Green Shoots

You can only shake your head and laugh at the NYT report from deep in the heartland on the sprouting and growth of trees in abandoned silos scattered in the declining rural areas of Kansas and Nebraska.  As the growth of large farms and subsequent redundancy of most older farm buildings in the midwest has left most of said buildings to the vagaries of nature.  Since most silos are cylinders of concrete blocks with wooden rooves, the roof is the first thing to decay, and the organic matter provided by the rotten wood and whatever feedstuffs may have been left in the silo provide enough nourishment to seeds dropped by birds for them to sprout and actually grow out of the silos.  The resulting tableau is at once arresting and sad.  As small farmers were packed off to the cities and the rural areas become mega farms employing few people, the small amount of civility is gradually overcome by nature.  You have to believe if the corporate overlords could do away with people altogether, they would do it in aNew York minute.  The NYT article petered out long before any such conclusion was reached. Or indeed any conclusion at all.  I guess the reporter was fascinated by the trees, but not interested to wonder why or how things have come to this.  More's the pity.

Not quite as bad....

As the advance forecasts, but the cold and wind was more reminicent of a late March day than a couple of days before the first of May.  Some growers in Quebec will lose or have severe setbacks in fields of early lettuce transplants.  Early sowings of carrots and onions are almost certainly hurt by the combination of high winds and low 30s temps on Friday night.  The rest of the weekend was better, but still not very late spring-like.  The garlic does't seem to mind the cold, and provides a strong green contrast to the rest of the garden.  The rest of the veg markets are still in a holding pattern, waiting for some stimulus to get prices up.  Celery and broccoli are the weak sisters, with FOB pricing in the low single digits.  We need demand, and so far it is not happening.

New Normal

I am watching snowflakes swirl by the window as I write this.  If it was the end of March, no big deal, but it is almost May and we have been going backward for two weeks.  The weather was dry and warm, now it is wet and cold.  I will probably lose the pear and cherry blossoms and by extension the crop of fruit this evening as temps drop into the 20s with a 30 MPH wind.  It is hard not to be bitter about stuff like this when you know it will be 65-70 degrees next week and we will resume the march into summer.  Of course, it could be worse.  I could be a California grower with hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in a crop of celery which is selling for about half the cost of production.  Imagine the thrill of losing $4000.00 on every load of celery rolling east when you know that two weeks from now when the crop is full of seeders and impossible to harvest the price will skyrocket.  You have to have a strong stomach to be in this business either as a dilettante or a professional. 

Chickens coming home to roost

Agriculture headed in two different directions are highlighted in the NYT this morning.  In Oregon, city dwellers with small flocks of urban chickens are planning for their hen's golden years.  They are putting post laying chickens out to pasture in sanctuaries.  For those of us who have raised chickens for meat and eggs, this would seem to border on the absurd, but thinking about computer programmers and other urban cowboys who grew up in the city, you realize they think of these chickens as pets, not producers of ag commodities.  As the population continues its divorce from productive agriculture, these types of vignettes will become common.  The pool of people who grew up on farms continues to drop, and even the farm population is increasingly out of touch with the reality of the cycle of life and death on which we all depend.   Speaking of the disconnect between farming and life, consider the clamor of farmers for the approval of 2-4D resistant corn and soybeans.  Having selected for a wide variety of roundup resisting weeds, they now want to engender new strains of super weeds which will laugh at herbicides, much as antibiotic immune bacteria are turning America's hospitals into death traps for the unwary.  Instead of using multiple sustainable strategies for controlling weeds and disease, we look for the magic bullet to solve our problems.  No till corn and soybeans are one of the chief causes of obesity in America, so perhaps the coming weed crisis will have the unintended consequence of releasing us from the bondage of high fructose corn syrup. 

Main Events

It looks like the Republican clown car is down to one occupant as Mittens pulls away from his erstwhile rivals for the presidential nomination.  I have always tried to believe all candidates of both parties want the best for all inhabitants of the country.  However, since the Bush vs. Gore decision in 2000, I have been reassessing this cherished belief.  The Republican party has been hijacked by a narrow slice of the electorate with an eliminationest agenda that combines the worst features of corporate socialism, crony capitalism and a loot the middle class mentality which bodes ill for the vast majority of  my fellow citizens.  This beggar thy neighbor ideology is glossed with a "Christian" patina that the fellow who lends his name to the religion would not recognize as his teachings.  But enough of the soapbox.  The garden is still in slo mo as April winds down.  The grass is greening with last week's rainfall and the first week of May is supposed to be much warmer.  The tomatoes are up and growing in my basement growing chamber and it is time to start the zinnias in the cold frame.  Things will get hectic for the next couple of months.  Gardeners of the world unite....

