Progress Report: 9.23.22

Grasshopper Family,

This has been the busiest week in a while. And, coming from a farm operation where every single day is busy, that means we were really really busy.

Let's start with last Saturday. Open house!

It was a glorious day. The weather was beautiful. The team was on fire. We had visitors show up early. And we were ready. A total of 119 people came from hours away and even from other states. It was a truly glorious day. We had a few more people who are not comfortable with the industry. One group was with Ivan, who stuck to the plan - introduce yourself, introduce the team, show them what we do, and show them how we do it. Do not try to change minds. By the time they wrapped up with Ivan they shared that they might still be uncomfortable with the industry, but they were good with what we are doing at Grasshopper Farms. Home run.

Everyone enjoyed a much deserved day off on Sunday (except watering!) to then come back and get back to it on Monday. The game plan was to get everything we needed done on Monday and Tuesday to then start the outdoor harvest on Wednesday. We planned on taking down one strain (Runtz) which covered half of Bed 1 and all of Bed 18, a total of 294 plants.

We also started with our harvest employee count on Monday. We are now up to 144 people! And we have room for six more. This is our harvest headcount and will remain for about six weeks.

Can I pause for a moment and give thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to provide employment for 54 people year round and up to 150 people during harvest? I am actually overcome with positive emotions for this blessing at a time when the job market is weird. I am honored to serve and support.

Wednesday we came ready to get after it. We also came ready to execute on day one. That means knowing the plan. That also means knowing we will stumble and learn. That is why we deliberately chose to do two days, push pause, debrief, and then hit harvest with the benefit of a couple "practice" days.

The team was able to harvest 76 plants and fill 12.25 curtains in Dry Room 1 on Wednesday. The goal is to fill a room in a single day. A single room has 46 curtains. There were new people. There were people who have not done this in a year. There was much that was learned. We wrapped up at 7:30pm and planned on what to do differently on Thursday.

We came on Thursday and the team was ready. We got to work and the efficiencies from Wednesday started to make a difference in the first 15 minutes. The team was communicating. The team was flying through the plants. We had filled ten curtains by noon. The fine tuning continued throughout the day. The goal was to take the remaining 218 plants in a single day. And, by 9:00pm, we had crushed that goal. With smiles.

The team left knowing that we are now ready for harvest.

Once upon a time the five minute mile was unthinkable. Then someone did it. And suddenly the floodgates opened and many followed. The four minute mile was then thought to be unachievable. Until someone did it. And then many followed.

Wednesday made filling a room seem daunting. Impossible, even. But, we adjusted and then crushed it on Thursday. We blew by our five and four minute miles. We proved to ourselves that we can.

And now we will.

Today we are doing more prep work for harvest. We are removing leaves in the field. We are setting up additional things to prepare for the seven day a week, sixteen hour (maybe more!) days that are coming. We are on track to start the full harvest operation next Thursday.

This is one of the most important times of year. The work during the rest of the year is hard. Very hard. But, harvest brings a new animal. It is a heavier lift and longer hours than any other time of year. A beautiful season of farming is realized (or lost!) during harvest. This is a time of year that separates us from others.

We must prepare ourselves - both mentally and physically. We need to eat right. We need to hydrate. We need to rest when we can. We need to look out for each other. We need to support each other.

We are ready.

We are....Grasshopper Farms.