Common Mistakes New Growers Make
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- Some simple advice for how to start a farm (or how NOT to start a farm) plus the many mistakes that new growers often make when starting a market garden.
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Speaking from a perspective of being a spouse who was not fully bought in to the market farm venture. I will say that you did a fantastic job capturing the narrative. I have however started to drink the kool-aide and of course started to sell it but it took awhile for me to get there. From an outside perspective I feel that a lot of folks only showed the more glamorous side of owning a market farm. Which gives unrealistic expectations and leaves the door open to overspend and under deliver. We have learned to set our own course. By far your channel is one of my favorite resources. Appreciate the 30-40 hrs spent. Trust me I completely understand. Heading over to check out your merch. No comment necessary just know I am an official nerd ✌🏼
Agree 100% and showing the good and the bad of farming. So many opt to only glamorize the oh so beautiful part of it. Fortunately Jesse seems to present the whole package, the ups and the downs. Like you this channel is definitely one of our favorite's and the Sunday Morning picker upper for us!
Hey... just curious because I want to start as well. Can you name some of the downs you think are nearly never mentioned (aside from much work and low returnrates etc. but rather those that you really don´t hear people talking about or you feel are not emphasized in the right way).
@@anniinglucksdorf960 absolutely! For me I had very little experience and learning as we grow. I would turn to CZcams for guidance of course leaning on bigger channels that showed amazing gardens and already established support. We started with a blank slate. We didn’t have a great growing foundation on so many levels. Our grounds needed a ton of work our access to supplies such as compost and amendments were extremely hard to find due to our location. The more material we needed the more expensive it was and the further away it was. We started way too big too fast. At first it was my husband trying to do it on his own and then I found the valve behind working to live and we just went from 0-100. We saw all of these established market gardens using extravagant tools. So of course we bought in. In reality we didn’t need them nor were we ready for it. We spent a ton of time, money and resources. We also lost sight of how we would sell our product. We live in a small community where your presence and impact really matter. We spent so much time trying to glamorize what we were doing we forgot to look up to introduce ourselves to our local community. We had become a CZcams channel who happened to have a farm vs a farm who happens to have a CZcams channel. Biggest advice is be on the same page with your partner. Compromise and challenge the norm. You can absolutely be successful and happy just know you will put in way more than you think you get out of it but when you look back you realize you got so much more than you ever expected. Good luck and start small ☺️
@anniinglucksdorf960 It's super seasonal work so when the farm is going, you are going. I don't have a lot of time to socialize during the main growing season but I do get a lot more down time in the winter. I am happy to have that schedule during the year but it's really not for everyone. I also do a market on Saturday so my days off during the week don't always line up with the average person. Depending on where you live, there is also weather to consider. It doesn't matter if it's 90 degrees out, below freezing, or raining. My work has to get done and I can try to schedule that during the cooler summer temperatures (getting up SUPER early) or the warmer fall temperatures but you can't count on being comfortable.
@@stephanieyoung2248 thanks for your reply and taking the time. I am glad about every input I can get!!!
Come for the farming, stay for the life lessons. This video is a gem. Thank you, Farmer Jessy.
Hello! I'm Tom, a farmer in Vietnam. On my CZcams channel, I share daily activities from my farm, providing a glimpse into life on a Vietnamese farm. Additionally, I demonstrate how to prepare traditional Vietnamese dishes. Feel free to visit my channel to explore the farming experience in Vietnam, and if you enjoy it, please consider subscribing for more content. Thanks for stopping by!" ❤❤❤
"There's no comment section in selling pickles." is definitely going to become a favorite out of context quote of mine.
Great advice. I farm 9000 sq ft of beds. A mini farm. You sure learn a lot. I sell a bit, but no business plan. To make a farm of any size practical, a business plan is essential. A big game changer came along when we asked ourselves why are we doing this, and we went right back to the orignal aim - we want to provide at least 60% of our own veggies which we would otherwise buy. And from that we realized that our primary customer is our own kitchen. From there many things fell into place, what to grow, when to grow, bed plans, business plan, etc. We can grow exactly what we need (or exaclty what this ground grows well and we eat it); the profit is not having to buy it, and the extra that we sell or trade is fun. And yes, I have a day job - totally essential is you want to farm like this unless of course you want to go totally off the grid and simply survive, which I very much respect.
