Preserving the Harvest

Our Unique Approach to Keeping it LOCAL

05/11/2012 18:49:00

I am often asked where our produce comes from when people see my signs are labeled CA Grown or AZ Grown or even from other areas in our growing region like Mexico. Most people make the assumption that farmer's markets are only for local farmers produce and often don't realize that many markets can't, or don't want to police the farmers, as well as find it unnecessary.

My philosophy is a little different, as people who have been shopping with Pinnacle Farms for years already know. After watching people's buying habits and having many a frank discussion with our loyal customers, I find most want to purchase from a farm that has the best variety AND has the certified organic products that are in demand, while supporting the local economy. Since AZ doesn't have the long mild growing season that CA does, but we still want the flavorful year round Tomatoes, luscious Strawberries, creamy Avocados and tangy Pineapples and Mangoes from other tropical areas, we offer the next best thing-competitively priced Certified Organic produce. And buying it from us gives you the benefit of convenience, options, and....

SUPPORTS LOCAL!

I believe my business model to be a little unusual, but offers what most people would like to have, a choice from the big box stores and the option of knowing the farmer and where the food actually comes from. Because, as you can see over the years, Pinnacle Farms has grown. I have reinvested all the dollars that are faithfully entrusted in me to become a better grower and offer the very best product I can. Every time our customers shop with us, that money stays in the local economy and supports my family, my workers and their family and all the local businesses that we work with too.

So, with this year's amazing investment in finally purchasing my own farm after years of leasing land, you can see the benefits of our unique approach to keeping it local. It may or may not be something we directly produced, but it absolutely supports Pinnacle Farms, and continues to help us keep it local and keep producing better and more diversity for you-our most valuable asset! I hope you will continue to patronize Pinnacle Farms and enjoy the wonderful future ahead as we continue to learn and grow!

Thank YOU!

Not so weedy weeds!

04/21/2012 17:59:00

Busy Busy Busy!

Spring has definitely sprung out here in Waddell and along with it, the weeds! Many of you have remarked that you haven't heard much from us lately and it's because I am busily coming up with new ways of combating the weeds at the farm and have settled into a steady pace of planting, irrigating and hoeing in preparation for the summer crops.

To be a sustainable farm also means providing an environment for the other plants, animals and bugs, so a little tolerance goes a long ways towards being a farmer. In my little world, we use weeds to help keep the bugs off other plants, and call this a trap crop. Today, we are using the flowered broccoli and cauliflower to attract the aphids, which then attracts the lady bugs that eat the aphids, and so goes the cycle. The weeds provide forage for our bees and homes for the little rodents, toads and rabbits at the farm. It also keeps the dust down. Remember last years' HABOOB? All those weed-free fields are just waiting for a good wind to come dirty up our air! (I sometimes wonder if our quest for having everything perfect is killing us and our environment too.)

But like all good things, too much can be bad and the weeds will crowd out the little plants that we are growing to bring to market, and so weed control, not total eradication is the goal!

So, we have tried several new ways of weeding. Last year, I invested in a weed burner, which is so hot that it literally cooks the glue off the operator's shoes! But it works pretty well to give the seedlings a good head start. We also got a couple new implements and narrower tires which allows me to travel in the tractor over the tops of the plants and scrape out the weeds in the furrow.

And of course, there is the usual hand hoeing, which can make a real Man (Or Wo-Man) outta anyone willing to take on the task for 6 hours in the sun. This is such hard work, that OSHA actually decreed it to be too laborious even for laborers except in Organic farms where chemical control isn't an option. Kinda funny, I think!

So, next time you think about the neighbor's weeds looking a little crummy in the front yard, maybe it's time to look at things in a little different perspective. Hey, that "WEED" is performing a function! And have a little heart for the aphids. They gotta eat too!

Local Eggs, Not "Fresh", but laid yesterday

03/20/2012 08:54:00

If we are what we eat, then what we feed chickens and eggs is important! Right?! A recent question on Twitter was looking for info on how to get fresh eggs from us at the farmer's market, and they wanted to know how to justify the added expense from the 99 cent per dozen the local Hickman's offers in the grocery store.

So here's my spiel. My chickens are raised in an open area, with plenty of room to scratch and dust and roost, which makes for a happier hen, and we also provide them a varied diet, in addition to the lay feed that is always available. Alot of you ask, what do you do with all your organic leftovers at the end of the market? We give it to the chickens! So they might get lots of lettuce and swiss chard and pears one day, and apples and parsley the next. Sounds great, right? Just like people, the more nutrients we eat, the better nutrition we will have overall.

