Growing For Market

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

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

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

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 don’t lose hope while weeding or picking

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 @ $3 = $30 – Every week: peas, beans, green onions – Every 2 weeks: broccoli, cucumbers, basil – Every 4 weeks: summer squash

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.

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 aren’t 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

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

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

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)

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 don’t expect them

Plants: Annual Sources

• Annual Sources - some we like – Rupp: good variety, value, small and large quantities; minimal catalog, helpful sales reps; www.ruppseeds.com

– Johnny’s: 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

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) - that’s 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

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 week’s 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, it’s a great resource

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 year’s plan – I also like to write a synopsis of the weather and growing conditions each half month – Keep a copy each year, great resource

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

Parting Thoughts

• Don’t 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 – It’s a lot of work

Parting Thoughts

• CSA or Wholesale is your future – Do Farmer’s 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 Farmer’s 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

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

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)