areas.  While we were technically above freezing at 6 a.m., I still had to use the windshield wipers to get the ice off.  In the office, sales are similarly glacial.  I think the 99% are feeling the pain and cutting back on expenses.  Fresh vegetables must be on the chopping block, since it doesn't seem to matter what you are selling, all items are moving slowly ,if at all. 

Weekend warrior

This getting older stuff is highly overrated.  After harvesting selected items for the coop on Saturday, then helping a friend move and finally on Sunday harvesting the rest of the potatoes, I feel like I was run over by a bus which then backed up to complete the job.  Today started overcast and feeling like late fall, and it never got much better.  The only good thing was the clouds kept the frost at bay.  I picked a roomful of zinnias and snapdragons for the divine Mrs. M, and there are plenty more flowers out there if the weather cooperates.  The spinach and beets are still growing and the late plantings of carrots in the cold frames will definitely size up before the ground freezes.  The only fly in the gardening ointment is the wet soil.  We can't get three days in a row without showers, and the garlic planting schedule is almost upon us.  I may have to plant in the front garden, since that soil remains fairly well drained.  The back gardens have much heavier Champlain Valley clay loams which can't drain this continuous moisture. 

recallitis

Now Taylor Farms is recalling salads made with the industry's favorite punching bag, spinach.  Of course every TV or newspaper account of this latest food safety failing showed stock pictures of spinach fields.  How anyone born in the 90s or 00s can think spinach is anything but a potential death sentence is beyond me.  Meanwhile, I have a three week supply of same in the garden (if we eat it every day).  The mild night temps and rainfall is making it grow even though sunshine is in short supply.  Even the North Country coop doesn't want any of the stuff since their regular suppliers are in the same position as me.  Looks like not frost through the first of November.  Something tells me we will pay for this run of crazy weather.

More food safety follies

The FDA now says the melons that caused the listeria outbreak which killed several and sickened thousands were contaminated on the farm in Colorado!  The story in the NYT says the melons were packed in a shed with a concrete floor and a roof, but no walls.  A recent inspection noted puddles on the floor which workers could walk through and transfer contamination.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry.  I have been to dozens of sheds over the years and they were very similar to the description I read in this article.  I guess most people who eat fresh produce should keep their fingers crossed.  I want to agree with the premise of the story; that even a third party audit  may not be enough to guarantee food safety.  But then I think about what I have read about FDA inspected meat packing plants and I want to throw up.  I think I will take my chances with the food safety provided by the produce industry as opposed to a half hearted government effort which will provide the illusion  of safety without the reality.  As much as I hate to agree with the less is better crowd, if we are not willing to spend the money it will take to do a good job of food safety, we are better off letting the threat of legal action in case of illness caused by contamination spur the industry to police itself.  The real cost of strict government enforcement of food safety would add significantly to the price of vegetables and put many small growers out of business.  No more farmer's markets and small backyard growers.

Ducky weather

Looks like another couple of wet days coming up.  Still no frost in the forecast through next Monday, so there is still time to harvest any tender crops.  Most growers up here have either finished or given up due to lack of labor, but if they had planted late lettuce, they could still be harvesting.  I still have beautiful green leaf and bibb lettuce in the garden.  Even beets and turnips planted in late August look like they will make a crop before the freeze.  The last planting of broccoli now has 10 inch heads which will probably start showing rot with this latest rain.  I hope to harvest a few for the co-op on Saturday.  We will have spinach at least to the middle of November if the weather remains seasonable.  Longer if it stays like this.  When I moved to the NCR (North Country Riviera) from Long Island 10 years ago, no one would believe me if I said there would be no frost this late in the season.  I wonder what is going on here...NOT.

