Position requires 8-hour days, on Tuesdays and Thursday, and a 4-hour shift on Wednesday afternoons. Hours on Tuesday and Thursday are expected to start at 8:30 am and end at 5:00 pm, and Wednesday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

The pay for this position is $12/hour. In addition to monetary wages, employees are encouraged to take home fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, and herbs as available. Standard mileage reimbursement is available for all driving and delivery-related activities.

Duties include but are not limited to: weeding, planting, prepping beds, harvesting, washing & packaging, composting, mulching, cleaning, driving and delivery of CSA shares or restaurant orders, and so on. Rainy days may limit the amount of fieldwork that can be done, and activities will shift to clearing fence lines, cleaning animal shelters, making compost, washing tools & equipment, and chipping wood. Our farm is a functioning business, and therefore we expect employees to be able to work quickly and efficiently while maintaining a high level of customer service when interacting with anyone on the farm’s behalf.

Must be able to lift 50 lbs comfortably. Must be physically able to stand, bend, kneel and crouch for extended periods of time. Employees are expected to work outdoors in all weather conditions; this includes high heat and humidity, pouring rain, and high wind (unless conditions are unsafe, we are working outdoors.) We do not cancel shifts because of the elements and we expect you to prepare and dress accordingly.

Ideal candidates must value quality in their work, be detail oriented, have a positive attitude, able to closely follow written and verbal instructions. In this position, it’s important to be able to work well with others, work well alone, possess critical thinking skills, and to BE ON TIME. We have a zero tolerance policy for tardiness.

While experience is a plus, no prior farming experience necessary. We are willing to train the right people.

All candidates should be expected to attend a working interview on the farm prior to being offered a position. Working interviews are expected to last between 4-8 hours and candidates will be compensated at a rate of $12/hour.

To continue in the employment processes, please fill out the application below.

The post Now Hiring: Seasonal Farmworker appeared first on maedayfarm.com.

For those of us that choose to grow and eat organic food because of health or environmental concerns, organic seed sourcing is of huge importance! Let me explain …

In order for a plant to go to seed, it must complete it’s entire reproductive plant life-cycle. It grows from a tiny sprout to a full-size plant producing mature seeds, which can be collected. This takes quite a few months for most plant. Unfortunately, the longer a plant is the ground, the more exposure it has to disease and pests. Conventional seed companies apply pesticides and fungicides, often and liberally, to treat this. You see, seed crops aren’t grown for human consumption – no one will ever be eating them. So, pesticide regulations are less stringent and higher doses of potentially harmful chemicals are allowed in crops that are produced solely for seed stock. This is horrible news for the environment, as these chemicals make their way into the soil, and are often found in runoff in our rivers and streams.

Organic seed producers on the other hand, are limited in their ability to apply pesticides and fungicides to those approved under the USDA Organic Program. Therefore, these producers are more inclined to raise their seedlings in a manner that focuses on prevention of disease using controlled environments. Additionally, organic producers breed seeds and varieties that are better suited to growing on organic farms in healthy soil, and that respond to organic disease and pest control programs. This gives organic growers a better chance for success by starting with organic seed.

Treated Seed

Some seeds, like peas and beans, have a tendency to rot in moist soils. To prevent this, some companies sell treated seeds. These seeds have been coated with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial chemicals that help prevent rot and improve seed germination. If you roll these seeds around on your hand, the chemicals will likely leave a white powder-like coating on your palms and fingers. You should always wash your hands after handling these, and never put this powder in your mouth. No thank you.

GMO Seeds

While not available to backyard gardeners, GMO seeds are available to farmers that are growing food commercially. These genetically-modified seeds are prohibited for use under the USDA Organic Program, but are widely used on many conventional row-crop farms. For conventional farmers, they offer several benefits as they combine genes from different plants (and sometimes other organisms) to produce desirable traits like frost tolerance, or resistance to herbicides. These seeds are rarely sold to farmers focusing on specialty crops like kale, tomatoes, or eggplant. However, they are commonly purchased by corn, wheat, and soy commercial growers. Long-term health and environmental impacts of GMO crops have not been largely studied by any governmental, or non-profit agency, but are reported safe for human consumption by the industry that produces them.

If you are interested in learning more about the presence of GMO’s in the food we consume, there is a really good explanation of prevalence of GMO products in our food system and recommendations about how to monitor and label in this article.

