Farming, Found Objects, and Creative Ingenuity with Paul Wirtz of Paul’s Produce.
Cover photo by Lauren Papalia
Lauren Papalia is the Cooperative Engagement Coordinator at FEED Cooperative, part of their marketing team, and a sometimes writer. She met with FEED Cooperative producer-member Paul Wirtz this summer at his farm . . .
On a pleasant afternoon during this unseasonably cool early summer, Paul Wirtz has agreed to meet me at his Sonoma Valley farm. I am eager to see how the crops are moving along and what will be available in the coming weeks.
We cruise along in the farm truck, hopping out at intervals to check the almost-ready-to-harvest. Along the extensive rows, each organized, compact and efficient, there’s broccolini, cauliflower, chicories and celery, some of which is destined for FEED Cooperative’s aggregate CSA box, or FEED Bin. A producer-member of FEED, Paul’s Produce sells roughly 45% of what it grows through the Co-op—everything from shelling peas and lemongrass to artichokes and onions.
Paul’s Produce is well known in Sonoma County for its exceptional quality and consistent market presence. Folks have long raved about Wirtz’s carrots. But, for me, it’s the celery that is particularly noteworthy. Requiring consistent care over a long growing period, celery is the finicky mirepoix diva. I snap a sweet stalk off the nearest crown and make a mental note: next time bring a Brix meter.
Some adjectives that have been used to describe Wirtz and the food he grows: venerable, masterful, even famous. None of that is hyperbole, but that’s not the only reason I’m here. When I made my first trip out to Wirtz’s farm last November, I was wowed, of course, by the quality of the vegetables in the field, richness of the soil and overall organization and beauty of the ten acres in cultivation.
But there is another element to Wirtz’s trade, honed over decades of farming in Sonoma County, that contributes to his success. Adding depth to the notion of sustainability, he has found myriad ways to creatively improve, use and repurpose found objects, tools, implements and machinery for ease of cultivation. He has the artisanal ability to see something once meant for a particular purpose and have it serve another.
I have mentioned to Wirtz that this is a particular interest of mine, and I’m looking forward to our imminent detour. We take one last peek at some little gems, heading up nicely in near-perfect rows. “Ok, enough of that,” he says wryly. “Let’s go look at junk.”
Toward the back of the farm’s acreage stands yards of covered corrugated shelving that house what Wirtz calls his metal library. There are various lengths of pipe, fragments, fixtures and other parts I cannot even begin to identify. But I do not think naming the parts is what matters. The important thing is to see them for what they could potentially be. A skilled welder, Wirtz has constructed or transformed countless objects with heat and metal.
“Here’s a good shot,” he beams, lifting a vintage-looking implement off a nearby hook for a photo-op. “I’m very, very proud of this tool.”
He shows me where, just yesterday, he fused a piece from this library onto an old Planet Jr. wheel hoe head to keep it from straying out of the furrow when weeding lettuce. Another hoe has been retrofitted with parts for reaching underneath taller chicories. In the nursery, a third contraption is put to use: a hedge trimmer connected to a vacuum for “mowing” the sea of seedling flats. But why the buzz cut? Employing a technique originally gleaned from Head Start Nursery, lettuce, brassicas, even melons, are cut back to a uniform height.
Wirtz does this, he explains, to keep any one plant that gets ahead from out-competing the others for water and light. The uniformity makes the mechanized transplanting flow smoothly and without interruption. The veggie starts usually get cut at least twice before they’re planted, a process he used to painstakingly do with scissors before the hedger allowed for the job to be done in a single pass.
The days for a farmer are long and hard. If possible, it’s important to avoid doing lots of extra steps. Streamline is the word that comes to mind. An eye for detail and subtlety and a knack for creative troubleshooting certainly help. I ask Wirtz what he’s most proud of, what he thinks is important when it comes to successfully growing food for people. He talks about organization within the farm. That means tools, maintenance, and planning for future crops, investments and changes.
“I’m super proud of the crew I have and how well everyone works together,” he says. This makes perfect sense. It’s about taking the different parts and putting them together to form something else, something better. It’s about creating what is needed with just the right kind of alchemy.
Wirtz doesn’t sell direct to consumer, but his fresh, seasonal vegetables can be purchased year-round either wholesale or by retail customers via the FEED Bin (a subscription produce box) through FEED Cooperative. You can also find Paul’s Produce at Sonoma Market, the Sonoma Farmers’ Market and several local restaurants and food purveyors in Sonoma Valley.
411
FEED Cooperative
To sign up for a FEED Bin:
feedsonoma.com/feedbin-fresh-produce-delivery
Sonoma Market
500 W Napa St, Sonoma
(707) 996-3411