Growing For Market

1
Growing For Market

• March 26, 2011
• Phil Hannay and Kathy Kubal
• Trumpeter Swan Farm
• Buffalo, MN

2
About Us

• Market Gardening since 2003
• Farmers Markets Buffalo, Maple Grove
• CSA shares last 3 years
• Fruits and Vegetables
• Perennials Asparagus, Strawberries, Raspberries
• Annuals Greens, onions, peas, beans, tomatoes,
  etc
• Processed Goods
• Canned Goods, Baked Goods

3
Land Size

• Size
• You can start smaller than you may think an acre
  (200x200) can grow a lot
• If limited space, eliminate expansive crops like
  winter squash
• If limited space, eliminate low buck crops like
  corn, potatoes, storage onions, peppers

4
Land Layout

• Layout
• 30 rows wide enough for a 24 tiller
• 5 rows tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash
• 10 rows winter squash, pumpkins
• 50 length so you dont lose hope while weeding
  or picking

5
Land Planting

• Succession Plant less than 25 at a time
• Continuous supply is important for market
• Plants decline as they age
• Care is more manageable In early summer, weeds
  grow like weeds
• Example 2 robust bean plants yields 1 qt of
  beans, 20 plants 10 row 10 quarts _at_ 3 30
• Every week peas, beans, green onions
• Every 2 weeks broccoli, cucumbers, basil
• Every 4 weeks summer squash

6
Land Rotation

• Crop Rotation is important
• Every year you want to move your crops around,
  just like in a home garden
• If you have enough land, plant the same crop in
  two different places just in case weather or
  insects make trouble.
• You can hold some land fallow, planting a cover
  crop - or if your cover crop is weeds, just be
  sure to mow them a few times, and then till
  before they bolt to seed in the late summer.

7
Land Best Use

• Bang for the Buck
• Think productivity strawberries 10,000 per
  acre, non-irrigated corn 2000 per acre
• Think demand products that just arent the same
  in the store like strawberries or tomatoes
• Think labor green beans vs. dried beans,
  tomatoes vs. potatoes
• Think soil carrots in sandy soil vs. carrots in
  heavy soil

8
Land Weed Control

• Weed Control
• Mechanical tiller in between rows
• Accept your fate hand hoe and pull along rows
• Hoe each side of row when plants first emerge
  then after plants are bigger, cultivate aisles.
• Mulch is effective but takes resources
• Mow and later till fallow areas
• Glyphosate (Roundup) and 2-4D are fairly benign
  chemicals for perennial weeds

9
Land Pest Control

• Pest Control
• Potato Bugs - potatoes, eggplant scout
  frequently, hand pick, spinosad is only organic
  spray that works
• Asparagus Beetle Larvae - Sevin or spinosad
• Cabbage Worms - BT powder or spray, or just wash
  well
• Other Bugs - small plantings, multiple plantings,
  move things around

10
Equipment Starting Out

• If I had 3000...
• Rear tine tiller - do not skimp (2000)
• Earthway seeder (100) - accept no substitutes
• Stirrup hoe (10)
• Backpack sprayers - 3 gal, Hudson (50) - or two,
  1 for herbicide, 1 for fertilizer/insecticide
• Greenhouse (300)
• Post hole digger - for transplanting! (250)
• Push mower (250)

11
Equipment Big Time

• If I had 30,000
• Everything in previous slide - really! (3000)
• Tractor (17,000)
• Disk and Plow (1000)
• High Tunnel (3000)
• Cultivator (2000)
• Transplanter (3000)
• Tractor mower (1000)

12
Plants Selection

• Selection
• Focus on market varieties, think twice about
  heirlooms or traditional garden varieties
• Ask fellow growers and extension folks about
  recommendations - go to a conference or two
• MN Fruit and Vegetable Growers - Jan 21-22, St
  Cloud www.mfvga.org
• Midwest Organic - Feb 24-26, La Crosse, WI
  www.mosesorganic.org
• Minnesota Organic - Jan 14-15, St Cloud
  www.mda.state.mn.us/organic/conference

13
Plants Perennials

• Perennials
• Asparagus good sell and long harvest, 3 yrs to
  first harvest, 5 yrs to full harvest, long-lived,
  easy maintenance once established - our
  retirement
• Strawberries easy sell but short harvest, 1 yr
  to full harvest, short-lived (4 yrs), hard to
  keep out weeds, do new plantings every 2 years
• Raspberries harder sell but extended harvest, 1
  yr to full harvest, long lived with moderate
  maintenance

14
Plants Perennial Sources

• Perennial sources
• Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers
  Association group buy strawberries and
  raspberries, www.mfvga.org
• Ag Resources, Detroit Lakes, David Birky, (800)
  288-6650
• Daisy Farms, www.daisyfarms.net