Organic Seeds & Suppliers

For many reasons, including those listed above, the seeds we purchase are certified organic. To be labeled as certified organic, seeds must have been grown, harvested, stored, and handled in accord with the rules and procedures outlined by the NOP (National Organic Program). Certified organic seeds cannot contain genetically-engineered traits; must be grown under certified organic conditions using only those inputs — eg, fertilizer, weed, and pest controls — allowable in organic agriculture; and packed in a certified facility.

We obtain our organic seeds from 2 main suppliers: High Mowing Organic Seeds and Johnny’s. Yes, they can be more expensive than other seeds and sometimes this means the varieties we can grow are limited. However, we believe it’s important to support companies devoted to the hard work that goes into producing these seeds ethically and organically. We hope you do too!

The post Starting the Right Way: The Importance of Organic Seeds appeared first on maedayfarm.com.

Grocery stores often use plastic shrink wrap, or coat their produce in wax in order to reduce decay and make sure shelf life is longer. This not only contributes to unnecessary plastic waste, but also means you need to scrub or peel your veggies before you can consume them. Buying locally grown produce is best, and means your fruits and veggies are fresher and should store much longer without the need for plastic wrap or produce wax.

We’ve put together a quick list of our summer fruits and veggies and a bit about how we feel they should be stored for maximum longevity. Storing produce without extra waste is something we can all feel good about!

Summer Produce to Store at Room Temperature

1. Basil: Fresh basil is extremely sensitive to cold temperatures and refrigeration can cause the leaves to turn black. We’ve found it keeps best in an airtight container on the counter and out of the sun.
2. Watermelon: Will keep up to a week on the counter. You only need to refrigerate it after cutting it open.
3. Tomatoes: Will continue to ripen on the counter. Keep an eye on these guys and consume when fully ripe. Refrigeration can help keep a fully ripe tomato fresh for a few days without spoiling, but it also reduces flavor.
4. Winter Squash

Summer Produce to Refrigerate

1. Okra: Keeps best in a paper bag.
2. Cucumbers
3. Summer Squash
4. Zucchini
5. Peppers
6. Eggplant
7. Greens (Kale, Chard, Collards etc)
8. Lettuce
9. Green Onions & Leeks
10. Snow Peas
11. Blueberries
12. Figs
13. Beets: Separate the leaves from the roots for longer storage
14. Carrots: Separate the leaves from the roots for longer storage

Despite our best efforts, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Veggies get overlooked, or forgotten about, or we forget to refrigerate them promptly. Signs of spoilage include wilting, discoloration, and leaking. If this happens, remove any spoiled fruit or veggies and discard immediately. Check remaining produce and rinse with cold water before storing again.

The post Storing Your Summer Produce appeared first on maedayfarm.com.

Tomatoes are a hot topic and people are rightfully passionate over one of the most beloved summer fruits in the south. Tomatoes are in fact, what began our obsession with growing food. If you’re interested in that story, you can read it here: Why Farming? It All Began With Some Tomatoes

From backyard gardeners, to professional growers, we all pour over seed catalogs wavering back and forth over which varieties to grow. We dutifully order our seeds, or purchase our seedlings as soon as there is a hint of a warm day in spring. Then we wait anxiously while babying our tiny plants and getting them ready to go in the ground. We lovingly prepare the soil adding just enough, but not too much nitrogen, calcium and compost. Then we water and wait.

Eventually the first flower appears, followed by a tiny fruit. This is usually cause for a small celebration, or at least a commemorative photo. As the fruit starts to grow, something else usually appears. At first it’s just a few tiny holes in some of the tomato leaves. Then the worms grow big enough to be seen. Yikes! Then it rains, which is good. But then the rain continues and now the bottoms of the fruit are browning. Possibly blossom end rot, maybe wilt too. Wait, is that a stink bug I see?

Growing tomatoes is hard. Even for us those of us that do it for a living, and we all have an opinion on the best way to do things.

We’d like to address a few of these passionately debated topics around tomato growing and share what works for us.

Heirlooms vs. Hybrids

We grow both. Heirlooms are known for being open-pollinated, meaning you can save seed and they’ll grow again true to type. These are often older varieties that have been grown and passed down for decades. Hybrids are a cross between two selected varieties and any seeds saved may grow a variation of either set of genes from the parent plants.