Conversely, large local producers have very high standards they must fill. All the eggs must be exactly the same size and perfectly shaped and colored, which is Grade A, etc. The Department of Agriculture has helped John Q Public by regulating the production of egg producers, which is why you will sometimes see "Nest Run" stamped on our cartons. It means the eggs have not been graded or sized, (and technically, are less than awesome in the eyes of the Department of Ag.) "Fresh" is also a term that small producers are unable to use unless they are determined to be so by Dept. of Ag standards even if they were laid yesterday, so just keep that in mind. ;)

There are huge differences in the way our eggs are raised, no battery cages, no antibiotics, diverse feed, no pesticides, and no beak clipping. We simply don't have to do all that because our hens are happier! They don't have to be confined to a little cage with 6 other hens to get the most production out of them. They are unlikely to contract Avian Flu because they are healthier naturally, being raised with a natural resistance to disease. We don't have to clip their beaks because they are not confined so closely that they peck at the other girls. And seasonally we get more or less eggs because of this practice.

Which leads me up to pricing of our eggs. Being small producers, we can't buy in bulk for the feed, and we don't get rid of underproducing hens right away. The big guys count their profits with charts and tables and percentages, while we just collect the eggs at the end of the day and hope that the cost of feed and cartons doesn't go higher than the production of eggs.

But we all know that the less expensively produced a product is, the more corners have been cut to produce it. And since you are what you eat, a conventionally produced egg is much more likely to have less nutritional value than one coming from our farm. So if cost is what is most important to you, the grocery store eggs have it all. But if nutrition, animal welfare and buying local are also important, then you may want to consider how factory farming has changed the face of the earth, driven down prices for commodities below the actual cost of normal production and become the dreary short life for the animals that it takes advantage of.

Since I feel that it is important for the consumers to be more educated and to also understand how marketing is targeted at consumers, I feel like it is important to mention that the labels that egg producers buy from the government agencies such as "Free Range" "Organic" and "Omega-3 Enhanced" are generally just ways to charge more money for their products.

If you stop to consider that Free Range just means that chickens have the option to go out a little door, but never do, that is probably not really why you choose to spend the extra money for that product. Typical large production facilities are just that, and don't waste money on providing green grass to graze or lots of space to run around in. The carton may have green grass and happy looking chickens, but the bigger the producer, the less likely that is an accurate portrayal. The word Organic is a similar misconception, and if you have read my previous posts you will see why I disgree that Organic is something to waste too much money on. And Omega 3 enhanced means the chickens were probably fed some sort of Soy based oil, from dubious origins, to create an unnaturally high concentration in the eggs. We obtain a similar result by providing greens and bugs on a regular basis.

Hopefully, I have made my case for why our eggs are so much more money, but consumers should remember that it is the poor who are most at risk for malnutrition, because much of the least expensive food is produced with little nutritious value. As society learns what is being done to our food system, we as consumers have the ability to vote with our dollars, and hopefully you will!

Chrysanthemum Greens

03/16/2012 08:07:00

If you are like me, the best part of coming to the farmer's market is shopping for things you have never seen before, but actually jumping off and buying an unusal items typically requires a little prodding and maybe a recipe or two, so here's one for Chrysanthemum Greens.

Like other leafy greens, they are high in antioxidant powers, along with Vitamin K, potassium and produce properties that slow the release of glucose into the bloodstream after a meal, which makes it an excellent weight loss agent according to HealWithFood.org

Commonly used in Asian dishes, the greens can be eaten small, tasting something like a mix of parsley and celery greens or can also be sautee'd lightly like spinach, but don't overdo it to keep them from producing a bitter taste.

Here's a recipe I used that originally called for Arugula Greens, but was great with the Chrysanthemums.

I used Cherry Tomatoes, Sungold that I have been hoarding really, and parmesan cheese because cheese is always on my menu! A little croutons could also go well.

A quick internet search comes up with a recipe for the greens courtesy of Silver Lake Farms that also looks delicious.

Chrysanthemum Greens Salad

1 bunch chrysanthemum greens
1/2 small Japanese cucumber
1 T toasted sesame oil
1-2 T rice vinegar
pinch of sugar (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the chrysanthemum greens. Sprin dry. Remove any woody stems. Compost the stems. Break or chop the greens into bite-sized pieces and place them in a mixing bowl.

2. Wash, but don't peel the cucumber. Slice it very thinly. Add the cucumber to the mixing bowl with the greens.

3. In a small cup or bowl, mix together the sesame oil and the rice vinegar. Add a pinch of sugar, if you'd like. Mix briskly until combined.

