Scaling Up Organic Botanical Production in the Upper Midwest
In the beginning of 2022 I received a SARE grant to fund my project titled, “Scaling Botanical Production in the Upper Midwest,” where I collected relevant data for botanical farmers. Below features a condensed version of my annual report, alongside other pertinent information.
Overview
The Farm
In the summer of 2021, I was hired by the non-profit Sharing Our Roots to manage botanical production on their farm. At the end of the season, they decided as an organization to shift their focus away from production and towards land access for emerging farmers in typically underserved communities, such as women, people of color, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Knowing I had found my calling that summer, I expressed my interest in continuing and expanding the work I had been doing for them, and they allowed me access to rent the land the following year.
My inaugural farming season began in 2022 as a first-time farmer with extremely limited knowledge in botanical cultivation. I took over nearly 2 acres of elderflowers, and 0.33 acres devoted to mostly native perennials and non-native annuals, totaling around 20 different species altogether. I farm using strict organic practices, though due to cost of certification, my business is not certified. The land I rent, however, is certified organic, as are all the seeds and plant starts I purchase.
The Project
My goals in 2022 were primarily to expand and scale up botanical production by creating efficiencies in harvesting and drying. I tested a mechanical harvester and made improvements to a forced air dryer that I rent from Sharing Our Roots (SOR). The dryer was also funded by SARE, and you can read about SOR’s project by clicking here.
Methods
Dryer Setup
I rented a forced-air dryer from Sharing Our Roots this year, and fitted it with a better dehumidifier and two types of drying racks. I used three 48” NSF food safe epoxy wire shelving units with individual shelves spaced at 15” apart to accommodate large botanicals on one side of the dryer, and bread racks on the other side.
The dehumidifier I used was a 50L with an automatic pump and hose. Without the hose, the dehumidifier would need to be drained manually at least once per day, so having a hose to drain outside was crucial. It was set at 30% humidity and ran 24 hours/day.
Flowers and botanicals with low water content, such as calendula, elderflower, and echinacea leaf/flower were stacked in single layers on the bread racks. The bread trays were 6” deep, providing adequate airflow between layers of flowers.
Herbs with a high water or essential oil content, such as anise hyssop, tulsi, and sage, were evenly layered 3”-8” thick when fresh on the racks. As the botanicals shrunk during dry down, they were spread out again to promote faster dry time.
Harvesting
I did a combination of hand-harvesting and testing the Baby Leaf Harvester by Terrateck.
For the first half of the season, I focused solely on hand-harvesting to get a baseline for how long it would take to harvest manually vs. using the harvester. Originally, I planned to use 2021 harvest data for this, but there were too many inconsistencies for this to be useful. For example, planting had to be done much later this year (due to flooded fields and excessive rain in the spring), I grew some new botanicals, and I grew different quantities of other botanicals.
I used a saw tooth sickle, a harvest bag, crates and a gorilla cart while hand-harvesting. For most botanicals, I would load the cart with four stacking crates and park it at the edge of the field. The crates could have been stacked higher, but the path to the dryer was very bumpy, and I didn’t want to risk crates tipping over. I would gather harvested botanicals in the harvest bag, and empty the bag into each crate until all four crates were filled. I’d then pull the cart back to the dryer, which was ~400 ft from my field.
Toward the end of the season, I realized I could load up seven stackable bread racks in the cart if I lowered one of the sides. I used a bungee cord to strap in the bottom rack, and used this system primarily for echinacea leaf harvesting.
For the second half of the season, I tested the Terratek Baby Leaf Harvester. I chose to test this harvester as it was described as being “ideal for herbs.” Additionally, the size and maneuverability of the harvester was appealing, as was the fact that it was drill powered.
The harvester had a built-in harvest bag, so similarly to hand-harvesting, I would fill up four crates with botanicals and haul them back to the dryer in the gorilla cart.