Biggest mistake is not adopting out your kids after they lose interest in farm work. However you can extend their useful life by teaching them how to edit your video's.
I'm not a farmer but I have started growing food. I must say It is very difficult to grow food successfully year after year. I highly appreciate small scale farmers and the hard work that they do to feed people. These farmers should be more respected and they deserve to earn more money!
Plant perennial trees and shrubs that can supply you with food you can store over the winter or to supplement your grocery bill. If your soil is horrible try raised beds.
1) Plant crops or ornamentals that generate a lot of biomass you can compost.
2) Try to think outside the box for ways to grow food that aren't going to break the bank. For instance, I have a large yard with soil that is clay mixed in with chunks of sandstone with little in the way of organic material in it. I will be planting a lot of plants that can make their own nitrogen and place these plants near food producing trees and shrubs to cut down on having to fertilize.
3) I am planting a Winkler hazel nut hedge, a hedge of elderberry, figs and comfrey. The elderberry, figs and comfrey I will be propagating from rooting cuttings or planting roots I am getting off eBay very cheaply. I have Callery pears which are invasive on my property so I am going to use the Callery pear branches and do air layering to create pear root stock and graft Asian and European pears onto the two Callery pears I have. I don't see any point in cutting down trees that are beautiful part of the year when I can use them.
4) Pace yourself and if you know any other gardeners ask if you can have any cuttings from blackberries or raspberries when they thin out their plantings. Most gardeners like to share plants and give advice about what works and doesn't work in their garden for your area.
5) Look for food plants that are also beautiful or are dual purpose like beets which have an edible root and greens.
Like what kinds @@tanyawales5445
I'm growing to feed my family healthy organic food. Cost and time are definitely a consideration, but experience and working with nature is priceless. Love your videos as they are always informative and fun!
I think growing as much of your own food as you have the space for is a no-brainer. Even if you're in an apartment, you can grow edibles instead of house plants. And it's going to take about the same effort as going to the market and buying that produce would've taken.
But the gentleman in the video is talking about farming. Farming is a business. Very, very different from growing your own food. I think that's the main thing this video is trying to impart.
It's like the difference between cooking dinner, and opening a restaurant.
@deinse82 Yes, I understand what the video was about and don't need it explained to me. I was just saying growing your own food takes a lot of effort, money, and time as well, living on 30 acres myself, I understand a lot of the complexity.
@@lulajohns1883 You are absolutely correct. Of course the scale, economics and stakes are at a different level from providing your own food to farming as a business but all his advice translates beautifully to the home gardener. Each aspect simply needs to be reframed according to your context. Quality of compost, learning the basics, how things grow in your garden, learning to interplant so it works, managing your spending and expectations, buying good tools that you'll actually use, planning your planting for a consistent harvest to avoid gluts and lean times, growing what you'll actually eat are just a few offhand points that apply across the board.
Home gardening is a business where you are your own customer. Approaching it from that standpoint takes one's efforts to the next level to grow the most food for your family and friends that you can.
@@deinse82I know you're right, the video definitely seems geared towards a farming business. BUT the title says "growers", not "farmers", not "produce sellers". So it is somewhat misleading.
If you are thinking of starting or just started a farm, watch this video dozen or more times. Let it sink into your head! All of Jesse's advice are worth more than the weight of gold. I farm for a living.
$100,000 or more profit sounds great but that's generally gross profit, not net profit. To get $100,000 profit, you WILL need additional labor besides yourself, your spouse (even your kids). Labor cost, workman comp and insurance will take a big chunk out of the $100,000.
100% correct! Nobody will NET 100k per year doing manual labor solo (at least not until hyperinflation kicks in). It's a team effort and product/service diversity is generally a better idea too..
@@thatguychris5654 I know several farmers who do it conventionally.
@@thatguychris5654 That depends on the crop........
Insurance...must mean business insurance, or crop insurance? Your health insurance will be free if you have a family size 4 and making under $40k per year, there are ample subsidies. However once the kids are gone and you get older, it gets incredibly expensive, so be prepared for that. We were shocked at the cost.
Starting off as a "hobby" here, we broke even on soft costs 1st year selling flowers direct to customers in the city. Run a property management business and my wife is a photographer so we have 3 jobs. Nice to show your kids you can grow something, work outdoors and make money but definitely a labor of love hope to oneday call myself a successful farmer.