Subsidies

Most farmers who grow produce are prickly about the subject of government subsidy.  They like to believe they are Marlboro Men; strong, independent T.N.S. kind of guys who sneer at those softies who take government handouts.  At least until a weather catastrophe knocks the cig out of their mouth.  Meanwhile, the growers of the so called commodity crops; corn, wheat, soybean and cotton have their snouts deep in the government trough and are unapologetic.  These are mostly the largest farms, running to tens of thousands of acres, and the people running them look more like accountants than cowboys.  The new farm bill shuffles the subsdies around, but the pigs will still be at the trough, even though commodity prices are at levels not seen since the "fencepost to fencepost" days of the mid 70s.  I guess it is a rhetorical question to wonder why the 500 acre veg grower can't get access to the kind of government largess his 10,000 acre soybean growing competitor is getting.  Besides, we all know what happened to the Marlboro Man.

Back in the saddle

In some ways it is good to be back at the office with 2 phones on the desk and everything at my fingertips.  Then I look at a 4 day backlog of e-mails and I wish I was somewhere sunny and warm with an 8 a.m. tee time.  I'm sure it is the same with most jobs, but in the produce business, things move at a faster pace.  A load of spinach can look fairly good today and absolutely horrible tomorrow.  The price of a bag of carrots is $10. today and $6. tomorrow.  You understand the whiplash, but you don't get used to it.  After 27 years in the business, it never fails to surprise me.

New week

Well, it's another week in the produce biz.  Thinking back on the PMA convention, I wonder if it will be looked at as a dinosaur in the years ahead.  Almost all the exhibitors rely on long distance shipping to get their products to market.  If the price of fuel keeps rising and the local food movement gains steam, it will be a double whammy to many.  I would imagine the Mexicans will suffer the most, since their produce travels the furthest.  Still, Americans are not easily parted from their automobiles.  If there is a way to move goods over the roads more cheaply, someone will probably find it, and the west coast shippers will continue to send summer veg to the east all winter.  It just feels wasteful.

Sunday on the road

Did the usual convention thing on Saturday.  Meetings, too many breakfasts, too much coffee, then on to the convention floor to see old friends and enemies and perhaps meet new ones.  I probably walked more miles yesterday than all the previous month.  Of course, if I wasn't there no one would miss me, but the feeling that they would always drives me to these conventions.  I suppose that is why a majority go there, a fitting commentary on the human condition.  By mid afternoon most will be looking for a big flat screen carrying the game of their favorite football team, or heading to the airport to catch a late flight so they can be back at work tomorrow.  Monday morning will be a funeral with almost everyone gone but the exhibitors.  Having spent the money, most will hope it was worthwhile.  Certainly the weather is beautiful, in contrast to the drizzle and falling temps at home.

Saturday in Atlanta

This is the first Saturday since June that I haven't had a farmers' market to harvest for.  It feels a little weird to be sitting in a hotel room instead of getting soaking wet and cold in the garden.  I think I could get used to this.  Especially after all the rain yesterday.  It would be a muddy mess out there.  Now, to hoof it over to the convention center and begin the flesh pressing, back slapping orgy that is the Produce Marketing  Association.  I always feel like a minnow in a shark tank at these things, but I'm sure there are plenty of others who feel the same.  Every one here is looking for a little love.  You just have to make sure it is the right kind.  The weather looks beautiful from the window, although the sunrise seems later here than at home.

On the road

I am amazed to sit here and blog at an airport gate and then transmit these scribbles with the touch of a key.  Of course there are a few hiccups, as my first post was erased at the whim of the internet god.  If this one vanishes, I will give up for now.  One of the nice things about living on the Lake Champlain Rivierais if you travel away in any direction, the scenery is awesome.   Driving to Albany to catch a flight to Atlanta, I was enchanted by the fall colors.  An occasional shower only enhanced the feeling of connection with Nature.  All the more amazing is the ability to share this with the world in a matter of minutes.  I don't know what the Produce Marketing Association convention holds in store, but the past couple of hours has been a good start.  More tomorrow.

Fall is for Thunderstorms!

