Farmer shares her methods of multicropping

By STEVE BROWN

Capital Press

BREMERTON, Wash. -- Sharecropping between 1 and 2 acres, Andrea Wigglesworth provides enough produce to sell at three farmers' markets.

Showing a diagram of her growing plots on Wyckels Farm, in Washington's Kitsap County, she advised growers to "use everything you have on your property. Walk it and measure it, even the areas you hate. Note the attributes of wind, water and soil, and work with those limitations, not against them."

She advised them to look for places to plant with trellises and to consider growing mushrooms in the shade. "And those row spacings on the seed packets? Those are for tractors. Make smaller pathways, and overwhelm weeds with as much crop as possible."

Amid that intensive spacing, Wigglesworth said, she emphasizes soil fertility, good air circulation and proper watering.

She tweaks the process constantly, calculating the planting density for each block all the way to the end of the season over several plantings. Planning the timing for planting each seed, then transplanting and then harvesting is complicated, she said, "but this is what a computer is for. Thinking in the field is a waste of time."

She shared her methods of multicropping with other farmers at the recent West Sound Small Farms Expo, sponsored by Washington State University Extension.

Wigglesworth extends the season by "stealing" every degree of temperature she can, taking advantage of warmer spots on the field and using tunnels, hoop houses, greenhouses, mulch and raised beds. Finding varieties best adapted for the region is also key. She has looked at what grows in Canada, in Maine and in Russia.

Managing her time is critical, she said. "I'm a limited resource, too." Spreadsheets can create monthly and daily work schedules, working her dates and numbers backward from harvest dates for each crop.

Her planting beds are standardized, such as 4 feet by 25 feet, to allow easy crop rotation year to year and easy calculation of costs of production. Also she can re-use pre-cut irrigation, row covers, hoops, etc.

Keeping track of what she's doing is a constant exercise. She called her spreadsheets her farm diary. "You've got to write it down or you'll have a farmer moment, then it's gone."

On her small plot, Wigglesworth has constant pest pressure. She described her best efforts to protect her bok choy crop from marauding rabbits. Then she sold five bundles of bok choy to a woman -- who was going to feed them to her rabbits.