Wash Station and Cooler

What did you do?

This project replaced an existing, outdoor, muddy produce washing and handing area with a portable structure with a covered wash area the farm's first cold storage unit. The original plan had been to configure a post and beam structure to include both a wash station and an insulated room that would be cooled with a coolbot controlled air conditioner. We later decided it would be cheaper and easier to purchase used cooler panels and construct the cooler on a platform separate from the wash station. We constructed the wash station with 2 x 4 framing and metal roofing but no walls. The floor is made of pressure treated planks with enough space between the planks for water to drain. The wash station also has stainless steel rolling counters and a stainless steel sink for produce washing and handling.

Both structures are built on platforms supported by concrete blocks and could be transported on a flatbed truck. We chose to build them this way partly to save the expense of a permanent foundation and partly because the farm is on leased land so we have chosen to make them portable in case I need to relocate or sell the structures.

Why did you do it?

For years, we washed vegetables in an outdoor area with a dunk tank and packed them on old, wooden countertops. Wash water is discharged onto the ground creating mud. Vegetables are then stored in picnic coolers until they are sold or distributed to CSA members later the same day. This system had the potential for contamination from overhead due to birds and insects in the trees. The wooden countertops cannot be properly sanitized. Wash water is discharged onto the ground creating mud which also has the potential to harbor pathogens. The picnic coolers do not always maintain produce at proper food storage temperatures so we were not able to maintain a cold chain for the produce. In addition to food safety benefits, the new structures allow us more flexibility for timing the harvest because now produce can be stored for a few days if weather or other circumstances make it preferable to harvest ahead of time. The covered wash area makes produce handling more comfortable in a variety of weather conditions. Having cold storage has also helped greatly extend the time period in which we can harvest crops for winter storage because we no longer have to wait for the passively cooled root cellars to get down to the right temperature.

About how much did it cost?

Total costs around $7700 (see below)

How did it help?

It has quickly become hard to imagine how we ever lived without a cold storage unit. In hot weather, crops such as summers squash have to be picked every day. Having a cold storage unit reduces worry over spoilage and food safety issues. The covered wash area is a much cleaner, more comfortable work environment. I'm including a cost breakdown below because readers may be more interested in some parts of this project than others. Cost breakdown: coolbot $349 airconditioner $450 electric work $2850 (this included burying a power line for about 100’, installing an outdoor electrical panel, a light and electrical outlet in the cold storage until, and installation of the coolbot) insulated cooler panels (walls, ceiling doors) $500 trucking for panels $190 vinyl for cooler floor $60 pluming fixtures $45 2 bay stainless steel sink (donated by a neighbor farmer who was upgrading for FSMA) Lumber, hardware and metal roofing: $2026 labor for construction (approx.. 65 hours - rough estimate) $683 2 stainless steel rolling work benches $252 washable plastic storage containers $260 (20 @ $13 each)

What are you most pleased with?

The increased comfort and flexibility for farm work.

Any mistakes or lessons learned?

We are still working on finding the best way to have water drain quickly away from the wash station without creating puddles. Also, in the late fall water froze in the air conditioner so we were not able to run it for the last week or 2 of the outdoor work season. (The passively cooled root cellars were not quite cold enough by that time.) Some tips I’ve received on how to avoid an air conditioner freeze up are: pitch the AC slightly down, away from the outside wall to encourage condensate to flow in that direction. Install a roof over the air conditioner so rain water doesn’t collect inside, and to drill some small holes in the pan of the air conditioner, using care not to hit any of the copper refrigerant lines.