New Market Gardeners - advise on equipment

[GarthH]

We want to start up a market garden - maybe 2 acres this year and growing to 20.

We have a L3940 Kubota tractor so we are looking for 3 pt hitch equipment. To start I suspect our best option is a push type seeder like Jang or Earthworks - do you have experience with either?

I was looking at drip tape as our primary way to irrigate. It looks effective but maybe always in the way for weeding? The central sprinklers might work but the broad coverage seems to promote weed growth. I noticed a video on youtube today about subsurface irrigation from John Deere - I suspect it is not available in our area and looked expensive. Any suggestions?

For weeding I have noticed some 3 pt machines that have a person sitting on it and controlling the rotating weeders. Has anyone tried them? Is there any other suggestions otherthan chemicals?

How about harvesters - I think our large production crops will be carrots and onions.

Hopefully a good subject as it is a cold windy day in the Cdn Prairies.

Thanks to all for your input

Garth

 

[randy41]

i am a market gardener. have you identified markets? where will you sell what you grow? can the market handle more carrots and onions? to me this is what you need to know at the outset. when you know the market and know what will sell then you can equip yourself to grow those crops. And you have to decide on a growing system. beds/ raised beds/ field, etc. or a combo of them.
i have an earthway seeder and it does a good job with the larger seeds (beans and peas for example) but not so well with small seeds. I use a 4 row pinpoint seeder for carrots, onions, lettuce, etc. i got it from johnny's seeds.
You can mulch to cut back on weeding. limit tilling to prevent from uncovering more weed seeds.
As with everything else, there's tons of info on this subject on the www. market gardening is good way to work yourself hard and make a little bit if money. you have to LOVE the work or you will burn out fast. good luck.

 

[corl]

That is a lot of questions. I am a small scale market gardener Nunamaker Farms - Nunamaker Farms in West Grove, Pennsylvania - Home and have used the earth way planter for a number of years. Wouldn't want to use it on 20 acres. Works OK for most seeds but the seed plates often plant too many seeds. Can close off some holes if necessary. The most important thing about planting vegetables is to have a market for what you produce. Sounds easy but it takes planning.

 

[motownbrowne]

My suggestion would be to spend some time on a couple of operations that are of a similar size ideally in your area. You will learn More there than you ever could in writing. Also, moses, Midwest Organic and Sustainability Education Services is a great organization based in Wisconsin. Acres USA is great too. Elliott Coleman's books are good too. I agree with Randy on everything he said, hard work with a small income. Gotta love it to do it. Carrots can be direct seeded, but onions? Not sure how a seeder will help with that. You could look at water wheel transplanters. We have friends who farm produce on 6-15 acres, they have transplanters, several tractors including cultivating tractors, but when they see our 1.5 acre market garden they can't believe how clean (weed free) it is. They also don't believe that we can gross 40k in sales on that plot, but it's possible. We keep overhead low, plant by hand mostly, irrigate with t-tape mulch with poly mulch and chopped straw (patz small bale chopper is our most expensive implement). Also, chickens are KEY to our operation. They give us most of our fertility in addition to reducing tillage.

One more thing, test your soil.

Good luck.

 

[motownbrowne]

We use an old planet junior seeder, and a stanhay. The stanhay is very pricey, but very good. I've seen them bolted on a drawbar to make a multi row planter.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I too market garden for big seed squash,zucchini,corn,beans peas and okra I use a one row Covington with a fertilizer attachment. TP 46 unit. This spring I'm looking at a JP 3 Jang push/drawbar mount rig. I had been making furrows with a notched plate on the rear of my tiller gate. I use lots of mulch either ground leaves pine needles or composted manure.
I would like th e rotary Regi seeder but it's cost prohibited for me to buy one. May have to Chinese engineer one. They use hay rake teeth. They made one that had plow feet way back 50 years ago for Cub Farmalls and AC tractors. I mow crops in fall and then turn everything under with a turning plow. Then round up all the old leaves from town and put 8 to 12inches of leaves down and till them in.

Makes a nice loose soil. I also will skip a couple rows or section in each garden and layer it with leaves and other organics with a light till in every few weeks. I don't have that to farm but it makes a nice fertile strip the next season. I'd also recommend an old Handy or EZ Flow drop spreader for lime or basic slag dropping.

 

[GarthH]

i am a market gardener. have you identified markets? where will you sell what you grow? can the market handle more carrots and onions? to me this is what you need to know at the outset. when you know the market and know what will sell then you can equip yourself to grow those crops.

Thank you all for the great posts. Yes we certainly have a big concern regarding a market and the amount of work. We have talked to the local ag rep who does say it is a challenge. We do plan on trying something small and see if we can find a market, we have many in mind but can't really find out until we have something to sell. We expect this year will be some give aways without much revenue. Our area does import almost all of the produce - over 80%. There are many many hurdles. We have a good population base close to us so we will need to do some work at attracting the customers. We are also looking at some of the seniors complexes - they will usually buy local if its priced competitvely and meets their standards. If we fail the food bank will get the rest.

If we can find a market we will slowly expand the acres and then we will look at other seeders - many of the local market gardens do use the Stanhay but they don't really have anything for a push type

Motown that is pretty amazing on an 1 1/2 acres!

If you think of anything else I am all ears.

Garth

 

[corl]

The Stanhay 820 is a hand push belt seeder, but the earthway seeder is lots less expensive to start out with. Direct Local food (directlocalfood.com) is a group that is organizing to help small farmers find markets. They may be of help to you. Good luck!

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I started the Farmers Market last year with great success. Before that we sold from our home but the Framers Market has a lot more foot traffic and we actually tripled our sales.

Each year we plan to expand our product offering with additional veggies and this year we are offering dried herbs and homemade soaps.

Everyone has given good advice. The weeds are always a problem but it depends on how much time you have to weed the garden. When you get over an acre it can take an excessive amount of time. I have looked at the weeder you mentioned and I think it would work good for certain crops but don't know the cost.

I have seen the drip tape used by burying it next to the crops but have no experience. If you do this method you could lay newspaper next to the crops and cover with straw or just use other types of mulches.

This year we found a great deal on a used plastic mulch layer for a compact tractor that I believe will save me 75% of my labor weeding. Because of this we will plant 3 total acres but not all on mulch.

You may want to consider offering a wider variety than onions and carrots, however I don't know your market. Last year at our market I made note of what was being sold and what customers were actually buying. This year I have added several things I think should sell good.

One thing we will offer early this year is a salad ready mix, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, radish, onion, mix sold as a 2-4 person meal. Or they can buy separate.

I would look for equipment that will make you money by producing more crops or by saving time.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Motownbrown what do you grow on the 1.5ac?

David

 

[motownbrowne]

We grow 25 different crops, and market almost exclusively wholesale. Also, we are organic, so get a premium price. We also use two 14x88' high tunnels, or hoop houses. Our money makers are bunching greens (kale) salad mix, full sized lettuce, and tomatoes. Also, any chance we have to throw in an extra planting of scallions, or cilantro after a short season crop is done and before we plant cover crop, we do it. If the truck is going out, we try to maximize what's on it.