Before starting our farm I spent a few years listening to the No-Till growers podcast. One thing I remember hearing a lot was start small. Imagine what size farm you could handle and cut that in half. This was said over and over again. This I think is good advise, one I’ve taken to heart. We are now after three years growing looking at expanding the growing area but even this will be a slow planned out thing.
Where can I go and listen to podcast?
Hello! I'm Tom, a farmer in Vietnam. On my CZcams channel, I share daily activities from my farm, providing a glimpse into life on a Vietnamese farm. Additionally, I demonstrate how to prepare traditional Vietnamese dishes. Feel free to visit my channel to explore the farming experience in Vietnam, and if you enjoy it, please consider subscribing for more content. Thanks for stopping by!" ❤❤❤
Another really excellent video. You mention it is OK to keep day job at first. Excellent advise, and with that I would remind people that you have to have a strategy for health insurance before giving up a regular job. Second thought is, be very careful about rented or leased land. You can invest a fortune in building beds and building soil fertility on land you do not own, and owner can simply not renew the lease. It can work, but be careful. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Great job Jessy! I'm amazed how many other farmers I talk to get upset when I tell them I run my farm like a business, which is why I am a mushroom farmer, and we need more mushroom farmers. We only farm mushrooms, we farm them in my partially temperature-controlled barn and deliver them every week year-round. Having recurring revenue all year long is a great way to farm. If you are ever interested in learning mushroom farming Jessy, we'd love to help you. Again, great job and great content farm nerd!
So much this. If I had any advice to a new farmer is focus on high dollar, high return crops. That is why started with Microgreens and edible flowers, now I am adding mushrooms. I do like how Jesse stated once you've learned up existing ventures, then you can expand. Once I have all of these humming, I'll focus on herbs, again focusing on gaining as much local market share of high dollar items before adding new lines that have far lower margins.
What area of the country do you live in?
@@serenaterra3479 Greencastle, PA
I sure hope you are selling your used mushroom compost! That stuff is the best and so hard to find.
@@SetasMushrooms I was going to ask about your compost, if you had, but you're a little far from me, about 3 hours.
A video showcasing all the things that went wrong during your current season would be awesome. It doesn't always go according to plan. Thank you for the video!
Might also be a nice way to vent some feelings lol.
Gems of truth in this one for all small businesses!
Future farmers are lucky to have you!!
Not many youtubers explain where most of the money comes from.. you can grow hundreds of different veggies, herbs, ect. but people will buy the same few things. the best selling things for me have been: slicing tomatoes, bell peppers, and lettuce. I don't get many sales on herbs, kale, and hot peppers. Ive replaced all the space ive used for the veggies that dont sell with the ones that do, it works.
Just curious location you cater to?
Edwardsville, IL and surrounding areas.
If you're looking into market gardening and have some patience strawberries are very easy to sell and don't take up much space. The thing is you have to transplant plugs in the fall to get a spring/summer crop the following year@@ARUNKUMAR-gh3uw
Yeah in my area that is a mistake I see new market gardmers make about 25% of the time.
They grow things that other market garners aren't already selling. Nothing wrong per definition but a number of them have gone big on things market garners here don't usually sell and that supermarkets also don't sell. So customers need to try it for the 1st time, and it takes time to get people used to it (so ffs focus on what sells, everything else should be a limited scale experiment).
I have a small backyard garden for my family of four and know the work that requires so I can only imagine how much hard work goes into a farm as a business. With that said, I would love to find a farmers market or small farm grower that is close to me so I can shop weekly and practice eating in season more. Most are a good 20-40 minute drive away but I think it is better for our health and I want to support local small farms and see that as a win win situation.
I watched a composting video from No Till during a serious 3 week battle of Covid. It gave me much needed escape, and I promised myself that when I regained some strength, I wanted to finally start a small market garden. Since then I have moved twice, and finally bought a cute distressed house in the city that has a ton of water saving potential and a small hill that is begging to be terraced and farmed! I will not have the room or available sunlight hours to do a dense garden, but I do have a lot of friends who love to garden, and many vacant lots to choose from to buy and expand in the future. I'm thinking of doing a market garden co-op and starting an Urban Gardn Market in the middle of the food desert we have on the south side of town, as well as a compost station (in the vacant but heavily shaded lot behind me) for all of the uncontaminated yard waste of the gardeners! I have this channel to thank for the awesome inspiration and technical advice you give! ❤
Consumer here, every farm stand in my area sells the exact same thing. I've started growing my own just so I can get variety
Something to add, and may be appropriate for all small biz start ups - be prepared to fail and have a support structure. There will likely be a lot of pressure to succeed (money, family, own expectations, contracts...) and a series of setbacks can be crushing when you've been waiting weeks or months for that crop to reach maturity. Being able to find solace in a partner, or walk away for a few days thanks to your off farm job, is invaluable.
