intensive vegetable production on a small scale 2016 pam dawling ssawg

Intensive Vegetable Productionon a Small Scale©Pam Dawling 2016

Twin Oaks Community, Central VirginiaAuthor of Sustainable Market FarmingSustainableMarketFarming.com facebook.com/

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http://www.sustainablemarketfarming.com/

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Twin Oaks Community Gardens

What’s in This PresentationPart 2 – Feed the Soil

Healthy soilsCrop rotationsCover cropsCompost making (& growing)Organic mulches

Part 1 – Planning and Record-keepingWhy and how12 steps of planningSuccession crop scheduling

Part 3 - Year Round ProductionDirect sowingTransplantingCrop spacingEfficient production strategiesSeason extension, crop

protection Cold-hardy winter vegetables Pests Diseases Weeds Harvest and maturity Part 4 - Resources

Part 1 Planning and Record Keeping• Why plan?• How to plan? • 12 steps of planning

1. How much money2. Which markets3. Which crops4. Harvest schedule5. How much to plant6. Field planting schedule7. Seedling/transplant schedule8. Maps9. Packing more in10. Tweak11. Plan B12. Next year’s better plan

See my slideshowCrop Planning for

Sustainable Vegetable Production

on SlideShare.net

Part 1 Planning and Record Keeping

Why Plan? On-farm Rewards҉)Plan in the winter, farm in the growing season! ҉)Make the most productive use of your land. ҉)Pace yourself҉)Reduce stress and confusion ҉)Enjoy your life!҉)Become a better farmer - keep good records,

make good plans. ҉)Planning gets easier - tweak last year’s plan.


Market Rewards for Planning

҉)Earn a living!҉)Full CSA bags, groaning market tables every week = satisfaction!҉)Enjoy your great reputation providing what customers want.҉)Enjoy having information at your fingertips - when broccoli will

start, or cucumbers end.҉)Achieve balance each week: some leafy crop, something brightly

colored, something bulky and filling, something new, something highly flavored.

҉)Use your full market season, all your opportunities.


How to Plan? Helpful tools• Be clear about your goals (before choosing tools).• Design a system you like, so you’ll use it. • Do you prefer clipboards, computers, or photos?• There are Web-based Tools, Spreadsheets,

Worksheets and Notebooks• Build in the ability to adapt the plan if conditions

change.

COG-Pro is a record keeping software made for Certified Organic Farms

It uses a simple tabbed notebook visual and generates reports for the certification process. The planning tools include prompts for information your certifier needs.


Spreadsheets

• Make your own, or copy others – see Resources at end

• During the year we follow printed sheets - don’t often need the computer.

• The program does the calculations. • Quickly sort out selected parts of the information

and rearrange it


Worksheets• Cindy Conner explains worksheets in her book Grow

a Sustainable Diet.• She also sells a DVD/CD set Develop a Sustainable

Vegetable Garden Plan. Aimed primarily at homesteaders, the steps help you figure how many seeds and plants you need, when to plant and where, and when to expect a harvest.

• Mark Cain www.drippingspringsgarden.com and Daniel Brisebois and Frédéric Thériault Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers, are other good sources for ideas on worksheets.

http://www.drippingspringsgarden.com/


Planning is Circular, Just Like Farming1. How much money do you need to

earn?

2. Which markets

to sell at

3. Which crops to grow

4. How much of what to harvest when: Harvest

Schedule

5. How much to grow to achieve your harvest goals

6. Calculate sowing dates to meet harvest dates:

Field Planting Schedule7. When to sow for

transplants: Seedlings Schedule

8. Where to plant each sowing of

each crop: Maps

9. Packing more in: succession

plantings, intercropping, relay

planting, double cropping

10. Adjust to make your best

possible plan

11. What to do if something goes wrong:

Plan B

12. Record results for next year’s Better Plan


Step 1. How much money do you need to earn?

• What are your living expenses?• What are your farm expenses?• What do you want to save for old age, rainy

days, raising children, college funds. . . • The Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25/hour

(Jan 2014), going up to $10.10. Just saying. . .

• Do you have other sources of income?

Setting pricesThe Iowa State University publication Determining Prices for CSA Share Boxes compares pricing based on • what customers will pay, • what other growers are selling the crop for• what it costs to produce. It includes a chart of share value of 24 crops based on grocery prices and the quantity included.

Step 1


Step 2 Which markets will you sell at?

New growers are often advised to start with a farmers’ market rather than a CSA the first year, as you can sell a more erratic supply of crops at market.

On the other hand, if you have experience from working on another farm, a commitment to careful planning, and you need that upfront beginning-of -season cash, you may decide to start a CSA right away.

If you have an off-farm job to tide you over, it may be practical to leave the financial questions for a year, and build on that experience.


Step 3 Which crops are most profitable?Clifton Slade at VSU in his 43560 Project shows how to earn $43,560 from one acre ($1 per square foot). Choose crops which produce one vegetable head or stalk, or 1 pound of produce, per square foot.Richard Wiswall Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook Outdoor kale can produce $2463 from 1/10 acre, and of the crops he compared, only parsley and basil earned more. Field tomatoes came in at $1872, and several vegetables (bush beans, sweet corn, peas) made a loss.Vates kale. Photo Kathryn Simmons

Some crops offer more money per area, some are more profitable in terms of time

Enterprise budgetsVern Grubinger in Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-up to Market explains how to make an enterprise budget for each crop. These calculations compare one crop with another, while not delving into overhead costs. In your Crop Journal, record the amount of work done on each crop

each day:o Bed prep, cultivatingo Planting, mulching, staking.

Record at each harvesto weight or count of each crop, o time spent harvesting and cleaning it; o money raised from each crop each week.

At the end of the season, add up the total time for each cropo Divide the income for that crop by the time spent on it, ando divide the income for that crop by the area, or number of beds.

Aim for $400/100’ bed per season. The range could be $109-1065.

Step 3


Step 3 Consider flowers as well as vegetables

Mark Cain of Dripping Spring Gardens, Arkansas: 50% of their growing

area in cut flowers and 50% in vegetables.

The cut flowers bring in 75% of the income.

Photo Tom Freeman, Twin Oaks Flowers


Step 3 Reasons to grow some crops that don’t make the highest income

provide a good crop rotation for your farm, provide diversity (customers will only buy so much

parsley and basil). provide for different times of year, even for the whole

year. Kohlrabi. Photo McCune Porter


Step 4 How much to harvest The average person eats 160-200

pounds of fresh vegetables per year (USDA)

the average CSA share feeds 2 or 3 people,

an annual share will need to include about 500 pounds of 40-50 different vegetables, distributed, say, once a week for 8 months and once a month for 4 months.