4. Pour dressing over salad and toss until all the leaves are coated.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you'd like, try adding a little mango, peeled and chopped; or some chopped Asian pear.

Certified Organic VS. Naturally Grown

02/13/2012 10:00:00

Many times I get asked questions about how the signs at our stand differentiate Naturally Grown from Certified Organic and I would like to help clear this up!

When the government decided to start regulating the use of the word ORGANIC, in order to say the word, growers and processors have to be certified by an outside agency. This process is extremely involved and costs money that many small growers don't have. Additionally, the regulations became more relaxed in order to allow big Agriculture to become certified organic as well.

Naturally Grown, on the other hand, is my definition of what consumers believe is truly Organic. Our version of Naturally Grown uses our diversity on the farm to our advantage. We grow one row of cabbage, one of Swiss chard, one beets etc. This means that if the cabbage crop gets ruined, life can still go on because we have other crops to balance it. And if the cabbage starts coming under heavy pressure from aphids, we allow it to keep growing and designate it a "trap crop". The spring brings beneficial bugs as well you cannot have a healthy balance of beneficial bugs without a food source, like aphids. We also use row covers, which help keep the flea beetles off and induces growth, and keep the crops from suffering freeze damage. Crop rotation is another tactic, keeping things moving is beneficial to the environment by maintaining balance. We have no need to spray pesticides because I feel it is better to allow the crop to be eaten in order to maintain the nature's balance. This is what nature does, and we should be happy to learn from it and let nature show us the way. This is what I feel Organic should be. Unfortunately, as a grower, I still cannot say I am an ORGANIC farm unless I conform to the governmental regulations and pay money to do it.

Conversely, a large Organic 40 acre plot of cabbage is always going to be threatened by bugs, in a way that a small row of cabbage will not be. A large agricultural producer will have so much invested in the growth of a product that to allow bugs to ruin their crop is not practical. The use of trap crops and rotation is not as easy, and row covers that smaller growers might use is impractical. Thus, big Ag has convinced us that Organic Pesticides are natural and beneficial to us. What most people do not know is that Organic DOES allow pesticides on their produce, just certain ones that are considered to be from more natural sources. It is funny that this is exactly what most people think they are avoiding when they buy organic. But you need to be aware that under USDA Organic standards, there is a huge list of approved products that IS allowed and the Chrysanthemum based pesticides are still killers. Remember, if it kills bugs, it is a pesticide.

In my opinion, it is balance that needs to be maintained, not a bug free, weed free, unnatural environment. Click this link to see an article on Organic Pesticides and their impact on the environment. Do your own research by gathering information on Rotenone and Pyrethrin as two of the most common Organic pesticides. This is not to say that being from a natural source makes a pesticide completely safe or even harmless. Consider where naturally occurring arsenic comes from and ask if that is something you want sprinkled on your food! Everything has a trade off and sometimes the origins are a little more difficult to understand until you consider the perspective that Agriculture is a heavily subsidized and lobbied industry.

Conversely, (and you can call me a fence sitter if you would like) I do not believe that GMO crops are always the evil demons that you may think. For example, corn is almost always attacked by Corn Earworms, making the end result somewhat ugly and if you have ever opened a corn husk to find a worm, you know what I am talking about. But increasingly, customers want a worm free ear every time. So the AG industry introduced GMO corn, some of which is engineered with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis)a naturally occurring bacteria which kills the worms when eaten and is completely harmless to humans. This allows for less arial spraying of pesticides, Organic or conventional, and remember, the organic pesticides usually are somewhat less effective, and require more applications and more run off into the soil and water table. Again, we do not use any pesticides or GMO seeds on my farm, but instead prefer to educate the consumer about the benefits of not so perfect produce, and my purpose for including this information is to help prepare the consumer with information so they can come to their own conclusions independent of some of the hype.

Also, do not make the assumption that ALL organically certified farms use pesticides, just because they can. The smaller the farm, the less likely that the farm will need to use pesticides. And the consumer's tolerance for not so perfect produce will make a difference in the grower's response to bugs in their fields. If the consumers are educated enough to know that the most perfect heads of cabbage are usually only grown with pesticides, maybe they will be more understanding and even start to look for the small little holes that cabbage loopers bring. Because the cabbage loopers are also pretty butterflies and feed the birds, which are beneficial and sing for us everyday!

Keeping warm and bug free!

11/22/2011 10:15:00

I often get asked "How do you keep the bugs off at your farm?"

