Howard Prussack of High Meadows Farm in Westminster West, Vermont grows 7 acres of vegetables and wanted to improve his vegetable washing space. He imagined a bright and warm space instead of the dark and cool dairy barn they were working out of. With a goal of creating a fun and happy place to work, …
Continue reading “Natural Light in the Packshed at High Meadows Farm”
Ansel Ploog and Justin Cote run Flywheel Farm in Woodbury, Vermont. They wholesale 2 acres of organic vegetables to local co-op stores and through a regional distributor. When starting their farm in 2012, they understood they needed a spot to wash and pack their produce, undercover and off the ground. They chose to go with …
Continue reading “A Three-Season Structure Keeps the Momentum at Flywheel Farm”
Kate Donald began farming at Stout Oak Farm in Brentwood, NH in 2012. As the farm grew she quickly realized they could only handle one, or maybe two infrastructure projects at a time. Much of these improvements went into production practices, and greenhouses that clearly penciled out to be wise investments in the farm. Now, …
Continue reading “Easy Breezy Three Season Packshed at Stout Oak Farm “
Pheonix and Megan O’Brien of Hall Brook Farm purchased their farm in Thorndike, Maine in 2016, and are growing over 20 acres of vegetables with over ⅓ acre in high tunnels. They have experienced rapid growth of the business in the last few years. In 2020 they had gross sales over $250,000 which expanded in …
Continue reading “New Metal Building from Scratch at Hall Brook Farm”
Elizabeth Keen and her husband Al have been farming at Indian Line Farm in Great Barrington, MA for over 25 years. After taking a sabbatical in 2016, they had the realization that after 10-15 years “just running the farm” it was time that some things needed to change to make the farm more sustainable in …
Continue reading “The Next Chapter: Renovating a Barn to Sustain Indian Line Farm “
As part of our SCRUB Project, we have been demonstrating a wide range of Cleaning Tools for Produce Farms, on-farm with growers. This has opened up the question, “Which one(s) should I buy for this specific cleaning task?” Based on our experience and feedback from partner farms, here are some of our favorites that we’d …
Patrick Sullivan and Melisa Oliva have been farming for 5 years at Ananda Gardens, a CSA Farm in Middlesex, Vermont. They have been working to grow their farm and improve their wash-pack area as they renovated the 1950s dairy barn that stood on the property. They have 150 CSA members between the fall and spring …
Continue reading “Patient Pursuit of Packshed Happiness at Ananda Gardens”
Greens spinners play a vital role making greens production profitable for the small farm. Some farms find themselves stuck in the middle, where inexpensive, small-scale spinners cause a bottleneck, but it is hard to justify a more expensive industrial, stainless steel, restaurant-style machine. If you are just getting started, we have a full overview of …
Continue reading “Washing Machine/Greens Spinner Conversion Guide”
There are many ways to wash root crops on produce farms. This guide covers a range of options from smaller farms washing by hand to larger operations with fully automated wash lines. Watch the Webinar Root Washing Systems with Hans Estrin | VVBGA Webinar Series Spray tables Spray tables are commonly used to rinse bunched …
Introduction Leafy greens are a popular crop among consumers seeking a healthy and nutritious diet year-round. As a crop that is grown close to the ground in a variety of systems, often it is important to remove soil from the leaves before marketing. A relatively high volume dunk tank with several, typically lower volume, follow-on …
