Farming is a way of life that I never thought I'd live. It is very hard, but so rewarding. Most of you know that I grew up in Portland and Seattle, in the suburbs, but I loved going downtown and feeling the energy the city had. I hated traffic, but I loved having so much at my fingertips: museums, zoos, shopping, entertainment, and restaurants (don't even get me started...). I went to college here in Rexburg and while I enjoyed my time, I was happy thinking that my future would be in a bigger city. Then I met Mike, and while I loved that he grew up in Idaho on a farm, I was happy that we were living just north of Seattle. After a few years, we started to talk about moving east, to Idaho or Utah, but it was just talk. He had a really great job, but he quickly grew tired of all his commuting. The opportunity came up for us to go back to Rexburg and farm and we decided to take it. It has been quite the ride, and I'll get to in a different post.
I get asked a lot of questions about farming and while I am no expert, I can share some of my experiences. So, here are my answers to my most frequently asked questions.
Did your husband just decide he wanted to be a farmer?
No. He is the 5th generation farmer to farm this ground we have. We live in the house he grew up in and he grew up working on the farm. It wasn't just something he decided to do on a whim and we are guessing as we go along, he actually knows what he is doing and learning a lot along the way. We are in the process of taking over the farm so his dad can retire.
What do you grow?
We grow potatoes and barley. Every once in a blue moon we will do wheat, but only when we've used a chemical that does not agree with the barley.
How much land do you farm?
About 800 acres. Central Park in NYC is 843 acres. Some people think we only have like 1 or 2, and people from Seattle would tell me that having a little plot of land to grow all our own food would be so nice. We are the small guys out here, too.
Do you grow organic produce?
No. For so many reasons. We need to use fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides to control our crops. When you are dealing with the volume we grow, it gets pretty hard to control pests and disease. Have you heard of the Potato Famine? The potatoes got a disease called Late Blight. It can transfer from the plant to the tuber and cause rot. If you store your crop with the disease, it can take out a whole potato cellar. I've never seen it (or smelled it for that matter), but it is awful. It would take a serious toll on us. There are chemicals you can put out to prevent the disease and if your crop has it to help prevent the spread of it. We've had a couple of close calls and thank goodness we have been able to control it. That is just one of many reasons we use chemicals on our crops. I could get into a lot more about why non-organic farming is actually much safer than most people think, but I'll save that for another post.
Do you sell your potatoes at a farmer's market?
No. People in the city that I encountered often have a romanticized view of what farming is, and I've learned that farming is much harder and bigger, compared to what I used to think.
Where do you sell your crops to?
We sell our barley to Anheuser-Busch and our potatoes go to Rigby Produce and ours often go to the east coast to restaurants.
Are Idaho potatoes actually better?
Yes. I would have doubted that before having some. But compared to the potatoes that grow in Eastern Washington, Idaho potatoes are much better. Washington potatoes are watery. Idaho potatoes aren't. They have a better texture and hold up much better when cooking.
Now, I need to go mentally prepare myself for spud harvest. We will start Thursday or Friday and those are long days for everyone.
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