Baby carrots provide winter work

Last week, Roger VanderWeele was giving a tour of part of the VanderWeele Farms operation and talking about what vegetable farmers do during winter-- which some people suspect isn't much.

"There's always something that needs fixing-- and we spend time dreaming up things like that building," VanderWeele said, pointing to the farm's newest addition.

The new structure is a 7,000 square foot climate-controlled carrot warehouse with a maximum capacity of 1,000 tons. Inside, there is an enormous pile of washed carrots kept fresh by a computer-controlled system. The building keeps the carrots between 33.6 and 34.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Air ducts run under the carrots and temperature probes buried in the carrots act like thermometers in a roast. Air is always flowing through

the carrots in the big refrigerator.

When the outdoor air is cold enough, the computer opens doors that bring cold air into the ducts. As temperatures rise this spring, the system will switch to a bank of refrigerator engines to maintain an even temperature.

The next stop for the carrots is a processing line that chops them into baby-carrot size, peels, and packages them into shelf-ready bags. The 300 tons in storage will keep a steady stream of fresh, peeled carrots in resealable bags on Alaskan store shelves through early August when the next crop starts coming in. The carrot project will keep Roger VanderWeele supervising emloyees and maitainting machines all winter too.

VanderWeele said his father Ben did most of the research on the operation. The VanderWeeles hope their brand of carrots -- called Mat Valley Sweet Cuts -- will capture enough market share to sell 1,000 tons a year.

The VanderWeeles' 160-acre operation grows potatoes, cabbages, broccoli and four varieties of lettuce, all of which are packed on the farm and sold to wholesalers.

Alaska's small agri-business network keeps Roger tight-lipped about past experiences with processors and wholesalers. It also caused VanderWeele farms to target fresh, peeled carrots because the other local brand, Country Cousins, doesn't offer them.

"We don't want to step on any toes," VanderWeele said.

Except the toes of Outside growers, that is, and the supply chain that keeps their produce on Alaskan shelves.

"We can grow the same variety and ours will taste better," VanderWeele said.

He says it's because Alaska's colder nights cause the carrot to produce more sugar and less starch. There have been efforts to prove Alaskan carrots are sweeter in the laboratory, but VanderWeele Farms wasn't a part of that. Roger doesn't think he needs it. He's been to California. He's pulled carrots from California fields, and he says they just aren't as good.

The warehouse and a processing facility that employs about six people full-time are an expensive new venture, but VanderWeele said the employees also give the farm quality control from field to shelf.

The processing plant has two machines that are critical to the operation. One is a peeler that tumbles carrots through a trough of spinning abrasive cylinders, and the other is a bag sealer. VanderWeele said the machines were chosen for their small size and high performance. The operation can always grow into larger, more expensive gear later, he said.

"You could sink yourself into the biggest debt hole in the world-- but we have a different philosophy. We start out with just what's necessary and see if it works," VanderWeele said. "My dad says the easiest thing in the world is to buy stuff, the hardest thing is to make it all pay for itself. The trick is to find the smallest size machine with the highest quality."

Processing on the farm guarantees that the only thing customers find in a Fresh Cuts bag is a VanderWeele Farms carrot. The warehouse guarantees that the carrots are stored properly up until the point they are cut, peeled, and bagged. All so-called baby carrots are actually cut and peeled from larger carrots, no matter which brand you buy.

The storage facility is essential to quality control. Carrots are susceptible to ethylene, a gas naturally fumes of off fruits during ripening. Ethylene promotes further ripening, which is why bananas and apples left in a bag ripen faster. Carrots need high humidity -- as close to 100-percent as possible -- and although they won't ripen like a fruit, they become bitter if they are around too much ethylene. One sure way to ruin a carrot is to store it next to a banana.

"It's not just from fruits, it's created by flowers as well," said Hunter Michaelbrink of the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Cooperative Extension Service in Palmer. "But people are most familiar with it from bananas."