Category: Production - Purple Pitchfork

Farm Systems: Designing a Productive Packing House

11/29/2014

Title
Productive Packing House

Overview
On a vegetable farm, the magic happens in the packing house. And the best magic happens when your packing house works smoothly and provides a food-safe environment. We’ll look at the principles and practices that you can use to make the most of your current packing facility, as well as what to consider if you have the opportunity to start from scratch. Covered topics include workflow, ergonomics, storage considerations, and food safety.

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Food Safety, Production, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Market Farming: Making Your Farm Work For You

11/26/2014

Title
Making Your Market Farm Work For You

Overview
Your market farm should work for you, in addition to you working for your farm – and that requires you to take care of your vegetables and your business, as well as your life. Learn how you can put it all together, from the market farming fundamentals of weed control, irrigation, post-harvest handling, and marketing, to the management of your farming systems, employees, and finances. From big ideas down to practical examples, consultant, educator, and veteran farmer Chris Blanchard draws on 25 years of farming experience around the country at a wide variety scales to provide this engaging session that will help you understand and control the factors that lead to a profitable market farm that won’t drive you and your family crazy.

Outline
1. Context
2. Market Farming Fundamentals
3. Management
4. Managing Yourself
5. Managing the Farm
6. Managing the Money
7. Managing the Employees
8. Wrapping Up

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Finances, Management, Marketing, Production, Scaling Up

Audience
Beginning Farmers

Length
4 - 6 hours

Farm Systems: Designing an Effective Irrigation System

11/23/2014

Title
Vegetable Irrigation: Basics for Beginning Farmers

Overview
On the market farm, a dry year shouldn’t keep you from producing a crop – and even in a normal year your farm will benefit from a well thought-out irrigation system. Learn the essential components to set up and maintain a system of irrigation for field-scale vegetable production. Chris Blanchard will address topics including source considerations (wells, rural water, or surface streams and ponds), pumps (gasoline, electric, and PTO-powered), flow rates, particulate filters, supply pipe (layflat, poly, and aluminum), application methods (sprinklers, stand pipe, traveling irrigation guns, and drip tape), as well as tips and tricks, and resources for more information. Learn how to calculate the volume of water you will need, and how to get it to you crops, so that you can grow a bountiful crop of veggies even in a dry year.

Outline
1. Water Amounts
2. Critical Irrigation Phases
3. When to Water
4. Use Enough Water
5. Application Methods
6. Supply Lines
7. Pumps
8. Sources

Series
In The Field

Topics
Irrigation, Production, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Systems: Designing an Effective Transplant System

11/22/2014

Title
Transplant Production Systems

Overview
Greenhouse-grown vegetable transplants are an important part of a successful vegetable farm, and the systems you use for everything from transplant trays and benches to the transplanter you use to set your crop in the field have a significant impact on the quality of your transplants and the cost of producing them. Chris Blanchard will present a review of transplant systems on farms throughout the Upper Midwest.

Outline
1. Growing Trays
2. Seeding
3. Germination
4. Benches
5. Irrigation
6. Fertilization
7. Hardening Off
8. Setting Out
9. Three Cool Things

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Systems, Transplants

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Post-Harvest Handling: A to Z

11/18/2014

Title
Post-Harvest Handling, Food Safety and GAPs Compliance

Overview
As the demand for local and organic food has exploded in the last five years, so has the expectation on the part of consumers and institutional buyers for production and handling systems designed to minimize microbial contamination. Chris Blanchard, who has been through the audit process and helped others through it as well, will present a review of practical food safety, how to develop a written food safety plan, and how to set up records management systems that support business processes rather than existing outside of the system.

