I just lost one third of my fall crop

11 years ago

I can handle bad weather, pests and diseases. But I cannot handle human stupidity. It just makes me angry.

My market garden is based on the SPIN model - I rent urban backyards from homeowners. I just learned an important lesson: have everything in writing and know the person you are renting from.

One of my plots, which is entirely devoted to fall crops, backs up against a fence. On the other side of the fence is a dirt road. Apparently, the homeowner was out spraying the few weeds that were growing along the road with Roundup, on a windy day. The drift through the fence killed nearly all my tatsoi and spinach, and some of the beets and kale. The irony is that this man is a grain farmer - you'd expect him to know better.

It's far too late in zone 2 to reseed anything, except maybe microgreens. My other plots had been staggered such that I would have greens for the market through to early November. That's not possible anymore :(. It's challenging enough trying to be a market gardener in zone 2 without having to deal with issues like this.

Comments (7)

myfamilysfarm
11 years ago
Unfortunately there are some farmers that don't realize that what kills weeds can also kill veggies. With all these round=up ready grains around, they forget that NOT EVERYTHING is round-up ready.

sorry for your loss, we had someone actually sue a farmer for the same thing, but it was an adjoining farmer.
little_minnie
11 years ago
That sucks!
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rustico_2009
11 years ago
Sorry to hear that, I hope the rest does very well for you.
Jelwell1982
11 years ago
Just curious but how much do you rent these for?

And again, Sorry for the loss. Human ignorance is the one variable we never account for.
Slimy_Okra
Original Author
11 years ago
Jelwell, usually about $1 per 20 sq ft. but this highly varies according to the homeowner. Some are content with just having the area maintained, while others like to milk it for what it's worth. I was rather desperate in the spring to obtain sufficient land to make this worthwhile, so in some cases I paid more than I should have.
2ajsmama
11 years ago
Sorry - maybe you can sue him for breach of contract? At the very least I would say you don't owe him rent (though it may be hard to get back what you've already paid him - maybe Small Claims?)!
myfamilysfarm
11 years ago
The guy that sued the neighbor, only received the cost of his seeds and plants.

You should have that plot free next year. Probably wouldn't be worth small claims hassle, and you would only get what you are actually out, not what you could have made, for damages. (We just covered this in Business Law, timing right??)