You might be wondering what the heck does ABAA CADIABRA mean, besides sounding like a magic spell?! Well, it is an acronym that stands for:
“Always Be Assessing Always …. Complete All Data Input Accurately Before Retiring Activity”
It’s a mentality to keep our farm running smoothly and we encourage those who truly want to go into owning or managing their own farm to practice this.
Firstly, “ABAA” or “Always Be Assessing Always”, means honing our observation skills and always be assessing the crops, always. It’s really important for our brains as farm managers to be active and present in the moment, even if we are participating in conversations. Every single time we are in or around a crop, whether it’s harvesting for CSA, checking irrigation, hoeing, tractor cultivation etc. we are always putting eyes on it to assess the crop’s overall wellbeing. Every time we are in the crop and we don’t take a minute or two to assess, whether it’s scouting for pests/diseases, monitoring irrigation, or fertility needs we are missing a valuable opportunity and wasting our time later on. Our time is precious on the farm, and we might as well make our time in each crop count. The other benefit is that if we are always observing the details, we can catch things early before they become a big problem. For instance, if we are hoeing, and notice some yellowing on a plant leaf, or see a leaf twisting or curling weirdly, we stop to assess what’s going on. Maybe there is a sign of some thrips or aphids and we need to bend down and take a closer look. It’s one of the best preventative strategies we have on the farm.
Harvesting is a great time to assess your plants!
And although we primarily use it for plants, it is used in so many other ways too. Any tractor operator should also “be assessing always”. Are you noticing there is a wet spot under the tractor when you go to climb on? Is something leaking? I always teach our crew to use their four senses when they learn tractors: What does a regular tractor look, smell, feel, and sound like. (Hopefully no one is tasting the tractors!). If you know what the tractor is like in all capacities when it is working normally, you can easily tell when something is off.
Tractors and other farm infrastructure also needs continual observation
ABAA also is great for other infrastructure, or things that might be out of place. Is a walk-in feeling particularly warm and not cooling to the proper temperature? Is the water reel sprinkler rolling in properly? Is a row cover off? Does something we transplanted recently need irrigation tape laid down? Is there water flowing from the end of a field, and the end of irrigation lines aren’t tied off?
One of my favorite things to see is when crew members who have never farmed before start to notice things later on in the season and practice ABAA. Farming is such a team effort and when our crew members are also paying attention, they might catch something we missed! No one can be everywhere all at once.
The second part CADIABRA has more to do with data entry and recordkeeping, which not all of our crew members are responsible for. It stands for “Complete All Data Input Accurately Before Retiring Activity”. It means that whatever task you are doing is not fully completed until the data is entered in the google spreadsheet. We have records for pretty much everything: harvest poundages, donation records, irrigation records, greenhouse seeding dates, transplanting dates, direct seeding dates, cover crop seeding dates, fertigation dates, etc. It is so easy to be ready to move onto the next task, thinking I’ll just enter that later when I have time. The only thing that results from this is forgotten entries and incomplete records. As an SOP, the task is not done until the record is entered then and there. There is so much to keep track of and these records are really important from year to year. This is definitely another example of team effort, as often these tasks are designated between people and each person needs to hold up their end and enter their records accurately and in a timely manner.
ABAA CADIABRA is a mental muscle that needs strengthening just like any other physical muscle. The best way to build this skill is consistency. If we take the time to do ABAA CADIABRA every single time, it will eventually become a habit that won’t require as much conscious effort. When I was an apprentice and just about to take over greenhouse management, I attended the Young Farmers Conference at The Stone Barns Center in New York. I went to a workshop all about greenhouse management and Eliot Coleman was one of the presenters. During the Q & A, I asked, “As a new greenhouse manager, if there was one thing to particularly pay attention to, or never forget to do, what would that be?”. I was feeling a little overwhelmed at all the things I had to remember and take care of. His answer? “Everything.” That’s when I really started practicing ABAA, because the wise Eliot Coleman essentially showed me that everything is important and no detail is too small to notice. Best of luck!
Growing Peppers