The next thing will be tornadoes.  Heavy rain with lightning and thunder this morning.  The forecast is for more of the same throughout the weekend.  It was 60 this morning.  That is likely the high for the foreseeable future.  Still no frost in the forecast.  I had to laugh this morning as I listened to NPR.  One of the stories featured a redneck who owns a laundry service on the shore in Alabama.  He was bemoaning the new law which targets illegal immigrants (read scary brown people).   He says he is not advocating repeal of the law, but it should be revised.  It's amazing how people's political views change when their economic ox is being gored.  As I have said before, if they were offering a living wage, maybe some Americans would be interested in folding laundry.

Dreary Fall Weather

What happened to bright October days and crisp fall evenings?   The forecast for the next week calls for overcast weather with off and on showers.  The good news is the low temps will be above 40, so no need to cover the few tender crops still out there.  Also, the hardier veg will keep growing.  Beets, kohlrabi, kale carrots, broccoli and sprouts are still in abundant supply.  If the tomatoes had not been blighted we would still be picking.  There are still plenty of peppers and potatos also.  The downside of such a late season is that at some point, the weather will turn quickly and I'll wake up to a 15 degree morning and most everything will give up the ghost.  Oh, did I mention there is also plenty of spinach and lettuce. 

PMA and business

Or the lack of it.  The excuse of the week is the PMA convention in Atlanta which everyone says depresses business.  The argument is the decision makers for the buyers and sellers are all drinking and playing golf or whatever they do at these conventions and the second string players on both sides are afraid to do anything which might blow up in their faces.  Meanwhile, prices for most items can't seem to find the basement.  About the only veg bringing any price is green onions, and that's because there are problems in every region where they are grown.  All the local deals are suffering from the California hangover.  The west coast planted their normal amount of most crops, but demand has consistently trailed the supply.  I think some of the growers must consider downsizing next year, or we may replay this entire season in 2012.

Passing of the not so old guard

I heard from a friend that Dave Schwartz passed away yesterday.  Dave was only 54 and had struggled with a brain cancer for the past couple of years.  Not a good way to go.  I first met Dave, when as a neophyte in the business of produce sales, I called on him to sell spinach.  Dave was the buyer at J.C. Brock in Buffalo.  The company was rapidly becoming a large player in the packaged spinach business and Dave was a large part of the how and why.  He was an outsize personality and always knew what he wanted.  Buffalo was a gritty, rustbelt town in the 70s and 80s, and Brock was one of the bright spots in a sorry landscape.  Eventually, the company grew too fast and went down, but Dave continued his association with the spinach industry and worked hard for what he felt were the best interests of the business.  I did not always see eye to eye with Dave, as he approached the challenges from the viewpoint of the repackers and I advocated (and still do) for the growers who make the entire enterprise possible.  That is neither here nor there at present.  Dave always treated everyone in the business with respect.  He was a hard nosed advocate, but a warm human being who cared for those he dealt with in business.  I'm sure he was even more caring and generous to his friends and family.  He will be missed. 

Signs of the times

$1.99/bag for 5 lbs of carrots!   To me it sounds like a misprint, but a large chain store is on sale with carrots at that price.  Worse yet, their competitors are undercutting that price.  For less than the price of a double cheeseburger, you can buy 5 lbs of healthy food.  What is going on here.  Chain stores seem hell bent on offering healthy alternatives to junk food at rock bottom prices.  I wish I could say carrots will outsell potato chips in Quebec this week, but I doubt it.  A huge success would be to sell 10,000 bags of carrots in a weeklong sale.  I don't doubt the chain sells more jumbo bags of chips in one afternoon.  Meanwhile, the cost to fill that bag of carrots is up, as is transportation.  I guess when enough farmers throw in the towel, the price will more realistically reflect the cost of production.  I guess that is the essential duality of the produce world.  Everyone who works in this business wants our customers to eat a healthy diet, but we also want to make a reasonable profit while supplying the components of that diet.

