Genuine Faux Farm Raises Excellent Produce Using These Five Weird Tricks!

Welcome to our third installment of the "Ode to Clickbait" series of posts on our blog!  In case you haven't figured it out yet, we're poking fun at clickbait and perhaps a bit of fun at ourselves while we're at it.  Underneath it all..  well, we'll let you figure that out.

Raising excellent produce isn't just the result of some tricks - despite what the clickbait title says.  But, remember, clickbait is SUPPOSED to mislead you!  Ha!  Mission accomplished.  Nonetheless, we ARE going to give you a few thoughts on things that help US to raise excellent produce.

1. Visit Other Farms and Do A Little Work There
This one actually just *might* fall under the 'weird tricks' category if you were thinking that we were going to divulge some special recipe for a tincture we apply to all of our plants to make them grow twice the size they normally would.  But, it is an actual line item on our 'must do' list every season since we started with the Gang of Five farm group several years ago.  Every visit each of four farms (and they all come visit us once) to do some sort of a project for a few hours.  Then, we have excellent food and even better conversations. 

See, we're all working.  Wait... where's Tammy?

The obvious positive result for the farm being visited is that they get a nice batch of skilled laborers for a few hours.  It's absolutely amazing how much this group can get done, with much less instruction needed.  But, it's actually the conversation and moral support that comes along with the event that does more for us.  We probably can't accurately measure the difference these visits make for our attitudes as we return to our own farm.  And, we have lost track of how many ideas, tricks and tips we have introduced into our own operation as a result of these visits.

So, trick number one is essentially: Cultivate relationships with trusted people who are also involved in your profession.


2. Carry a Notebook Everywhere
I think I did warn everyone that we actually believe in providing real content in our blogs.  So, in a way, we meet the criteria for clickbait because you were expecting something other than what the title seemed to imply.  Unless you think this is weird: Rob prefers his 'carpenter' jeans in part because they have a side pocket that holds a notepad and a pen.

Seriously though, the tip here is not the jeans thing - it's the notebook thing.  Our farm is a diverse operation which implies we have many things going on that need to be managed.  You can't remember everything that you observed that needed recording or needed attention by the time you get to the end of the day, so you need a convenient recording tool so you can revisit those observations.  It doesn't particularly matter to me if someone else wants to use an "app" or some other electronic tool.  That's their choice.  But, I bet you the notepad and pen app is much more flexible in its uses than any app you'll find on your smart phone.

You can pull a page off and drop it in a box of potatoes that have just been harvested and weighed that includes the variety name and weight so it can be dealt with later.  You can hand the pen to someone who needs it so they can write a check for your potatoes.  You can record measurements for the placement of the toolbars on a mulch layer.  You can make a list of things you need to pick up from the farm supply store and you can write a poem to your lovely bride.

No, seriously YOU can write a poem to YOUR lovely bride.  My lovely bride knows my poems tend to be silly and are always off-the-cuff.  Ok, they're not really poems.  They're more like exercises in silly rhyming.  Always better to NOT write those down.

3. Periodically Visit a Place that Calms You Down
I am beginning to think that these weird tricks may actually be kind of weird!  Good for me, I am meeting the goal the title provided.

Running a small, diversified, vegetable and poultry farm can be stressful.  When a person is stressed, overwhelmed and tired, they tend to make more mistakes.  Things like - "I want to go eat dinner, so I will now forget to close the gate to the hen yard."  Hasn't happened recently, but you get the idea.

Sweet Marsh Wildlife Area by Tripoli

One small thing we've taken to doing about every other week during one of the weekend mornings is making a visit to Sweet Marsh for a short visit.  Usually, we don't even get out of the vehicle.  We roll down the windows and watch ducks, eagles, snakes, turtles or... just the water and trees.  Often, we'll talk awhile about what is on our minds.

In short, good farmer health leads to better produce.

4. Grow Something You Love
There is nothing quite so difficult as selling something you really do not like.  At least, it is difficult for people like us who do not appreciate misrepresenting facts and opinions.  The best solution is to grow things you really like.  This does two things for you.  First, you have even more personal motivation to make things work because you ALSO want to get a taste of these crops.  And second, selling something you really like is so much easier to do!

Over the years, Tammy and I have stuck with growing a few heirloom varieties simply because we love the taste.  If we were only looking at production, we would have dropped these years ago.  The idea is that we believe we can find a way to make these cultivars productive on our farm.  We get a little extra motivation to explore options in growing that might result in success for these persnickety, yet scrumptious, veggies.

It's actually an amazing thing.  As a produce grower, you can make some choices about what you grow.  Exercise the freedom of choice and use that choice to help motivate yourself to greater success.

5. Keep Exploring New and Old Ideas
Every farm is different as is every growing season.  A static growing system will never be able to respond to a dynamic environment.  This is why monocropping and hydroponic growing systems seem to appeal to so many people.  They eliminate variables to reduce the need for knowledge of craft and exploration of ideas within that craft.

In our opinion, the best produce comes from diverse farms.  So, if you want to grow the very best produce, you need to be willing to innovate and make change while still using things that have worked in the past.

BONUS TRICK: Comfort a cat that needs comforting.
We're not sure how it will help you with raising excellent produce.  But, the cat will likely appreciate it.