MEMBER 



PROFILE 



peaches, blueberries) and early 

 vegetables are bought in, but most 

 of the produce is from the farm it- 

 self. "Today people can buy fairly 

 good produce almost anywhere — so 

 it's important — its a real selling 

 point — that it's our own." 



A list of what's needed for 

 each day is made by Anne and the 

 stand crew the night 

 before. Pooh and the 

 field crew have pro- 

 duce picked, washed 

 and at the stand by 

 ten the next morning 

 Some is brought to the 

 shed in plastic garbage 

 cans and put through a 

 washer — a system of 

 revolving brushes on a 

 conveyor belt. The 

 Spragues are also 

 proud owners of a "vin- 

 tage 1935 carrot washer 

 that works terrific"; and 

 at the stand is a series of tubs. 

 The washed produce is stored in 

 the walk-in cooler. 



The pick-your-own strawberry 

 operation, usually from the third 

 week in June through the third 

 week of July, is now done In coop- 

 eration with Paul and Nancy 

 Franklin's Riverview Farm next 

 door. PYO customers come to 

 Riverview (there's limited parking 

 at Edgewater); people bring con- 

 tainers, which are weighed in by 

 Anne and Nancy and, after picking, 

 weighed out. Profits are divided 

 between the two farms. 



(Cooperation has its uses — a 

 group of farm operators in the 

 Plainfield area designed and 

 manned a booth — "The Farms of 

 Plainfield" — at a trade show in 

 Hanover this spring. Displaying 

 photographs and products of the 

 participating operations — various, 

 but all agricultural, it was manned 

 by volunteers from each operation, 

 who gave visitors samples of cider, 

 chocolate milk, and maple syrup. 

 Although there may not be a 

 marked increase in sales because 

 of their efforts, the farmers of 

 Plainfield made people aware of 



themselves and of New Hampshire 

 agriculture.) 



Tomatoes are grown in three 

 (one heated, two high tunnel) of 

 the greenhouses. Pooh plants Buf- 

 falos or Johnnie's 109s directly into 

 the ground. The first fruit is ripe 

 at the end of June... 



Q^reenh 



ouses 



The first greenhouses were two pit 

 greenhouses (each 10x40) put up in 

 197a — "we grew a hanging basket 

 or two".... 



In 1981, Anne stopped teaching 

 and began to concentrate on 

 greenhouse crops full time. 



Now nine houses are spread 

 evenly across part of the second 

 (silt/clay; probably ancient lake 

 bottom) terrace; three others are 

 by the river. The 10-acre terrace 

 seems narrow — a third terrace 

 (gravel; probably old river delta) 

 rises abruptly behind it and the 

 bluffs limit winter sunlight. The 

 houses are spaced 20 feet apart to 

 allow easy snow removal, but the 

 space between them is used — each 

 spring it's planted with flowers to 

 be sold at the stand. 



"People come for the afternoon," 

 Anne says. "They'll spend a couple 

 hours.. .just poking around." The 

 houses encourage this sort of 

 thing — they're small (approximately 

 28x90), double-poly, with wooden 

 ends painted red. They're not num- 

 bered ("that would be too imper- 



sonal"), but named (Keith, Flap, 

 Baer) after someone associated 

 with their building. Each house 

 has its own slightly different layout 

 of benches (wire on hemlock 

 frames set on cement blocks). The 

 result is a series of subtle varia- 

 tions — the range is consistently en- 

 gaging. A fleet of red wagons is 

 ready for customers to 

 fill — they do, but they 

 look around awhile 

 first. 



The year's cycle be- 

 gins in mid-January. 

 Propagation is done in 

 a 16x32 polygal lean-to 

 attached to the south 

 side of a new barn 

 (1989)— before that, 

 propagating was done 

 in the cellar. A ban- 

 danna seeder used for 

 petunias and nicotiana; 

 most are seeded by 

 hand m Metro 360 in 288s. All are 

 hand watered, some on capillary 

 matting. 



When they're transplanted into 

 806s, a half Metro/half Sunshine 

 mix is used for everything. Pots 

 and mix are brought to each house 

 and the work is done right there. 



Propane gas heats the houses — 

 it's slightly more expensive than 

 oil, but the heaters seem cleaner 

 and easier to maintain. 



All watering in the greenhouses 

 is done from a 2,000-gallon cement 

 tank installed under Baer house. 

 Water from the artesian well near 

 the house (three gallons a minute) 

 managed to keep this full (a float 

 shuts off the pump), so there was 

 always a reserve. There's another 

 well (12 gallons a minute) now at 

 the stand and a line comes from 

 that too ("so things are better"). 



Bare-root perennials are potted 

 in five-inch pots, in spring, they're 

 displayed outside, on benches are 

 brought into an area beside the 

 barn. Along with a wide range of 

 the expected — phlox (20 varieties), 

 hosta (14), day lilies (10), chrysan- 

 themums (9) — Anne and Pooh offer 

 some unusual as well. Their choices 



APRIL /MAY 1994 