Hybrids get a bad rap because breeders have in the past selected genes for disease-resistance and yield, and have sacrificed the flavor of the tomato to achieve these. There are breeders working to undo this trend and we’re now seeing some that are incorporating rich and robust flavor into their hybrid species. We grow two of these varieties and really enjoy the taste of both. They aren’t quite as good as the heirlooms that we grow, but they perform well under stress from the weather and pests in addition to tasting really good.

Heirlooms are delicious. There’s no debating that, but they’re much more difficult to grow. The heirloom varieties that we grow are susceptible to fluctuations in the weather, fungal disease, wilt, pests and more. They like sun, but not too much heat or their pollen becomes sterile. They like rain, but more than an inch or two a week leads to blossom end rot.

We have always preferred heirlooms over hybrids, but I think we’ll keep trying out those breeders that are working to incorporate heirloom taste with hybrid disease resistance and improved yield. I think they’ll get there soon. In the meantime, we’ll keep growing both.

Determinate vs. Indeterminate

Determinate tomatoes grow to a set height and then stop producing fruit. This type of tomato is a bit more manageable in the size of the plant and is a good for compact spaces, however it’s likely that all the fruit will set at once and it can be easy to get overwhelmed with the size of the harvest.

We only grow indeterminate varieties of tomatoes because we sell over a long period of time during summer at the farmers market. We prefer to have smaller weekly harvests over a few months, though we do have to deal with the size of the tomato plant which can get unwieldy once it reaches 5-6 feet tall. Trellising is a must for indeterminate tomatoes and we use t-posts and wire to do this. We also use a technique called the Florida Weave using twine. This helps our plants stay upright and off the ground, which is important for reducing the spread of soil-borne disease.

Greenhouse Growing vs. Field Growing

There are a lot of farmers that grow greenhouse tomatoes. These plants are usually grown in containers, in a pre-mixed potting soil made especially for tomato growing. Greenhouse growing allows farmers to extend their growing season and sell tomatoes when it’s too cold outside to grow them naturally. Additionally, it can help farmers shield the plants from rain and control moisture because they can water via hose or sprinklers.

As organic farmers, the soil is essential to everything we do and we believe that we have a duty to improve the soil health on our farm. We also believe fruits and vegetables grown in healthy soil are more nutrient-dense and taste better. So, while we do start our seeds in the greenhouse in potting soil, as soon as they are large enough and it’s warm enough outside, they do directly into our field. We love rain, because it allows us to conserve water and only irrigate during long gaps between rain showers. Yes, sometimes we get too much rain and we lose some tomatoes. We also lose some tomatoes to pests as well, though crop rotation and mulching help protect against this.

Pruning vs. Natural Growth

Tomato pruning is a lot of work, especially when you’re growing over 500 plants. Proponents believe it can increase yield since removing the leaves forces the plant to concentrate it’s energy on the fruit. We haven’t seen any convincing evidence that this actually plays out in a meaningful way. Additionally, because we grow our plants in a field, in the soil as opposed to in buckets in a greenhouse, we need the leaves of the plant to help shield the fruit from the sun to prevent sun scald.

Keep Trying New Things

Regardless of where you fall on these issues, we’re all still learning. Keep trying new things – that’s how we get better as growers!

Thoughts on these issues or additional tomato growing tips? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

The post The Great Tomato Debate appeared first on maedayfarm.com.

If you haven’t read the post that discussed why farming was an appealing career for us – that’s a good place to start, and you can find it here.

Once we determined that Steven and I had a shared dream of growing healthy food, we knew that we had a lot to learn and needed to devote time and energy into preparations for starting a farm, so that we could be successful in our first growing season. As first-generation farmers and city-dwellers, we had little experience growing food, and even less experience with starting a business. We discussed a few options for gaining both experience and knowledge, and made the decision together that Steven would quit his corporate job and start working on a farm in Austin.

Life as a Farm Worker

So in 2017, Steven said goodbye to office life and started working at Tecolote Farm, one of Austin’s original organic farms. Tecolote Farm grows over 150 vegetable varieties from all over the world and they sell through Central Texas’ first and longest running weekly delivery service, at two weekly farmers markets, and direct to some of Austin’s finest restaurants (including several James Beard Awards Finalists). Their methods of harvesting, washing and processing had been tested to perfection over 25 years. Steven quickly learned the art of when to harvest a vegetable at the right stage and how to keep it at it’s freshest until market. The quality of their produce will always be the benchmark for us as farmers.

That fall at the end of the season for Tecolote, Steven went to work on an organic aquaponics farm, and in the spring of 2018, went back to field farming at Green Gate Farms, another iconic organic farm in Austin.

