Reinventing the Wheel: Easing Movement and Adding Flexibility

Could wheels help you out in your pack shed? When do they make sense and when don’t they? Below are examples illustrating how growers are using wheels in different ways to ease the movement of product out of the field and around the wash/pack. Why Scale, Diversity, Markets and Bins Matter? At the heart of …

Top 5: Working with Contractors on a Postharvest Project

Key Takeaways Introduction Construction projects are both exciting and daunting. There’s great joy in dreaming about a new space or a renovated work area, but there can be a long windy path full of dread and stress between what you have now and what you hope to have in the future. Working with a contractor …

Duijndam Machines – Used Equipment from Europe

Way back in 2019, we visited Duijndam Machines in The Netherlands. We had heard from growers in the northeast about this fantastical place where used equipment from European growers goes, not to die, but to be reborn. We had to see it for ourselves. And to bring home some video of our tour. The video …

Patient Pursuit of Packshed Happiness at Ananda Gardens

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 …

Sharpening the Edges: Wash/Pack Efficiencies in a New Farm Building at Small Axe Farm

A video version of this case study is available here and a printable PDF is available here. Evan Perkins & Heidi Choate own and operate Small Axe Farm in Barnet, Vermont. Together, they have been farming mixed vegetables for over 20 years and have been running Small Axe Farm since 2008.  About Small Axe Farm …

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