To view “Heather’s Spreadsheets: Planting Data” and “Heather’s Spreadsheets: Harvesting Data” at full size, please visit touchwoodeditions.com where both spreadsheets are available as downloadable PDFs.
The first page of the spreadsheet includes all the planting data. These are the column headings with brief explanations:
Code: This tells me what bed and what year the crop came from.
Crop: What kind of vegetable.
Variety: I have to keep track of what varieties I’m growing to learn which ones work for me.
Source: Where I got the seed (or transplants).
Date Purchased: What year the seed was purchased (for audit trail, and also because this can teach me why a crop didn’t germinate, and how long seed lasts).
Date Planted: This is essential for learning when to plant different crops in your microclimate.
Block/Direct: This tells me whether the crop was started in blocks, pots, or direct-seeded.
Quantity: If they are started in blocks, I record the number of starts; if direct-seeded, then the number of rows.
Bed Length: Together with spacing info, and quantity info, this tells me how much of the crop went into the ground. This forms part of the audit trail for certification, and also lets me calculate income per square foot for each crop.
Germination Comments: General observations on germination. Together with planting date, seed source, and age of seeds, this gradually teaches me how and when to plant different crops.
Transplant: This is the date of transplanting (left blank for direct-seeded crops).
Spacing: This forms part of the audit trail, and also is very handy to look at each spring when I’m asking myself, “Oh gosh, now how far apart do I usually plant these?”
Description: A general observation at the time of transplanting.
Comments: This is where I record the soil preparation.
Amendments: Here I record what I add to the bed. This goes along with the “inputs sheet” as part of the records required for certification.
More comments: This is where I explain anything that is not clear from all the other columns.
The second spreadsheet contains harvesting data. This includes both amounts harvested (necessary for audit control summary in certification) and prices (to make income calculations simple). These are the column headings, with explanations:
Date: Date of harvest.
Code: This ties the information together with the planting data page. The code tells me where in the field the crop was planted.
Crop: Occasionally, this will say something different from the corresponding code on the planting data sheet. For example, I may record that I planted kale on the first sheet, but if I sell part of that crop as “sprouting brassicas” in the spring, that is what I would enter in the crop column.
Variety: Self-explanatory.
Sold lb, or Sold Units: For each entry, I fill in only one of these columns. For example, if I sell bulk chard to a restaurant, it is entered under “Sold lb,” but if I bunch it for the market, it is entered under “Sold units.”
Market: This is where I sold the produce. Over the years, my markets have simplified as I sell everything either at the Moss Street Community Market, to the Saanich Organics box program, or to Saanich Organics commercial division.
Price Per: This price can be the price per pound, or per bunch or head, whatever the case may be.
Total: In this column I enter a formula so Excel automatically multiplies the amount sold by the price.
Receipts: This is the invoice number, so the information is tied to the hard copy that the customer received.
Comments: This can be anything from the size of the bunch to the appearance of the crop, or anything else.
In the winter I look in detail at all this data, and make a summary sheet of yields of each crop. It is also informative to note first and last harvest dates of each crop.
I also keep a spreadsheet for farm expenses. After all the receipts are entered, I can sort them by category and see where I’m spending money. I can also separate out the capital expenses that are depreciated over several years from the expenses that are written off on that year’s taxes. All vehicle expenses are grouped together, and I write off a portion of those costs (depending on the percentage of total annual vehicle use that was farm-related).
These are the column headings for my expense spreadsheet:
Date: Self-explanatory.
Receipt number: This helps me find the original receipt if I need to. (I write this number on the original receipt.)
Company: i.e., Integrity, West Coast, et cetera.
Code: Our tax person wants this (she gave us the codes she wants).
Description: i.e., feed, seeds, Sea Soil, et cetera.
GST: Keeping this amount separate makes it easy to claim back.
Total Cost: Amount paid including tax.
Cost: This is the amount without GST, the amount we deduct at tax time.
Division: For my own interest, i.e., “chickens,” “veggies,” “fencing,” et cetera.