countdown

If the vegetable season in the North Country was an NFL game, we would be at the 2 minute warning in the 4th  quarter.  Unfortunately, we are down by 3 scores and even a miracle will not get the team to a tie.  We have lost too many fields and too many markets during the course of the season.  Starting with the wet spring, carrying over to a dry summer and topped off by the one-two punch of Irene and Lee, the team never got its act together.  Now, a few beautiful days make you think you can make up for lost time, but it is not to be.  To use another sports' analogy, we live by the Brooklyn Dodgers' battle cry; "Wait til next year".  We always do, for better or for worse.

Do we share the same planet

The conservative and Republican reactions are at the same time predictable and maddening.  The same folks who published the tea party playbook which called for disruption of town hall meetings a harassment of public officials now tell us that peaceful demonstrations with snarky slogans and thoughtful criticism of our galtian overlords are the end of civilization as we know it.  The media mouthpieces of the 1% are in majority agreement to either ignore the protests or denigrate the protestors.   As someone who lived through the 60s and early 70s I find it amazing that my generation is ready to repeat the crap we went through at the hands of the "greatest generation"  aka Archie Bunker and friends.   At least most of us could get jobs when we  got out of school.  The kids now coming of age can look forward to a lower standard of living than us, unless something is done fairly quickly.  But, many of those with the money and power are living down to the worst  epithets aimed at the "Me" generation.  They simply don't care about anyone but them and their immediate families.  I find it amazing the people occupying  Wall St. have the faith in the system to participate in this protest.  I hope more continue to join.

Work and worth

The NYT had one of their Opinionator series focused on the case of a Colorado farmer complaining he couldn't find American workers willing to harvest his onions and corn for slightly more than minimum wage.  Of course most of the people offering the opinions don't take on the underlying assumption that farm labor must be cheap.  If farm workers worked a 40 hour week and made enough to be above the poverty line, they would have to be paid about $12.00 per hour on a year round basis.  Meanwhile, due to the constraints forced on the grower by the former abundance of cheap immigrant labor and the seasonal nature of his business, he can only offer $10.00/hr. for a few weeks.  So a 40 year old who has worked behind a desk for the last 20 years and was laid off is going to jump on a short term back breaking job with no benefits that precludes him from collecting unemployment.  Right.  I can tell you that after putting in a full day outside working a 5,000 calorie/day job, the last thing on my mind is trying to polish my resume so I can get back behind a desk and make enough money to feed my family.  I just want to get some sleep so I can get through another day.  Some days, the cluelessness of our supposed leaders makes me want to scream.

Another just like the other

For those with a day off today, you might think someone was offering a preview of the outdoor enthusiast's idea of the afterlife.  Mid 70's with a light breeze and sunshine.  Even I think a hike might be a good idea, and my usual opinion of that particular excercise is  to paraphrase Mark Twain, a good 18 holes spoiled.  Meanwhile, those of us condemned to work on what is a federal holiday in both Canada and the US, are finding willing customers to be in short supply.  Markets for most items remain sluggish nonwithstanding the fine fall weather and the fact it is still early in the month.  That removes two of the most common excuses for poor results in the produce business.  Unfortunately, there is a superabundance of manufactured reasons to explain why sales are down.  Of course the report that average household income in the US is down compared with 2 years ago may have something to do with slow sales of produce.

Glorious weekend

Having lived on the North Country riviera for the last ten years, I can't remember a nicer weekend.  Sat and Sun were to die for with temps in the upper 70s and lows in the 50s.  The farmer's market final weekend was a resounding success with almost everything sold by closing time.  As I said before, it's a bittersweet day.   But there is still plenty to do in the garden.  There are still a couple of hundred pounds of potatoes to harvest,  the garlic bed needs to be prepared and I want to clean up the tomato bed before the snow flies.  I hope this weather hangs around for a couple of weeks.  Oh, and there is still golf to play...

