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Family measures garden production by the tonBy Doug Rich
Think you planted a big garden this year? Unless you measure your harvest by the ton or the semi-truck load, Wayne Simpson and his family have you beat. Sixteen acres of grapes and three acres of strawberries are the main crops at the Simpson Family Farm near Mountain Grove, Mo., but for good measure they also grow 7,000 bedding plants, 800 tomato plants, three to four tons of onions, a half acre of blackberries, a half acre of watermelons, a two-acre corn maze, mums, and pumpkins. This is a family operation that includes Wayne; his wife, Lavond; son, David; and daughter, Debbie French. Wayne Simpson was one of the first strawberry growers in Missouri to switch from the matted row method of production to plasticulture. Strawberry plasticulture is an annual hill training system in which freshly dug bare root plants or plugs are planted in late summer or early fall. Plugs are transplants started from runner tips. Work on the strawberry crop starts in August when Simpson takes delivery on 90,000 runner tips in from Canada. These runner tips are used to produce plugs that will be ready to transplant to the field around Sept. 25. Simpson has a machine that prepares the raised beds, fumigates the soil, lays black plastic ground cover, and puts down irrigation tape all in one trip over the field. Another machine with four seats and trays for the strawberry plugs is used for planting. This machine also puts a cup of water in each hole along with a starter fertilizer. In December, they cover the rows with a spun white cloth. This lets enough sunlight through to heat up the black plastic. "This gives us the heat needed to keep the plants growing through the winter," Simpson said. "We are real busy the month that strawberries come on," Simpson said. "We are just swamped." Although they pre-pick about 15 to 20 percent of the strawberries, most of them are sold U-Pick. Simpson, who is a member of the Arkansas Strawberry Growers Association, said there are three strawberry varieties adapted to his area and plasticulture production: Camarosa, Chandler, and Sweet Charlie. He said Sweet Charlie is an early variety, but they have enough problems fighting early frost without planting an early variety. Last year they lost nearly all of their production to a late freeze. Camarosa is a small, sweet early season berry that is very good if harvested at the right time. The shelf life is not long enough for a U-Pick operation. "In a pick your own, we start pickings as soon as the berries get some red on them," Simpson said. "If you pick Camarosa that way, it is not fit to eat." All of their strawberry acreage is planted to Chandler. This is a semi-early season variety with medium large, juicy berries with good flavor. Their 15 acres of Catawba grapes are ready for harvest the middle of September, but work on the vines begins during the winter months. Simpson starts pruning the grapes in November and he tries to be done by the first of April. "It takes two people all winter, working every day they can, to get the pruning done," Simpson said. The grape vines start leafing out the first of April and Simpson starts spraying. At first he sprays them every three days but as the season goes along he stretches this out to every 10 days. Simpson uses a mechanical picker to harvest the grapes, which need to be picked during the night. The grapes are hot if they are picked during the daytime and will start to ferment in the bin before they get to the winery. Simpson likes to start picking the grapes between 10 p.m. and midnight, get them in the truck by 3 a.m., and dump them into the press in Hermann, Mo., by 7 a.m. "They are at the peak of perfection and never see the sunlight after they are picked," Simpson said. They pick one trailer load a day or about 20 tons of grapes. That is about what the press at the winery can handle. The winery prefers to process one batch of grapes a day. Simpson contracts all of his grapes to the Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, Mo. All of his crops are irrigated from two wells on his farm. T-tape that is replaced every year is used in the strawberries and a heavier plastic line that lasts for several years is used in the grapes. Fertilizer is applied through the irrigation line. Simpson sends off leaf samples for analysis every week during the growing season and adjusts the fertilizer rates accordingly. The Simpson family started growing grapes in 1971 and added strawberries in 1980. Four years ago, they added a fall farm tour that includes pumpkins, a corn maze, a log cabin museum, and an 1800s style blacksmith shop. From September through October, several hundred school children visit their farm on weekdays. In addition to showing them the log cabin museum and blacksmith shop, the kids go on a hayride, which ends with a trip to the pumpkin patch and a corn maze. "We let the kids play a while then bring them back to pick a miniature pumpkin to take home," Simpson said. "Then we give the class a large pumpkin that they can use for a class project." The farm is open to the public on the weekends. Groups can make reservations for bonfires and cookouts. No matter how you measure it, the Simpson family grows a big garden and it is getting bigger. David Simpson is working on adding Shiitake mushrooms to the mix. 
Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com. 7/28/08 Date: 7/24/08
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