I've done a lot this past week.
I made jam for the first time, then did it again--now i've got two pots going at the same time while I update this blog. It's good jam but I think it needs less sugar. I'm doing the 1:1:1 ratio of lb strawberries; lb sugar; tbls lemon juice. I think each unit makes 2 12oz jars. I'm going to pair a jam jar and a jar of honey (unknown size) and sell it to friends and family. I can't sell honey at the markets because it requires a permit and I have very little honey.. I checked the hives and my stronger one (possibly named: queen mary? feedback on names please or suggest your own!), which swarmed and was caught, has produces one honey super of very light honey. I should be harvesting it this weekend. The other hive (Victoria?) has been the weaker the whole time, but aparently it swarmed anyway and I failed to capture it. I had planned on splitting it into a fourth hive but I didn't get to it in time I guess. Timing is so crucial in farming. Victoria hasn't produced any honey at all--just a 3" uncapped circle of honey on one frame. What should the third hive be? It's in the orchard, replacing one of two hive sites that have been out of commission since two winters ago.
The berry plants finally burst and are filled with strawberries. It takes me dawn to dusk to do four rows out of twenty. I had the Farmette post two ads on craigslist: one advertising U-Pick, the other asking for pickers to come help Friday for Saturday's market. The going rate is .75c a quart. I pick 10-12 quarts an hour, so that's $7.50-9/hr. I've had about 20 calls including a 49yo woman, a mom's van full of 16yo girls, a few pairs of friends, and an old man who says he'll pick slow but steady. Most of the calls came yesterday while I was picking for this morning's market and so I let them all know they could come today too. Half that said they would showed up.
C. showed up first and stayed for 90 minutes. He's a lanky high schooler who, when told to bring a long sleeved shirt to avoid a rash from the strawberry leaves, chose to wear black. It was 93 and the hottest day of the year so far. He picked 6 quarts in 90 minutes so I gave him 5 bucks. I doubt he'll be showing up on Friday. On his way out of the field he told my uncle, "it's a lot slower than I thought it'd be."
Ch. & N. were about my age and showed up at 5:30. I gave them directions and they even pulled into the Big Red Shed's driveway and in front of my truck with the U-Pick Here! sign and the table with a scale and strawberries on it, but for whatever reason, they thought they were in the wrong place. A few minutes later my Aunt found them walking through her living room and she handed them off to my Uncle who drove them out to the field. Good start, eh!
Ch. & N. came on the heels of C. leaving. I told them speed is the name of the game. They picked 2 quarts in the first 10 minutes. Crouching, hunting for those berries. Then they stopped crouching and started laying down in the field. Said it was easier on their knees, etc. They each averaged 5q/hr.
I mention all this because I'm concerned that everyone who shows up will be so slow Friday morning and ultimately leave unhappy and feeling underpaid like C. did. (For the record, Ch. & N. seemed satisfied and said they'd come back but I did give each a quart of berries just to make sure they might.) I'm going to be fine. I set up the deal, and I think it's fair--I do better with each quart they pick. I just don't like the idea of people leaving feeling like I took advantage of them. I'll just see how it plays out.
I heard the pickers in California get .20c a quart but that's a different production method and set-up. Still, I'd like to know how many they can pick an hour.
All that said, hiring help is awesome. This is the first time I've ever done this and I probably should have a week ago, but it makes me want to hire someone to do everything. That's unrealistic, and this is the only time where it has really made sense to hire people, but still... it's fun.
An update on the mushroom situation: I talked to a couple who sell at the market. Oyster Mushrooms, $12/lb. At first he was very reluctant to talk to me about his production methods at all. He told me his story and opened up after I said I'm from California, I'm just doing this for another year and then moving back to a big city, and I want to learn a skill I can take with me. I can't really farm in a city, but I could grow mushrooms. Ah, he said. Well, here's my card, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have after you leave the state.
He started growing in 1991 and sunk 60k into it by 2000. He only failed for 9 years, with very sporadic success. By 2000 he had it all figured out, and now it's easy as could be. It's just a step by step production system. But he hasn't made that 60k back and really only sells at the markets because he's already got the system set up. He says: you're going to fail. You won't succeed and if you do you won't make any money. The biggest problem is, once you've figured out how to grow them successfully you can only sell so many a week. I don't know exactly how much he sells, but he said restaurants aren't consistent and don't order enough ~10lb a week between a few of them. And the markets are too small. So now that he can produce as much as he wants, he's still hitting a low limit on sales.
I said I didn't think that'd be a problem in a city and he agreed. In a 10' cube room, he told me, I could get 100lbs in one flush. But, to grow 1lb or 2000lbs requires the same initial investment of about $25k to create the production system that needs to be "x10 more sterile than an operating room."
It's something I'll be thinking about. So my current mushroom plans are these: stop trying and take my losses for what they are (~$120?) and then try to convince him 6weeks before I leave the state to mentor me through an entire production cycle. I'll bring him my plane ticket itinerary and any other documents he might need to as proof of my immediate departure and offer myself as free labor. Hopefully that works. Stay tuned for the next mushroom update in many months!
The Farmette and I moved out of the barn last week and now we live downtown. It's a 15 mile commute each morning for me now, and while I dislike all the additional driving, I am much more productive now that I'm not 2 minutes walk from my home at all times. 15 minute breaks don't turn into hour long ones now.
I jarred the jam. 4.5 lbs strawberry/sugar, 4.5 tbls lemon juice turns into 8 1/2 12oz jars of jam. Jamming is a sticky process.
Long post! Great job, you've made it to the end!
