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  • From: John Ferree <john AT seldomseenfarm.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] head lettuce growers
  • Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:03:29 -0500

i just did a week by week comparison. we're able to get ~24 weeks of
salad mix, at worst heads would be around 22. second cuts are ok in
spring and fall, but july-early sept they are awful. for 1375sf we're
getting ~150# avg/week. the total cost of salad mix is pretty high. . .
we're cutting/processing at 10-15#/hr depending on the quality of plants
in the field. i would imagine that heads require much less labor, so
net would be higher.

summer salad mix is probably the root of my frustration. yields drop
significantly, and we end up supplying resturaunts first (low $) and
shorting our markets. we're running drip only for lettuce. overhead
irrigation might help, but our aquifer won't let us. (20gpm on a 100'
well)

hmm. . . i played with salad mix out of 1020's. i just used peat and a
fertilizer charge. the quality was good if it wasn't planted too
densely. problems i saw. . . baby brassicas are easier (for us) in the
field. and the cost of peat was too high, and if done on a large scale
would require a ton of space. hydroponics would certainly take the peat
cost out of the picture. I have heard of hydro growers using a 'film'
instead of flats. this would be burlap or burlap like rooting
structure, and carry the water to the plants. haven't played with it
myself. i'd be interested too in a better way for baby lettuces in
winter, but need to find a cheap (ie mostly free) way to heat the gh in
the winter.

Bill:
yeah, i think iceberg is out. i'd probably do a mix of varieties/types
depending on the season.

john

maury sheets wrote:
>
> John,
>
>
>
> Did you figure in the time each spends growing? I do both spring mix
> and head lettuce. My spring mix is ready to cut in about four weeks.
> The head lettuce takes longer. The spring mix is ready to cut again
> in one week for many more cuttings. The head lettuce once cut does
> not have another cutting until the next planting is ready.
>
>
>
> I sell my spring mix for $3.75 to $4.00 for a third pound bag all
> winter in the Philly farmers markets. I get $2.50 for small heads of
> lettuce. With the cut and come again, I think the mix has it over
> heads per square foot since I usually get 5 to 6 ounces per cutting
> from a 1020 flat grown hydroponically (I have not actually calculated
> the difference including the time frame, so I could be wrong). I
> would also like to hear from others doing this type of operation.
>
>
>
> Maury
>
> logo email small Sustainbable agriculture in southern New Jersey
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of John Ferree
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 7:10 PM
> To: Market Farming
> Subject: [Market-farming] head lettuce growers
>
>
>
> hey. . .
>
> i was running some spreadsheets today. . . we're growing primarily
>
> lettuce mix, but I ran a comparison for the same area for heads.
>
> for 1375 sf of salad mix we're doing ~1125$ avg sales. for the same
>
> area in head lettuce we would be producing 825 heads (5'centers 3 rows,
>
> 12" between)
>
> at 2.50/head (what we sell heads for - but rarely have them) the return
>
> is much greater - 2062$. SO - why am i spending 4x the labor on salad
>
> mix when heads are less labor intensive?
>
>
>
> what's the spectrum of price on heads? here (indianapolis) the
>
> conventional head lettuce guy is selling for 1.75/head. (still higher
>
> than my salad mix returns) and that seems really cheap. i don't
>
> frequent wild oats, but would expect 2-3.50 is standard. when i
>
> started out i said, 'there's no way i'm growing salad mix. . . it's too
>
> labor intensive.' hehehe. to rival the 2062$ from heads I would have
>
> to charge 14$/#, twice our current average price! better sell it in
>
> *small* bags.
>
>
>
> thanks to everyone with the AC G ideas. . . i really like the g's setup,
>
> but am beginning to realize that keeping it up and finding parts may be
>
> a long term PITA. oh well.
>
>
>
>
>
> john
>
>
>
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