Farm & Garden - Market Farmer

Fresh Cut Flowers for the Farm Market

Mon, 28 May 2007 02:00:27 -0600

At almost every farm market across the nation there is a long line waiting for the fresh vegetable merchant, but there is also an equally long line waiting for fresh cut flowers and bouquets. This relatively new addition to farm markets comes as a response to a busy lifestyle, smaller gardens to grow flowers and increase disposable income that allows pretty bouquets to be purchased rather than grown. Serving this market requires both knowledge of plants and a decent amount of space. However, large amounts of space are not necessarily required. In Virginia, Robin Seeterlin and Elaine Wood run a market stall called Bloomers where they sell fresh cut flowers that are grown on just one third of an acre.

The Market Hog

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 03:00:45 -0600

Sooner or later, almost every homesteader and many market farmers considers keeping or breeding hogs. They are excellent meat producers, great garden tillers and they make superb garbage disposals. They are also friendly, smart, unbelievably strong and subsequently tough to contain!

The most common route for small farmers is to buy one or two “feeder” pigs. These are pigs that are recently weaned and weigh 40-60 pounds. The pigs are kept until they reach butcher weight of 250 pounds (or more). This generally takes about eight months, depending on feeding practices. Free-range, mostly grass-fed hogs take longer to reach butcher weight, but the meat is much leaner. Corn fed hogs gain very quickly, but much of it is fat.

Schools as Potential Markets for Farmers

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:00:26 -0600

It’s called Farm to School or Farm to Cafeteria. It’s all about getting locally grown food into local school systems. For farmers that are in need of additional markets or are interested in diversification, it may be an ideal situation. The added benefits are that our children get fresh food from their local community, the food dollars stay in our local economies, our communities learn to rely on local sources for food, and it can be made into a very valuable learning experience – for children as well as adults.

There are pitfalls as well. The growing season and the school year don’t coincide and schools are not accustomed to planning their menus according to the season. Schools often require regular deliveries once or twice per week. Schools may require liability insurance that could be cost prohibitive. Children who have grown up relying on convenience foods may not be ready to make a change. These are obstacles but they are certainly not insurmountable.

Selling To Restaurants

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:00:20 -0700

Imagine walking around with a hidden treasure that everyone wants to buy. The only problem is that nobody knows you have it so no one can approach you to give you money. The same holds true for your produce. You have something that chefs desperately want. Unfortunately, they might have no idea who you are or how to contact you.

This past summer I was experiencing a surplus of heirloom tomatoes and decided to look for another couple of restaurants that might be interested in my produce. I drove to a busy college town about 20 minutes from my home and walked into a number of restaurants. At the end of my trip I had three new customers (of the four restaurants I visited) - even though it was early August and I thought the market was saturated with tomatoes. That visit reinforced an impression I had been formulating since I began market gardening: Chefs have surprisingly limited access to high quality local produce. Initiate contact and they will listen.

Collecting Money From Your Customers

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 03:00:47 -0700

There’s more to market gardening than just growing fruit and vegetables.

When I first started selling produce from my market garden I didn’t give much thought to selling. Yes, I did want customers to pay for my produce, but I didn’t really understand the whole invoicing process. Over the last few years I’ve begun to appreciate the importance of having a good system for collecting money and the value of invoicing for record keeping.

Now, I don’t contend that my system is the last word in invoicing, but it works for me. It fits the characteristics of what I consider a successful collection system: It is easy for the grower to understand and use and, most importantly, it facilitates getting the money from the customer to the grower.

Assorted Branches On The Family Tree

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 02:00:00 -0700

Family. There aren’t many words more abstract than family. A household with a mother, father and 2.3 children isn’t a given any more. At my house, it was my parents, my much younger sister (really, she’s much younger, she didn’t pay me to say this. However, if you’re reading this Melissa, you can send the endorsement check…you have my address). When I was a kid my Mum’s side of the family lived no more than two miles away. We lived down the road and around the corner, which was only a half mile, from my grandparents. Down that road and around another corner, and up the hill, lived my uncle and his family. And next door to him, my aunt and cousin. Holidays were always spent together. We took turns going to everyone’s homes on Christmas Eve to see their tree even though we‘d already seen it many times. We ohh’ed and ahh’ed over the tree and the beautifully wrapped presents, ate lots of good food and visited.

Gifts With A Special Touch

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:00:41 -0700

My mother-in-law is a picture taker. Not a photographer, a picture taker. There is a difference. We all know by now that when we go to grandma’s house the hair is to be combed, faces washed and collars straightened because the second we get out of the car –flash – it all starts. Grandma runs out the door armed with the one-use, disposable camera, click, click, click.