Many CSAs have a shorter season than this – your call.

Photo Bridget Aleshire


Step 4 Your Harvest Schedule

• Decide which crops you want to harvest when, how often and over what length of time, including quantities.

• For a CSA, make a Share Schedule, telling sharers what to expect when.

• Multiply that up, add a margin for culls and failures, and list how much of each crop to have ready for harvest each week.


Step 5 How much to grow to meet your harvest goals

Take likely yields and add a margin for culls and failures (10%?). The table I provide in Sustainable Market Farming lists 48 crops, with likely yield, quantity required for 100 CSA shares, and length of row needed to grow this amount.


Step 6 Harvest Dates Sowing DatesWhen to sow to meet the harvest dates? Find the number of days to maturity (from the catalog). Is that number from seeding to harvest or transplant to

harvest? Work back from each target harvest date, subtracting days to

maturity, to give the planting date. Days to maturity in catalogs are generally for spring planting

once conditions have warmed to the usual range for that crop. ‒ If you are starting very early, add about 14 days - seedlings grow

slower when cold. ‒ In summer crops mature sooner than in spring. ‒ When growing late into the fall, add about 14 days for the

slowdown.

Days to Maturity• “Days to Maturity” usually means “Days to First Harvest” which may not be the

same as “Days to Full Harvest”. • With carrots it doesn’t matter exactly what size they are, but an unripe eggplant

is just no good. • With CSAs, you can distribute eggplant to some sharers one week, and others

the next, although keeping track involves more work. • If it’s important to have a plentiful harvest when you do start, add another 7-14

days.Carrot photo Kathryn Simmons

Step 6

Field Planting ScheduleDraw up your list of outdoor planting dates, along with varieties, row feet, spacing, notes and space to write down what you actually do.

Step 6


Step 7 When to sow for transplants If the crop is to be transplanted and the catalog doesn’t include the

time to grow the transplant, add that. See Sustainable Market Farming Use your own experience or the catalog information, or somewhere in between In future years you will have your own records to customize your calculations

Extract the dates to sow for transplants, and make your Seedlings Schedule

Seedlings in Twin Oaks Greenhouse Photo Kathryn Simmons

Seedlings ScheduleStep 7

Pepper transplants. Photo Kathryn Simmons

Step 8 Maps Where in the fields to

plant each sowing of each crop ?

Start filling your map with your major crops remembering crop

rotation and cover cropping

considerations.Note the spaces for

squeezing in other cropsMore on this later.

Intercropping, Relay Planting and Double Cropping

• Promptly clearing short term crops like beans or cucumbers helps with pest and disease control and opens up the space for double-cropping or for more cover crops to replenish the soil

• Fast growing crops like lettuce, radishes and greens can be planted between or alongside slower-growing crops to generate more income and diversity

• We grow peas with spinach, peanuts with lettuce, okra with cabbage

Tyee spinach in a relay with snap peas. Photo Kathryn Simmons

Step 9 Packing More in:

Step 9 Packing More in

Find Space for Succession Crops: • Beans, edamame, cucumbers, melons , squash,

sweet corn can be produced through the frost-free period, if you sow several times.

• Beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, collards, kale, spinach can be grown in spring and again in the fall in the Southeast.

• Lettuce can be grown year-round• Lettuce, spinach, turnips, radishes, scallions, tatsoi

and some other Asian greens can be sown in succession in the winter hoophouse

Step 9 Packing More in

Succession Crops Planning Chart

• We list the spare spaces in the plots (in order of availability)

• and the crops we hope to plant (in date order)

• Then we pencil in arrows, fitting the succession crops into the spaces available.

Step 10 Look at the Overview - Tweak to Make Your Best Possible Plan

• Can’t fit everything in? Drop crops or change your plant quantities?

• Always keep your highest priorities in mind – best markets, signature crops, personal needs.

• Use all available space for food crops or cover crops

• Check timings of seedlings – do you have enough germinating capacity?

• Is it physically possible to do all the transplanting you plan in the time allotted?

• Simplify planting dates, eg squash and cucumbers on the same days.

Photo credit Kathryn Simmons

Step 11 What to do if something goes wrong: Plan B

Have a brainstorm list to help deal with disasters: Do immediate damage control to stop the

problem getting worse Ask for help from sharers, neighbors, kids, Salvage anything you can and process it in

some way to sell later. Plant some quick-growing crops to substitute

for crop failures Buy from other local growers to tide you over Team up with other growers, share a market

booth, save on the rent Write down what went wrong and why, so

you don’t have the same problem next yearSenposai can be harvested 40 days from sowing. Photo Kathryn Simmons

Step 12 Record results for next year’s Better Plan:

• Make recording easy to do• Have a daily practice of writing down what was done that day• Allow time for that, without losing much of your lunch break• Delegate to reliable people• During the main growing season, we don’t do a lot of paperwork.

We record planting dates and harvest start and finish dates. • At the beginning of the winter, have a Crop Review Meeting, discuss

and write up what worked and what didn’t, to learn from the experience and do better next year.

• Adjust dates to halfway between last year’s plan and whatever actually happened - gradually zero in on the likely date without wild pendulum swings based on variable weather.

Part 1 – Planning and record-keeping

Succession Crop Scheduling• Plan sowing dates for even,

continuous supplies of popular summer crops, such as beans, squash, cucumbers, sweet corn; year round lettuce and winter hoophouse greens.

• Length of time from sowing to harvest varies according to temperature (and day length in some cases).

• Planting squash once a month will not provide an even supply.

• Keep records and use information from other growers in your area to fine-tune planting dates.

Photo Credit: Kathryn Simmons.

For all the details, see my slideshow Succession Planting for Continuous

Harvests on SlideShare.net


Several approaches to succession crop planning – which suits you?

1. Rough plan: “every two weeks”

2. “No paperwork” methods3. Sow several varieties on

the same day4. Plan a sequence of

sowings to provide an even supply, using graphs

5. Use Accumulated Growing Degree Days data

Squash drawing by Jessie Doyle


Rough Plan:Every 2 weeks for beans and

corn,

Every 3 weeks for squash and cucumbers and edamame

Every 4 weeks for carrots

2 or 3 plantings of muskmelons (cantaloupes) at least a month apart.

