I've sold just a little bit of U-pick (about 20 gal. of strawberries last year). It is nice not to have to pick those buggers.

However, my thought is that it's going to be difficult to manage a U-pick away from where you live. With just a few acres, your customer base is going to be pretty sporadic. It takes little effort to keep regular business hours if the U-pick is at your residence. When you don't have customers, you can stay busy doing something else. If the business is miles away from your home, you might find it's a lot harder to keep someone at the site 9+ hours a day, six days a week.

yea and don't forget that seventh day when the ones that want something for nothing show up and pick your fruit clean. I've seen it happen before.

We just finished our 3rd year of having a U-Pick open to the public and have learned a lot in the process. Our U-Pick is a little less than a mile from our home, but I use an electric golf cart to get there, so it's not like it takes us a long time to drive there.

Here are a few thoughts that come to mind:

1. U-Picks are "memory farms" in that if folks remember picking it as a child, you will have better luck getting them to pick your fruit as adults. For example, we grow blackberries, blueberries, peaches and muscadine. All of which folks in Alabama remember as children picking wild or at their grandparents house. They probably won't remember picking kiwi fruit, although the fruit is real tasty.

2. Always remember, it's your farm, so charge what YOU feel is appropriate and set your hours to what works for YOU. Afterall, you're the one that's going to have to set there waiting for them to come.

3. Build a web site, register your farm on Facebook and, above all, make sure you register your U-Pick in ALL the free U-Pick web sites and publications you can find. I've met so many people that got out of the business because they couldn't get folks to come and pick. The people were there. They just didn't know there was a U-Pick nearby. The Interent is a powerful tool! Don't ignore it.

4. Have a bathroom and a place for folks to wash their hands. That's a must if you want moms and their children to come.

5. Make sure you grow plenty of product. Nothing worse than getting picked out during the week, especially if it's right before a big weekend when folks have made family plans to come and pick. Doesn't quite create that positive memory.

6. As far as the finances go, it sounds like you have a handle on most of the costs. I highly recommend you register your farm as a business, possibly some form of LLC. Much easier to deal with taxes and insurance. But don't plan on making any money those first few "growing" years. There always seems to be something that you'll need to spend your hard earned dollars on to keep your equipment operational and/or make your U-Pick better.

Here are some links to some articles I wrote last year. Maybe they can be of help. Just remember we're near Montgomery AL, so our climate and culture are a little different than yours:

1. http://millbrook.wsfa.com/content/ever-thought-about-creating-your-own-u-pick-farm

2. http://millbrook.wsfa.com/content/picking-right-location-your-u-pick

3. http://millbrook.wsfa.com/content/designing-your-u-pick-farm

Hope this helps and feel free to give me a call. You can find my number on our website.

Ken Barber

Barber Berry Farm, LLC
Millbrook AL

Are you in Wisconsin? There's a government grant program that can help you with this. I just saw a special on PBS about it. They buy a lease on your land so the land can never be developed but you can still use it as a farm or orchard or U-pick. One of the people they interviewed had a U-pick on northern Wisconsin with blueberries and raspberries.

You might also want to look into doing a CSA or combining with an existing CSA. I'm not sure how much interest you would get in a U-Pick with those types of fruits, but a local CSA would probably love to have any local fruit to put in their boxes.

Ken,

I hear a lot of hoopla about Facebook and farm marketing, but I'm skeptical. It seems to me it would be tough to get new customers in one's area to visit your Facebook page. Is Facebook set up so people can easily search it to find a local U-pick? Do you have an idea of the estimated percentage of business you get from Facebook?

Thanks,
Olpea

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful comments. I, for one, as a customer would probably first look in the yellow pages, then try googling to find a U-Pick, but only for fruits with which I was familiar or had picked in past years. A new fruit like haskaps or kiwis would take some training, like perhaps free samples at farmers' markets for a few years first. Northwoodswis

for advertising don't forget local newspapers ...you may even get them to do a writeup about your u-pick

Olpea: We have our Facebook entry as an "individual" which now has over 850 friends. I use it to let folks know "instantly" what's going on at the farm. It comes in real handy, especially since we are a seasonal farm.