My husband recently gifted me the No-Till Growers Handbook. I warned him the danger he was in! "You know this is going to make a farmer out of me right?"
I'm a home gardener with a successful career sitting inside looking at a computer full-time, and we do rely on my income. Plus I'm over 50. So we talk about potential locations and options while (for now) remaining firmly rooted where we are. And I wonder if it will ever be possible given our aging bodies and our other needs and values. But I love your channel, have read the entire book (most of it twice) and am constantly learning. Thank you for the insights
I'm 60 and going for it, but starting small
If you're not relying on your income right now, now would be the best time to quit and start growing in a larger scale and see how selling it goes in your market... You never know what tomorrow brings and next year you may have something happen to where you need an income and then you'll not be in a position to quit because "what if what I grow doesn't sell" For YEARS I didn't take the plunge when we weren't reliant on my income, but I finally did- and for 3 years we were fine, but then covid happened... and my farm was not bringing in the income to replace what I was once making and I had to go back to work this year... Because of prices rising, my husbands income was no longer enough for all of our bills and were were about $800 short each month, and I wasn't yet making a profit in my business so I also had no more $ to invest into my business.... And there aren't any part time jobs around that pay more than $10 and hour so I had to go back to my old job working full time @$18/hr. in order to have enough to pay the bills and have a little extra for emergencies, and to have the money to repurchase yearly expenses (seeds, bulbs, amendments, etc.) (It took me longer to find where/how I wanted to sell and made some mistakes the first two years but this year, I did great, but unfortunately it still wasn't enough) So now I'm trying to juggle a full time job AND the farm, because I don't want to give up on my dream of owning my own business/being able to work from home/doing what I love instead of working at a company where I am not appreciated and valued... and I have young kids at home... IT'S HARD to say the least... So if this is your dream I'd say now is the time... Hopefully things are only going to keep getting better with prices now that OCVID is over, and you don't have to worry about something happening all of a sudden and NEEDING that income all of a sudden, so you should have several years to learn the business, learn your market, etc.
Thanks for the video, Jessie. I'm not "starting" a farm but am working toward converting my backyard garden into a market garden with plans to sell vegetables (and other items) at local farmers' markets. So while the garden isn't new, the concept of operating it as a business rather than a hobby is. I appreciate your tips and insight on this and your other videos.
We make about 25 yards of compost a year with horses. Always have cold, warm, and burning hot piles going.
Very good video. Lots of good points to lower most people's unrealistic expectations. Reality is where we live. Thank you.
About to put my first row of potatos on the ground as a complete beginner. Thank you for the advice.
The romantic idea of following my grandparents who farmed for a living has turned into the cold water plunge of reality in the level of work they did living that way! They worked to feed a family of 7 kids plus have income from farmers markets. A handy labor force built into the large family model possibly added some level of productivity with minimal increased overhead but as kids grow and leave that strain comes back in time. The change in society where seemingly every product comes into the home wrapped in plastic from far off lands never seen has stirred this desire to be free of that dependency. Yet watching our two adult children go out to the world with jobs that stress them out and leave them feeling lost, I wonder if they may make the turn back and follow our lead. Time will tell.
Great video, thoughtful topic for sure! Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go work on our new greenhouse! 40 x 15 high tunnel doesn’t build itself ya know!❤❤😂 #farminglife
Regarding the last bit of advice, at least in the videos published on this channel, I see a lot of aversion to automation, which would be the key to scaling up. I think this gets associated with industrial farming, but it's important to remember that getting your farm off of pesticides+herbicides by going no-till is not the same thing as using a compact tractor to turn your compost, lay your compost, or plant and harvest. Obviously, you have to be careful with some of this, because you could get a planter/harvesters that disturbs the soil too much and undoes a lot of the benefits from no-till.