CREDIT: Kathryn Simmons.


“No Paperwork” Methods• Sow another planting of

sweet corn when the previous one is 1”–2" tall

• Sow more lettuce when the previous sowing germinates

• Sow more beans when the young plants start to straighten up from their hooked stage


Sow Several Varieties on One Day

Use varieties with different days-to-maturity sown on the same day.

Part 1 – Planning and record-keeping Make a graph - 6 steps

1. Gather Sowing and Harvest Start Dates for each planting of each crop.

2. Make a graph for each crop: sowing date along the horizontal (x) axis and harvest start date along the vertical (y) axis. Mark in all your data.

3. Mark the first possible sowing date and find the harvest start date for that.

4. Decide the last worthwhile harvest start date, mark that.

5. Then divide the harvest period into a whole number of segments, according to how often you want a new patch.

6. Figure the sowing dates needed to match your chosen harvest start dates

For details of this method see Succession Planting on SlideShare.net


Year Round Lettuce Part 1Photo Credits Kathryn Simmons

The short version is that we sow • twice in January, • twice in February, • every 10 days in March, • every 9 days in April, • every 8 days in May, • every 6-7 days in June

and July,


Year Round Lettuce Part 2Photo Credits Kathryn Simmons

• every 5 days in early August,

• moving to every 3 days in late August,

• every other day until Sept 21.

• After that we ease back to every 3 days until the end of September.

Those last plants could feed us right through the winter.


Winter succession crops in the hoophouseTo provide continuous supplies of salad and cooking greens, as well as radishes and small turnips, we plan successions of winter hoophouse crops.

For details, see my slideshow Hoophouse in

Fall and Winter on SlideShare.net

Part 2 – Feed the SoilGrow and Maintain Healthy Soil

What are Healthy Soils?• Healthy soils promote plant,

animal, and human health. • They produce good crop yields,

year after year, without degrading the environment.

• They grow strong plants and make the conditions unsuitable for diseases and pests.

• Sometimes plagues still strike!Tatsoi Photo Wren Vile

Part 2 – Feed the Soil

Healthy Soil is AliveOne acre of organic soil can have 2400 pounds of fungi and 1500 pounds of bacteria. These contribute to good soil structure, the breakdown of nutrients, and increased levels of organic matter. USDA image


Signs of a Healthy Soil• Has good crumb structure, lets air and water in and

out.• Resists erosion and compaction.• Absorbs, holds and releases nutrients.• Promotes good root growth.• Provides good habitat for soil organisms.• Has a moderate pH (6.0 – 7.0).• Has low levels of salts and toxins.• Has balanced fertility with adequate levels of

nutrients.


Crop Rotations - Many Benefits

Optimize the health and fertility of the land, Maximize productivity,Reduce pests and diseases,Increase opportunities to plant cover crops, Meet Organic Certification requirements,Make the planning work easier on the brain.

See my slideshow Crop Rotations for Vegetables and Cover Crops

on SlideShare.net


Steps to Creating a Permanent Rotation1. Figure out how much area is needed for each major

crop (the ones needing the largest amount of space).2. Measure and map the land available3. Divide into equal plots4. Group compatible crops together to fill each plot5. Determine a good sequence6. Include cover crops7. Include no-till crops8. Try it for one year, then make improvements

Part 2 – Feed the Soil Crop Rotations step 1

Space Needed for Major Crops• Sweet corn: 6 or 7 plantings of about 3,500 ft2 (322 m2) each

• Spring planted potatoes: about 7,000–9,000 ft2 (644–828 m2)

• Summer planted potatoes: about 7,000–9,000 ft2 (644–828 m2)

• Spring broccoli & cabbage: 4,000 ft2 (368 m2)

• Fall broccoli & cabbage: 7,000 ft2 (644 m2)

• Winter squash: about 8,200 ft2 (736 m2)

• Watermelon: about 9,000 ft2 (828 m2)

• Sweet potatoes: about 4,300 ft2 (396 m2)

• Tomatoes: 4,000 ft2 (368 m2)

• Peppers: 2,200 ft2 (202 m2)

• Garlic: about 3,600–4,000 ft2 (332–368 m2)

• Fall carrots: about 3,600–4,000 ft2 (332–368 m2)

Part 2 – Feed the Soil Crop Rotations steps 2 & 3

Measure and Map;Divide the Land into Equal Plots

West Garden and Central Garden• West Garden

180’-65’ x 243’• Central Garden

200’ x 50’, plus 25’ x 60’ “dogleg”

Maps show plots of 9,000-10,000 ft2

Part 2 – Feed the Soil Crop Rotations step 4

Group Other Big Crops Together to Fill Each Plot:

Two or three corn plantings together in one plot (3,500 ft2 (322 m2) each)

Spring broccoli together with overwintered garlic (4,000 ft2 (368 m2) + 3,600–4,000 ft2 (332–368 m2 ))

Tomatoes together with peppers 4,000 ft2 (368 m2) +

2,200 ft2 (202 m2)

Left to right: Broccoli under rowcover, garlic, strawberries. Photo Kathryn Simmons

Part 2 – Feed the SoilCrop Rotations step 5

Determine a good sequenceTo figure out a crop sequence, we looked at the families of our major crops, and kept crops in the same family either • beside each other in the same plot, or • in plots several years apart in the rotation. To decide what follows what,we looked at timing and atwinter cover crops.

Winter Squash

Late Corn undersown with oats (1/2). Sweet

Potatoes (1/2)

March-planted Potatoes, followed

by fall-planted broccoli & cabbage,

undersown with clovers

All-year Green Fallow

Early Corn followed by

fall Garlic (1/2) and oats (1/2)

Garlic followed by Carrots

(1/2). Spring Broccoli &

Cabbage, then rye & vetch

(1/2)

No-till paste Tomatoes

Water-melon

Mid-season Corn, then rye

& crimson clover

June-planted

Potatoes

Next, we’ll look at cover crops, for good matches


Plan good cover crops

For early spring food crops, a preceding cover crop of oats (maybe with soybeans) is ideal, as it winter-kills and is easy to incorporate. Add legumes in mixes with grasses whenever possible.

More on cover crops later.

Crimson clover flower, Photo Kathryn Simmons


Including no-till crops

We plant our tomatoes and peppers into a mowed cover crop of winter rye, hairy vetch and Austrian winter peas. Austrian winter peas are said to reduce the incidence of Septoria leaf spot in following tomato crops, so we now include them in our no-till planting.