Results
Weeding Results
This year, I planned to lay alternative row mulch (Weed Guard Plus Paper Mulch) but due to flooded fields, the decision was made to apply it in 2023 instead due to concerns it would break down prematurely. The fields flooded due to its proximity to a pond, and to fix this, the pond now contains a pump to redirect water away from the field. Flooding should not be a recurring issue in the future.
The delay in laying the paper mulch gave me the opportunity to collect data on how long it took me to weed each week, and compare to next year with the row mulch.
The land is heavily impacted with thistle and crabgrass, and much of the weeding needed to be done by hand. I spent an average of 30 hours per week weeding, and was still left overwhelmed with weeds. It informed me that applying a weed suppressant is a necessity.
Harvesting Results
Building and Using the Harvester
Putting together the Baby Leaf Harvester was very simple, and I was able to complete it in about an hour. I have no prior experience working with farm implements, so no special knowledge was needed.
I am an average height and build, and I found it to be lightweight and easy to maneuver.
Harvester Compatibility
In testing the Terrateck Baby Leaf Harvester I found the diameter and toughness of stems, as well as the density of crop growth, determined whether the machine could adequately harvest without getting jammed. Unfortunately, it was unable to harvest the majority of the botanicals I grew this season (Anise Hyssop, Mountain Mint, Basils, Shiso, Tulsi, Sage) without almost immediately jamming, but it was mostly successful on mint varieties.
I found that in dense areas of mint, I had to move the harvester very slowly as to not overwhelm the blades with too much plant material at one time. In areas where plants were spread out a little more, it easily cut through them. In all, I was able to complete a harvest with the Baby Leaf Harvester in about 25% of the time compared to hand-harvesting.
Issues and Potential Fixes
The biggest issue I had with the Baby Leaf Harvester was jamming. When a jam occurred, as what I assume is a safety mechanism, the blades would disconnect from the piece of the harvester that would move the blades back and forth so they could cut. Every jam, even one caused by a single stem, would require a reconnection of the blades, which was time consuming considering how easily it would jam.
Since the jams were caused by tough or thick stems, I’m hopeful it will work on botanicals in the beginning of the season when they are still tender. With regular harvesting when plants are young, I will be testing it as a viable option for basil, tulsi, monarda leaf, sage, and others. I am confident that it will not work for botanicals such as anise hyssop (tough stem) or shiso (thick, juicy stem), as I harvest those crops right before they mature.
Another small issue I noticed was that if moving the harvester over long distances or somewhat bumpy terrain (as fields can be), one of the bolts holding the wheel on would come loose. It was designed to be easily adjustable, but it’s a little too easy. I had to check it about every 100 ft and tighten it.
[harvesting results table coming soon]
Drying Results
The improvements made to the dryer decreased dry time for the botanicals by an average of 2 days. I believe this to be due to the botanicals having adequate airflow on the racks, but most importantly due to the dehumidifier that continuously pumped out water. Last year an old dehumidifier was used, and the drain hose didn’t always work and would need to be emptied manually.
Issues and Improvements
I first tried using the bread racks to dry all of the botanicals, but it didn’t provide enough airflow for dense botanicals, so instead I used them strictly for flowers and plants with low water content (ie echinacea leaves), and they worked perfectly.
I then purchased food safe epoxy shelving for botanicals with high water/essential oil content, and they worked extremely well. As the herbs dried and shrunk, some of the material fell onto the floor of the dryer. This year, I harvested one botanical per shelf, and anything that fell to the floor was a loss, because the botanicals would mix on the floor and contaminate each other. The entire dryer, including the floor, is food safe, so the loss is strictly due to different species of plants mixing together.
Next year, I plan to harvest one botanical for all of the epoxy shelves at a time. This way, I can also add botanicals to the dryer floor beneath the shelves, which improves capacity and minimizes loss.
The bread racks did not have the same issue because the botanicals were well contained in trays.
[tables of drying results coming soon]
This section is under construction - estimated completion date is 01/21/2023. Thank you!