Swamp Creek Produce

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At the close of the season, our friends Sue and Art moved into the other cabin on our place. They had some gardening background and they also wanted to farm which meant we'd need more land and more machinery.

It was just at that point that we received some interesting news: All the 18 or so coops in the large city nearest us had merged into a federation which guaranteed each separate group its individual identity but centralized the buying of foodstuffs and other stocked items. The new organization, we were told, was calling a meeting of all the area's known growers and would purchase only from those who were interested enough to show up.

The gathering took place early in February, and the results seemed too good to be true. It turned out that the coops of two other metropolitan areas had also merged into federated buying groups, and both of the new unions had sent their head honchos to our gathering to find a reliable source of vegetables. The .four of us from Swamp Creek, and a friend and fellow organic grower named Martin, were the only farmers to attend. After much discussion of the three cities' requirements, it was decided that by coordinating our efforts we could supply most of the produce needed (except for root crops and watermelons, which were being handled by an Amish farmer in Lancaster County).

According to the plan, our own group would grow all the sweet corn (six acres) and cherry tomatoes, since we'd had good success with those crops the previous year. We'd raise bell peppers, tomatoes, cantaloupes, zucchini, lettuce, and cucumbers a total of four acres in cooperation with Martin, who would produce beans and winter squash. We'd also alternate planting dates with our fellow grower on crops we both raised, to assure the coops a steady supply of vegetables and to offset any failures either operation might have.

It was further agreed that the nearest city's organization would pick up our produce twice a week as part of a regular route if the amount was adequate. The co op leaders then decided on a central location where trucks from the other two unions would unload various items and take on our vegetables. We talked to the federation's organizers a few more times, and were so firmly convinced of their intentions that we went ahead and prepared for the coming gardening season.

With the help of the state extension service, we did a comprehensive soil analysis of our fields and determined what we'd need to ADD TO create a proper balance of nutrients. We then contacted our local organic fertilizer supplier and bought tons of rock phosphate (to provide phosphorus), greens and (for potassium), and ground limestone (to correct acidity) and set to work spreading it all, along with five tons of dried chicken manure from a nearby egg factory.

The fertilizers alone cost $1,200, and the outflow of cash had only begun! We were lucky enough to find another tractor which we could use indefinitely for free, but we did have to shift our implements around to make use of its larger size. We needed more flats, peat pots and pellets, potting soil, hot caps (to protect early transplants), and other items all of which ran into money.

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