A Growers Testimony: Joe Altermatt
Many people have found great success on the Growers Program, and it is important that we run testimonials of them to show the effectiveness of the Growers Program. In this issue, we are telling the story of Joe Altermatt, a produce grower in eastern Michigan.
The Altermatts grow a wide variety of produce, including cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, crookneck squash, peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, cantaloupe, watermelon, eggplant, pumpkins, winter squash, and hothouse rhubarb. They start most of them in their own greenhouses and then transplant them to finish in their fields. The soil that they're growing in is clay-loam, which, according to Joe, if you treat well is like sand and if you treat poorly is like concrete.
Joe and his wife Sharon began on the Growers Program in the early 1980s. Joe's father had grown produce on a conventional program with very heavy fertilizer use. Under establishment logic, this should produce a high-quality bumper crop, but the Altermatts were getting decreasing quality. In wet years, they didn't suffer too bad, but in a dry year, their crops showed salt burn. This is because they had been dumping high salt fertilizer onto the land for many years, and when there wasn't enough rain to wash the salts below the root zone, they would rise up and burn the crop roots. The Altermatts knew there was a problem, which led to their interest in Growers.
What first attracted Joe to the Growers program was that we were talking about soil health. Joe had applied some burnt lime, but the salesman who supplied it (not from Growers) discouraged him from applying any more. After attending a Growers meeting, Joe disregarded the lime salesman's advice and applied more lime. Since then (early 1980), Joe rotates his lime applications every three years, having applied a rough total of 48 tons/acre since starting. As for GMS application, he mixes it into watering cans to apply while his produce is still in the greenhouses, uses it in a transplant solution, and foliar sprays it. He has seen unmatched quality, and since beginning on the program has seen no salt burn.
Though he doesn't go anymore, he used to sell a lot of produce at the eastern market in Detroit. The market is targeted to restaurants and stores, and he has quite a few powerful testimonies to the quality and effectiveness of the Growers Program from this market.
Joe was told by numerous people at the market (both other suppliers and customers) that his produce had a better shelf-life and tasted better than most other suppliers' produce. One of the dock workers told Joe that if he needed cucumbers for home, he would take them from Joe's supply as he knew they would taste much better. Though other growers liked his quality, they were not willing to put forth the extra cost and effort to achieve it. One exception is Peronies Produce, a large produce operation that always wanted to take Joe's cucumbers home from the loading docks. They have since begun using GMS on their seedlings.
Another customer bought 18 bins of cantaloupe-a massive amount, to be sure-simply because he knew he could not get the quality at any other vendor. He owned numerous stores that he wanted to supply. Lastly, when Joe decided to leave the eastern market, one of his customers wanted his produce so badly that he offered to pay for extra planting and shipping costs to guarantee a continued supply. Again, this customer clearly knew they could not get the quality anywhere else.
All of these testimonies are predicated on the quality of Joe's produce under the Growers Program. Both GMS and high-calcium limestone have a part to play in this quality. GMS is high-quality and clean, meaning that it will not cause salt burn and will benefit the soil microbes. Furthermore, it is formulated in such a way to be very available and balanced to plant growth, providing the nutrients in a manner and quantity the plants need. Limestone helps to release native nutrients from the soil, to aerate the soil, to feed soil microbes, to buffer out salts and toxins, and to feed the plant. Essentially, the Growers Program removes barriers to quality and quantity while also providing important benefits to the soil, microbes, and plants. Joe has done a fantastic job of using the program in such a way that the results are so clear.
This is an excerpt from the Summer Growers Solution (2020) written by Zach Smith.
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