We have always lived close to our families, but about four years ago we moved more than four hours away from everyone. Visits are getting few and far between and grandma’s pictures are her gift to us and for herself when we can escape for a weekend. A quick trip to the one-hour-photo up the street, double prints, and we have a trunk load of copies to take home!

End of Season Tool Care

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 03:00:56 -0600

Summer is coming to a close, the leaves are turning gorgeous oranges and reds, the garden is dying back and I can finally see the driveway again since all the corn is harvested. Taking a look at the tools I have used and slightly neglected through the growing season makes me want to cringe and walk the other way or throw them in the garage and forget about them until next spring.

Keeping and Maintaining Stock of Your Stock

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 03:00:52 -0600

The husbandry of caring for and providing for livestock is a very noble matter and time-honored tradition. From the domestication of animals many generations ago up to this very day, we provide feed, shelter, and care for animals in a manner that nourishes the animals needs as well as provide food and enjoyment for ourselves. Furthermore, it can be said that the care of animals allows for our own growth as caretakers of this great Earth and her beings. Whether you raise cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, or any other animal from Ole’ McDonalds’ farm, a basic set of needs must be met. Shelter, food, veterinary care, and supervision must be provided.

Understanding The USDA Hardiness Zones

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 03:00:30 -0600

The USDA zones are too often misunderstood. As a result of the misunderstanding, they’re often misused. Let’s clear up the confusion.

The USDA zones break the United States into 11 individual zones. There is a 10° difference in zones. Each zone tells us the annual average coldest temperature in that area. Since the coldest temperature happens in the winter, zones have nothing to do with the crops you grow only in spring, summer or fall.

Organic Pest Control

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 01:00:44 -0600

The thought of having to control pests organically seems to intimidate a lot of people. Myth has it that we don't use pesticides or herbicides. There are visions of us out in the field picking bugs off plants for hours on end. Sure, we do hand-pick some pests, and that works well at times, but that's not all we do. Let's clear these things up and discover how simple organic pest control really can be.

Barriers

It's easy to protect a lot of plants from pests. Floating row cover is a great tool in pest control. I use Agribon because it's light weight but still tough enough to last two years with proper care. Some pests, like flea beetles and the hairy chinch bug, overwinter in the soil. Placing a row cover over plants affected by them won't stop these pests but it can help keep others from moving in. Row covers also help prevent insect borne diseases by limiting the amount of pests that attack a plant. Don't forget to remove row cover when plants that don't self pollinate are in bloom. Pollinators need access to the plants.

A Quick and Simple Hoop House

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 23:21:09 -0600

Our growing season is very short. As a market farmer with a limited number of frost-free growing days, I need to get started as early as possible in the spring and continue growing late into the fall. Additional growing time increases my gross income. This year, I'm hoping to be able to harvest cold-hardy greens into December in our three hoop houses. We built the first one in 2005 and the second and third this spring. I don't happen to have a few thousand extra dollars hanging around in the spring, and I wanted more hoops now. We built the two new hoops quickly and easily. They aren't meant to last forever and we don't expect the length of production time to be as long as a large, permanent structure, but we're sure they'll serve their purpose well.

Garden Layout

Mon, 22 May 2006 03:00:18 -0600

Every winter I dig out the previous years’ garden layouts. My memory isn’t good enough to recall what went where and when so it has to be written down. I keep written notes and sketches. Crop rotation is important to a successful, sustainably raised market garden. I get out the charts that show me which vegetables can and should follow others. What I hadn’t put enough thought into is a more productive garden layout. It’s time.

Visions of Farmers’ Markets Danced In My Head

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:00:58 -0600

Ashtabula County, Ohio, is catching up with the rest of the country. It has grown from one farmers’ market to three in just the past two years. Once you could travel any road and find a family farm selling fruit and vegetables. But like .25¢ a gallon gas, the roadside stand is gone for the most part.

Heritage Breed Livestock – A Growing Part of Sustainable Farming

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:00:55 -0700

A while ago my wife and I landed on 250 acres of farm land that had been all but abandoned for a generation. I quickly set up Bailey Cattle Company, LLC and went to work rebuilding fences, improving pastures, and plowing up fields. As the son of a commercial cattle rancher, I knew all about farming and raising livestock. I also knew that 250 acres was too big to ignore, yet too small to support a commercial livestock operation. I began looking for an efficient new use for the land.