Subject: cash crop

From: [email-masked] (Duane Jacobson)
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1993 22:14:03 GMT

Does anyone have references, or experiences to share, pertaining to
growing fruits/vegetables as a cash crop on a small farm? Related
organizations or periodicals?  ( I know about the "Growing for Market"
newsletter.)  I'm talking about a part-time venture here, and would
guess that 5-10 acres would be plenty to keep one busy, yes?

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From: [email-masked] (Woody Ligon)
Date: 25 Feb 93 15:29:11 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Duane
> guess that 5-10 acres would be plenty to keep one busy, yes?

Probably 5 acres would keep you busier than you want to be.  But the real
problem isn't the growing--it's the marketing.

My wife and I grow strawflowers and related things every year but it has
taken years to get to the point where the wholsalers will deal with us. We
spent what seems like forever selling and delivering to lots of little
florists who wanted to buy $2 worth of stuff. It wasn't worth the gas. But
eventually people learned that we had really high quality materials and
then we were able to get orders from the big wholesalers and we started
doing much better. I am pretty sure we now produce over half the
strawflowers used in the whole Albany, NY area!

If your area has a "farmers market" and you stick to fruits & veggies then
you might be able to get by with that sort of outlet.  But this isn't
terribly profitable and it can take up tons of time. 

In the Fruit and Veggie business what you really need is a produce manager
at a large chain store who has confidence in you and will take your stuff.
There is a chain in Richmond, Virginia that makes a real point of dealing
with local growers. They actually write checks on the dock which is really
unusual.  But in most cities finding this degree of interest is a serious
challenge. 

Good Luck
Woody Ligon
([email-masked])