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service needs are met with root crops and
other vegetables in storage.
" People do ask, 'When does your season
end?' I say it never ends, " Dungan said.
" It's the way to level the workload and keep
your people employed year-round. "
Salad Days also sells to some caterers
and restaurants. " I just reached out to
the chefs and gave them some samples, "
Dungan said. " It's developing that
relationship with them. "
The caterers and restaurants like the
individual attention. " They think, 'Wow,
they're growing this for me', " Dungan
said. " I have people who order every
week and that's good. "
About half of Salad Days' production
is sold at farmers' markets. Salad Days
sells in the Lexington, Kentucky, farmers'
market and in the Franklin County
farmers' market in nearby Frankfort.
" One of the hardest parts is learning
what people want, " Dungan said. " Even
Frankfort and Lexington - they're right
next to each other - are surprisingly
different. One wants red radishes, the
other wants French breakfast radishes.
Some farmer's markets want more
adventuresome produce and others want
the standard crops. "
Salad Days has three high tunnels
and a small, heated greenhouse. The
operation grows a variety of vegetables
Maggie Dungan of Salad Day Farms conducts a tour. Photo: Salad Day Farms
- including mixed greens, root crops,
tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash
and a few Asian greens, but baby lettuce
for salads is the main crop.
A lean farm minimizes overproduction
and the associated waste.
" I just try to estimate, " Dungan said.
" You always want to overplant because
of losses to pests or diseases. " Excess
production may go to Local Food
Connection or may even be donated to
the local food bank.
Lean production also means having
the most efficient work processes. " What
do we need to do to get to the end goal?
What do we need to do to be better or
quicker? " Dungan asked. " I really look
at the procedure and the steps. To me,
it's being really critical of how you spend
your time and what steps you're doing. "
Tracking flow on the farm is a key
step to process improvement. Where do
the workers spend their time between
harvesting root crops and getting them
into storage? Will washing the root crops
in the field save end-of-the-day, clean up
time in the sorting shed?
Goals are important. If employees
know how much lettuce they should pick
in 10 minutes, they know when they need
to speed up or when they're encountering
barriers to efficiency.
Moving the high tunnels is a key
to maximizing production and profit
without increasing fixed costs.
Starting winter greens outdoors in
the fall lets tomatoes be grown an extra
month inside a high tunnel. When the
tomatoes are done, the high tunnel is
moved to be over the winter greens.
In the spring, the high tunnel is moved
off the winter greens because they can take
some cold or a light frost. Warm season
crops like tomatoes and cucumbers are
then started in the high tunnel.
Salad Days has one part-time and two
full-time employees and they provide
indispensable input. They will be the first
to find aphids or other pests as long as
they're taught what to look for. Making
your employees more valuable to your
farm is as important as increasing the
value of your production.
" It's hard work and keeping employees
can be an issue on some farms, but I've
been very fortunate, " Dungan said. " My
employees like working here; they like
working on a farm. "
Cover crops have worked out especially
well for improving soil health and
creating a good ecosystem. " We have a lot
of clay soil here, " Dungan said. " People
ask, 'How do you grow carrots?' I tell
them I just take care of the soil. "
" It's so small the acreage I'm using - I
grow on less than four acres, " Dungan
said. " But we sell at more places than
farmers' markets. I like it that we have
niche markets, and sell to local restaurants,
wholesalers and universities. I like to know
I can compete with the bigger farms. I like
to think taking care of the soil, growing
what people want, and growing quality
food will make the difference. " VGN
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January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2020
