Good Record Keeping

Farm News

One of the most important parts of organic certification is good record keeping, and every spring, we engage in an ambitious detailed account of every farm activity. By early summer, we have crumpled pieces of paper where we have jotted down notes to be transferred to the log books and by September, it becomes one of the harder weekly tasks. Luckily by fall, most of our activity is centered around harvest as field prep, seeding and greenhouse activity are all behind us.

In the beginning spring months, the planting plan of specific varieties and plant rows per bed and estimated productivity of each bed has our heads spinning in lots of math problems. As the months move by, we become botanists and biologists, measuring how well our predictions have played out.

GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) Certification by the WSDA is an important part of our record keeping as it helps us to organize all our cleaning activities, harvest techniques and implements, trucks, tractors, all food safety practices and our general level of accountability both in the field and out of the field.

Record keeping has been one of Andrew’s favorite aspects as it aids in the year-to-year understanding of the planting plan, crop viability, weather patterns, people patterns, elk patterns— you name it. If he could find a reason to document just about anything on the farm, he would. Over the years, we have tried to gain more digital ground for this task, but our old school methods of pen and paper are still firmly rooted. As we embark upon April and get ready for transplanting in the middle of the month, we will sharpen our pencils and delight in the written details!

Don’t forget to find us on Instagram @fullcirclefarms.

-Wendy