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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Joel Salatin advocates a better way to raise food

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Joel Salatin advocates a better way to raise food
  • Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:46:05 -0700


Okay, you asked ;-) -- trying to be brief, we plan on what will sell best in
two busy upscale markets each week. On the idea that people buy mostly
certain kinds of familiar produce and not others, and Wal-Mart shoppers look
for bargains that would cut our profit margins in half. One is near Santa Fe
but we get higher prices than growers at the famous Santa Fe market. Within
those limits we attract repeat customers by offering better varieties of
those kinds of produce and call it Gourmet Gardens. The tomatoes are our
globe shaped strain of Genovese and good as they get, $4 to $5 a pound. Sweet
peppers are Giant Marconi, nobody's tasted them before and they bring $1.00
each. Pole beans are long flat Italian yellow or green. Potatoes are Yukon
Gold. Carrots are Scarlet Nantes. Colossal garlic, shallots, Butternut and
Delicata winter squash. Avoiding things that spoil if not sold quickly like
salad greens, to cut losses, and cheapest things like zuchinni & cucumbers.
We're working on adding potted culinary herbs they can grow and dried herbs
for teas etc. esp lemon verbena, French tarragon, Italian oregano, mints. My
partner sets an attractive display and offers samples to get peoples'
attention, and above all she talks to people. They can't get that in the
store. We see competition as a good thing, not bad, because it brings in more
customers to the markets. Both markets are an hour drive each way and we have
to sell really fast for four hours to make it worth our time.

No hoop houses. I've built a couple woodframe 18'x48' greenhouses for
tomatoes & peppers to extend season. Not a trained carpenter so it's simple
but time consuming. Polytack 1" strip stapled over 6 ml UV plastic to 2 x4
lumber. Boards make framed beds inside. I string clothesline around vertical
2x4s to tie tomato vines up. Ventilation is by $20 (price has gone up)
thermostat fans with louvers that fall shut when off. I open windows on
opposite sides but leave them open in summer. No added heat. We get high
winds so bottoms are anchored with treated post & beam in cemented holes.
Outside garden is all fenced with framed beds and drip from a well that was
here. No tiller or chemicals anywhere. It's all a lot less invesment than
most other market growers and all covers less than 1/4 acre. It's
Biointensive without the double digging, based on a lot of reading. There's a
lot more trial and error than I'd care to admit tho. I didn't get carrots and
squash in early enough last season to beat an unexpected plague of
grasshoppers. We should have put in perennial berries four years ago. Keep
all the mulch and free amendments on hand ahead of time. Of course methods
vary in different climates and markets. We'd do better in Missouri!

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 12/28/2009 at 7:43 PM Charles wrote:

>Paul, I was wondering what do you grow to sell at the farmers market to
>supplement your income and do you have hoop houses or anything else out of
>the ordinary to get your produce to market?
>
>I'm 60 myself and still working but looking ahead.
>
>Thanks, Charlie, gardening in St. Charles County, Missouri
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
>[mailto:livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Tradingpost
>Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 4:18 PM
>To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Joel Salatin advocates a better way to raise
>food
>
>






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