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Posts Tagged ‘early’

Early Crops, Early Revenue

April 19th, 2010
DeepSeeded Community Farm | Blog

While my main sales outlet at DeepSeeded Farm is my CSA program, I have planted a number of early crops for Farmers Markets as well. These crops bring in revenue early in the season, and they also help me market my CSA shares. This year, through a combination of coldframe space and fall-prepped, early spring planted outdoor beds, I am now harvesting butter lettuce, spinach, salad turnips, carrots, potatoes, baby bok choi, and (soon) zucchini and sunflowers. I’ll also have an early harvest (late May) of coldframe onions, outdoor peas, and outdoor carrots that will allow for a more robust start to my CSA season.

The colframe crops are easy to grow, but the space is expensive. The early outdoor beds are less expensive in terms of materials, but take a good bit of extra work. So, is it worth it? I don’t have good numbers for cost of production, so I can’t really evaluate the profitability, but I can sell almost everything I produce this early, and for a higher price. Here’s a breakdown of revenues per 100’ bed:

Coldframe:

Butter Lettuce -350 heads @ $2.25 average = $790

Bunching Spinach -170 bunches @ $2.50 average = $425

Salad Turnips -220 bunches @ $2.60 average = $570

Carrot Bunches -250 bunches @ 2.25 average = $560

New Potatoes -400 lbs @ $2.00 average = $800

Sunflowers (med-large) - 300 @ $1.50 = $450

Zucchini - 530 lbs (over 8 weeks) @ $1.80 average = $955 (but in this time frame I could instead have a whole 2nd crop of radishes or cilantro or arugula)

Outdoor (2 weeks later than coldframe):

Butter Lettuce -350 heads @ $2.00 = $700

Bunching Spinach - 150 bunches @ $2.50 average = $375

Baby Bok Choi bunches - 260 bunches @ $2.50 = $650

As you can see, some crops are more lucrative than others. But.. the diversity makes sales easier. If my entire coldframe was in lettuce, I would likely have to find wholesale outlets that would not give me as high of a price. As soil fertility and my production techniques improve I may see higher yields and higher revenues, but for right now, it’s just great to have some money coming in. Here’s some pics:

Butter lettuce in coldframe (transplanted mid-February)

Tags: markets, revenue, early, season extension, coldframe

Posted in: Farm Financials

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First Farmer’s Market of 2010

April 7th, 2010
DeepSeeded Community Farm | Blog

The Humboldt County farmer’s market season began this last Saturday with a special early market at the Plan-it-Green conference in Arcata. It was fun getting back to into that social dynamic that is unique to farmer’s markets, and of course it is good to have another stream of revenue early in the season. We had a nice spread, combining winter storage crops, overwintered crops, and early greenhouse crops. Folks were happy to once again have access to super-fresh veggies, and I sold nearly everything I brought!

The conference was a great one as well. The Plan it Green conference is a great learning opportunity and networking event on the broad topic of building green communities. This year’s them was “Local Self Reliance - making connections”, and one of the focuses was on local food systems. I had the opportunity to present on a panel that took a broad view of the current state of our local food systems and highlighted opportunities for enhancement. Sara Mosser, a local planner, spoke about policies that support local food systems (like Community Food Assessments) and gave many examples of innovative projects being undertaken by communities around the country. Melanie Patrick, representing our local CAFF chapter, spoke about food distribution models both past and present and provided insight into how we can help local producers connect with local institutions like schools and hospitals. I spoke about accessing farmland, and about promoting “food literacy” so that all our citizens can become more comfortable growing, purchasing, and cooking local, whole foods.

The conference drew in over 1,000 people, and it was great to see fellow Freshman Farmer Dustin Dougherty there (see his good blog posting, too!).

