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Subject: Market Farming
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Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix
- From: "breck" <bcarden AT breckinridgegroup.com>
- To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix
- Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:28:53 -0400
Bill, I really appreciate the extensive and very informative
post. I’ve never harvested individual leaves for my customers; thinking
it would be too labor intensive. Are you snapping off outer leaves? Thanks, Farmer
Breck Breck Carden Carden’s Garden 2400 E Hwy 22 From:
market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of BillOhio Hi Breck, I do have a day job and also have a medical transcription service which
sometimes requires computer time when I'd more-conveniently be preparing for
market. We do not have a cool room yet, though that keeps circulating in the
wishlist...We get to market about 7:15 and it's 32 miles, so we're leaving ~
6:30 or so. All of that said, the primary reasons I pick the lettuce late are
because customers like buying lettuce that is less than 10 hours old; the
"moonlight lettuce" slogan catches their imagination somewhat, with a
little help from me; the quality visibly improves by picking it after the heat
of the day is past during the later part of the season; and, with my time
constraints the day before market, it's the easiest crop to harvest in
semi-darkness. We keep the produce in coolers on ice with towels to prevent
freezer burn, with small amounts of each on display. We sell in stuffed,
open-ended gallon bags @ $4.50 a bag, which is a bit over a pound. I'll have
some bags made up, but customers are free to specify what types they like and
how much they want. I've sold a leaf or three to people walking by with a
hamburger, and chances are they come back next week to get a full bag. 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. I'm starting the seed in
plug flats, then potting up once for the early spring plantings to get a jump
on the season, or just setting out the plugs later on. Gives me good control of
spacing, gets a jump on the weeds, and there isn't any need to thin. Lettuce
seed goes a LONG way when you're only putting 200 plants, or thereabouts, in a
12-foot bed. Beds have compost added. I use drip irrigation. Soil is As far as varieties go, I went through the Fedco catalog on New Year's
Eve (typical wild party at the Huhman home, and it got the expense on the 2008
tax year) and got packages of what sounded interesting. Red is really popular,
but standbys like Black-Seeded Simpson, Salad Bowl and Buttercrunch are my
mainstays. I pick everything as leaf lettuce, including head lettuce and
romaine types, and put it all into the bag. Also some arugula and whatever else
I've got available. I've got 23 varieties growing now, hopefully to be ready by
next Saturday's market. When the planets align correctly and the gods smile, (and I get
motivated), I'll get an early crop planted under low tunnels in February and
have a crop by early April, sometimes with snow on the tunnels. Usually, when I
show up end of April with lettuce to sell, I'm the only vendor there with
anything green, other than asparagus, and life is good. I've been accused of
bringing it up from If I were farming full-time, I'd do things differently, but I'm not. I
think we all have to adapt what we do to where we're at, and then fine-tune our
practices to best meet customer expectations and profit maximization. Breck, i hope this makes sense! I need to go see if the bees have
finally capped any honey ... we've been dry this year and the honey crop is
pretty slim. Bill Huhman central twitter: FarmerBillOhio On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 9:47 AM, breck <bcarden AT breckinridgegroup.com>
wrote: Hi
there Bill, I have a few questions if you don’t mind. Why
are you picking the night before? Day job? No refrigeration? Morning market?
Better product? How
do you display/package/price? What
is your estimate of quantity on that 10X10’ = 100 s/f harvest. In
general what types of lettuce ore you growing? Thanks, Farmer
Breck Breck
Carden Carden’s
Garden 2400 E
Hwy 22 |
-
[Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
Chris Corbin, 09/14/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
BillOhio, 09/19/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
breck, 09/19/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
BillOhio, 09/20/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
jay sleichter, 09/20/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix, BillOhio, 09/25/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
michelle rome, 09/20/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix, Richard Stewart, 09/20/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
breck, 09/20/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix, BillOhio, 09/28/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix, Richard Stewart, 09/20/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
David Inglis, 09/20/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix, Barking Cat Farm, 09/22/2009
-
[Market-farming] Salad Mix Harvesting,
Barking Cat Farm, 09/24/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Salad Mix Harvesting, Beth Spaugh, 09/28/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
jay sleichter, 09/20/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
BillOhio, 09/20/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
breck, 09/19/2009
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
SaladG, 09/28/2009
-
[Market-farming] Seed suppliers,
MAsteveINE, 09/29/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Seed suppliers, Don Lareau, 09/29/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Seed suppliers, E C GRANATA, 09/29/2009
-
[Market-farming] Seed suppliers,
MAsteveINE, 09/29/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Planting methods for Salad mix,
BillOhio, 09/19/2009
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