This reduces inversions of the soil, and the vetch (if plentiful) can supply all the nitrogen the tomatoes need.

Rye and vetch is best sown here in early to mid-September, creating another restriction on which crops the tomatoes could follow. These “restrictions” are more like the rules to a game, providing a structure to work within.

Winter rye and hairy vetch. Photo Kathryn Simmons


Improvements• We tightened up the rotation by

having more than one vegetable crop in a plot within the year.

• This lets us keep a 10-year cycle round the 10 plots while having one plot in cover crops all year round, to replenish the soil.

• We follow the spring planted potatoes with the fall broccoli and cabbage transplanted in July/August.

• We undersow the fall brassicas with a mix of clovers, to stay as a green fallow the whole next year.

Fall broccoli undersown with clover mix. Photo Twin Oaks Community


Cover Crop Opportunities Undersowing at last cultivation (oats

and soybeans in corn shown here.) After vegetable crops in summer or fall,

for the winter Frost-seeding of small seeds such as

clover: Broadcast in the early morning when ground is frozen. As it thaws, the water draws the seeds down into the soil.

Late winter or early spring, if the area will not be planted with vegetable crop until late spring. We use oats.

In spring, between an early vegetable crop and a later one

To replace a crop failure.Photo Kathryn Simmons


Cover Crop Goals• Smothering weeds: sorghum-sudan, cereal rye, buckwheat, brassicas

(we don’t do brassica cover crops – rotation, bugs).• Fixing nitrogen: clovers, vetches, Austrian winter peas, cowpeas,

soybeans, lentils, sunn-hemp. • Scavenging leftover nutrients : small grains, brassicas, annual ryegrass

(we don’t use annual ryegrass either – danger of it becoming a weed)• Improving soil drainage: sorghum- sudangrass,

sunflower, daikon, sweet- clover, alfalfa,brassicas, sugar-beet or forage-beet (never tried that.) • Grazing• Bio-fumigation• Killing nematodes


Cover Crops - Oats

For early spring food crops, a preceding cover crop of oats (maybe with soybeans) is ideal, as it winter-kills and is easy to incorporate.

Oats need to be sown at our farm 8/5-9/17 - they need to follow an early finishing crop, such as spring brassicas, spring potatoes or early corn.

Photo Oklahoma Farm Report


Leguminous Cover CropsTo get best from legumes, wait till they flower before turning them under (mid-April for Crimson clover at the very earliest) Then plant a food crop that goes in after the end of April (later corn plantings, winter squash, transplanted watermelon, tomatoes, sweet potatoes or June-planted potatoes).Crimson clover is best sown here before October 14, so it has to follow a crop that is finished by then.Austrian winter peas can be sown later than clovers.Cowpeas or soybeans are warm weather legumes.

Crimson clover flower, Photo Kathryn Simmons


Late Fall Cover Crops• Austrian Winter Peas can be sown as late as

11/8 here, so we add them to our later rye and wheat cover crop sowings.

• Photo FifthSeasonGardening.com

• Winter wheat is easier to incorporate into the soil in spring, but winter rye can be planted later than any other cover crop.


Summer Cover Crops

If we have a four week gap between crops in warm weather, we sow buckwheat.

If we have 6 weeks, we sow soy with buckwheat.

If longer, Japanese Millet or

Sorghum-sudangrassShown here after mowing.

Photo Kathryn Simmons


Compost Making• Many farms make their own compost -this

improves the soil, uses materials that could otherwise be a waste disposal problem.

• USDA Organic Certified Farms need to follow Organic rules.


Compost is Central to our Soil Fertility Program.

• One of our businesses is making and selling tofu. Okara is a high-N by-product

• We mix in high-C sources: sawdust (from our hammock-making business) or woodchips (trade with a neighbor)

• We add food scraps from our dining hall • and sometimes weeds or crop refuse from our

garden. • We use the tractor bucket to lift and turn the piles.


Compost Making is Both Art and Science

• There are several methods and recipes. • Hot (aerobic) compost combines 1 to 3 parts high-

C materials with 1 part high-N materials in a 25:1 to 40:1 C:N ratio, and enough water to make the piles damp, air to keep the bacteria alive.

• The mesophilic stage lasts for the first 2-3 days after the pile is made. Bacteria which are active at 90°F–110°F (32°C– 43°C) begin to break down the sugars, fats, starches and proteins.


Hot (aerobic) compost• The pile moves into the

thermophilic stage, which lasts several weeks. Temperatures in the middle of the pile can reach 120°F–150°F (48°C–66°C).

• Thermophilic bacteria increase, and keep working as long as decomposable materials remain available and the oxygen supply is adequate.

• Pathogens, weed seeds and fly larvae are destroyed.

Large-scale compost-turning equipment


When the pile starts to cool, turn it• Because more oxygen or more water is needed. • Turning also remixes the material, so that all of it can be composted. • And turning prevents the pile from overheating — above 150°F (66°C), the

thermophilic bacteria can be killed. • During turning, more water can be added if needed to keep the pile damp but

not dripping.

Large scale compost-turning machinery


When the Compost Stops Heating After the compost materials have all been consumed by the bacteria and

the N mineralized (converted to nitrates, available as plant nutrients), the pile cools to around 100°F (37.7°C).

It can’t be reheated by more turning, and it is left to cure for about 30 days. This allows beneficial microorganisms to recolonize the compost.

The C in mature compost is resistant to further breakdown, and the N, initially in the bodies of microbial soil life forms, slowly becomes available to the plants.

It is then ready to be used.

Large-scale compost screening equipment


Finished CompostFinished compost ideally has a C:N

(carbon:nitrogen) ratio of 10:1. If the C:N ratio is greater than about 25:1, almost

no N is available from the compost and it is unable to mineralize.

Between 16 and 20:1, about 10% of the N is available.

Even at a C:N ratio of 10:1, only 50% of the N is available in the near term.


Growing Compost Materials• If you have land where you are not growing

food crops and don’t want to improve the soil by growing cover crops, you can grow compost crops, to cut and haul to your compost piles.

• This can be a good way to grow food crops very intensively in a small area, with the compost crops growing elsewhere.


Organic Mulches• Organic mulches such as

straw, hay, sawdust, woodchips, tree leaves, newspaper and cardboard all add organic matter to the soil.

• Here we are preparing a new strawberry bed mulched with 2 layers of newspaper and dried sorghum-sudangrass cut from the plot in the background.