The Farm Worker’s Wife

While Steven was learning how to farm, I was continuing to work at my corporate job, which allowed us to pay our bills and save money to purchase our farm. We expanded our backyard garden, and I started learning how to grow vegetables from seed and how to transplant seedlings. That year, we successfully grew tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, radishes, and carrots. We failed at watermelon, corn, beans, and just about everything else. While this gave me some great hands-on experience, I wanted to know more about the philosophical side of farming, and best practices of successful market gardeners. So, I started reading.

I read books by Eliot Coleman on maximizing field space for highest yields, and tracking the profitability of crops. I read Wendell Berry’s prose on the beauty of rural life, and the importance of farming with nature. Then, I read several books by Joel Salatin, who is a passionate advocate for farmers and firmly believes that farmers should be paid a living wage. Salatin taught me how to answer the “Why is this food so expensive?” question. And finally, I read the book “Kiss the Ground: How the Food You Eat Can Reverse Climate Change, Heal Your Body & Ultimately Save Our World” by Josh Tickell.

I was hooked. We started searching for our farm in 2018, and within a few months were under contract. In the meantime, we were listening to the Farmer to Farmer podcast on every road trip, and trying to learn as much a possible from the wisdom and experiences of other farmers.

Beginner Farmers

We’re in our first growing season now, and half a country away from our previous mentors. So, while they are thankfully still easy to reach via email and text, and mercifully they answer quickly, we’re learning mainly by our own success and failures. We have several great new relationships with local farmers here, that are also always happy to give advice or recommend a new product that they love.

Farmers helping farmers – that’s how we’re going to ensure that small family farms survive, in an age with ever increasing pressure to get big, mechanize, and produce faster. It’s how we’re going to attract young farmers to a profession that so badly needs them. It’s the spirit of cooperation that will make us successful. Keep sharing your success and failure, keep teaching, keep advocating, and if you ever get a resume from a young person with a lot of office experience, and little else, please take a chance on us.

Maeday Farm is a small produce farm in Walnut Hill, FL that sells organic fruit and vegetables at farmer’s markets and to restaurants. 

The post Farmer to Farmer: The Importance of Continuing Education appeared first on maedayfarm.com.

But it’s not what you think – we don’t have bugs in our house, thankfully. It’s the garden pest variety that are troubling my sleep these days. Each week, Steven and I do a plant health walk through the field, checking each crop for pest problems. And each week, we find something eating one of our crops. It’s inevitable on an organic farm – we all have bugs, and that’s okay! In fact, our goal is never to eliminate all the bad bugs eating our crops. If we did that, the good bugs wouldn’t have anything to eat and would leave. So, how do you distinguish a good bug from a bad bug?

Bag bugs: These guys destroy your plants, and they come in two varieties: chewing and sucking. For example, aphids suck. Literally, they are a sucking insect and destroy your plants by sucking nutrients from the stems or leaves. Caterpillars, alternately, are a chewing insect. These pesky guys leave little holes all over the leaves and flowers.

Good bugs: These guys on the other hand are usually carnivorous bugs. They aren’t interested in eating your plants, they prefer to dine on other bugs instead. Examples of these are Ladybugs, Green Lacewings, Praying Mantis, and Assassin Bugs. Beneficial insects are the heroes of the garden and can each devour thousands of aphids and other small bugs each day.

The goal of our organic pest control program at Maeday Farm is to have an equal balance of good bugs and bad bugs. When we find plant damage, our first step is always to determine what bug is feeding on the plant. You need this step in order to form a response, or a plan to combat the damage. However, it’s important to note that a response is not always needed or warranted. Often, it just takes the good bugs a few days to determine that your garden is now a good source of food for them. We usually try to wait and let nature take action before we do anything. We only step in if an infestation is out of control, and the bad bugs are threatening to destroy entire plants.

Planting flowers and herbs that are attractive to beneficial insects is always a good idea. We plant clovers, dill, radishes and carrot, which are all attractive to beneficial insects for both pollen and nectar. We also try to create habitat to attract wolf spiders, which are native to Florida and voracious consumers of grasshopper and cucumber beetles. Wolf spiders live on the ground and do not spin webs. They generally prefer damp and shady places, which we create by using mulch in our rows.

While large and healthy plants are generally unlikely to be overtaken by an insect infestation, newly planted seedlings are at a much higher risk. We protect new seedlings by covering them in insect row cover at the time of transplanting. This allows the plant a few weeks to grow without encountering any insect related damage. We remove the row cover once the plant begins flowering and needs pollination. At this point, the plant should be large enough to withstand a few insect nibbles.

