State of the Farm 2018

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Through the years we’ve grown a lot of great varieties of vegetables and fruit. Unfortunately, many of our favorite seeds have disappeared from the catalogs, replaced by newer and “improved” replacements. One of my favorites, Rondino carrot, was not able to be harvested by machines for bulk sales. It was an exceptionally sweet root with an amazing crunchiness that has never been duplicated since. It was the Nestle’s Crunch of carrots. A large organic grower harvested a few acres of Rondino but because the crunchy texture was so fragile, he was unable to wholesale the crop and had to distribute the broken pieces locally. The sugary brittle bits flooded co-ops and grocery stores throughout Vermont. Kids were eating loads of them instead of candy. Parents were packing them in lunchboxes for weeks. Then the supply ran out and next year Rondino carrot was not in the catalog, never to be seen again.

I could name a dozen vegetables that were customer favorites but the most missed one would be the Buffalo greenhouse tomato. Buffalo had that great complex flavor of sweet and acidic with a thin skin and lots of juice. It fell out of favor with the larger growers because it wouldn’t ship well and didn’t hold up forever. For the past few years we’ve been trying to de-hybridize the Buffalo tomato back to a stable open pollinated variety that will bring back the tasty fruit we once enjoyed so much. Each year we get a little bit closer but not quite to our goal. Even though the distance gets shorter, we just can’t get to the finish line.

That symbolizes our farm journey. We’re always trying to learn and improve but we’re never totally satisfied with the outcome because we realize how much more there is to learn. For 2018 we’re continuing our quest for efficiency with some newly developed tools like the rollalong modern flame weeder and precision hand cultivator we purchased over the winter. We’ll also be working to fully meet the requirements of the new Food Safety Act that goes into effect in 2018. Luckily, we are well positioned thanks to our participation in the University of Vermont Extension Produce Safety Program. Each member of the farm team gets thorough training and signs off on a check list to ensure that we provide our customers with the freshest and safest food possible.

Even though recent statistics show Vermont is now saturated with farmer’s markets and CSAs, our farmstand food sales saw an increase in every month we were open in 2017. Garden Center sales showed a healthy jump from 2016 as perennials and organic vegetable start sales led the way. Coming off one of the driest years on record in 2016, the farm experienced one of the wettest years ever for 2017. The dramatic swings and extremes of climate change have forced us to divert considerable funding to drainage and erosion control. The 4.5” rainstorm last summer did quite a bit of damage to some of our cropland but thanks to Derrig Excavation we were able to build diversion ditches and seed down buffer areas to capture heavy runoff on one particularly bad spot. It’s not a cheap process but we’ll do whatever it takes to preserve our topsoil! This year we hope to continue the program with drainage work at our Elysian Hills Tree Farm.

Way back when we started our greenhouse plants in a 6’ by 9’ glass structure from Agway. This year we will be putting up our 25th greenhouse, a 48’ by 100’ Canadian made model. Climate change has forced us to try and grow as many varieties as we can under cover, protected from the weather extremes. While the warming temperatures allow us to produce ginger and turmeric under plastic, we’re trying to bring all our outside tomato production inside to improve the quality and quantity of saleable fruit. The large structure will also let us increase production of winter greens in a more temperate setting. All our soil grown greenhouse vegetables seem to taste better when the growing conditions are steady and free of climate change extremes. There’s still plenty of outside crops but a lot of the high value vegetables will be happy to be protected.

2017 was a great year for our Elysian Hills Tree Farm also. We sold out of Christmas trees and had our best sales there since we started 4 years ago. We were also proud to receive our Certified Organic certificate for the tree production area, a first for a Christmas tree operation of our size in Vermont. The Town of Dummerston approved our request to hold up to 4 functions in the beautiful Elysian event barn that will help folks celebrate and reconnect with a spectacular agricultural setting. Jared Flynn completed his third stone tree sculpture capturing the reflective and meditative feel of the surroundings. It’s a nice spot to rest after hiking our forest trails.

This season will also see changes in our farm crew as some of our long-time friends have moved on. The good news is we’ve assembled another all-star cast of great individuals with a passion to learn more about agriculture. We’ve got representatives from Maine, California, Alaska and Jamaica! Our sales crew in the farmstand returns with one new member. We couldn’t ask for a better group to represent Walker Farm with genuine sincerity and smiles. Our customers are our guests and we value their commitment to supporting local agriculture. In the information age, it’s impossible to know everything but what we don’t know we will find out for you. We’re not going to make up an answer, we’re going to use our years of experience, our agricultural and horticultural contacts and even Google to make sure you get the information you need to have a successful garden or a safe and healthy meal.

Twenty-five years ago, we fought a 4-year battle to keep the county from seizing part of our family farm for a regional dump. The community rallied to support our farm and defeat the Waste District thus saving Walker Farm. That is a debt that we can never repay but like our quest for the elusive tomato, it’s part of what defines our journey towards excellence and drives our team to make our farm the best that it can be. We might not ever get to the final goal but we will never give up trying. Thanks so much for traveling with us.

The Next Generation!