- Christopher Barstow
- Monday, November 15, 2021
The Market Garden
In the past couple of years, there has been an explosion of organic fruits and vegetables offered in grocery stores. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, organic fruit and vegetable sales increased by 12.4 percent in 2020 to meet the double-digit growth in consumer demand for organically produced goods. This combined with the havoc created by COVID, supply chain disruptions and inflation, has made this the perfect time to start a market garden.
A market garden is a small agricultural operation, used to produce vegetables, flowers and fruits as cash crops. Conventional farmers, who often sell one large crop to the wholesale market, only get 10 to 20% of the retail price for their crops. The market gardener, on the other hand often earns 100%, because he/she sell various crops directly to consumers, restaurants and shops without the services of a wholesaler or distributer. You can become a full-time farmer or just earn a little money on the side; the market garden is a great way to turn your passion into profit.
In the Columbia Metropolitan area, there are over 15 market gardens to choose from. To gain an understanding of how these farms got their start, what type of customers they serve and much more, the Business and Careers staff recently visited two of these market gardens. The first farm was Organically Roland, a small husband and wife operation located in Lexington County. The second was Tom’s Creek Farms, a much larger family farm located in Hopkins, SC. I will spotlight these two farms in my next two posts about the market garden.
Research
When starting a market garden, you must first research the market, to find out what people are looking for. You don’t want to grow something that no one is going to buy. Check out farmers markets, grocery stores and CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) to find out what produce is selling. Try to find in-demand products that fetch a high price and are underserved in your local market. And if you are growing what others are selling, look for a way to differentiate yourself. If someone is already selling regular potatoes, for instance, you can sell purple ones. It is also helpful to research which varieties of vegetables and fruits grow best in your growing region. Clemson University operates the Extension Service which has an office in every county seat in South Carolina. They are a wonderful resource and on the Clemson website you will also find growing guides for vegetables, fruits, herbs and other plants.
Education
If you have little or no experience in growing produce on a larger scale than a small backyard garden, it would be a good idea to educate yourself on what is involved and how to do it by either attending a program like Clemson University’s SC New and Beginning Farmer Program or researching the numerous channels on YouTube that have tutorials on the subject. Several channels that I can recommend from my own personal research are:
Lazy Dog Farm – “Start Your Own Market Farm – Our Simple and Easy Model”
No-Till Growers – “Starting a (no-till) Market Garden: The Bare Essentials”
The Market Gardener – “The Market Gardener’s Master Class” Online Program
Land
You will need a small piece of land to set your garden up on. If you don’t have one to two acres of your own land, you may find someone willing to lease land to you. When leasing land, you need to think about how far you are willing to travel to work on the land on a regular basis. Other factors to consider when choosing a location are whether or not you will be delivering your produce or selling to customers directly from your growing space. A good YouTube tutorial on this subject is “How to Farm Land You Don’t Own” at Urban Farmer Curtis Stone.
Planning Out What You Will Grow and The Production Schedule
As a market gardener, you will need to practice succession planting to ensure that you are harvesting and selling fresh crops every week. Customers and restaurants will be counting on you to be their provider. Choosing varieties of vegetables that will continually produce over the entire season is preferable however varieties that reach maturity quickly and that can be replanted several times over the season are also important. Several YouTube resources for this type of information are:
Josh Satin – “Crop Planning Tips for Market Gardening”
DIY Farmer Keith – “Crop Plan a Market Garden”
The Market Gardener – “Bed Preparation in the Market Garden”
Honey Tree Farm – “How to Build Permanent Garden Beds (Market Garden Style)
Where to Sell What You Grow
Farm stand
The easiest way to sell you produce is to set up a stand near your farm. Not only does this save time and money needed to transport your goods, but you can also possibly use the honor system and have a lockbox where people can drop their money, if you don’t want to man the stand all day. You could also set up all or part of your operation to be a U-Pick farm, where your customer comes and picks their own produce directly from the field or orchard.
Farmer’s Market
Although the farmer’s market is a great way to maximize your sales, it does require transporting your produce, set-up/taking down and time manning your stand all day. While you are selling your crops at farmer’s markets and other locations, you should be doing extensive networking with your customers. Use email and social networking to let your customers know when you will be at farmer’s market, what you will have for sale and inquire from them what produce they would like to see.
Restaurants
Chefs require fresh and flavorful vegetables and are more willing to try trendy new produce. They pay lower prices than the individual but will buy your produce in much larger amounts. The best part about selling to restaurants is that they will be repeat customers and will buy from you week after week. When approaching a restaurant for the first time it is a good idea to take a box of your best produce along for the chef to try it out in dishes. Also, bring a fresh sheet, which includes your contact info and what you are offering and the prices.
C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture)
There are several models of Community Supported Agriculture to choose from. The original form that is still in use was to give the farmer a set amount of money at the beginning of the growing year that was used to purchase seeds and fertilizer then as the crops begin maturing and being harvested, the members each get an equal share of everything that is gathered. Usually, the members would come once a week to a pickup point to get their shares. If crops fail or get wiped out by bad weather conditions, there are no shares. This type of membership shares the risks with the farmer and there are no refunds. Another method is that once you have built up a following from your time at the farmer’s market and other locations, then you can start a C.S.A. and for a set fee, people can get an assortment of fresh vegetables delivered fresh to their home each week. These can be set up in such a way that members can start or stop at any time and the farmer bears the startup costs and risks and only charges for what is available for purchase.
Online markets
Online platforms, like Barn2Door, Farm to People and Shopify, work to connect farmers to convenience minded customers looking to make a one-time purchase or to pay for their weekly or monthly CSA. Last year’s COVID-related closures led many farmers to explore new ways to reach customer’s quarantining at home.
As you can see, there are many ways and opportunities for starting a market garden now. It can even be done on a shoestring and your point of sale can be as simple as parking next to a busy highway and selling produce from your vehicle if you find yourself in a position of hardship. People are looking for ways to have more control of what foods they are feeding their families and for markets closer to home so that there is less worry about supply and transportation.