It’s always a weight issue for the ground using tractors and other machines
Just got a second job to create my dream garden.. definitely my dream garden is a hobby more so than something I wanna create revenue with.. plan on giving a lot away to family and elders around the reservation and use it as a key when I plan on starting a rehab
Ah farmer Jesse! Bringing back the glory of being a farmer! Legend. I think being the best market gardening channel on CZcams might end up paying off in the long run. Thanks for all your efforts i literally can't Imagine spend all that time editing, filming and running that huge garden.
It's good for people to garden as a hobby first so that they know soil and weather conditions for a few years. During that time, they can work to save up capital. Setting aside an area where people can rent RV space can provide revenue for a moderate investment. Raising rabbits for your own meat before starting your farm can help you make quality compost. If you have meat goats on your land before starting your market garden, they can provide extra income and soil improvements for a moderate investment of time and money. Spanish-Boer crosses are the most healthy and require the least effort. The important thing is to build up capital while you learn about your soil and weather and make mountains of compost from manure, straw and leaves. Don't start until you have enough capital, dependable partners or employees and enough time to do the farm full time. You want to experiment while you still have a paycheck and keep meticulous records of when seeds planted, how much compost used and yields before you try to grow commercially. You need written records of which seeds did the best. Unfortunately, my health failed before I could farm full time so I raise meat goats and have rentals on my land. If I had just started saving earlier, I could have pulled off market gardening.
I think I read it in the new organic grower and definitely heard it from others, that you need both capital and experience when starting, and a lot of people end up spending their capital to get experience and then when they are ready to run a farm efficiently they’ve lost their capital. Good luck everyone!
Love y'alls work. Appreciate the knowledge.
I absolutely love your videos ❤ thank you for taking the time to share the knowledge.
I came here for the comment section on selling pickles. 😂
Thank you for sharing your experience and advice!
I really appreciate your honesty and straightforward advice in this video. I don’t think I’ve seen any of your content before, but I will certainly be tuning in now
Love watching your videos. Solid information and a goodly amount of humor.
I love these videos man, they are hilarious, educational, and they just provide the logic most people don't associate with this. So thank you!
Real down to earth, or rather down to soil, advice. With a lot of humour and self-humour. Much appreciated.
Great video. The first time I hear someone talk about all that in a way that makes sense. The money aspect is crucial and being so precise with numbers is very helpful. Thank you very much, Jesse, you are awesome.
And weather to your cost calculation. We had hail our first year. We didn't have that in our budget.
I appreciate all the educational content you guys do,even if it doesn't recoup its labour value for you. Thank you!
Thanks Farmer Jessie. You provided a great deal of information from a "been there, done that" perspective and also pointed out a number of things to help people either think about before and as they start or as a good reminder to those already farming.
Thank you for keeping it real!!!
I made a lot of those mistakes. Hindsight is wisdom. Thank u for sharing
Excellent advice, hard won.
Thank you.
Got this alert and sat down for a treat😮.
I found this as one of the most valuable videos you have produced.
Another great video. Thank you.
This was the best new farming advice I've heard thus far. This video has made me press pause and organize my business better and scale back my farm dreams to a manageable space
Great message. Communication in the age of mobile phones and continuous work outside the farm - not enough cash...doing too many things on too much land...feeling isolated. This video really hit home. Many thanks.
this video is a pure gem, a must watch for all type of entrepreneur and start up. Your insight about growing a business is spot on. This one is a must seen for getting info about decision making/expectations in life in general!
Top shelf content folks! Keep at'er! We love y'all!!
What I see is that people starting market gardening thinking they can do it alone, I think it’s wise in the business plan to account your own labor cost as a salary in the numbers of starting the business, in the event you got sick or the wife/partner got pregnant that there’s money to pay a wage for a staff member to replace that person.
If not required a bonus.😊
Yes we started tiny, just testing the waters, not quitting my day job. :) We are still trying to answer important questions. What will sell? What parts of the market are already saturated? What is the best niche for us in our area? Just starting to expand a bit now, but still very much experimenting. Currently we are mostly just trying to pay for our chicken and goat habit. :D Hopefully by the time I don't want to/can't do my other job anymore we'll be able to turn a decent profit.
Great video, this is helping us to narrow down and isolate what to start first and yes, ‘compost’ is my challenge. Thankfully, I’m learning by trial and error on our home garden first.
‘Fails’ (although frustrating) have been such a great lesson.