Tags: market, conference, early, overwinter, Plan it Green, Local Food System

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Hurry Up & Wait

March 2nd, 2010
DeepSeeded Community Farm | Blog

With the greenhouse work completed for the moment, I find myself waiting for the next dry stretch. In the last few breaks in the weather, we were able to weed garlic & strawberries, begin fruit tree planting, and plant out the remainder of our extra-early beds. I had prepped and mulched over some beds in the fall, and we have just finished seeding, transplanting, and row-covering these beds. There are two successions of peas and carrots that will likely be ready for the first CSA shares… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: carrots, lettuce, peas, soil, greenhouses, early beds, dry

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Getting an Early Start

January 17th, 2010
DeepSeeded Community Farm | Blog

Getting an early harvest is often a real plus for farmers. The prices for the produce are higher, and boosting the diversity of your early farmer’s market table can attract customers and draw sales. For my CSA, getting an extra-early start on some of the longer-maturing crops means that I can begin sooner in the year with a good spread by matching them with later-planted short season crops. Getting that early harvest usually also means putting in some extra work. One of the techniques… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: carrots, peas, plastic mulch, early harvest, raised beds

Posted in: How-To Tips & Tricks

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Early Frost!

October 4th, 2009
DeepSeeded Community Farm | Blog

It’s been unseasonably cold these last few days, and last night there was actually frost on parts of the farm. The summer squash, winter squash, and cucumbers were all near each other in a low-laying part of the farm, and they were all burned by the freeze. They were already fading, but this sealed the deal for them. My last succession of snap beans is up the slope a bit at the east end of the field, and they didn’t get touched by the frost. Those microclimates make a difference!… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: cucumbers, frost, early, microclimates

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WA Weather - Wet

March 26th, 2009
Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm | Blog

bed prep for onions/leeks transplants under agribond (notice the plastic is blown off our row cover) snow in March Farming in the wonderful Pacific Northwest is a good way to become mental. We love it; the weather really keeps things interesting and your “plans” ever changing. Here in Washington State it rains in spring. We are hunters and hopefuls for a mildly sunny, dry day. Last season in a single day we experienced sun, rain, sleet, and snow. This year back in February we experienced… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: arugula, cabbage, cover crop, garlic, heirloom tomatoes, leeks, lettuce, march, onions, peas, radishes, spinach, Kales, Salad Greens, Pac Choy, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Broccoli Raab, row covers, 5 row seeder, eliot coleman, early spring

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Saturday off the farm

October 6th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Most farmers live where they farm. So, inevitably, they are at the farm every day. I’m a solid 20 minute drive from Wildgrace home base, so, like today, I’m not going to the farm. I went to market this morning, and it was great, despite the rain. We have lots of solid character up here, so rain doesn’t keep the people away. However, there were many fewer vendors this week. I’m spending the afternoon resting, enjoying reading emails, writing this blog post. On Sunday… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: cal early garlic, cal late garlic, garlic, german extra hardy garlic, hardneck, hardneck garlic, living, market, music garlic, resting, softneck, softneck garlic

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Midsummer

July 16th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

This is a fun time of year. The CSA has rounded out to 30 members, and I like it there. We have 14 weeks left, so not quite halfway, but close. The tomatoes are producing well, and the heirlooms are making there way into the public scene. As for tomatoes, we are growing “early girl”, of course, but we also have green zebra, black zebra, pruden’s purple, cherokee purple, black from tula and striped german. They all produce fairly well, at least at the farm, even though their… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: Black From Tula, black zebra, cantaloupe, Cherokee Purple, CSA, early girl, green zebra, heirloom, melon, members, pruden's purple, Striped German, tomatoes

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July 8th

July 8th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

We’ve been picking tomatoes heavy for a few weeks now. The Early Girls were the first the come, then an open pollinated (not Monsanto) version of Big Beef. Now the heirlooms are rolling in: Pruden’s Purple, Cherokee Purple, Black From Tula, Striped German, and Green Zebra (not technically an heirloom, or so they say…whoever they are). There are tons of fruit, quite literally, on the 650 or so tomato plants. And a lot are ripening really well. The total growth… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: and Green Zebra, big beef, Black From Tula, brix mix, Cherokee Purple, corn, early girls, pruden's purple, Striped German, tomatoes

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Three farms are starting from scratch.

They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.

Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.

The Farm Blogs

Freshman:
New Farms Coming Soon!
Sophomores:
	Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA
	Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT
	Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA
Graduates:
	Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA
	DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA
	Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA
	EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO
	Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA
	Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA
	Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA
	Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA
	Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA
	Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA