Two Mountain Farm

Madison Powers
October 3rd, 2011
Two Mountain Farm
Andover, New Hampshire
Rainy, 11:55 AM

     With the last bits of pizza crust being finished, we arrived at Kat Darling's Two Mountain Farm on Shaw Hill Road in East Andover. I was no stranger to the area, having driven by Kat's farm numerous times with my mom on her way to pick up eggs at a farm down the road. Kat immediately greeted our APES class, who had just devoured a few pizzas, with a smiling face. Kat, originally from Andover and an alum of Proctor, gave us a little background. She had gone to college out west, received a degree in creative writing and environmental science, and came back to the east coast, not really imagining she would become a farmer. Kat has had her farm on Shaw Hill for 6 years since getting into farming. She grows crops for markets, and is a part of Community Supported Agriculture, where consumers invest in the farmer's crops, and in return, receive fresh crops throughout the growing season, giving them a "close interaction with the farmer," as Kat said.  The property is made up of a mixed environment - both open fields with crops planted and untouched forest, home animals such as bears and turkeys.

© Dan Yeo

   Kat started off our visit by explaining farming as a whole, giving us an understanding of what it really was. Kat has found farming to include a lot of problem solving. For example, she has to work with weather conditions such as the rain we faced during our trip, or her tractor breaking down, both of which may be inconvenient, but not impossible to work around. She also stated that farming is all about systems and, "It's not just about picking and growing and selling the crops, but its about dealing with the layers of systems." Farming is all about systems working together and against each other on the same plane. These systems include the weather (rain, wind, heat), the seasons, and the cycle of nutrients just to name a few. With these systems, Kat has been trying to, "create a growing environment that's integrated with the systems around it." She has done this by focusing on crops that can grow well here, and grow well with the surrounding area. For example, she said avocados would be a bad crop choice here due to improper climate. Crops such as flowers, tomatoes, and green mixes are better choices for New Hampshire.

© Dan Yeom

    Animals play a very large part in Kat's farm. 2 years ago, she decided to bring chickens onto the farm because they, "play an important role for the soil." Chickens, along with other animals such as horses and pigs, create waste that is full of nutrients. This waste can then be recycled back onto the fields, providing key nutrients for the soil, allowing crops to grow better. Big farms have to order very large amounts of synthetic manure, which is inefficient. Kat, on the other hand, has manure created on her farm, eliminating that cost. In the 2 years that she has had her chickens, they have created at least 6 inches of soil in one particular plot of the farm, which she hopes to eventually turn into an herb garden. Not only do the chickens provide manure, but they also provide eggs, eat bugs and the seeds of weeds, and also are "mini rototillers". Kat says, "Soil is the most important element" on a farm, and with Chickens providing nutrients constantly to the soil, they play a very important role on her farm.

     Kat took us on a tour of her greenhouses, of which she had two different types. We first viewed her traditional greenhouse, with windows south facing. Both her fields and her greenhouse faced south, because by facing this way, they received the most sun. Kat said, "As a grower, I want take as much advantage of the sun as I can." More sun means more energy for the crops, which in turn leads to greater production. The temperature inside her greenhouse was 68 degree Fahrenheit, significantly higher than the outside, and also very humid. Inside this greenhouse, there were large trays of seedlings, mainly consisting of lettuce mixes. We walked across her fields to another set of greenhouses, these ones called "hoop houses". These greenhouses were made of a metal frame, covered with plastic for insulation. They were unheated, with no furnaces, fans, or electricity. The sides on these greenhouses could be rolled up, allowing for air flow to pass over the crops, one of the key systems needed for growing. The building also collected the heat that the Earth naturally lets off, providing a warm environment for growing in the late fall and winter. They may be advantageous, but also have disadvantages, such as no air flow, and the crops are not affected by the natural cycles such as weather. Overall, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and the hoop houses are a valuable tool.

 
     A question was raised on if Kat planted the same crops in the hoop houses year after year, and Kat explained her crop rotation and reason for it. If you plant the same thing in the same soil over and over again, the nutrients will be depleted and eventually be degraded to a point where it is no longer good. The idea of planting different crops in the same patch of soil in different intervals of time, for example every other year, is called crop rotation. The rotation of crops no only saves the soil, but also gets rid of crop-specific diseases. Her hoop houses also allow Kat to plant warm and cold crops, or crops that grow better during certain parts of the year. She can plant what the people will buy, because the hoop houses allow for that versatility. This versatility brought up a key point: diversity. Kat has over 40 different crops on her farm. Kat likes to think of it like this: "Don't put all your eggs in the same basket." What she means is that by growing all the same thing, you are setting yourself up for failure. If you plant all one crop, the soil will be depleted, and no longer good for growing. Also, if your crops get a disease, they can be wiped out, which leads to a wasted investment. By growing numerous crops, Kat is protecting herself from failure. The best environments have diversity, and by having a large variety of crops, Kat is recreating this diversity.

     While attempting to wait out the rain, we looked around one of the hoop houses. This one was full of wildlife, including wasps, bumblebees, and sparrows. Many of these critters are key for pollination, but some of them can be pests, Kat said. Insects like Japanese beetles and tomato horn worms can cause issues. To regulate them, Kat integrated pest management, attacking the pests from many angles. If she notices insects on a set of plants, she usually counts them. If there are a small number of them, she lets them be, but notes they are there. When the insect population grows, there is a bigger problem. She either removes them by hand picking them off the plants and disposing of them, or sometimes she sprays the plants with chemicals. Kat says, " I aim to be an organic grower." She tries to follow the organic farmer regulations as best as she can, though sometimes situations are permitted when she cannot. Another way she helps keep out pests is with a plastic fabric called remay. This cloth is placed over the crops, still allowing for them to get light and air, but insects cannot bother the plants. It also helps in the retention of heat.

© Dan Yeom

     In our attempts to avoid the rain, we headed to another hoop house, this one full of a passing tomato crop. These tomatoes were small and orange in color. For the sake of the experience, I tried one of these tomatoes. While they were extremely sweet, the tomato taste overpowered it, and I wasn't really a fan. As we made our way through the greenhouse, we looked for the big and ugly tomato horn worms. Kat spotted two of them from the doorway as we were getting ready to exit. The class inspected them, some students with gross looks on their faces while others stared in awe. This pest, Kat decided, we would take to feed her chickens. We made our way across her fields, through the horse pen and mud, hoping the rain would hold off. Unfortunately, none of the chickens would take the bait of the disgusting worms, and it began to rain extremely hard. We quickly made our way back to the bus, thanked Kat for the experience, and departed back to school, with time to spare before the next class.

     As I reflected on our trip to Two Mountain Farm, I realized that there is a lot more to farming than someone might think. It isn't just about planting, maintaining, harvesting, and selling, as Kat said, but dealing with the challenges provided by the different systems working together. The job requires a lot of problem solving, and persevering through the challenges. Kat has more work then she has time for, but she still has to provide crops for people. Her passion for farming makes me appreciate farmers even more. There is a lot more to farming than meets the eye.
 
    I realize now that I am even more grateful of the local farmers that provide us with food. They're jobs are tough, and many factors, such as the different cycles and systems, make their jobs even harder so we can get our eggs or pumpkins or tomatoes. Kat puts a lot of time into the farm, like many small farmers, so that the community can get what they need. The farmer that my mother gets her eggs and milk from must do the same, to constantly provide. Their hard work usually goes unnoticed in the community, but I greatly appreciate what they do for the community.