Big mistake, especially in Texas- Thinking all summer crops are Texas summer crops. No no darling, tomatoes wont put on fruit in 95* temps with 85% humidity and that 50% shade cloth is wonderful but it doesn't mean your crops wont be stressed, just keeps them alive(ish) until the temp comes back down.
I love your channel! Thank you gor the effort you put into these videos, anf for keeping it real by not just showing the glamorous side of farming.
That pvc pipe used to do the florida weave was brilliant! i'm going to do that next year
Excellent advice comes from experience.
Bought .9 of acre 29 years ago. I picked it because it had a back exit(easement) the gate opens to face the park that in the summer is a farmers market.
Now I'm retired, I bought a fancy sandwich board... I put it out, play loud music mostly Johnny Cash and I sell to those folks who came to the park but crossed the street for some fresh carrot juice w/a drop of vanilla ice cream/ most sales are different kinds of potatoes & some micro greens /spices... next I'm working on a walapini because I have time w/out expectations not having to rely on $$$ just using recycled materials I was hoping to find tons of plexiglass from former covid counter tops
thank you for sharing your wisdom. I always learn something from your videos as well as getting a laugh or two.
From *Brazil* - ty ♥ ~ I wish you the best.
Glad I clicked on this one.
You got a new sub.
I started watching your videos about a year ago and i have to say your wit and your character make it a blast every video. Your good at it my friend ! the infos great too yeah lol.... so keep up the hard work and thanks for all you share . Take care
Awesome information. All of your videos are great. I learn alot from your videos.
Thanks for another great video
Well said I totally agree with everything you said when it comes to those on U Tube I find it hard to agree with most things they say. I recently heard Wednesday that you could have a full market garden for under $500 and only work 21 to 25 hours a week doing so I lol
That's only possible if you already own the land, have experience with growing at that scale, and already know who your customers will be. Creators like that don't mention those things.
Thx and God bless! So glad I'm in for the hobby, and God provides the abundance! Lil raised bed in my yard, feeds my seniors who have been homeless. Love your videos and prayers for your continued divine providence! 🙏
3 acre produce farm here...I'm in the beginning of year 3...thank you for all your priceless videos...you have helped me so very very much with all you share
This video was excellent, thank you for sharing this.
Thank you for this.
Love your book!
Such a great share. Thank you
Lots of love to both of you.great,great, just great 🙂
As always thanks so much for sharing! Such valuable information❤
Excellent explanation. Most well put truth about farming I have seen for those beginning to farm or hobby farms, homesteading, as some call it. Regardless of what you call it, it is going to be work, and you have to enjoy hard labor to farm. Your rewards are what you grow and looking back at what you have accomplished. It is mentally soothing, but you also have to know how to mentally handle the not so soothing parts as well.
I was going to start a market garden, but I was so taken with the idea, I didn’t bother to checkout how flooded the “market” already was. I finally went to my local Saturday market and realized just how many other growers there were. And many of them are actually quite large and go to multiple markets. I then shifted towards just growing thornless blackberries for upick… Was also going to to blueberries but decided to not plant them and just sell them, while still in gallon pots. I sold them for wholesale and made good money…. That’s when I realized, that just like Levi’s realized during the gold rush. There was more money in selling the “picks and shovels”, than there was in gold mining. There is more money in selling the equipment, starter plants and dream, to would-be farmers, than actually trying to sell the end product to a customer. It fit my personality much better and a hell of a lot less work. But then I discovered day trading and not looking back… 😂
Really enjoyed this video. Thank you!
This is great information. Whether you own a farm or any business.
I tell people to basically expect to fail comedically (if it weren't for the real money and labor at stake) for the first 3-5 years, and then you'll start to gain some traction; as long as you don't burn out or become bitter about it. Ideally, you might want a part time/seasonal job as well, to help keep things afloat an pay things off faster.
The best land you can start with is pasture or hayfield... any "conventionally" managed row crop acres is going to be horrid while it recuperates (we just ended season 5... and we can finally grow produce worth selling in any sort of quantity; and I had 10 prior years experience operating a small produce operation back home).
If you have any aspirations to have fruit... get it in now (that's going to take years before you get anything useful off of it). Plant rootstock now, and learn to graft for later (you can buy 750 apple seeds, with 90% germ test, for $15, and buds are about $1 a tree). I planted 4 - 50 foot rows of blackberries 5 years ago; and I had enough new starts off them to plant 1/4 acre. Same for raspberries. Strawberries fill in fast (couple seasons), but you have to stay on the weeds. Asparagus takes 3 years +/- to get going enough to harvest off of.