Sprouting hopes

A little water goes a long way to get things going in the spring.  Checking under the row covers last evening, the carrots, beets and fava beans are up and growing.  The peas and parsley are lagging are as the onions, but the temps are still pretty low.  The cold frame transplants are standing still right now, but next week is forecast higher temps, so the broccoli, cabbage, etc. will take off.  It has definitely been an up and down spring so far.  Unfortunately, for the national veg market, things have been down and down.  To say there is no excitement is an understatement.  If only the consumer would break out and start to buy like Mrs M. continues to do in service of the new juicer at home, the markets would be off and running.  Perhaps some chain should offer free juicers with the purchase of $100.00 worth of fresh veg. 

In the early morning rain

It's a two cup of coffee morning with temps in the upper 30s and a chilly rain here on the NCR.  I saw a few cars coming out of the mountains covered with snow!  It looks like the rest of the week will be chilly and wet, so outdoor work will slow to a crawl.  I hope the peas and other early plantings don't rot in this unseasonably cool late April.  We got a total of about 1.5 inches of rain over the weekend, and the fields were showing standing water in the usual places.  The soil is dry enough to absorb most of the moisture, but the weather promises more of the same, which means we are regressing to a more normal spring in the north country.  Aside from Casa Monzeglio, I'm guessing most households are not investing in fresh veg, since the markets for all but a very few items are still in the doldrums.

Springtime

And the living is not easy.  Every glance around the yard shows another task undone and another coming due.  The lawn is growing, as are the weeds.  The window to start some varieties of seed is narrowing fast, and meanwhile the golf itch needs to be scratched.  What's a fellow to do...  Certainly not console one's self that at least the veg markets are better.  If anything a semi permanent malaise has fallen over most items.  One wholesaler said of local red potatoes, "Nobody wants them anymore".  Unfortunately, that is not the only item in the produce orphanage.  It has always gotten better, so I guess that will be the mantra in the coming days and months.

Brand names

Yesterday, an old hand in the produce industry complained to me he was unable to sell Texas sweet onions at any price, because as he said the entire produce industry is besotted by Vidalia onions.  The vidalia onion is an example of the triumph of marketing over reality.  I am pretty sure that sweet onions from Texas or Mexico will test as sweet as their Georgia counterparts, which are ironically short day onions which originated in Texas and were called granos.  Then some genius in the peach state grew some and discovered they were sweeter there than when grown in Texas.  The next step, convincing Americans, or at least the produce buyers, that Vidalia sweets were somehow better than any other sweet onion was the real stroke of genius.  Of course the industry in Georgia has now evolved to the point some growers have controlled atmosphere strorages and hope to provide their hyped product for six to eight additional months.  They risk over exposure of their product, similar to what happened to the Yukon Gold potato.  That was another marketing wonder which became a mainstream commodity with very little value added cachet, since nearly every potato growing area can grow a yellow fleshed potato.  The same thing will happen with sweet onions, although Vidalia is a location, rather than a variety.  Perhaps the geographic will trump the gatronomic, at least until another location manages to capture the consciousness of American produce buyers.

The reluctant spring

We keep whipsawing between late winter and early summer so far this spring.  From a high of 85 on Monday to a brisk 34 this morning, it has been a week for contrasts.  The blossoms on the fruit trees are ready to break, and frosty weather is predicted for early next week, so there may be a shortage of pears and cherries at casa Monzeglio this summer.  The first asparagus are out of the ground, and my second planting of spring spinach is up, despite the dry weather.  Transplanting broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and lettuces in cold frames for planting outside in May.  Meanwhile, the markets remain depressed for most vegetables and grower returns are minimal.  East coast growers can only hope the doldrums are history by June, otherwise it could be a long summer for marketing of eastern veg.

