Thank you to all who have signed up for next season! We’ve had a great response so far but of course we could Make Farming Great Again by getting the rest of this season’s members to sign up for 2021. All you need to do is send in a deposit of $100 to reserve your share. Or you can go to our online store and order your share. Or you can send in your $100 deposit by using my email address on PayPal. We’d love to have everyone back again next season!
Please spread the word about our farm! For every family that joins at your recommendation we will credit your account $25. Have them put your name in the “Where did you hear about us?” section.
If you are interested in participating in our winter FruitShare please contact me. We’ve already started the season but we can prorate the price for the remaining time. It is a delicious way to support smaller, family owned organic orchards!
Farm News
One of the projects we’ve been contemplating for the last 17 years is to add a door on the east side of our greenhouse. When we started farming back in 2002 and built the greenhouse in 2003 it seemed most appropriate to put the door on the west end. But as we grew and found additional uses for the greenhouse, e.g. winter squash curing chamber, we felt having a short cut through the east wall would be preferential to walking from the east side of the greenhouse where the truck can pull up the closest all the way down the outside of the greenhouse only to loop back inside the greenhouse thus taking a 100 foot longer walk than would be necessary if we could only have a door on the east side — all while carrying 60 lbs of winter squash. To give you perspective, the walk was longer than the previous run-on sentence. As you can imagine this is a high priority project and has been at the top of the list for the last 15 years or so.
Now for those of you who are fans of the children’s book author Laura Numeroff you will see a resemblance between the topics of her books and the story I am about to divulge. For those who need a refresher, Laura writes the “If You Give …” series of children’s books; titles like “If You Give A Moose a Muffin” or “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”. The stories detail how giving a Moose a Muffin isn’t as simple as giving a moose a muffin. It becomes increasingly involved until it takes up a lot of time and a lot of supplies. Same here, except we have a door and a greenhouse.
If you give a greenhouse a new door you’ll need to move the cooling fan that is currently in the way. In order to move the cooling fan you’ll have to build a new structure to bolt it to. To build the new structure you’ll have to go to the lumber yard to pick-up some 2x4s. While at the lumber yard you’ll realize you also need to run new wires to the fan’s new location so you purchase some new conduit. Upon returning from the lumber yard you notice the heater is also in the way of the new door. So you go back to the hardware store to get new supports and additional conduit to reach the new heater location. Since you are replacing the wiring to the cooling fan and the heater now would be a great time to rewire the whole greenhouse. So you create a new wiring plan. And since you have a new wiring plan you might as well add a few new items like horizontal air flow fans and work lights so your spring work schedule can go past dark.
With the new wiring diagram you head back to the hardware store to purchase additional conduit and junction boxes. While at the hardware store you realize they do not have all the parts you require so you go to another hardware store. This store has some of the parts you need but again is short of all the parts. So off to yet another hardware store you go.
While researching where to put the new horizontal air flow fans you determine the location on your diagram is not correct and so you have to modify your diagram. Once you have the diagram finalized and you are ready to begin you decide you need to dig a new trench from the packing/storage shed to the greenhouse. Since you have to dig a new trench you might as well run water to the greenhouse so you don’t have to connect and disconnect the hose from the storage shed faucet every time you want to water the plants in the greenhouse.
Now that you realize the need for water you need to go back to the hardware store and purchase parts to plumb the new faucet. And while you are adding a new faucet to the inside of the greenhouse why not replace the one on the outside of the packing shed and connect it to the greenhouse. Since the hardware store doesn’t carry the correct faucet you need to special order the part for pick-up a week later.
While installing the new conduit and boxes you end up a bit short of the parts necessary to finish the electrical so back to three hardware stores you go. Once you determine none of them have the parts you need you go back home to order them online for delivery next week. While digging the trench to have it complete before the ground freezes you realize you also need to put in a grounding rod before the ground freezes. Once the grounding rod and the ditch is dug you can start on the plumbing of the greenhouse water faucets. Since you are waiting for the new faucet you can’t complete the plumbing so you start working on the electrical. But before you work on the electrical you fill in the trench so it is done before the ground freezes.
Before you can layout the electrical conduit you have to attach horizontal supports to the greenhouse to support the conduit. Once the supports are installed you can attach and glue all the conduit and electrical boxes. Of course since you are waiting for a part you ordered online you can’t complete this part of the project. So you decide to build the door to install on the greenhouse.
While measuring the opening for the door you realize it is a bit over four feet wide. To make the door light but strong you purchase 2x4s, long screws and a thin sheet of plywood. But with the door needing to be wider than the four foot wide plywood you should have purchased two sheets. However since this whole project is taking far longer than you ever imagined you decide to use just the one sheet of plywood. And since the plywood is not exterior grade you have to paint the door. But before you paint the door you have to prime the door. Once the primer dries, you have to flip it over to prime the other side. Then you have to paint two coats on the door to make it last a few years.
And this is where we are today with this project. Unfinished electrical — waiting for a couple of parts. Unfinished plumbing — waiting for a new faucet. And unfinished new door — needs another coat of paint on each side. Once these are complete we can move the cooling fan, move the heater and finally install the door. I’m starting to realize this is a lot more involved than giving a mouse a cookie or a moose a muffin. Anyway, for those who wonder what I do in the winter time — I write children’s books.
As always, do not hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, suggestions, jokes, puzzlers, etc.