Intervention

If an insect infestation is bad enough that intervention is warranted, we always prefer to try hand-picking the pests first. It’s the most economical, and environmentally friendly approach. As someone who’s always been a bit squeamish about squishing bugs, this is certainly not my favorite activity. However, as with most things, it’s getting easier with time. Handpicking also allows you to closely monitor for eggs that may have been laid on your plants as you are removing the juvenile and adult insects.

Water is another environmentally-friendly removal strategy. Often a strong rain may be enough to knock pests down, but during dry spells, we use a backpack sprayer filled with water and aim the nozzle at the back of our plant leaves.

Organic pesticides are available for use, but we tend to leave these as a last resort. No pesticide is perfect, and often even the environmentally-friendly ones that we use can harm beneficial insect populations. Organic neem oil is generally our preferred method for dealing with pests, as it has been shown not to harm ladybugs or earthworms at low doses. We specifically avoid spraying neem oil on flowers as we do not want honey bees and butterflies to pick up the oil when they are collecting nectar, as the results are not as clear as to whether neem oil is harmful to these species.

There’s so much more to say about pests and beneficial insects – Stay tuned for more bug-related news, tips, and tricks at a later date.

The post The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Bugs) – Our Approach to Organic Pest Control appeared first on maedayfarm.com.

I had been trying for the past year to rediscover my love for my career. To somehow find the passion that drove me to move across the country to Austin, TX and climb the corporate ladder as quickly as possible. Each day, I woke up determined to try harder to find enjoyment in what I was doing and each day, I found myself quickly zoning out, going through the motions, and daydreaming of being elsewhere.

I once read that if you’re unsure of your passion, look to your internet search history for a clue. When you’re truly passionate about something, you spend all your free time trying to learn more. For me, it wasn’t just internet searches, but my bookshelf too that was full of information about growing your own food and becoming self-sufficient.

In my late 20’s, I started a vegetable and flower garden in my backyard. I thought gardening would be a fun hobby, and I found that it was relaxing to be surrounded by plants, flowers and nature after a long and hectic day. I got really hooked when I realized that the food grown in our backyard had a taste that was far different from the food I purchased at the grocery store. The tomatoes that I grew in my garden were harvested fresh off the vine once they ripened, and they had a rich, deep tomato taste that was accentuated by a light drizzle of olive oil and a few shakes of salt. I quickly became addicted to simple and fresh tomato and basil salads, pastas, and sandwiches.

At the end of summer, I pulled up all my dying tomato plants and then headed to the nearest grocery store to buy tomatoes to continue making all my favorite summer tomato dishes. I quickly found the largest, and ripest looking tomatoes and headed home. I made a quick salad.

It’s hard to describe the look on my face as I took the first bite. Shocked? Appalled? Disgusted? Clearly I had made a mistake somewhere. The tomatoes I had purchased didn’t taste like tomatoes at all. They tasted like water balloons.

Back to the store I went, but the result at home was the same. I couldn’t replicate the tomato taste from my garden and I wanted to know why. So like all millenials, off to the internet I went in search of answers. What I found was shocking. If you’d like to read what I did – a quick search of “Why do supermarket tomatoes taste bland?” will lead you to a wealth of information.

I’m happy to save you the time and provide an answer with some brevity – It’s because supermarket tomatoes have been bred for uniformity in size, and ability to transport over thousands of miles without blemishing. For this – they need thicker skins and less sugar. Supermarket tomatoes are harvested while green and often ripened with gas. They aren’t meant to taste good – they’re meant to look good and transport well.

As I continued my education about commercial growing techniques and the problems in the food industry, I became even more distressed. I sighed out loud as I learned about the lack of nutrition in most fruit and vegetables today. My heart beat faster as I read about the environmental degradation caused by commercial growing practices. I hung my head as I read about the rising rates of obesity in children and the dangers of consuming large amounts of processed food. Surely someone is doing something about this, right?

And so, after a particularly terrible day at my corporate job, I quit. Luckily, I already knew exactly what I wanted to do next.

And so it began …

Maeday Farm is a small produce farm in Walnut Hill, FL that sells organic fruit and vegetables at farmer’s markets and to restaurants. 

The post Why Farming? It All Began With Some Tomatoes appeared first on maedayfarm.com.