Chapter Six

r
Labor

“Y ou cannot get good help nowadays.” “People

don’t work hard enough.” “People don’t care.”
“They want too much money.” “They aren’t depend-
able.” Labor can be a problem. Many of these
comments may be valid, others not, but all are worth
noting. It is wise to make some serious choices
ahead of time before you find yourself muttering
those very sentiments.
Family Labor
My suggestions in this area are consistent with the
food-production premise of this book—small, man-
ageable, and efficient. The family is the best source
of labor for the small-scale farm. So the most impor­
tant recommendation is to set up an operation that is
small, manageable, and efficient enough to be run

Some of the wonderful young people who we have hired.

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 The New Organic Grower
mainly by family labor. Why? Because farming is
hard work, and the rewards at the start are measured
more in satisfaction and pride than in large salaries.
The farm family will do the work because it is their
dream. It is their canvas, and they are painting it the
way they’ve always wanted it to look. Hired help who
can involve themselves from the start on such an
intense level of participation are not easy to find.
This production system is planned to make the
most of family labor in the following ways:
• I have chosen equipment for ease and efficiency
of use and repair.
• I recommend growing a broad range of crops to
spread the work more evenly over a long season.
• I take a management-intensive approach for
fertilization and pest control.
• I stress forethought and pre-planning to
avoid panic.
• I propose imaginative marketing approaches
to save time and energy.
Most important, this system is based upon a phi-
losophy that aims at stability by establishing long-term,
self-perpetuating, low-input systems of production as
opposed to short-term, high-input systems.
Outside Labor
The best-laid plans don’t always run true, and
chances are the grower will sometimes need outside
labor. When paid helpers are required, I have some
suggestions that may prove useful.
If you find good employees, plan to keep them.
Pay a fair wage, and investigate profit-sharing
options and other rewards. One good worker famil-
iar with your operation is worth three inexperienced
workers. Be imaginative. What does the farm have to
offer that will attract the ideal people? The usual
pool of labor available for part-time farmwork has
never been the best. But think further. For many
people farming is exciting. Most everyone has a
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farming urge hidden behind an urbanized facade.
While most are still dreaming about it, your farm is
a reality. So offer potential helpers not so much a job
as rather a part-time outlet for their dream. It is sur-
prising how many people share this dream but have
not yet decided to pursue it. Offer that reward to
those people.
Finding Willing Workers
The potential labor pool extends from the young to
the old, from students to retirees. Homemakers
whose children are now in school or college are
often looking for a new challenge. Working on an
organic farm can give them meaningful part-time
work and a chance to turn their energy and compe-
tence into valuable assets. There are many such
people who are reliable, intelligent, hardworking,
interested, and motivated and would love the chance
to share in someone else’s dream. For them the
rewards are only partially financial. Since work
hours are often limited to evenings or early morn-
ings (harvesting for market, say), the possibility of
fitting farmwork into standard schedules is
increased. Where to look for willing workers? Some
of the following are good places to start:
• Retirement communities
• Supermarket bulletin boards (put up help-wanted
signs and specify the benefits)
• Local colleges
• Food co-ops
• Garden clubs
• Condominium and apartment complexes
Be Efficient and Flexible
Be efficient. Maximize skills, minimize deficiencies.
Labor should be hired to do what the boss does not
do best or what the boss does not need to do. Ideally,
the boss is going to be good at growing and
 Labor

marketing. Fine. Then hire help to harvest, wash,
crate, and distribute. Whoever is best suited for a
certain area of the operation should spend his or her
time doing that as well as it can be done. Overall
efficiency will be greater. Hire labor to complement
rather than replace family skills.
Be flexible. Work out a solution for the particular
labor needs of the moment. If the labor arrangement
of the farm does not parallel that of modern agricul-
ture, let it be of no concern. Many unique situations
are successful. A farm may be next door to a large
vegetarian community that will buy everything at a
premium and help out to boot. Students from a
nearby college may provide all the part-time labor on
a work-study program. The farmer may have a dozen
brothers and sisters living nearby who eagerly come
and help out whenever they are needed. Ignore any
claims that a farm only succeeds because of a special
arrangement. Success simply means that a farmer is
doing something right. Remember, too, that no mat-
ter how good a deal you may have at the moment, it
should never be assumed to be permanent. Always
have an alternative solution or two on hand.
Weeds that are allowed to go to seed one year will
increase the weed problem for the next seven years.
The quality of each job will affect the efficiency of the
entire operation. Poor work must not be tolerated.
Along with quality production goes excellence of
skills. Set work standards and stick to them. Most
people have never learned the necessary bodily coor-
dination needed to work well with simple tools. This
lack of training and the consequent awkwardness
result in making a job much more difficult than it
needs to be. Show your helpers how it’s done. They
should be taught to use garden tools just as carefully
as they would be taught to play a musical instrument
or speak a foreign language. Remember, any physi-
cal work is made easier by planning the job out
beforehand, working at an efficient rhythm, and
dividing the job into attainable pieces.

Getting Quality Work

Jobs should be done correctly. The complement to
labor is management. That is what the boss must do,
and the quality of management determines to a large
degree how well labor performs. Horticulture is a
skilled profession, and there is a need to work quickly
but precisely. Standards must be set. I was impressed
in Europe to see how horticulture is respected and
understood. The employees are professionals, are
proud of their work, and take satisfaction in doing it
well. In the past this may have been true elsewhere,
but rarely anymore. The boss has to instill that spirit
of professionalism.
The repercussions of slipshod garden work are
cumulative. Rows planted crookedly in a moment of
carelessness cannot be cultivated efficiently and will
require hand-weeding for the entire growing season. Different spacing for different crops.

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 The New Organic Grower
Inspiring the Crew
An important facet of management is attitude. Man-
agement must care about labor’s satisfaction. Many
people will come to work because they are interested,
so encourage their involvement. Explain not only
what the job is but where it fits into the overall
scheme of things and why it is important. If some-
one is starting in the middle of a process, take a
moment to explain it fully so they can see both the
beginning and the end. Not only will they be more
interested when they understand the rationale for
their efforts, but once they see the whole picture they
will be able to suggest improvements in the system.
Very often a beginner has seen things that I have
missed because I was no longer looking at the job
from a fresh perspective.
Finally, one last suggestion for dealing with out-
side labor. As I have said, the farm family is its own
best labor force because they are motivated. Think
for a moment—why? Because they love what they
are doing; because it is creative and satisfies a cre-
ative urge; because farming is necessary and
fulfilling work; because quality is important, and
good growers take pride in producing a quality prod-
34
uct. Whatever the reason, the bosses must convey a
sense of that to outside workers. Don’t hesitate to be
inspirational and enthusiastic. If it is the magic of
transforming a tiny seed into daily bread, then say
so. If it is the joy of providing customers with truly
nourishing food that they can trust, talk about it. Not
everyone will share the same motivation, but enthu-
siasm is contagious. Spread it about.
Firing Workers
There are times when it will be necessary to fire
someone. Do it nicely, but don’t put it off. There is
nothing more frustrating than making do with unin-
terested and unmotivated workers. One determined
griper can ruin the experience for everyone else. Nip
it in the bud quickly. If there are valid gripes, they
should be dealt with fairly and openly. But beyond
that, be firm. Some people seem to enjoy complain-
ing. I prefer not to have them around.
A farm can’t do without labor. The trick is to do
well with it. If outside labor can’t be counted on,
don’t set up a system that relies on it. When outside
labor is necessary, use the natural advantages of the
farm to attract people who want to be there.