Photo Luke J Stovall

Part 3 - Year Round ProductionDirect seeding TransplantingCrop spacingEfficient production strategiesSeason extension and crop protection Cold-hardy winter vegetables Pests Diseases Weeds Harvest and maturity

See my slide show Fall Vegetable Production

on SlideShare.net

Part 3 - Year Round Production16 factors that help us keep good food on the table year round:

1. Planning: Minimize the brain-frying calculations in August. Rotations 2. Gearing up: Scale-appropriate equipment. 3. Research and information: One of the best farm implements is the brain! 4. Caring for the soil: Compost, cover crops, organic mulches. Soil tests,

amendments. 5. Maximizing plant health: Prevent and control pests, diseases and weeds, get a

longer harvest.6. Choose crops and varieties suited to your conditions. Read catalog descriptions

carefully. Go for flavor, productivity and disease resistance. Introduce new crops or varieties on a small scale.

7. Overwintering crops: Kale, collards, spinach, leeks. In spring, get earlier harvests.

8. Season extension: At both ends of the normal growing season. Adding 2 or 3 weeks takes only a little extra vigilance and a modest investment in rowcover or shadecloth.

9. High Tunnel growing: The rate of growth is much faster in a hoophouse; the quality of the crops is superb.

10.Transplants: Extend the season in spring by starting plants inside, giving them a head start over direct-sown crops. Let over-overwintered cover crops grow longer.

11.Succession cropping: 9 plantings of carrots, 7 plantings of sweet corn, 6 of cucumbers, squash, zucchini, edamame and bush beans. 50 plantings of lettuce!

12.Interplanting and undersowing: Sowing or transplanting one crop (or cover crop) while another is still growing. Establish your cover crop sooner.

13.Winter storage: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, garlic and onions, carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas, celeriac and kohlrabi. Longer availability.

14.Food processing: Processed (“value-added”) foods lengthen the season, with no out-of-season growing. Pickle, can, freeze and dry

15. Crop review: Keep good records, discuss and write up what worked and what didn’t, and do better next year. 16. Lots of help: Arrange some work so that unskilled visitors can join in and be useful.Solar food dryer. Photo Twin Oaks Community

Part 3 - Year Round Production

Direct SeedingPhoto Kathryn Simmons

• Pros– Less work than transplanting– Less money compared to buying starts– No need for a greenhouse and equipment– Better drought tolerance – roots grow

without damage– Some crops don’t transplant easily– Some crops have millions of plants!

(Carrots)• Cons

– Uses more seed– Uses more time thinning– Occupies the land longer– Maybe harder to get started in cold (or

hot) conditions


Getting the best from direct sowing Good soil conditions lead to even

germination: tilth (size of particles), moisture

Decide by soil temperature, not calendar. New Seed Starter’s Handbook.

Correct depth and sowing density Good seed contact with soil: tamp

lightly Good tools: EarthWay, precision

seeders, hoes, jab planters for large seeds, tractor seed drills.

• Photo Bridget Aleshire

Part 3 - Year Round Production Transplanting pros and cons

Pros• Start earlier than outside, get earlier harvests• Start seed in more ideal conditions in

greenhouse, better germination, more fun!• Easier to care for new seedlings in a

greenhouse• Protected plants grow quicker • Select sturdiest plants, compost the rest• More flexibility if weather turns bad. Plants still

grow!• Fit more crops into the season• Use time windows for quick cover crops• Save on seed costsCons• Extra time caring for the starts• Transplant shock can delay harvest• More attention needed to watering new plantsPhoto Kathryn Simmons


Getting the best from transplanting Roots need space. Open flats, plug trays, soil blocks, bare root

plants. Transplant shock is less for plants with good root systems - harvest

starts sooner. Good seed compost Use a soil thermometer, not a calendar, to decide when to plant out

tender plants. Don’t rush them! Measure and mark the correct spacing: tractor equipment, rolling

dibbles, row marker rake, measuring sticks and triangles, span of finger and thumb.

Ideal conditions for transplanting are mild windless afternoons and evenings just before (or during!) light steady rain.

Transplanting late in the day gives the plant a chance to recover during the cooler night hours - the rate of water loss is slower.

Shadecloth or rowcover can be used to reduce the drying effects of wind and sun.


Transplant age and sizeVegetable Notes Ideal Age at Transplanting Cucumbers,

melons,squash 2 true leaves max (maybe less) 3–4 weeks

Watermelons (older is OK) 3–4 weeksSweet Corn 3–4 weeksTomatoes age is less important 4–8 weeksLettuce 4–7 weeksBrassicas 5 true leaves is ideal 6–8 weeks spring/

3–4 weeks summerPeppers & eggplant 4 or 5 true leaves, not flowering 6–8 weeksOnions (spring sown)

& leeks 10–12 weeksCelery 10–12 weeks


Transplanting deptho Deeper planting reduces wind stress on young

plants. o Plant to the first true leaves - increases yields

of many crops. Often this is deeper than the plant was in the flat.

o Some plants (tomatoes) grow extra roots along the buried stem.

o But soil is cooler deeper down and this may not be a good thing for warm-weather plants. e.g. sweet potatoes and tomatoes

o So - plant in a shallow horizontal or diagonal trench. Bury much of the stem in the soil, increasing the growth of extra roots and protecting the plant against wind damage, while keeping the roots in the warmer soil near the surface.



Water is Vital for Transplants! Damp soil is important for transplanting. Water

plants an hour before transplanting, and again after planting.

In very dry weather, water the field ahead of planting, either with overhead sprinklers or drip irrigation right on the planting row. Set out drip tape with emitters at the chosen crop spacing, water for 20 minutes before planting, and then plant directly into the wet spots. No other measuring is needed.

When setting out a large number of plants, water every 20-30 minutes, regardless of the number of plants set out.

Water the transplants the next day, on days 3, 7, 10 after planting, and then weekly after that.

Photo credit Luke Stovall


Crop SpacingYield is related to plant density. Area per plant is the important bit, not particular

row spacing. There is a balance point at which the plant density

provides the maximum total yield. At that density some plants will be too small to use. That’s taken into account when calculating yield.

Crop size (do customers want big carrots or small carrots?)

Disease control (humidity and molds) Preferred layout (beds with equidistant plants, or

rows). Ease of cultivation (tractor equipment, hoes,

horses) and irrigation For large plants such as okra or eggplant, it makes

more sense to plant a single row in a bed and have the plants close together in that row, in a “hedge.”

