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  • From: "BarbaraJ" <jbmckillip AT mesanetworks.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] oops
  • Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2010 08:06:32 -0600

 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 2:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] oops

Thank you for this.  We've grown so much so fast in our salad green offerings, I figured we needed a whole new approach.  At least I figured out one approach to avoid in the future.  This looks infinitely better!  Now to race to finish my 2nd harvest in time for market today, since Batch #1 is going to the birds tonight.  Gawd those leaves look awful!
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
 
In a message dated 6/3/2010 1:48:21 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, cs13 AT cornell.edu writes:
Yikes, Kathy, that does sound like a case of lettuce abuse! Here are some tips based on my experience with washing machine spinners:
  1. You need to remove the agitator from the washer
  2. Yes, using a net bag is a great idea
  3. Ignore all the wash cycles; just use the spin, and ONLY for a few seconds!
At the farm where I did my first apprenticeship, they had a really efficient system.
  • Three large plastic barrel tubs in a row, all filled with cold water, washing machine at the end of the row
  • a set of 6 or so fish net bags with a ring of old hose threaded around the top of each one so it sets nicely over the rims of the tubs (so the bag doesn't fall into the tub and spill out the contents)
The process then goes as follows:
  1. set a net into the first bin of cold water with the hose resting on the rim to hold it in place
  2. field bin of lettuce mix comes in from the field and gets dumped straight into the prepared tub
  3. grab the hose/rim and slosh gently up and down a couple of times, then lift up and drop into the second tub; repeat a third time into the last tub
  4. finally, set the net in the washing machine with the hose rim holding the top open and allowing the mix to distribute evenly
  5. pull the spin button, let the machine come up to speed and run for just a few seconds; push the button to stop
  6. lift the net out and dump the contents onto the packing table for bagging, or into shipping cartons
You could make some easy refinements. For example, plugging the machine into a timer switch so the operator doesn't have to stand over it. Once the system is set up, it's really efficient, and extremely gentle on the salad mix. You and your customers will probably be amazed at how clean the mix is, and how fresh it stays.

All the best,

Carla Shafer, Farmer
Earthly Goods Farm
3344 Hwy 438
Pleasantville, TN 37033

ph 931 230-7567                    Visit us on the web at http://www.EarthlyGoodsFarm.com


On Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 1:33 PM, <KAKerby AT aol.com> wrote:
Well, I just ran what might work out to be a really expensive, failed experiment.  I'm harvesting more and more salad greens, and getting more and more frustrated with my plastic salad spinner.  Given the conversations recently, I wondered if perhaps it was time to graduate to using a washing machine.  Just so happens our existing washer is in good repair but due to be retired.  So I washed it out thoroughly, got it ready for the first batch of greens, filled it up with nice cold water, put in the greens, and ran a cycle on gentle.  My greens came out, well, abused.  Most of the leaves look like they were wadded up in a ball and then flattened out again, with extensive cellular ruptures.  They came out feeling almost like leather.  I don't know how well they'll hold up at market or if I'm going to take them at all.  Should probably just feed them to the chickens. 
 
It occurred to me that perhaps all that damage occurred because they were not in some kind of mesh bag?  Ironically I was concerned that having them in a bag would cause a lot of snags and tearing of the leaves, but it looks like I did more damage than I would have had otherwise.  So, I won't repeat this procedure again until I figure out what happened.  Is the machine's agitation just too strong even on gentle?  Would this have been alleviated using the bags?  I sort of thought I was already rougher than I wanted to be with the leaves and they'd stood up OK with manual agitation but apparently this machine really put them through a whole new level of agitation.  What did I do wrong?
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com (home of abused salad leaves)
Snohomish, WA

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