Here's how! It's amazingly simple and serves two purposes to have row covers at our farm. Row covers keep the bugs out of the produce and help keep everything warmer which causes it to grow faster in cool weather. Additionally, a happy, healthy market farm must have continuous harvests, which is amazingly harder to do than you might think, due to weather fluctuations and reductions in daylight hours, but I can encourage growth to be easier to pick on a twice weekly basis by covering only part of the leafy greens in a row. The covered parts grow faster and harvest earlier even though they were planted at the same time.

Miles of row covers

Each of our rows are 1/4 mile long, and the covers we put out are 25' wide. It makes it tricky to harvest and tricky to keep the covers on sometimes too!

More covers

Sometimes we only need to cover a small section and uncover them frequently to check the progress of the plants underneath

Even more covers to come.

While row covers are expensive and need to be replaced usually after one season, it is still much less expensive than using chemical pesticides to keep the bugs off and makes a very pretty product with no buggy holes in the greens, especially arugula.

What's under the covers with the hoops!

Cucumbers and Zucchini- With a little luck, the zucchini and cucumbers can be coerced into producing for a little while longer if they grow under covers. But since they need to be pollinated to produce, the covers have to come off daily

Carrots love tomatoes book is WRONG! LOL

If you have ever heard of companion planting as a way to keep bugs off your plants, here is proof that it really doesn't seem to deter the bugs at all. Planting within the season that the crop grows best is a better way to harvest happy healthy crops. Too soon and the bug pressure from the summer hits the plants hard, or too late and the plants can't grow in cool weather fast enough. Timing is everything in this business!

Cayenne Peppers, changing colors like fall leaves in the cooler temps

Lots of cayenne peppers each season mature in the cooler weather just before the first frosts. I dry these every year and then grind them in the blender to make chile flakes for the rest of the season when it's too cold for the other peppers to grow.

Learningwhat's "IN SEASON"

10/24/2011 18:40:00

Eating seasonally has become one of those "Buzzwords" we hear so commonly, like food safety, sustainability, organic and local, but how exactly does a person change their whole life's pattern of food sourcing, and does it really make a difference?

From a farmer's standpoint, I think the best way to start to understand the true meaning of sustainable is to make sure you are educating yourself about the seasons. I often find it difficult to understand how people do not innately know what grows when and where, but then I pause to realize that I have been growing in the desert for almost 12 years now, and things that I know are just part of being a farmer. I look back to the days when I would go to Baker's Nursery and lock onto every word the patient Bakers daughters would impart to me! It's a learning experience for everyone else too, as I am reminded every year when we have tomato transplants out in the spring. The types of questions I hear find me repeating the same concepts over and over, but I always end by saying, "Go ahead and try it!" The worst that can happen is that your plant won't grow or die, but the best is that you will gain some insight into the nature of the world and the delicate balance that it requires.

So as current politics have all eyes turned to high education fees and our right to have an education, I think that much of the education in daily life skills that we can gain in food safety and sustainability is not primarily from a class or an expensive university, but is free in hands on experience, and this is how we remember best what we have learned. I still remember my many past failures and especially the successes, and always try to apply that to the next year, gettting better at what I do, simply by the try and try again theory. So go ahead and plant something! It really doesn't matter what or how well it performs, as you can weigh your success or failure at the end of the season, but once you know how and what grows here in the Valley of the Sun, you will have an enormous advantage over the person who knows only what is published on the "Eat Seasonally" lists that come out in every Edible Phoenix Mag. And since knowledge is something that you can build on, you will soon find you too have an innate understanding of what eating seasonally and especially what sustainable can really be in all of its many forms. You will find that by starting small, and building on it, you can truly make a difference, and maybe someday, you might become part of my perfect version of the future of farming!

Tis the season!

09/26/2011 21:08:00

Crazy busy here with the new market starting on Central and Northern on October 1st and it is the middle of our very important planting season to boot! Whew, busy busy! Just wanted to take a second and show you a cool picture of our farm and the new perfectly sized new implement for making beds!

You would think that with all the wonderful changes we would hardly have time to do any farming, but I gotta tell you, with the weather cooling off, this is the most optimistic time of year! So much is happening, and there is so much to look forward to even as other seasonal markets in cooler climates are packing their tents for the year, this is why we do what we do. Every farmer is an optimist, because no matter what happened last year, this year is going to be even better! And I know you are all waiting to see what the big news is for the farm, but so far-so good! (No, its not a bun in the oven.) But I do think many of you are going to really enjoy it!

So make sure you have marked your calendars for the opening day of the Central Farmers Market, and come down to see your old friends. We know its going to be great!

Thank you for your awesome show of support!!!

09/12/2011 10:24:00

First off, Thank you all so much for the nice things you said about us and the support you have given us not only this week, but over the last 10 plus years! It really means a lot to me personally that I have made an impact in your lives too!

