By Chris Callahan, Hans Estrin, and Andy Chamberlin Reading not you’re thing? We have a free, 8-Part webinar video series that goes into depth on all of the following topics discussed below. Project Planning for Postharvest Efficiency, Profitability & Food Safety Summary Efficiency and food safety are integral parts of running a profitable and viable …
Continue reading “Planning an Efficient and Safe Wash/Pack Area”
UVM Extension’s own television program Across The Fence did a segment on a project we’ve been working on related to greens spinners. You can watch the video clip here explaining why small farms are making use of washing machines as greens spinners and what we are doing to help make them more feasible.
This blog post is for those using or considering a converted washing machine as greens spinner. Background For background information on several different types of greens spinners and general thoughts on using washing machine conversions see this blog post. Shopping Tips There are a few things to consider when shopping for a washing machine to …
Continue reading “Washing Machine Greens Spinners: Shopping Advice”
All of our resources are available here on this blog. However, if you are looking for a printed handout, here is a list. These are all of the PDF documents that we share during workshops, meetings, and presentations. All links will open the PDF in a new tab.
Have a washing machine that you want to convert into a greens spinner? Have you already done the conversion, but want to improve it? Join us for one of two hands-on, intensive workshops this fall focused on getting the job done and doing it well.
With innovative tools becoming more available for salad greens production from field prep through harvest, mixed greens are becoming more attractive for farmers. Postharvest handling and wash/pack still causes a bottleneck for many farms. Today we share some knowledge on a piece of equipment recently adopted at Jericho Settlers Farm in Jericho, VT. This Greens …
A PDF of this case study is available for download here. Danielle Allen and Ben Dana own and operate Root 5 Farm in Fairlee, Vermont. This organic vegetable farm on the Connecticut River provides over 200 CSA members, farmers market, restaurant, and wholesale customers with local, healthy food. Over 100 different varieties of crops are …
Continue reading “Wheels Keep Things Rolling at Root 5 Farm”
Last summer we had a twilight meeting all about Alliums at High Meadows Farm on July 12th, 2018. During this meeting, farmers joined Howard Prussack of High Meadows Farm, University of Vermont Agricultural Engineer Chris Callahan and Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Specialist Crystal Stewart for a field walk discussing garlic and onion production and postharvest …
Continue reading “All About Alliums – Twilight Meeting Video Recording”
Last summer we performed a series of precooling trials using small-scale forced air coolers to cool eggplant, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, zucchini, and roasting peppers. The forced air cooling was done in parallel with standard room cooling and was shown to result in cooling rates ranging from 1.2 to 2.2 times faster than room cooling. This …
Hygienic design intentionally creates or improves spaces and equipment so they can be cleaned and sanitized as appropriate. This post, associated PDF guide and checklist (PDF and Excel, instructions) are tools we developed to help apply hygienic and sanitary design practice on produce farms. This information is also provided as a YouTube video playlist. We …
Continue reading “Hygienic and Sanitary Design for Produce Farms”