Winds of change

I had to lean into a 30-40 MPH wind to walk the family hound this morning.  It blew out of the west and brought the temps down to more normal levels after the record highs yesterday.  Unfortunately, there was no rainfall with the passing of the front so it remains abnormally dry in the North Country.  There is ample opportunity to get into early fieldwork, and many growers are taking advantage.   We will probably make up the rainfall deficit just as planting time arrives, but at least the fields will be ready when it is dry enough, and as dry as it is they will be able to take plenty of rainfall.  The overwintered spinach is making huge growth right now, so spinach will be on the menu nightly.  Nothing else of note is occuring in the garden with the exception of the garlic plantings which always remind me that winter doesn't last forever.  I can only hope the market for fresh vegetables finally begins to turn around in similar fashion. 

the shorting life

As in wearing shorts for the first time this year.  It is probably a one day deal, as the rest of the week should be more seasonal, with temps in the 50s and 60s.  But today, we will set another record high at around 88.  Of course, there is no global warming.  Meanwhile, I started the tomatoes and eggplant in the basement and transferred the peppers to the outdoor coldframe, or what will be a hotbed today.  The fruit trees I ordered arrived and were planted on Saturday.  Now comes the hard part of keeping them watered all summer.  The nursery recommends 5 gallons per day per plant until Sept.  A daunting task when there is so much else to do.  Meanwhile, I hope the warmer weather stimulates some demand on the east coast.  If even 10% of housewives emulate the divine Mrs. M over the past weekend wholesale prices will skyrocket.  Our fridge is one giant crisper this morning and we are vegetarian wannabes. 

Weekend of our discontent

The craziness continues.   Temps will range into the upper 60s on the NCR this weekend, with thunderstorms on Sunday.  This is more like mid -May weather than mid-April.  Then, next week will will tail off to more normal temps.  The buds on my pear trees are starting to open and the cherries are not far behind, so the next couple of weeks will be critical for them.  I still am trying to resist the urge to plant, but it's hard!  There is pleny to do to get ready for the gardening, mowing, painting and home repair season, but somehow the siren call of the garden will probably win over more mundane pursuits.   Meanwhile, the veg markets are still stuck in reverse as customers resist higher (read cost of production) pricing.  As one market watcher put it, there will be no opportunity to raise prices until there is not a single box of whatever commodity is on the price floor.  It seems the stupidity which defines our political system has bled into everyday business, and as in the Trayvon Martin case into our interpersonal affairs.  What a world.

Wildfires and wishful thinking

The wildfires on L.I. and other northeastern locations are not anomalies.  As a kid growing up on the island in the 50s and 60s, spring fires were an accepted fact of life and every fire department on the east end had at least one "brush truck" or stump jumper to fight fires in the pine barrens.  The common wisdom is we are just having a flashback.  But the difference is spring is now 3 weeks earlier than in the halcyon days of my youth.  So, are we heading into an uncertain future of extremely variable weather and are the present conditions the latest manifestation of climate change, or are we just replaying earlier weather scenarios.  Of course, if you believe the science, the drumbeat of bad weather tends to confirm the theory of climate change, but if you tend to indulge in magical thinking, there is an explantion which discounts the billions of tons of carbon mankind has dumped into the atmosphere and encourages us to do more of the same.  Obviously, God has a plan.  Unfortunately, so does my  golden retreiver.

Trusting instincts

Although the calender says gardeners and farmers should still be cautious as spring progresses, I have seen evidence that many are going with the weather as it is instead.  Some field work is being done on lighter soils in preparation for spring planting.  The weather has throttled back from the 70s to more seasonal 40s and 50s, but the dry weather is still luring growers outdoors weeks ahead of schedule.  Whether this translates into high prices for early crops is questionable, but as always, hope springs eternal.  Certainly it would be hard to farm in the face of the returns on crops now being sold.  There are few winners out there now, and the longer markets remain low, the more they resist any price rises.  The built in inertia keeps expectations low and resists change.  Luckily for consumers the planting intentions for most growers are set and supplies of most produce items will, barring weather problems, remain steady as the year unfolds.

Tis the season

The gardens are starting to look more like what they would normally about 3 weeks from now.  Lots of seed in the ground; peas, beets, carrots, spinach, onions, shallots and even some fava beans.  Now we need an assist from Mother Nature in the form of some showers.  The soil is incredibly dry for this time of year, which is great for planting, but lack of water could become an issue if this stretch of dry, windy, cool weather keeps up.  The main driver for the early activity is certainly the dryness.  Aside from the one very warm week in March, it has not been especially warm here on the NCR.  If  the rain and snowfall had been normal, most of us would still be sitting on the sidelines.  We'll probably make up for it in May when many more planting opportunities will be needed.  Gardening is a lot like life.  It is a series of opportunities which must be prepared for and made the most of.