Here are some, not all, of the great comments to Dee Logan and to me regarding the Roadrunner park issue, and I wanted to share them with you! Click here

If you wish to continue supporting us, you can still find us at Town and Country every Wednesday from 9 to 2 and Momma's Market this Saturday September 17th, from 9 to 2 at the NW corner of Northern and Loop 101. Click here for a flier. Crooked Sky farms and Pinnacle Farms will be there! Keep up your support and help us create a great community of small Farmers who support each other and provide for our community at the same time.

And we will be continuing at a centrally located market on Northern and Central every Saturday, but are still working out the details like the start date. We are tossing around an October 1st start, with a little later hours for the soccer moms who can't come to Roadrunner because of the early hours. Located at the Crossroads Methodist Church, there is lots of grassy areas, tons of parking, lots of neighborhood support, AND it's right on the Bridle Path!

If you are a vendor and would welcome a new happy home with fair market management, please contact me or Bo Mostow at 602-859-5648 on how to make the new market the best ever for the sake of the customers who support us and the vendors who make it happen! It looks like we will have lots of small vendors and big ones alike! All your favorites and many who are new! So far, vendors include Crooked Sky Farms and Horny Toad Farms, among others! And of course, US!

The real problem at Roadrunner Park

09/06/2011 09:14:00

Dee Logan of AZ Community Farmers Markets, (check the website to see which of the markets she runs) has been unfairly discriminating against Pinnacle Farms for many years.

It is Dee Logan's position that Pinnacle Farms has grown very little if any produce from our own land and therefore should be removed from market. Pinnacle Farms has been growing on a level that I am very proud of for the majority of 10 plus years and have NEVER had the pleasure of a visit from market management even after years of threats that we will be removed from market.

In order to fairly justify the removal of a grower from market, a simple farm visit should preface any action against a vendor. Even a stand visit would be a step in the right direction.

Dee Logan has allowed less scrupulous growers to repackage Costco produce and other nefarious sources like the 99 cent store and has turned a blind eye to the most egregious offenses. These growers invariably state that it was all grown in their backyard, or in a Tempe greenhouse etc. See the photos below to see what was found in the 100% AZ Grown Market this weekend.

The discrimination is against me personally and originates in the dissolution of the market manager's farm. The market manager of Roadrunner park is a direct competitor to Pinnacle Farms and due to Dee Logan's conspicuous absence from RR for years, is the primary reason for the complaint in this issue. Sadly, it is a serious conflict of interest to allow the market manager to decide who goes and who stays when they themselves purchase the majority of their produce from other sources like Willcox, Eurofresh and Crooked Sky. I attest that I grow far more on my worst day than Big Happy Farms did at their best and had Ms. Logan bothered to check her facts, she would have discovered this. In 10 years of growing, only 1 vendor has ever been asked to leave, while other (male) vendors continue to flaunt the rules and remain unmentioned by market management.

If market management wishes to clean up the market, the first step is to stop randomly enforcing the rules, willy nilly proclamations as to who grows what, and define terms to allow for the valuable vendors who grow, or whose product originates out of state, but are a great addition to market such as coffee, garlic, salmon, and even apple cider. Currently, the last market agreement reads all products will be 100% AZ Grown and at least 50 % from your own farm. Please review the photos taken on September 3, 2011 to decide for yourself if that is equally enforced.

If the market management desires, they can have a happy, healthy environment based on fair and equal treatment. The problem within the market is caused by years of such ridiculous enforcement of rules that change for each vendor as market management decides that day. For many years I have stated that farmer's markets are a really difficult row to hoe, because you must be all things at once, grower, marketer, and then all the other small business owner tasks like bookkeeper and storekeeper. Invariably small farmers try the life for a few years then eventually find out that the seasonal model simply isn't worth the effort. Those who have been successful and continue for years are those who diversify and offer other products to insulate their farm from the perils of farming itself, weather, bugs, labor, high land costs etc.

Pinnacle Farms is very proud of our business model and strive to offer the best produce we can grow in AZ and also USDA Organic products that offer the consumer a choice and keep AZ dollars close to home. We invest those dollars directly in our family, our employees families, our farm and our taxes. It is an extremely well received model as judged by my success in the market which also brings dollars to other vendors, because a farmers market is made up of many farmers, not just one.

If you feel this is only fair and Pinnacle Farms should be supported and not unfairly discriminated against, please be sure to write to deniselogan@yahoo.com and be sure to tell her you do not agree with discrimination in any form. Feel free to suggest a way to create a happy healthy environment that supports AZ agriculture and farms with the diversity that is so important to growers in a harsh climate.