February 2022 - 19

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forage walks on state land, hosts overnight
camps on her own property, and also is a
for-hire educator that conducts classes and
property assessments for forage value on
farms and other private properties. She is
the sole employee.
Planning for quantities for
each crop
Blake Farms plants annual direct-sown
crops, like peas, beans and sweet corn up
to a dozen times throughout the season,
and splits the transplanted crops into two
plantings for early and late picks. Trellising
cucumbers and peas proved popular with
customers. Blake's most recent u-pick
additions start in smaller patches to gauge
customer interest. Root crops and herbs
were not as popular as it had hoped in its
first year. In the future it is planning on
hosting some classes to draw more attention
to its harvest timing and kitchen use.
The Hoopers have both perennials
and annuals for a summer-long supply
of flower stems and greens for cutting.
The perennial bulbs and woody plants
bloom first in June, like daffodils, lilacs,
peonies and roses. Then, the annuals take
over in mid-summer through fall, and a
couple woody species flower later, as well.
For greens, it uses a lot of eucalyptus, but
finds that it is too slow-growing to meet
its needs. So, it offsets eucalyptus with
boxwood, lilac, cooking herbs, hosta,
hydrangea, euonymus, curly willow,
hops cones, bells of Ireland and peonies.
It has stopped using some species due
to customers having allergic reactions,
including rue, snow-on-the-mountain and
baby's breath.
Mifsud stressed that when foraging,
it doesn't matter what the weather is,
something is having a good year. This fall
was very wet in Michigan, and several
growers had trouble with that. But, that
same weather pattern made for an amazing
wild mushroom season. The most popular
foraged items are mushrooms, with the
spring morel walks accounting for
one-third of her year's income.
Crop management and
pesticides
Blake Farms relies on multiple
overlapping plantings that it opens and
closes at different times to ensure that
customers don't overgraze a particular
patch, and to safely use pest management
sprays.
The Hoopers use broad-spectrum
pesticides that are widely labeled across
many crops and pest species. The biggest
challenge is weed control. Many of the
flowering species reseed readily and
decisions must be made about whether to
dig and transplant them to a new area or
spray them off. The farm uses glyphosate
all season long as burn downs and spot
treatments in its flower beds. Other
important pests include aphids, thrips
and Japanese beetles. Since the operators
are such generalists, they scout for them
constantly, and treat the entire farm when
they are found in any crop.
Mifsud doesn't farm in the traditional
sense, but does engage in a practice she
calls " farmaging, " that involves planting
VGN | FEBRUARY 2022 | 17
TAKEOFF MXR
Takeoff MXR has an excellent
disease package and seedling
vigor for an early hybrid.
This 69 day, yellow, SH2 from
IFSI has an impressive ear shape
and size. Get an early Takeoff with
this variety in fresh markets.
Tolerant to HPPD/ALS.
KONA
Kona is a mid-late, semi-savoy
spinach that is well suited for
late spring/early summer or
autumn production.
This Bayer/Seminis variety
produces a dark green leaf with
excellent thickness and pliability
providing increased yield potential.
GILTEDGE GOLD
Giltedge Gold is a new, 18-24
pound pumpkin from Rupp.
The fruit have an elevated shape
with a rough texture and dark,
healthy handles. Giltedge Gold
provides intermediate resistance
to powdery mildew.
wild-collected seeds of desirable species
on her property and managing invasive
species to promote her forage plants.
Advertising and customer
management
Blake Farms updates its main website
with weekly u-pick reports for each of
the three farms, and stresses that you can
never have enough signage. If you have
a large client base who speak English as
a second language, it could be important
to translate some signs. The Blakes are
experimenting with QR codes on their
signs that will show customers translations.
The Hoopers consult with wedding
planners all season long to ensure they
plant the varieties they want, and then
the u-pickers get to choose from those
decisions. During the interview, we coined
a phrase together called " philanthropic
equity " to describe what the Hoopers say
is their single most important customer
acquisition tool. They aggressively
volunteer their time and sometimes their
products to community events, which they
say has paid them back several times over.
Mifsud uses a Square web application
and social media for registration and
promotion of her forage walks and camps.
Her social media outputs are informative
and consistent. On her property she
made some improvements to make
camps more comfortable for participants,
including a hand-pump well, pavilion,
latrine and first-aid trailer. When having
overnight camps on your property, she
said, it's a good idea to have at least one
other teaching partner so you're not in
the limelight the whole time, and to have
customers sign a waiver because it holds
clients accountable for misbehavior.
Our audience really enjoyed the
conversation. I hope you are also able
to savor some of the insights our guests
shared. For the full recording, including
some great audience questions, check it out
at glveg.net/listen. VGN
RAISING THE BAR
RUBEE DAWN
RuBee Dawn is a large-fruited indeterminate
red salad variety from Sakata. It is very early
maturing and has great flavor. The compact
plant is well suited for staked open field and
high tunnel.
RAISING THE BAR
IN QUALITY, FLAVOR, AND YIELD
Bringing you the best products in partnership with
Bayer/Seminis, IFSI, and Sakata.
Visit ruppseeds.com to request or download your copy
of our 2022 catalog including 36 new products.
800-700-1199
ruppseeds.com
http://www.glveg.net/listen http://www.ruppseeds.com http://www.ruppseeds.com
February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2022