Fresh or not, that is a question

I did not realize Del Monte is acually two companies.  Fresh Del Monte, which sells fresh unprocessed fruits and vegetables and Del Monte, the company which sells canned and preserved fruits and veggies are now fighting over the right to put up what the casual consumer would call fresh fruits put up in plastic tubs in the produce department.  Personally, I would call it an open and shut case.  Fresh fruit that is minimally processed and refrigerated is fresh.  The Del Monte company begs to differ and now the lawyers will make money while everyone else loses.  Meanwhile, growers of fresh produce are losing every day, as the glut of veg and fruits continue to depress pricing and grower returns.  It will take a mighty leap of faith to plant lettuce, celery, broccoli, etc. in the face of the markets we have experienced for the last four months.  Fortunately for consumers, farmers are a hardy optimistic lot who generally ignore prices when they are low and obsess when they are high, especially when their own crops are involved.  In the produce industry of my youth, growers would be well advised to plant more acreage of crops bringing low returns, since most of their fellows would see the prices and plant less.  In today's global market, the minute prices start to spike in the US, the market is flooded with product from other areas and prices tumble.  Frankly, I would advise large scale growers to contract a major portion of their crop and play on the margins.  However, that is the model most California growers have adopted over the past 25 years with decidely mixed results.

weather or not

The crazy weather continues.  An above normal temp. winter followed by a blast of heat, followed by dry and cool.  I'm sure the critters are just as confused as us humans about now.  The chance of a late frost will make the fruit trees vulnerable until late May.  The ground is dry enough to work, which will probably encourage growers to start planting early.  However the soil temps are still fairly low, so early seedings will just sit and raise the probability  of rot and uneven germination.  Easter looks like a nice spring day for the NCR, but the following week is still unsettled. 

What's up with that

The producer price index for fruits and vegetables was down 60% between Feb. 2011 and Feb. 2012. To put it in English, if you received $10.00 for a box of lettuce at the farm gate in January of last year, the same box netted you about $4.00 this past Jan.  If you extrapolate this loss across the entire industry, you are looking at an unmitigated disaster.  It is hard to believe the demand could drop so much during the course of the year, and I'm quite sure it did not.  What I believe happened is a huge increase in supply as growers responded to good returns by planting more acres.  Unfortunately, the reason for the higher prices was shortages in many crops due to weather conditions in 2010.  Mother Nature was much more clement in 2011, so storages were swelled to bursting with bumper crops.  The other factor is the increasing disconnect between the crop producers and the marketers.   Although the growers took a 60% reduction in income, consumers saw a relatively modest 15-20%  discount in year over year prices.  The other 40% can be found in chain store botttom lines.  Instead of promoting bumper crops, the chains sold whatever they could at inflated prices and let the growers send the rest to market houses and food banks.  This fundamental change will be more evident next year if decreased plantings and weather events reduce supply again.  Prices will skyrocket and the vicious cycle will lead to less consumption by the public and a quick return to lower producer prices.

Produce poison

At least in the Hunt's Point market.  Except for a very few items in demand, such as asparagus, the market is dead.  As I said to one buyer on the market, how can anyone complain about 25 lbs. of beets delivered for $4.25/bag.  Unfortunately, when it comes to a down market, everyone can and does complain about everything.  The chainstores reject produce for inventory control and it winds up in the market.  Lettuce, celery, carrots, broccoli, etc.  It doesn't seem to matter, they are all in the sub basement as far as returns.  There will be major shakeups in all western growing areas this year as shippers try to make sense of this disaster.

waiting on the warm

Because of the recent record warm week, and the continued drumbeat of high temps throughout the country, we feel entitled to be in late spring mode.  However, even here on the NCR, it is only the first week of April, and most years, we are waiting for the last stubborn snow patches to melt and the frost to leave the ground.  The soil temp in the gardens ranged from 40 to 44 degrees on Sunday.  That is too chilly for anything but spinach and the overwintering garlic, but it is a harbinger.  I cleaned up the asparagus beds and applied compost and cut the old raspberry canes.   Started some hardier veg, like cabbage, broccoli, early lettuces etc. in the cold frame and made the first cultivation of the garlic.  With warmer weather predicted through Easter, it looks like peas, carrots, beets and more spinach can be planted without praying for a warm rain.  All in all, it looks like an early gardening season is in the cards.