Best video to date - thx
Great video. I’m not starting my own farm (any time soon) but I have gardening clients that are starting too much and taking on extra costs which is noticeably hurting their relationship with their partner (who isn’t enthusiastic about farming). I’m glad you’re saving people stress.
Thank you Jessie. Love your vids and love your soil. We are making the move to commercial farming this coming spring. Been doing it for subsistence for 10 years. We are primarily a dairy goat herd but we discovered that the goat herd and growing food go together really well. Thank you for the advice, both my wife and myself love all aspects of farming but we need to tune up our marketing. Thanks again!
I was watching a video from a couple that LEASED land to make cheese and they started with only 3 cows and some chickens for eggs... Would you say only 3 cows can make a property viable? (I mean no net profits, just enough to float above zero, no losses I mean)
it's also interesting that I scrolled down opening all comments, and then I searched for the words "dairy" and "cows"... there was only your comment talking about dairy
@@WithJupiterInMind I think it totally depends on management. HOw the cows are grazed, etc. We have around 20 goats and we bring in 1.5 tons of hay per month that they convert either to poop or waste hay. Then they rotational graze to manage the same cover crop that I run chicken tractors on.
Joel Salatin videos or other homesteaders/farmers that work cows have those numbers for cows and acreage all worked out though.
This is a mistake that I have made and see other business owners make as well, but people will not fall down at your feet crying "finally you are here to save us", hahah. Most people where I live still prefer supermarkets. I have to fight for every single client in my repertoire, while also trying to keep my vegetables happy.
Also, as Charles Dowding says, fresh vegetables are a luxury for most people, not a staple food.
Sadly they are a luxury for most. Personally I'm hoping that one day the bigger chains will open up at least a small spot in their produce sections for locally grown items. Something along those lines anyway. It's a win for everybody but only time will tell. Keep growing and keep seeing out new vendors for your products. One day it will pay off!
It's like having you here with me. Like talking to me. I am really terrified after this year but not giving up. You really are my favourite farmer to watch on CZcams. Talking about everything
Thanks
One of your nerds
Good insight and information. Definitely things to consider. Thanks.
Love the video so much. Imparticular the "side hustles" at the end.
Great advice !!!
I know my brother (trying to get into market gardening for a number of years; changing things up again..) watches you too...
I pray he catches this one..
❤😊
Oh man, that communication point hits home.
no no no, YOU'RE awesome Jesse!
Always awesome
Thank you
I adore the sarcasm. And the self-effacing humor. lol. And some solid info.
I'm in the early stage of reviving a 25 acre farm to grow fruits and vegetables on, so this was very helpful for me. I tend to get ahead of myself and come up with a way bigger plan then I can handle, so this last year was a learning curve for sure, especially once I started digging into the buidiness side of farming.
I'm with you.
Starting small and focus on limited crops. Establishing preplanted buyers, selling forward. I grew way more of some crops than others in my 1/4 acre rural garden. It only takes a couple yrs to focus on the best crops and how to maximize production. Much labor. If you love gardens but don't garden you probably only imagine it's a job you will enjoy. It's got to be in your blood. I've been looking for serious gardeners for 10+ yrs. I only see them on internet, 25 acres sounds like the Augean stables. But I'm ready! Best successes this year-marshmallow, eggplant, Roselle, walking onions, spaghetti squash. This vid has valuable info. Alert-gardening, farming is labor and trial/error intensive. It's a beautiful life, good food, 1/2 your day, most days outside, except when snowing or raining. Important to have a good partner/s. Critical to progress, grow the business. Find a business partner who is a grower, loved soil. No wannabes unless of course there's $$$ to make it worth while. Get a solid contract. Keep daily records. Talk is cheap. Run your business like a business. And another thing, no weekends off. 🍆
Thankyou. There were many great take always on this video..👍
The biggest challenge IMHO is marketing. If you can't sell it you're wasting your time over producing unless you like giving produce to friends and neighbours. When I was young, 65 years ago, my Mom would go down the street with me knocking on doors to sell direct. Soon she had regulars that always wanted our veggies. She began approaching stores and the demand grew. If you can't sell and take a 'no' personally you will have a problem. Develop a thick skin. That lesson applies in every business.
Thank you!
Good video, thank you
Super useful!