Photo of Morris Heading Collards by Kathryn Simmons


Optimal Crop Spacing for Various GoalsCrop Row spacing In-row spacing NotesBeets 7" (18 cm) 4" (10 cm) For early harvest

12" (30 cm) 1" (2.5 cm) For max total yield (small). 2" (5 cm) for bigger beets

Beans, fava 18" (45 cm) 4.5" (11 cm) For tall varieties.Beans, green 18" (45 cm) 2" (5 cm) 12" (30cm) × 3" (7.5 cm) gives the same area/plantBroccoli (Calabrese) 12" (30cm) 6" (15 cm) For equal amounts of heads and side shootsCabbage 14" (35 cm) 14" (35 cm) For small heads

18" (45 cm) 18" (45 cm) For large headsCarrots 6" (15 cm) 4" (10 cm) For early crops, limiting competition

6" (15 cm) 1.5" (4 cm) For maincrop, medium size rootsCelery 11" (28 cm) 11" (28 cm) For high yields and mutual blanchingCucumber (pickling) 20" (51 cm) 3" (8 cm)Leeks 12" (30 cm) 6" (15 cm) Max yield of hilled up leeks, average sizeLettuce 9" (23 cm) 8" (20 cm) Early crops under cover

12" (30 cm) 12" (30 cm) Head lettuce5" (13 cm) 1" (2.5 cm) Baby lettuce mix

Onions 12" (30 cm) 1.5" (4 cm) For medium size bulbs12" (30 cm) 0.5" (1 cm) For boiling, pickling, kebabs

Parsnips 12" (30 cm) 6" (15 cm) For high yields of large roots7.5" (19 cm) 3" (8 cm) For smaller roots

Peas, shelling 18" (46 cm) 4.5" (11.5 cm) Can sow in double or triple bands, 4.5" (11.5 cm) apartPotatoes 30" (76 cm) 9-16" (23–41 cm) Depends on size of seed pieces; small pieces closerSweet Corn 30-36" (76–90 cm) 8" (20 cm) Closer than 8" (20 cm) the plants shade each other.Tomatoes, bush types 19" (48 cm) 19" (48 cm) For early cropsWatermelon 66" (168 cm) 12–24" (30–60 cm) For small varieties. 5–10 ft2 (0.5–1 m2) each

66" (168 cm) 30–84" (76–215 cm) For large varieties. 13–40 ft2 (1.2–3.7 m2) each


Efficient Production StrategiesSee Jean-Paul Courtens and Jody Bolluyt at Roxbury Farm

www.roxburyfarm.comPhoto Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Advance planning helps maximize success when growing a wide range of different crops and doing many varying tasks each day.

Switching tasks takes time. Plant similar crops together to minimize this.

Plan good access for your truck or carts to haul away the bounty – include roads and paths.

Break long rows up into manageable chunks. Don’t ask anyone to haul a harvest crate more than 100ft. Keep container weight reasonable.

Have the tools ready before you start. Make sure there enough knives, scissors, crates, etc. for everyone

Set containers along the rows when you arrive. Put them near the path when full.

http://www.roxburyfarm.com/


Make a Harvest Methods ManualDescribe the crop when ready to harvest, the tools needed, the harvesting technique, how to pack in the field, washing and storing techniques, and how to pack in the barn. Train the crew on each crop, and have the harvest manual for reference. Include the standards for how many boxes, heads, etc. an average harvester can harvest in an hour.See the Roxbury Farm Harvest Manual at http://www.roxburyfarm.com/harvest-manual

http://www.roxburyfarm.com/harvest-manual


Season Extension in Every SeasonAdvantages and disadvantages in time and money Growing earlier crops in spring:

o Choose fast-maturing hardy varietieso Warm microclimateso Transplantso Rowcovers, low tunnels, Quick Hoops, high tunnels (= hoophouses)

Extending the growth of cool-weather crops into summer:o Learn how to germinate seeds in hot weathero Shadeclotho ProtekNet to keep bugs offo Intercropping allows a new crop to establish in the shade of the old one

Extending the survival of frost-tender crops beyond the first fall frostso Rowcovero Minimizing frost damage

Growing cold-hardy winter vegetables


Crop Protection

• Frost-tender crops can be kept alive and productive beyond the first frosts by using rowcover

• Three basic levels of protection: – Rowcovers– Hoophouses (High Tunnels)– Heated greenhouses



Formula to determine last sowing date for frost-tender crops

Count back from the expected first frost date, adding: • the number of days from seeding

to harvest, • the average length of the harvest

period, • 14 days to allow for the slowing

rate of growth in the fall, and • 14 days to allow for an early frost

(unless you have rowcover). Zephyr Summer SquashCREDIT: Kathryn Simmons.


Growing and Storing Cold-hardy Winter Vegetables

Four Situations:• Cool weather spring/fall crops to harvest before

very cold weather• Crops to keep alive as far into winter as possible• Hardy winter-harvest crops• Overwinter early spring-harvest crops

For details, see my slide show Cold-Hardy Winter Vegetables

on SlideShare.net


Sustainable Pest Management

4 steps of Integrated Pest Management: 1. prevention (reduce chance of problems)2. avoidance, 3. monitoring (is action needed?)4. suppression (using least toxic solution)

Carrot pest damage photo by Jessie DoyleZipper spider on tomato, photo by Wren Vile


Mexican bean beetles

• Mexican bean beetles used to destroy our beans.

• We needed 7 plantings at 15-day intervals.

• After 2 weeks of harvesting a planting, we did “Root Checks.”

• Now we buy the parasitic pedio wasp.

• We sow 5 or 6 times rather than 7.

• We also get more beans than previously, and they’re prettier.


Bean Beetle Parasite(Pediobius foveolatus)

• These tiny wasps do not overwinter, so buy them each year unless you don’t get enough MBB to worry about.

• Wasps are shipped to you as adults or as parasitized Mexican bean beetle larvae, called mummies. The adults emerge from the mummies, and the females lay eggs in your MBB larvae.

• Timing is critical: order as soon as you see larvae.• Release 20 mummies = 400-500 wasps for every 1000 sq. ft. of

beans (40 units/acre). 2013 prices $60/1000 adults, $30/20 mummies. Plus UPS Next Day Saver, about $20.