Here is a guide for discussion between potential landlords and tenant farmers:
1. Length of Lease: It can take five to ten years to get land productive enough to be profitable, so negotiate a lease for as long as possible. We settled on five years, with a year-to-year renewal after that. We negotiated two hundred days’ notice if either my landlords or I had to break the lease. This would ensure that I had time to harvest crops and the landlords to recruit another farmer.
2. Capital Expenditures: The land I leased was a fenced horse pasture with no buildings. Since the landlords already had a glass greenhouse that they wanted to put up, and a garden shed that was on another property, we negotiated that they would supply the materials and I would supply the labour. I worked with a carpenter to put up both of these structures. It made sense to us that the landlords paid for permanent infrastructure improvements that made their land more appealing to prospective tenants.
I had to extend the fence upward to make it deer-proof, and again they supplied the netting and two-by-fours so I could secure my one-acre plot. In the ensuing years, I have installed drainage. I paid for the backhoe work and most of the materials, but they gave me some pipes and parts that they had from other projects. I have erected other greenhouses on the property and paid for them myself, but I intend to take them with me if I leave. I have built some temporary structures out of pallet wood that are functional but not attractive. The landlords are fine with this, but the understanding is that I would disassemble these structures if I leave.
3. Rent and Utilities: I did a small survey on the price of leased land in our area, and the average was forty dollars per acre per month, so that’s the rate we decided on. I have been fortunate that my landlords haven’t raised the price of my lease during the twelve years of my occupancy. There is a separate meter for my utilities, to operate the pump and the power for my potting shed (lights, freezer, plug in for power tools, et cetera). There is a spring on the property, so I use that water for irrigation. I have city water for washing the veggies, and this has a separate meter where it branches from the main source of water for their house. I pay for all the utilities and water that I use.
4. Water: I can’t stress this one enough. The farm needs to be guaranteed access to water at all times. If there’s any question of not having enough during certain times of the day or year, you really need to think it through. I feel grateful to have two sources of water on the property—spring water and city water—so I have unlimited pressure and volume. Lack of water causes so much stress that it may not be worth entering an agreement if water is limited.
5. Dispute Resolution: We wrote into the lease that if we couldn’t come to an agreement, we would seek counselling from a dispute-resolution centre. We found one in the phone book and decided that it would be suitable should we need some outside help. I think it is a good idea to have a strategy in writing for a worst-case scenario.
6. Other Considerations
a. Traffic on the Land: My landlords have been really accommodating about extra traffic on the property. Our lease has a clause about permission for operating a farm stand and holding some educational events on the land. I have two or three staff parking places at the top of the driveway, and when I have farm tours or a plant sale, sometimes the parking is chaotic. It is good to think through the boundaries and carrying capacity of the land, and what type of events may cause friction. It is nice to have the option of being creative with direct marketing.
b. Chemical Drift: I don’t have to worry about chemical drift from my landlords but this can be a consideration if you are trying to maintain organic status and there is conventional gardening or production happening on the property. Maintaining buffer zones is crucial, so you may need to ask for a guarantee that chemicals won’t be used within a prescribed distance of your production area.
c. Farm Animals: I found out that although my landlords were tolerant of a rooster, the neighbours were not, and for the sake of neighbourhood harmony, my rooster had to go. I had been keen to breed my own meat birds but I just had to abandon that plan. It is good to talk in detail about what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of livestock so you can think through your options on the land.
d. Aesthetics: It is important to talk about what a farm may look like: e.g., Reemay cloth, pallet-wood construction, compost piles, and harvesting bins. If the landlords have a low tolerance for shabby infrastructure, they may be willing to pay for better materials. It may be worthwhile taking your prospective landlords on a tour of a friend’s farm, just to give them a sense of what it might look like.
e. Selling your Farming Business: I may be in the situation in a few years of feeling ready for a bigger parcel of land. The easiest scenario for me would be to sell my farm business and start afresh on a new parcel. Since I have so many apprentices who are starting out, it is very likely that one of them could be a good fit on the farm and would appreciate all the improvements I’ve made. I didn’t negotiate anything like this with my landlords but I will probably be doing this in future. I think it’s good to have an exit clause whereby you could have the potential to recoup some of the expenses, and the landlords can screen the potential new candidates.
