Year 2 Review
Profitability is key as margins are tight in agriculture especially when there’s so many great nearby farms. In addition, I watch folks buying from big box grocery stores where products are shipped globally. Little value is placed on local farms growing all natural and made available to you fresh. There ain’t nothin better than fresh veggies - the taste can’t be denied.
2022 was an amazing year full of growth and experimentation - a journey of twists and turns to arrive at this point today. We hired a few hands, Julia, Rae, Joel and Joan who had great insight to share and helped us to achieve a little more.
Here’s what the road looked like for last year.
Hydroponics - I started the year really thinking about hydroponic designs and whether that would work for us and would it be a sustainable option. I tried multiple hydroponics methods including kratky and NFT (nutrient film technique). Search on each of those topics for more information.
Observations - The NFT system had an automatic water system, but it seemed I was always fixing. It always seemed to be water pressure issues no matter what pump I used or what configuration I ran the irrigation line. I tried both horiztal and vertical with pretty much the same results.
With regards to the deep water or Kratky method, that worked great and I grew some strawberries, lettuce and some herbs this way. It used up less energy because I didn’t have to pump water to it. Although most people put in an aerator to add oxygen to the water, we didn’t. I check nutrients and ph levels of my plants and they grew fine with a strong root system.
Findings - In the end, for growing in my basement, I decided on using perite and vermiculite grow bags. I start plants off with soil and then transplate them into the grow bags. I manually water everything, but I have a new water facet and hose in December 2022 - which made them exceptionally better. The automation was great for when I had to be away, but it was just too much hassle.
Microgreens - These continued to do very well at the Dexter’s Winter market, but sales do drop in the summer - so we discontinue them in the summer in favor for spring lettuces.
More Farmer’s Markets - We did a few new markets this past year including Lansing’s Farmers Market on the Capitol Lawn, Pickney, Whitmore Lake and of course a regular at Dexter’s summers and winter markets. The best market by far for us was the Lansing market - the capital crowd loved our products.
Strawberries - We had an outstanding harvest of our strawberry field. So much so, that we doubled our yield potential for 2023. Rae, Joel and Joan created another 100’ x 32’ field and transplated stawberries for the 2023 season.
Flowers - We were in love with our flowers this year and grew lots of new things including statice, calendula, celosia, pumpkin on a stick along with our favorites. We dried a lot and experimented with garland and decorative pieces. In the fall, we planted a lot of new perennial flowers, mostly peonies.
The thrips got the best me last year and wiped out my entire crop of gladiolias. I pulled them up all this fall and soaked them in a bleach/water solution and I’ll try again next year.
Veggies - Our veggies didn’t do so hot this year and I ended up preserving most of it for our use and invited our family and friends to pick from our gardens too. We have some great nearby market farms and they capture the market pretty well. Plus, I really think people are just growing their own these days - with supply chain disruptions, who wouldn’t?
Greenhouse/Earth Battery - I purchased the greenhouse in 2021 and we couldn’t get it up because of another construction project. Finally in the fall of 2022, we started construction. The plan is to create a geothermal based design using passive solar strategies to warm the greenhouse in the winter by natural means and a fan.
So, we dug BIG hole, 5-6 feet down and scooped out all the dirt under the greenhouse frame. We added a network on pipelines and radiant heat tubing in the ground where fans will blow heat and humidity through them for storage until winter. We added the radiant heat for a boost and the plan is to run both the barn and greenhouse electrical needs with solar power. That will be our investment for fall of 2023. Along with our heat source. Still figuring that out, but right now I’m thinking a wood burning outdoor furnace. We have plenty of firewood and we can use the biochar to improve soil health.
Hydrosols and Infused Oil - Trying our hand at distilling different flowers and herbs into hydrosols and infused oils. The first lavender crops were planted.
Pet Food - As I was spending lots of time preserving foods from our farm and experimenting - pressure canning, water bath, dehydrating, vacuum sealing/freezing - I stumbled upon freeze drying. They are expensive, but I felt it was worth it. We received ours in December 2022. What I realized, is that I could take my farm preserves along with local farmers and make exceptional pet foods/treats. I can’t tell you how big of a difference it has made to our pets, their energy levels and coats have seen a huge difference.
I’ve already formulated 2 recipes and sent them to the USDA for approval.
So…. for 2023, we will focus on:
Flowers and bouquets
Strawberries
Growing organic veggies for our new line of freeze-dried pet foods.
A new line of spa products made from fragrances of our fabulous flowers including hydrosols and infused oils.