• NJ Department of Agriculture Beneficial Insect Rearing Laboratory contact: Tom Dorsey at (609) 530-4192. See http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/beneficialinsect.html

http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/beneficialinsect.html





Sustainable Disease ManagementDiseases need • a susceptible host, • the presence of a pathogen, • suitable environmental conditions.

Plant pathogens can be • soil-borne, • foliar-borne,• seed-borne, • a combination of seed-borne with one of the others.

But don’t blame the victim! Bad things can happen to good farmers!See www.sustainablemarketfarming.com for more details of these types. Search for Biointensive Integrated Pest Management



Bio-intensive Disease IPM1. Cultural controls

(preventative strategies)2. Monitor crops for problems3. When control measures are neededa) Physical controlsb) Biological controlsc) Microbial controlsd) Botanical controlse) Inorganic controls (Also known as

biorational disease controls)See www.sustainablemarketfarming.com for information on these types of controls. Search for Biointensive Integrated Pest Management

Proteknet on hoops, keeps cucumber beetles out. Dubois Engineering



Sustainable Weed ManagementWeeds compete with crops for sunlight, water and

nutrients, and can encourage fungal diseases by reducing airflow.

Too-frequent cultivation to remove weeds can leave the soil more prone to erosion

Each tilling or deep hoeing stirs air into the soil and speeds combustion of organic matter

Most weeds respond well to nutrients, especially nitrogen. If you give corn too much nitrogen, even as compost, its productivity will max out and the weeds will use the remaining nutrients.


Sustainable weed management is about effectiveness

• Remove weeds at their most vulnerable stage, or at the last minute before the seedpods explode —ignore weeds doing little damage.

• Different types: annuals and perennials; stationary perennials (docks) and invasive perennials (Bermuda grass); cool-weather and warm-weather types; quick-maturing and slow-maturing types; “Big Bang” types (pigweed) versus “Dribblers” (galinsoga, shown here)

• Photo Wren Vile


Methods of sustainable weed control1. Preventing weeds from

germinatingPhoto credit Luke Stovall

2. Reducing weed seeding3. Reducing weed seed viability4. Reducing the strength of perennial weed roots and rhizomesPhoto Brittany Lewis

See www.sustainablemarketfarming.com for more details. Search for Biointensive Integrated Pest Management



Harvest and maturity indicatorsFor market you may need to harvest “fruit” crops a bit under-ripe

• Size: Cow Horn okra at 5” (others shorter), green beans a bit thinner than a pencil, carrots at whatever size you like, asparagus at 7”, zucchini at 6”.

• Color: Garden Peach tomatoes with a pink flush. The “ground spot” of a watermelon turns from greenish white to buttery yellow at maturity, and the curly tendrils where the stem meets the melon to turn brown and dry

• Shape: cucumbers that are rounded out, not triangular in cross-section, but not blimps. Sugar Ann snap peas completely round

• Softness or texture: eggplants that “bounce back” when lightly squeezed, tomatoes that are not hard, snap beans that have crisp pods with pliable tips. Harvest most muskmelons when the stem separates easily from the fruit (“Full slip”), skins of summer squash should be tender enough to pierce with a fingernail.

• Skin toughness: storage potatoes when the skins don’t rub off, usually two weeks after the tops die, whether naturally or because of mowing.

• Sound: watermelons sound more like your chest than your head or your belly when thumped. Try the “Scrunch Test” by pressing down firmly on the melon

Broccoli and CauliflowerSelect blue-green broccoli heads and harvest them before the small, yellow flower buds open.Leave the small leaves on broccoli stems intact—they're very nutritious.

Cabbages when the head is firm and the outer leaf on the head is curling back.

To keep mature cabbage in the ground a bit longer, twist the heads to break off some of the feeder roots and limit water uptake, and they will be less likely to split.


Sweet Corn

• Sweet corn will be ready to harvest about three weeks after the first silks appear.

• Corn is ready when the ears fill to the end with kernels and the silks become brown and dry.

• An opaque, milky juice will seep out of punctured kernels.


Determining when to harvest garlic• Garlic is ready to harvest when the sixth leaf down is starting to brown on 50% of the crop. See

Ron Engeland's Growing Great Garlic. • Harvesting too early means smaller bulbs (harvesting way too early means an undifferentiated

bulb and lots of wrappers that then shrivel up). • Harvesting too late means the bulbs may "shatter" or have an exploded look, and not store well. • Cut across hardneck garlic – airspaces around stem show maturity

See my slide show Growing Great Garlic on SlideShare.net


OnionsWait until the tops fall over to harvest, then gently dig up the whole plant and dry.

Leave the dry, papery outer skin on the onion.

Photos by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange


Resources - General ATTRA attra.ncat.org Market Farming: A Start-up Guide, Plugs and Transplant Production for Organic

Systems, Scheduling Vegetable Plantings for a Continuous Harvest, Intercropping Principles and Production Practices (mostly field crops, but the same principles apply to vegetable crops), Season Extension Techniques for Market Farmers, and many other great publications.

SARE sare.org -A searchable database of research findings. Available to download: Using Cover Crops Profitably and Crop Rotations on Organic Farms, A Planning Manual

extension.org/organic_production http://www. eOrganic.info. The organic agriculture community with eXtension. Publications, webinars, videos, trainings and support. An expanding, accessible source of reliable information.

Growing Small Farms: growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu Click Farmer Resources. Debbie Roos keeps this site up to the minute. Includes Farm Planning and Recordkeeping

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems at North Carolina State University has good information on compost-making, such as Composting on Organic Farms.

Compost recipe software is available from Cornell University www.cfe.cornell.edu/compost/science.html

Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, www.imok.ufl.edu/programs/vegetable-hort/research-extension-ozores/veg-transplant/ (Information on age of transplants, container size, biological control for pests, diseases, hardening off, plant size, planting depth and temperature. )

Cornell Extension website: vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/NewsArticles/All_BactSeed.htm Good detailed information on seed treatments.

https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=18

http://www.sare.org/

http://eorganic.info/



http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/

http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/compost/science.html

http://www.imok.ufl.edu/programs/vegetable-hort/research-extension-ozores/veg-transplant/

