The not-so-sexy side of farming

By: Sarah Punderson

Nina Berryman, Farm Office's 'Resident Farmer'.

Philadelphia, Pa- There’s a new sheriff…I mean farmer…in town, and her name is Nina Berryman. Well she’s not exactly new, and she’s the opposite of a sheriff (the only firearms she carries are clippers and a hoe), but guess what- she’s going to be the ‘Resident Farmer’ here in the virtual world of Farm Office, so we can ask her all kinds of questions all season long and have answers directly from the source!

I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Ms. Berryman, farm manager at Henry Got Crops! farm on Ridge Avenue in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, for the past two years. Henry Got Crops! is affiliated with Weaver’s Way Co-op and is also an educational farm serving W.B. Saul Agricultural High School, the largest agricultural farm school in the United States.

With a bale of hale as our backdrop, I chatted Berryman up about what kind of unglamorous  things she’s been doing at the farm thus far and how to get creative as an urban gardener.

“Every year I tend to forget how rigorous early April is,” said Berryman. “The winter obligations of getting ready for the new season are not quite wrapped up and my staff and I are also full-time, full-speed ahead into spring planting.”

“Some of the things I did over the winter included: ordering seeds, organizing crop rotation and mapping out my planting schedule,” she said. “I spend a lot of time getting the CSA (community supported agriculture) members re-enrolled and signed up for the season.”

Berryman has noticed that if her CSA isn’t full by April, it’s because people often forget to sign up until its warm when they remember-time to join the CSA. She spends her evenings and weekends in the winter and early spring on the computer, poring over membership, farm statistics and spreadsheets- not what you’d necessarily picture a farmer doing.

During the week, she’s out in the field all day- planting, seeding, spreading compost, prepping beds, pruning perennials, getting irrigation hooked up- basically getting dirty.

“This time of year I have broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, lettuce, and kohlrabi in the ground,” Berryman said. “Late spring harvests are in the hoop house (greenhouse) like tomatoes and cucumbers. It’s time to start seeding carrots, beets, turnips, radishes. The list goes on- a lot needs to go into the ground right now!”

As for those like me who are urban dwellers, Berryman has some ideas for us.

“It’s fun to grow things that develop quickly and don’t need a lot of soil for their roots- lettuce heads and lettuce mix are quick and are light feeders- meaning they don’t need a ton of nutrients (good for window boxes and pots on a balcony),” she said. “Radishes are quick and you can get many plantings of them in one season. Things that are possible in pots but need space and lots of water (heavy feeders) are tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers and eggplants. Those do take longer, so you’ll have to be patient.”

The bottom line is- grow what you like because it’s always more work than you’ll expect and you need a reward at the end of the day.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than eating something that you love and you grew yourself,” said Berryman. “People ask me all the time, what should I plant? I ask them, what do you eat? If it grows in this climate and you have space for it, then that’s what you should do.”

Most vegetables need heavy sunlight, often a limiting factor in the city. Berryman suggested that cool weather crops can get by in shadier, cooler areas which include: lettuce mix, radishes and turnips-which can be good in partial sun.

Berryman’s staff has expanded to three people this season- a full-time intern (Matt Steuer), a full-time apprentice (Chris O’Brien) and part-time intern Nancy Anderson. Last year at this time she had one apprentice. She’s already advising them on how to treat sore muscles, suggesting they pack a lunch each day and essentially serving as not only farm manager but farm mom.

There’s excitement in the air at Henry Got Crops! in the form of the farm’s first-ever tractor (I used to joke with Berryman that not only was she running an organic farm, but also an Amish one), and a brand spankin’ new red barn.

“It’s shiny and red and everything you could dream of for a barn,” said Berryman.

Weaver’s Way still needs to pay for the new piece of machinery (details, details), so check out their www.kickstarter.com fundraiser that will commence on April 15^th.

Send in your farm/garden/urban jungle questions to Farm Office for our new resident farmer, in the form of either a comment below this article or to my email at spunderson@gmail.com and Berryman will be answering our quandaries all summer long.