Another repreive

A slight white frost and temp around 38 this morning.  The long range forecast is looking good through next Friday.  We should dry out and warm up.  I need to be able to work up a bed for garlic planting.  Conditions in the north country can go from late summer to mid winter virtually overnight, so you have to take advantage of any good weather to do fall planting and soil prep.  I hope this Indian summer weather extends for a couple of weeks, but I certainly won't count on it.  Likewise, the larger growers across the region need time for the land to dry out so late season harvest of corn, soybeans, carrots, potatoes, etc can proceed and finish before a hard freeze or early snow renders the fields unworkable.  It is scary to think that a whole season of hard work can be held hostage because of wet fields.

Prolonging the agony

We missed the frost last night.  There was a film of ice coming down on my car at 6:30 this morning, but the temp was 38, so all the cover up I did last night was probably unnecessary.  The weather forecast is already saying we will avoid frost on the Riviera tonight, but that only makes me more nervous.  We'll keep the  covers on and hope the forecast is right for a change.  The weekend weather should make us forget about fall, at least for a little while.

Passings

The news that Steve Jobs died yesterday has sucked all of the air out of the political room at this point, even overshadowing the announcement that (surprise) Sarah Palin will not run for President.  What a contrast.  The greatest technoligical innovator of the 21st century leaves us and we are stuck with someone who is stealing from our future with every breath she takes.  I am ambivalent sometimes about Jobs and Apple.  The company has gotten rich by amping up America's consumerist culture in which your status is measured by the number of techno toys you own.  The idea of thousands waiting for hours for the newest i-phone to go on sale is itself a commentary on where we are in 2011.  Sarah Palin is the extension of this frenzy.  To paraphrase Seinfeld, she is a candidate about nothing.  A pretty face and a vacuous vision of the future.  The ultimate consumer.  The difference between Steve Jobs vision and Sarah Palin's is Jobs wanted to make Americans a smarter, more savvy people.  Palin wants them to remain the rubes her carny act has been living on for the past 3 years.

Occupy Wall Street

This has absolutely nothing to do with produce (I think), but everything to do with the future of the country we live in and love.  It is starting to feel like the sleeping giant aka, the 99% is starting to wake up.  Knowledgeable people have been saying for years that Wall Street and the banking industry have basically taken over the US and have been directing our affairs in ways that are harmful to most of us.  The endless wars, the American Empire, and the squandering of our resources in the attempt to dominate the world have started to impact the way of life our generation took for granted, even during the 60s and the Vietnam war.  As the jobs moved offshore, the manufacturing base was stripped down and the wellspring of good middle class employment shriveled up.  The pain started in the Rust Belt, but now the south and the west are feeling it now.  Even the industrialization of agriculture gutted towns in the midwest.  Where once 10 farms thrived and created dozens of other jobs in support industries, now one megafarm owned by a corporation exists.  It buys little from surrounding communities and remits profits to a far away headquarters.   I hope the little fire started by the wall st. protestors becomes a cleansing blaze which will restore a more human economy which benefits more than just 1 % of the population.

American farm labor

Methinks we are still a long way from a Grapes of Wrath scenario where Americans will line up to take stoop labor farm jobs even for $10.50/hr.  That's the going rate for foreign guest workers under the government's H2A program.  In order to qualify for the program, farmers must prove they have tried, but failed to find Americans willing to do the work.  As a NYT article today stated, one grower in Colorado found out within 6 hours that a majority of the Americans he hired walked off the job, saying it was too difficult.  He was able to scramble and get a crew of Mexicans to finish the season, but his view is that Americans have become soft and lazy.  I do that kind of work as a hobby and I can tell you there are times I question my choice of leisure activity.  I certainly would not recommend it as a career at the wages our society deems as its worth.  I do think if a living wage was paid for this kind of work there would be more people applying than there are jobs available.  However, that would require Americans to pay more for food.  Which would leave less money to spend on useless junk from China.  Which would help reduce our trade deficit.  What's wrong with this solution to the problem?  Probably that it won't happen in our lifetimes.