Resources - slideshows Many of my presentations are available at www.Slideshare.net . Search for Pam Dawling. You’ll find Crop Rotations Cold-hardy Winter Vegetables Fall Vegetable Production Succession Planting for Continuous Vegetable Harvests Crop Planning for Sustainable Vegetable Production Spring and Summer Hoophouses Fall and Winter Hoophouses Mark Cain Planning for Your CSA: www.Slideshare.net (search for Crop Planning) Planning the Planting of Cover Crops and Cash Crops, Daniel Parson SSAWG 2012

www.slideshare.net/parsonproduce/southern-sawg Cover Crop Innovation by Joel B Gruver www.Slideshare.net Cover crops for vegetable cropping systems, Joel Gruver,

www.slideshare.net/jbgruver/cover-crops-for-vegetable-crops Finding the best fit: cover crops in organic farming systems. Joel Gruver, Some overlap with previous

slideshow. www.slideshare.net/jbgruver/cover-crops-decatur Farm Planning for a Full Market Season Tom Peterson, Appalachian Farmers Market Association and

Appalachian Sustainable Development http://vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/tom-peterson-farm-planning-for-a-full-market-season.pdf

Cultural Practices And Cultivar Selections for Commercial Vegetable Growers. Brad Burgefurd, Wide scope. www.slideshare.net/guest6e1a8d60/vegetable-cultural-practices-and-variety-selection

http://www.slideshare.net/


http://www.slideshare.net/parsonproduce/southern-sawg






http://www.slideshare.net/jbgruver/cover-crops-for-vegetable-crops




http://vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/tom-peterson-farm-planning-for-a-full-market-season.pdf

http://vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/tom-peterson-farm-planning-for-a-full-market-season.pdf

http://www.slideshare.net/guest6e1a8d60/vegetable-cultural-practices-and-variety-selection

Resources - books The Market Gardener, Jean-Martin Fortier, New Society Publishers The Complete Know and Grow Vegetables, J K A Bleasdale, P J Salter et al. Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers, Maynard and Hochmuth The New Seed Starter’s Handbook, Nancy Bubel, Rodale Books The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall, Chelsea Green Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-up to Market, Vern Grubinger, The New Organic Grower, Eliot Coleman, Chelsea Green Extending the Season: Six Strategies for Improving Cash Flow Year-Round on the Market Farm a free e-

book for online subscribers to Growing for Market magazine Sharing the Harvest, Elizabeth Henderson and Robyn Van En Gardening When it Counts, Steve Solomon Grow a Sustainable Diet: Planning and Growing to Feed Ourselves and the Earth, Cindy Conner, New

Society Publishers, (worksheet based). DVD/CD set Develop a Sustainable Vegetable Garden Plan Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers, Daniel Brisebois and Frédéric Thériault (Canadian

Organic Growers www.cog.ca) Nature and Properties of Soils, fourteenth edition, Nyle Brady and Ray Weil Garden Insects of North America, Whitney Cranshaw Managing Weeds on your Farm: A Guide to Ecological Strategies. Charles Mohler and Antonio

DiTommaso. SARE. In prep.(not yet published) SARE Crop Rotations on Organic Farms, A Planning Manual, Charles Mohler and Sue Ellen Johnson,

editors.

http://www.cog.ca/

Resources - Planning The Twin Oaks Harvest Calendar by Starting Date and by Crop are available

as pdfs on my website sustainablemarketfarming.com/2013/11/07/growing-for-market-articles-2/

AgSquared online planning software: agsquared.com COG-Pro record-keeping software for Certified Organic Farms: cog-pro.com Free open-source database crop planning software code.google.com/p/

cropplanning. Mother Earth News interactive Vegetable Garden Planner, free for 30 days:

motherearthnews.com/garden-planner. Target Harvest Date Calculator: (Excel spreadsheet) johnnyseeds.com/t-

InteractiveTools.aspx Growing Small Farms: growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu click Farmer

Resources, Farm Planning and Recordkeeping to download Joel Gruver’s spreadsheets.

Mark Cain www.drippingspringsgarden.com under the CSA tab, you can download their Harvest Schedule. Notebook-based system.

http://sustainablemarketfarming.com/2013/11/07/growing-for-market-articles-2/

http://sustainablemarketfarming.com/2013/11/07/growing-for-market-articles-2/

http://www.agsquared.com/

https://cog-pro.com/

https://cog-pro.com/

https://code.google.com/p/cropplanning/



http://gardenplanner.motherearthnews.com/gardenplanner/gardenplanner.html

http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner

http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-InteractiveTools.aspx



http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/

http://www.drippingspringsgarden.com/

Resources – Detailed Planning Tables of likely crop yields johnnyseeds.com/assets/information/vegetablecharts.pdf. gardensofeden.org/04%20Crop%20Yield%20Verification.htm two charts, one of organic

crops from The Owner-Built Homestead by Ken & Barbara Kern, one from California. Determining Prices for CSA Share Boxes Iowa State U extension.iastate.edu/agdm/

wholefarm/pdf/c5-19.pdf New England Vegetable Management Guide Crop Budgets http://nevegetable.org

/cultural-practices/crop-budgets Clif Slade’s 43560 Project: Virginia Association for Biological Farming newsletter

vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/clif-slade-43560-demo-project.pdf. USDA annual vegetable consumption www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf John Jeavons How to Grow More Vegetables has charts: Pounds Consumed per Year by the

Average Person in the US and Average US Yield in Pounds per 100 Square Feet. The Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the UC Santa Cruz Crop Plan

for a Hundred-Member CSA, for a range of 36 crops in its Unit 4.5 CSA Crop Planning: casfs.ucsc.edu/education/instructional-resources/downloadable-pdf-files2 or directly at 63.249.122.224/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/4.5_CSA_crop_plan.pdf

Jean-Paul Courtens , Roxbury Farm www.roxburyfarm.com. Information for Farmers tab, 100 Member CSA Plan, including a Weekly Share Plan, Greenhouse Schedule, and Field Planting and Seeding Schedule (with charts of possible crop yields). Courtens is also willing to send you their 1,100-member schedule.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/assets/information/vegetablecharts.pdf



http://www.gardensofeden.org/04%20Crop%20Yield%20Verification.htm



http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/pdf/c5-19.pdf







http://nevegetable.org/cultural-practices/crop-budgets




http://vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/clif-slade-43560-demo-project.pdf







http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf





http://casfs.ucsc.edu/education/instructional-resources/downloadable-pdf-files2



http://63.249.122.224/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/4.5_CSA_crop_plan.pdf




http://www.roxburyfarm.com/

Intensive Vegetable Productionon a Small Scale©Pam Dawling 2016

Twin Oaks Community, Central VirginiaAuthor of Sustainable Market FarmingSustainableMarketFarming.com facebook.com/

SustainableMarketFarming