Outline
1. Simple Steps to Safer Produce
2. Post-Harvest Handling Systems and Principles
3. Snoop the Poop Interactive Session
4. Understanding the Audit Verification System
5. Creating Your Food Safety Plan
6. Automatic Failures
7. Rock Spring Farm’s Plan and Implementation
8. General Questions
9. Worker Health and Hygiene
10. Farm Review
11. Field Harvest and Field Packing
12. House Packing Facility
13. Storage and Transportation
14. Inspections
15. Traceability and Record Keeping

Series
In The Field

Topics
Food Safety, Post-Harvest Handling, Production, Records Management, Risk Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
4 - 8 hours

Season Extension: Autumn Vegetables

11/12/2014

Title
Extending Your Autumn Vegetable Season

Overview
You can extend your autumn vegetable season for months, even without a high tunnel. Chris Blanchard will discuss succession planting, storage crops, and other low-cost season-extending options.

Outline
1. Fall Planting for Outdoor Harvest
2. Storage Crops
3. Packing and Storage
4. High and Low Tunnels
5. Winter Production
6. Going Mobile

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Season Extension

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Value Added: Fresh Culinary Herbs

11/9/2014

Title
Fresh Culinary Herb Production on the Organic Farm

Overview
Fresh-cut herbs can provide an attractive addition to the farmers market, CSA, or wholesale market farm, but they have unique requirements for production, post-harvest handling, and marketing. Chris Blanchard will provide an overview of propagation, field production, harvest strategies and techniques, and marketing.

Outline
1. Variety Selection
2. Propagation
3. Field Production
4. Harvest
5. Marketing

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Marketing, Value Added

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Season Extension: Hoophouses

11/7/2014

Title
Organic Under Glass and Plastic

Overview
Hoophouses can provide a competitive advantage, a more-certain crop, and a way to spread income and work over a longer growing season. Chris Blanchard will give you a look at construction options, cropping techniques, and how to extend the growing season for warm-season crops as well as produce greens through the winter.

Outline
1. Summer Production
2. Winter Production
3. Hoophouse Troubles
4. Construction Styles and Options
5. Going Mobile
6. A Final Thought

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Season Extension

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Post-Harvest Handling: Tools and Techniques

11/5/2014

Title
Post-Harvest Handling: Profiles, Tool, and Considerations

Overview
As the demand for local and organic food has exploded in the last five years, so has the expectation on the part of consumers and institutional buyers for clean produce that lasts on the shelf and in the refrigerator. Chris Blanchard will take you on a journey through packing houses in the Upper Midwest and beyond, with a look at the washing and packing facilities and tools used by farmers large and small.

Outline
1. Basics
2. Containers
3. Facilities and Product Flows
4. Cooler Considerations
5. Materials Handling
6. Dry Goods Storage
7. Other Considerations
8. The Work You Do in the Field Makes the Packing Shed work
9. Plan for Change
10. Bulk Tanks
11. Baby Salad Greens
12. Broccoli
13. Brush Washer
14. Bulk Roots and Tubers
15. Beans and Peas
16. Tomatoes
17. Some General Considerations
18. Clothing
19. To Market

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Post Harvest Handling, Risk Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
90 - 120 minutes

Farm Labor: Saving Labor on the Market Farm

11/1/2014

Title
Saving Labor on the Market Farm

Overview
Market farming is all about moving stuff around; whether you're moving vegetables from the soil to the packing house, water from the well to your transplants, or seeds from their packet to the soil. From big ideas down to practical examples, consultant, educator, and veteran farmer Chris Blanchard draws on 25 years of farming experience around the country at a wide variety scales to provide this engaging session that will help you better understand the systems and tools for seeding crops in the field and greenhouses, transplanting sets, pruning and greenhouse crop maintenance, weeding tools, harvesters, post-harvest handling, materials handling, and record-keeping.

Outline
1. Overview
2. Capacity
3. Invest in People
4. Invest in Systems
5. Safe and Healthy
6. Automation
7. Saving Time and Work
8. Seeds and Transplants
9. Irrigation
10. Weeds
11. Picking and Packing

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Labor, Production, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
90 - 180 minutes