We can load our carrier with chemicals in your front yard without spilling a drop on the ground. They've made air-locking valves, so that when they unhook the hoses, nothing runs out. Starkey Farms has been in operation more than 50 years and has grown spinach since the beginning. In the early days, they also grew tomatoes, squash, and other vegetables, but over the years, they have specialized in what was most profitable. They now grow more than 700 acres of spinach.
Spinach is a touchy crop, hard to grow and harvest in large amounts.
Growers have to scout their fields continually to spot early signs of trouble, such as slight changes in leaf color, and react quickly. An airborne fungus can sweep across a field in a few days. This puts a premium on prompt service from their crop center. They pretty much put themselves at our beck and call for the whole fall season, and much of the spring season as well. When our really heavy production season runs out, they come in with spinach.