Farmer Profiles

"Larry Patrick"
Cool Springs Organic Farm, Evans City, Pennsylvania

"We need commercial wholesaling of herbs in the Northeast."

Larry Patrick, Cool Springs Organic Farm, with a Planet Junior (AKA Red Pig) hand cultivator.

The Farming Operation: Larry's farm encompasses 60 acres in the rolling countryside of Butler County in western Pennsylvania - just north of Pittsburgh. He cultivates 15 to 20 acres of certified organic vegetables and herbs with a limited amount of help.

  Larry feels there's a ready and profitable market for leafy herbs and greens in the Northeast. They can be profitable at the wholesale market because the quality can be so much higher than leafy herbs and greens spending two days in transit from California. He doesn't recommend wholesaling for other products, however. Larry stresses that daily watering is essential for quality leafy herb production. A third of his income is derived from a 1/10-acre field of chives. He considers chives "green gold" and sells 70 pounds a week at $10/lb. wholesale during the season.

Larry has a small CSA operation which he uses as an additional marketing outlet. He began the CSA in 2000 with 40 members, but decided to reduce its size to 25 members in 2001.

  A high tunnel made from locally obtained scrap lumber helps extend Larry's season. The high tunnel is designed for access by regular field machinery, thus cultivation and planting are fast and efficient. Larry plants tomatoes in the high tunnel on the fourth of July and has tomatoes into the beginning of December. The late-season fresh tomatoes keep his CSA members very happy. Larry found out the hard way that a tunnel 22 feet wide (supported with wood) needs vertical supports. A heavy snow one winter snapped every arch in his original high tunnel. He feels 14 feet should be the maximum width in snow country without additional support.

  Larry has a spring on the farm, and the remains of a spring house surround it to form a pool. Watercress grows in the pool, and he receives $18/lb. when he harvests the watercress. Watercress is a good indicator species - since it won't grow unless the water is of high quality. Larry carries rubber boots to the pool to wear when he harvests to avoid contaminating the water with manure.

  Larry starts farming in late February in the greenhouse he built onto the end of the barn. Larry makes all of his own potting soil - a cold operation in late winter - but organic potting soil is hard to come by, and Larry likes the quality and cost of what he produces himself. In April, Larry wholesales approximately 600 flats of cool-season vegetable seedlings at $14/flat, then refills the greenhouse with an equal number of flats of mid-summer vegetables, mostly those in the solanaceous family. This second crop of flats is wholesaled by the end of May.

  Larry has tried other enterprises in the past, including sales to a local tavern and selling herbal Christmas gift kits (a 9-inch azalea pot, a bag of his dry potting mix, and a basil plant in a four-inch pot tied up with a red ribbon and a bow) to a local co-op that marketed the kit before Christmas. Larry remains willing to try new marketing strategies that fit into his overall farming program - some work for him, while others aren't as successful. Regardless, he remains flexible and open to new marketing ideas.

Farmscaping: When Larry bought the farm, it was virtually treeless because the prior owner had cleared all of the land. Larry allowed natural re-growth of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers in 50-foot wide strips around at least three sides of each field. These strips provide habitat for wildlife, especially beneficial insects. Larry doesn't have a problem with pest insects, and he feels it's because of the ample habitat he's provided for beneficial insects.

  Larry manages all of his fields in rotation: four years in vegetables, then the fields go into pasture and then into small grains.

Animals in the Scheme of Things: Max and Jake are the registered Belgian horses on the farm. The original plan was to use them for plowing and cultivating, but there never seemed to be time to get them trained and working. They add ambiance to and manure for the farm. Larry calls them "one-ton pets."

The Farmer's Background: Larry has a Ph.D. in cultural and historical geography. The majority of his working life has been spent as a college instructor, and he's written on topics ranging from geography to permaculture to land use. His last "nine-to-five" job was as an associate professor at Slippery Rock University in its Sustainable Systems Master of Science (MS3) program. He now farms full-time and teaches part-time at local universities.

Guiding Principles:   Larry is committed to the principles of organic production and sustainability, which he has incorporated into all parts of his life. His home is a two-floor, straw bale apartment he fashioned at one end of the farm's barn. He recycles material and machinery whenever possible. His potting soil is mixed by a piece of machinery that was a cement mixer hopper in its prior life. And he builds his high tunnels with scrap lumber rather than support the aluminum industry. He really hates what bauxite mining and aluminum production does to the environment.

Tips:   Utilize auctions for farm equipment. Good equipment is practically given away.

Never let bindweed get a hold in your fields. To control a bindweed infestation, fallow the field for a year and cultivate lightly with a spike or spring tooth harrow every three weeks. It's important to cultivate lightly but repeatedly to eliminate the bindweed.

Clean your equipment between fields to minimize the possibility of spreading weed seeds and pathogens.

Tomatoes don't need to be weed-free. In fact, Larry feels they perform a little better with a few weeds in the row with them. The weeds help prop up the plants, don't hinder picking, and don't reduce the yield. He also feels that pruning out tomato suckers isn't worth the time and effort for the additional amount of fruit produced. However, peppers and eggplants do perform better if they're kept weed-free.

Try bat guano. Larry gathers about five gallons of it a year from the bat colony in his barn and uses it in the potting mix when he starts seed. He feels that one handful added to a 30-gallon mix will create a "mystical experience" out of your seed-starting venture.

Larry highly recommends the Planet Junior (AKA Red Pig) hand cultivator. He uses it in his chives field. It doesn't handle grass well, but is terrific at broad-leaf weed control. It's inexpensive, has changeable accessories, is easy to use, and keeps you in shape.

Contact:   Larry Patrick, Cool Springs Organic Farm, 830 Brownsdale Rd., Evans City, PA 16033 phone: (724)538-8440 Email: Ipicarus@msn.com

Profiles of Sustainable farming systems