If you’ve been enjoying those fresh bagged greens and head lettuce, you can thank everyone who’s involved in the container farms. While the farm interns have the pleasure of packing these greens, very few of us actually interact much with the containers. I wanted to highlight the hard work that goes into producing these delicious hydroponic greens. Luckily, I was able to catch my friend and fellow coworker Vik for a quick interview…
Vik Laboyteaux is a senior in Horticulture studying production and marketing. He’s spent the last three years working for the horticulture department as a greenhouse tech, and it seems to me like he’s made some good connections there. He was asked to work for the containers as a research assistant when they were first donated to the farm last year.
Right now, the container farms are growing mostly head lettuce and leafy greens. However, the team will occasionally experiment growing herbs and root veggies.
Workdays in the container farms are generally straightforward. Vik often starts by reading the task list and chatting with Barret, the containers manager, about the day’s needs. Unlike the outdoor farm where weather and biotic factors might drastically change a day’s itinerary, work in the containers tends to be pretty predictable and repetitive. With the ability to control most environmental conditions (hence the name, controlled environment agriculture) you can generally stick to a list of day-to-day housekeeping tasks while cycling through a long-term succession of seeding, transplanting, and harvesting plants. At the time I conducted this interview Vik had been doing a lot of harvesting. I imagine by this point (a week later) he might be doing more transplanting.
Control in the containers might be easier than in the field, but it’s surely not guaranteed. Occasionally, the container farm workers will have the pleasure of dealing with unexpected visitors – aphids, powdery mildew, a busted pipe… even the most controlled systems have their weak points. Vik recollected that- “A coworker recently checked on the containers and had a pipe burst. Usually there’s no problems but sometimes they can sneak up on you.” This isn’t much different from the farm; we have freak accidents like a busted pipe or dysfunctional wells. Thats just part of managing any system.
Alas, on a day where everything operates as expected, someone like Vik- who prefers predictability over problem solving- would find comfort in what I would consider monotony.
“I like the mindlessness of it. It’s therapeutic to get into a routine with whatever I’m doing and let my mind wander. It’s like having a zen garden- easy and peaceful, and everything has its place.”
Sometimes Vik will work alone in the container, so I asked what it feels like to be in there for hours at a time.
“It’s temperature controlled. I really like that. But sometimes I won’t leave the container for a whole day. I’ll forget what the weather was like outside. Then when I leave I’ll think, ‘wow, this is what the real world is like… I’m not just in here playing farm simulator. I really need my umbrella!’ In the winter when it gets below 40, stepping out of the container can be a shock to your system. Occasionally we have to walk across the farm to dump compost. Doing that in a t-shirt and jeans in 30 degree weather isn’t the most pleasant.”
During the times that he is with other coworkers, Vik says that it’s weirdly nice to be in such close proximity to his coworkers, forced to get to know each other a bit, while working shoulder to shoulder in a silent box. I was curious as to how he passes the time, and not so surprised to hear that it’s very similar to what all us farm interns do.
“We just talk.”
“It really depends who I’m working with, but sometimes we’ll have deeper conversations about life and death- I guess- or what’s going on in the world. Sometimes we’ll just chat about whatever we’re both interested in. When it’s just you and another person locked in a room, it’s interesting to see where conversations go based on who you’re talking to.”
Finally, I asked Vik what this job had taught him about himself.
“I learned that I really like organization. I also enjoy carrying on responsibility as my boss is a bit more hands off. It’s nice to feel like Barret trusts me to do the work. I would much rather prefer having a check list to work from rather than creating my own problems to solve. Having a set list of things without much variance lets me channel all my energy into streamlining the work and making it efficient.”