I recently visited Chewonki, a school, camp, and farm in Wisscasset, ME that had a recent visit from an ergonomics consultant at their beautiful new pack shed. Some insurance companies offer these visits for free as an injury (and claim) prevention measure. Several things that struck me: They were experimenting with different heights for wash …
Continue reading “Simple Ergonomics and Lean Thinking at Chewonki Farm”
Here is a video shot during some field experimentation last week working in a cooler.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet Here! Introduction An important factor in growing and selling high-quality salad greens is being able to efficiently wash, cool, and dry the product. The drying step is commonly done using centrifugal force in a spinner. The water is spun off of the greens through a filter basket or other porous …
Download the PDF Fact Sheet Here! Introduction It is easy to ignore the thing beneath our feet, but floors are an important part of produce wash and pack areas that deserve special attention. They can impact efficiency, ergonomics, employee health, worker fatigue, personnel safety, and produce safety. There are also a number of design features …
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This presentation was given by Chris Callahan from at the Great Lakes Expo in Grand Rapids Michigan in December 2017. He discusses the differences between fruit and vegetable storage needs, finish surfaces for wash/pack areas or coolers as well as temperature and humidity controls. A frequently asked question we get is about vapor barrier …
Continue reading “Post Harvest Handling & Storage for Small Farms”
Picadilly Farm is owned and operated by Jenny and Bruce Wooster since 2006. Their farm is located in the South East Corner of New Hampshire in Winchester and has about 30 acres in production. They provide fresh produce to over 1,000 families through CSA shares spread across New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Bruce reached out …
This video is an episode from Across the Fence! It holds an interview with Judy Simpson as well as a description of the product. The video below highlights the 9min segment specifically talking about the DewRight. Read the write up from Vermont Business Magazine here. Read the press release from UVM’s University Communications here.
What’s new in Ag tech? Well, one thing that we’ve recently discovered is a rinse conveyor. Specifically designed for the small-scale farm who wants to graduate from hand washing to something a little more automated that can really crank up the pounds of washed vegetables for market. This machine is made by AZS, an equipment manufacturing …
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Native Son farm is a small diversified vegetable farm in Tupelo Mississippi, who had been washing vegetables by hand and started looking at automated wash lines. With zero experience on automated washing, he began first researching the common barrel washer, reading reviews, and watching videos online. Will Reed reached out to Deerfield Supply out Kentucky …
Continue reading “The AZS Rinse Conveyor at Native Son Farm”
I had the opportunity to see an innovative piece of equipment designed for washing vegetables, and I think it might be a look into the future of improved food safety on many small-scale vegetable farms.
