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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Tillage is tillage

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  • From: "Sharon and Steve" <shopkins AT tdstelme.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tillage is tillage
  • Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 17:31:24 -0500


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I've relocated and have to start over at the age of 63, but what I'm doing
or not doing shouldn't convince anyone to risk time and capital with my
exact methods.
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Well, I have a couple of years on you and find what you have here very interesting.
==========================================
Starting over with
back trouble doesn't sound promising. And if and when I ever quit learning,
the only thing I'll be good for is pushing up daisies. Even if I could
claim to be an expert it wouldn't make any difference since experts are
notorious for disagreeing.
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With aching back and bad front, my close work in the garden is on hands and knees, stuff in the greenhouse on the cement floor is done on a milk crate with wheels added. Lots of my lettuce and greens last year were done in 16" x 24" styrofoam grape boxes which I can plant or transplant and harvest while standing or sitting at brnches both inside and outside the greenhouse.
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I mentioned Eliot Coleman because he's got 30 years of growing behind him
and succeeded financially, growing sustainably without power equipment or
chemicals, on a miniscule area of land in a harsh climate. That ought to be
an example worth investigating.
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I have been to Colemans several time doing some work on greenhouses there...........about 5 years ago. He and Barbara are master crafts persons in everyting that I have seen them do, just look at their web site and keep reminding yourself that everything they do is as neat, clean, consice, and efficient as what you see there.
With a dozen years on the road working most of the U.S. doing greenhouse stuff I have found that financial success is seldom visable. I would suggest that before I point to anyone, I should consider the things in evidence like book sales, writing, consulting, personal appearences, and then I would be left guessing what they had in their pockets before they started. Frankly I prefer not to go there, taint none of my business.
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I thought it very odd that no one here
asked how does he do it, how can he succeed on such small acreage, how can
he make any money without tractors and other equipment.
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There are tractors and equipment ar Colemans, and his latest soil prep tool is battery electric powered.
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Those would seem to
be the obvious questions, esp when a large percent of produce growers need
an outside job just to pay bills and support their growing operation. And
the common wisdom for decades has been "get big or get out" (as Earl Butz
declared).
I've come to the opinion that "Fresh-market organic produce, small scale"
is the ticket to sustainable and financially viable growing, and that
building healthy soil in permanent beds with intensive, optimum close
planting and interplanting can suppress weeds without herbicides or
excessive weeding (with mulch as needed), and get by far the best
production from available space while cutting costs per unit of production.
And proven season extension techniques without machinery expense improves
the bottom line even further.
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I would be surprised ( perhaps ever pleasantly surprised) if you could show me the numbers where labor is cheaper than machinery in crop production. Further, I see nothing in your above production system that cant be done on 100 hp scale. Though I now spend time crawling about weeding, when I had a bride and 3 little ones to feed I much preferred pushing 4 row cultivators over 30 acres a day.
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It appears these principles are widely
demonstrated as workable, but putting them into practice means a lot of
variations for different climates, soils, and markets.
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Workable, at what scale? Whats the pay scale for a guy with a hand hoe and a pitch fork?
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MAsteveINE





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