15
Plants Earliest Annuals

• Annuals - Earliest
• Greens high demand, labor intensive
• Radish, Turnip fast and easy
• Green Onions easy, but low demand
• Broccoli yes, Cauliflower no
• Row Covers help a lot, but labor intensive
• High Tunnel helps even more, but costly

16
Plants Early Annuals

• Annuals - Early
• Peas Sugar Snap (edible pod) great seller, Snow
  Peas and Shell Peas sell okay as well
• Summer Squash Zucchini is fastest, 30 days after
  transplant
• Green Beans transplanting will work as well
• Succession planted Broccoli

17
Plants Mid-Season Annuals

• Annuals - Mid Season (August)
• Tomatoes always in demand, careful not to start
  too early
• Sweet Corn unreliable if not irrigated
• Succession green beans and summer squash - steady
  sellers
• Cucumbers sell picklers by the quart, more money
  than by the peck
• Melons are tricky, but sell well

18
Plants Late Season Annuals

• Annuals - Late Season
• Winter squash, brussel sprouts, storage onions,
  potatoes, turnips, beets
• Some produce if close to mature holds well on
  plant in the cold, and if covered in frost green
  beans, zucchini, peppers
• Push the envelope our last plantings of beans
  and zucchini are in early August, plant extra
• Forget peas August heat, mildew, and people
  dont expect them

19
Plants Annual Sources

• Annual Sources - some we like
• Rupp good variety, value, small and large
  quantities minimal catalog, helpful sales reps
  www.ruppseeds.com
• Johnnys regular and organic, reasonable prices
  great catalog www.johnnyseeds.com
• Stokes good variety, more expensive, great
  informative catalog
• Jordan local (Woodbury), professional, good
  reputation and value www.jordanseeds.com

20
Plants More Annual Sources

• Annual Sources - some more we like
• Dixondale onion plants, they really price it to
  get you to buy a case (30 bunches) - thats a lot
  to plant by hand (1800) - see if you can share
  with someone www,dixondalefarms.com
• Menards or Walmart watch for sale on onion sets
  (bulbs), seed packets are cheaper than mail
  order.
• Cub Foods seed potatoes and onion sets (bulbs).
  We get better price on potatoes from Cub than
  mail order - as long as you are fine with their
  varieties

21
Planning and Records Plan

• Planting Plan
• Spreadsheet - helps with date calculations
  (succession planting), sort by plant type for
  data entry, sort by planting date for this
  weeks work
• Estimate harvest date -- later, over years, you
  can fine tune that estimate
• Add actual planting date and other comments as
  you plant the plan
• Keep a copy each year, its a great resource

22
Planning and Records Map

• Field Map
• Start with blank outlines of your field(s)
• Write in what you plant with rows and planting
  date - you will know what's coming up where
• When you first harvest from a row, write a
  harvest date (I circle the date to indicate
  harvest date) - good info for next years plan
• I also like to write a synopsis of the weather
  and growing conditions each half month
• Keep a copy each year, great resource

23
Planning and Records Sales

• Sales Book
• Record what you sell, when you sell, and how much
  it sold for
• We use a spiral bound notebook
• One page for each market day
• One page for home sales, plus balance,
  reconciliation and bank deposits
• Much better than relying on memory of what sold
  well or when, or what prices were last year

24
Parting Thoughts

• Dont quit your day job just yet
• There are tax advantages when starting the farm
  (deductible losses)
• Resist the temptation to buy equipment - keep it
  simple, stuff you still could use if you decide
  not to farm
• Its takes awhile to make even a half living off
  the farm
• Its a lot of work

25
Parting Thoughts

• CSA or Wholesale is your future
• Do Farmers Market first - see if you are cut out
  to farm, sell week after week, and run your own
  business
• CSA or Wholesale sales provide a more steady
  income and customer base - after a few years of
  Farmers market, move into one or the other or
  both.
• CSA is retail, people oriented, Wholesale is
  not some farmers can do only one or the other

26
Parting Thoughts

• Keep it Simple
• Lots of resources on the internet - MN Dept
  Agriculture (sales guidelines), MN Dept of State
  (business guides), MN Dept of Revenue (taxes)
• You can do your own taxes (use a PC tax program)
  and you can hire people (including your children)
  but make sure you research both MN and Federal
  regulations and processes

27
Questions

• Phil Hannay, Trumpeter Swan Farm
• 3612 40th St NE, Buffalo, MN 55313
• cell 612-308-2664
• www.trumpeterswanfarm.com(for copies of this
  presentation and others, go to the Community
  tab)