Vegsickles

Looks like tonight and tomorrow night will be the swan song for any tender, unprotected plants.  We should be near freezing tonight, but tomorrow the weather service is predicting mid 20s, so even on the North Country Riviera at Casa Monzeglio we will be in perilous territory.  That means a Chinese fire drill tonight as I pick all the winter squash and try to cover as much of the lettuce and flowers as possible.  I have a brand new roll of reemay cloth, so we will see how much I can cover before midnight.  My only consolation is the imminent demise of the galinsoga population.  I've sweated and slaved for nearly 6 months on this little patch of ground, and as much as I will be glad of a few months off, I will probably be itching to get my hands dirty by the middle of March.

Junk food and schools

An article in the NYT today spends a thousand words telling us what we already know, namely that potato chips will outsell peeled carrots by about 5 to 1.  Forget the yogurt and apples in the same machine as the  kids say they can get all they want at home.  (In a middle class neighborhood on Long Island, anyway).  The point is our culture spends far more advertising money on junk food than on healthy alternatives.  Plus the science says the salt and grease in the junk trips the brain's pleasure centers.  Gnawing on a carrot doesn't seem to produce the same effect.  Meanwhile, the advertising budget for Doritos and Pepsi is probably greater than the entire revenue of most produce companies.   Denmark recently started to tax fatty foods in a effort, similar to the cigarette tax, to defray the cost to society that these foods incur.  We will need a sea change in the way Americans think before such a program comes to pass here.  In the meantime, as the CSNY anthem says, "Teach your children well".

The Big One

Well, maybe not, but according to which report you want to believe, we will either have a little frost on Thursday morning, or the "Big One" which will signal the next phase of the gardening and farming season.   There are still some items in the garden I would like to see survive, such as Zinnias, summer squash and peppers.  On the other hand, the galinsoga is becoming a major problem...  If it is going to frost, it might as well take the weeds out.  There is still plenty of other hardy produce for the next month, but we need some dry weather, or the garlic will be planted in November.  That is not something I want to experience.   On the farms around here, there is still a fair amount of leaf lettuce to harvest, so I hope the temps don't get into the mid 20s.  Even with all the bad weather we have had in the East, the growers in Cal. have not been able to take advantage due to the sluggish economy.  Prices for most items remain at break even or a loss, but most shippers would prefer to keep their customers than to disk the fields.  The fear is their neighbor will supply the market below cost and then keep all the customers when the prices rebound.  This mindset is probably responsible for more losses than any other reason.  As always, farmers are their own worst enemies.

Foggy, Rainy, Monday

Mix any of the above three with your favorite expletive and you have an idea of the way the day is starting.  We are staggering to the finish line of the growing season up here, and the weather is trying to deal a knockout punch.  Another 1 1/2 of rain between Sat. and this morning, customers trying to hedge their produce bets by buying from California and general lack of demand have made it difficult to move even the shrunken inventories of veg to market.  Rejections for minor problems add to the fun. 

Lost Weekend

Made the farmer's market just before the sky opened up on Saturday, but the rainy weather probably kept the traffic down.  It's a shame most people don't realize the best produce of the season, and certainly the most variety comes at the end.  Tomatoes, corn and zucchini are done, but everything else is still coming on.  Winter squash, collards, kale, carrots, beets, spinach are all at their peak now.  Of course if we keep getting a couple of inches of rain every other day it will not last, but carpe diem.  No frost in the forecast through the middle of the month, so there is still basil in the garden.  Time to make pesto.  Anyway, that was the high point of the weekend.  Mrs. Monzeglio and I saw the Taming of the Shrew last night.  One of Shakespeare's more misogynistic efforts if it is taken at face value.  A lazy, rainy Sunday, and it's back to Produce World on Monday.