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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix

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  • From: "David Inglis" <mhcsa AT verizon.net>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix
  • Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:10:34 -0400

Bill,

Wouldn’t that be 3 beds [@ 50 sq.ft]and therefore $900 / 150 [not 50 sq.ft] = $6.00/sq.ft [not $18]over five weeks or $1.20/sq.ft/week? That is still a very decent number especially for a short term crop.

To compare crops I like to get a yield figure that is divided by time in the ground not just harvest period. I then factor in [subtract] any time spent on the crop that I have to get off the tractor for and seedling costs. The big problem with this approach for me is that I am a csa and therefore don’t sell by the pound; so it’s a guesstimate.

With most crops this has led me to a system where I grow almost everything in two rows per bed that I weed one row at a time [basket weeder/Williams tine weeder, then a  bezzerides torsion weeder with side knives then Bezz’ spring hoe with side knives] because once I get off my tractor [except to harvest] profits dwindle rapidly. The only exceptions to this are greens planted on very clean beds [6 x 8” rows] and early greens under row cover or the greenhouse. I am working on a precision 6 row weeding set up but until that happens intensive plantings would commit me to intensive hand labor.

Unless your land base is very limited then labor is your main cost and often high density planting lose their yield advantage once you factor in taking care of the crop as intensively as the planting. They are also less forgiving of suboptimal conditions [fertility and water]. Having said that,  precise tractor based weeding is a also management/knowledge intensive and initially expensive. Its chief advantage is that it is scalable.

I like your ‘you wash it’ approach though I wouldn’t be handing out hamburger lettuce at market. I ‘sell’ all my produce as rinsed but not table ready but this does not prevent many of my CSA members grazing as they pick up their ‘share’. Oh well.

All the best.

Dave

 

Dave Inglis

www.mahaiweharvest.com

Berkshire County,

Massachusetts

-----Original Message-----
From:
market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of BillOhio
Sent:
Sunday, September 20, 2009 9:16 AM
To:
Market Farming
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix

 

This past spring I was harvesting from 3 beds each 4x12' or roughly 50 square feet. We were selling 40-45 gallon bags per week for 5 weeks, I think. Sooooo, 40 bags x 5 pickings x $4.50 / 50 square feet = $18 per square foot total, or $3.60 per square foot per week, after which we rotate the bed into summer production. We also sell spinach, either alone or in the mix. Every year we say we're going to extend into summer lettuce, and every year other things take precedence...sigh. 

 

 




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