| Map of Feisty Field Spring/Early Summer 2006 |
| Arugula in ground for 4 months 750 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Beets, Red Ace, successions in ground for 6 months 600 sq. ft. @ $4.25 per sq. ft. |
| Carrots in ground for 3 months 900 sq. ft. @ $5.40 per sq. ft. |
| Celeriac in ground for 5–8 months, not harvested until fall |
| Cucumbers in small cold frame for 3 months 300 sq. ft. @ $2.00 per sq. ft. |
| Failed Cutting Lettuce 600 sq. ft. @ $0.40 per sq. ft. |
| Garlic in ground for 9 months 900 sq. ft. @ $2.30 per sq. ft. |
| Greenhouse Salad Greens in production for 10 months 1500 sq. ft. @ $6 per sq. ft. |
| Japanese Turnips, successions in ground for 6 months 300 sq. ft. @ $2.50 per sq. ft. |
| Leeks, in ground for 5–9 months, not harvested until fall |
| Lettuce in ground for 4 months 150 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Lettuce, successions in ground cycling for 5 months 900 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Pac Choi in ground for 2 months 3000 sq. ft. @ $2.80 per sq. ft. |
| Peas in ground for 4 months 300 sq. ft. @ $1.20 per sq. ft. |
| Potatoes in ground for 4 months 600 sq. ft. @ $1.16 per sq. ft. |
| Red Turnips in ground for 2 months 300 sq. ft. @ $2.50 per sq. ft. |
| Salad Greens, successions in ground for 5 months 1200 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Salsify in ground for 6 months, not harvested until frost |
| Strawberries in ground for 2 years 900 sq. ft. @ $3.10 per sq. ft. |
| Swiss Chard in ground for 11 months 600 sq. ft. @ $1.20 per sq. ft. |
| Winter Squash in ground for 7 months 900 sq. ft., not harvested until fall |
These field maps are a bed-by-bed representation of Robin’s crops for each growing season. The crop value is included in the season when it is harvested even though some crops are taking space in the field for a longer period. There is not enough information in these maps to truly help with crop planning because so many factors determine profitability (i.e. insects, fertility problems, marketing failure, adverse weather), but they do provide a snapshot of crop returns for a given season.
| Map of Feisty Field Summer/Late Fall 2006 |
| Arugula in ground for 3 months 600 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Basil in ground for 3 months 300 sq. ft. @ $3.30 per sq. ft. |
| Beets, Red Ace, successions in ground for 6 months 300 sq. ft. |
| Carrots in ground for 5 months 900 sq. ft. @ $5.40 per sq. ft. |
| Celeriac in ground for 5–8 months 900 sq. ft. @ $5.20 per sq. ft. |
| Greenhouse Salad Greens in production for 10 months 1500 sq. ft. @ $6.00 per sq. ft. |
| Japanese Turnips, successions in ground for 6 months 300 sq. ft. |
| Kale in ground for 12 months 600 sq. ft. |
| Leeks, in ground for 5–9 months 600 sq. ft. @ $4.50 per sq. ft. |
| Lettuce in ground for 4 months 150 sq. ft. |
| Lettuce, successions in ground cycling for 5 months 900 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Overwintering onions in ground for 9 months 900 sq. ft. @ $2.30 per sq. ft. |
| Purple Top Turnips in ground for 3 months 900 sq. ft. @ $2.80 per sq. ft. |
| Salad Greens in small cold frame for 3 months 300 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Salad Greens, successions in ground for 5 months 1200 sq. ft. @ $4.00 per sq. ft. |
| Salsify in ground for 6 months 200 sq. ft. @ $4.20 per sq. ft. |
| Strawberries in ground for 2 years 900 sq. ft. |
| Swiss Chard in ground for 11 months 600 sq. ft. |
| Winter Squash in ground for 7 months 900 sq. ft. @ $1.20 per sq. ft. |