Initially, we started collecting email addresses when folks came to the U-Pick as a means to periodically send newsletters to. Then we made a Facebook page with the "Montgomery Area" as the "associated network" and then "invited" all the folks on my email list to be "friends" on my Facebook page.

Facebook also has an area entitled "People You May Know". For the next few months I would ask the ever changing list of people in that section if we could be their "friend". Many said yes, simply for the fact that picking berries is a fun and healthy family thing to do and we were in the area. The worst thing they could do was "ignore" the request.

Once we got over 500 friends or so, we started showing up in the "People You May Know" section and folks in the area started asking us if they could be our friend. There's the new business you were asking about.

Then on our web page this past year we added a template folks could use to send us their email address (or ask us questions about the farm) as well as a Facebook ICON for those who just wanted to friend us there.

The main thing with Facebook is that it's a way to get your business out there so when folks feel like doing something fun like picking fruit on a pretty summer day, they think of you.

Here's another example of the value of Facebook. Last season we opened for picking blackberries on a Friday and a ton of folks came and picked over 50 gallons. That's a big day for us! Unfortunately when we went out into the field that evening to check on how many ripe berries were left, we determined there wasn't enough to open up on Saturday. Now, remember, my faithfull customers had been waiting all winter for this weekend. We hated to do it but we had to send out an update on our Facebook page letting folks know we wouldn't be open Saturday but would reopen on Monday when more berries would be ripe. Only 3 cars showed up on Saturday where if we hadn't sent out the Facebook notice, it would have been more like 40 cars showing up ready to pick. That's when I knew Facebook was a viable asset.

As far as a percentage of new business, I would guess it has helped us grow maybe 10-20 percent. However, as far as repeat business goes, it would be much higher. Remember that old saying, "out of sight, out of mind".

Next to our web site and our farm, of course, our Facebook page is our biggest seller.

Ken

Thanks Ken,

I really didn't know how Facebook worked, even though I signed up once. Your explanation helps, and I can see the benefit.

I've taken the first steps on a Website: reserved a domain name, and signed up for Web hosting. I know a young hot shot who can design Web sites. Thought I'd see if he can help me get one up and going, since I don't know the first thing about it.

olpea: We use register.com. It's real easy to build your own web site as they have a "Do It Yourself" section and 24/7 telephone support line if you get stuck. You can have your hot shot set it up if worst comes to worst, then you can update it when you feel like it. It's real easy.

Ken

Thanks Ken,

I looked at several different Web hosting companies. They all kind of looked comparable to me. I ended up using Webhostingpad.com, mainly for the cheap price. I have a very small part-time operation, so I need to keep overhead as low as possible.

Webhostingpad supposedly has 24/7 support and 'Do It Yourself' instructions, but I'm not familiar enough yet with the lingo to be able to understand the instructions. I'd like to learn how to make the Website myself, so that if I want to change things, I won't always be dependent on someone else to make the changes.

All I have so far is the name reserved, if you click on it, it takes you to a generic Webhostingpad.com page, which informs you the page is under construction. Not much of a start, but at least it's a start.

Here is a link that might be useful: TubbyFruits.com

olpea: The hardest part is making that first page. Trust me, the artist in you will start to come out and you'll tweek it a 100 times before it's what you want. But, from then on it's all down hill.

However, if you're having problems getting started, I would give them a call and tell them you're a beginner. But before you call, make sure you've stumbled a few times so you can give them a starting point to work from.

I've called my webhosting folks before and they were real nice. Remember, they want you to be successful so they can continue to receive your monthly payment for many years to come.

My acquaintances with U-Pick tell me that the customers can behave quite badly. They turn their kids loose, break branches, tear off fruit spurs, leave trash from their picnic lunch, pick fruit, inspect it, and then throw it on the ground.

Then, of course, you will have lots of customers who pick fruit like I do: one for the basket, four for me. One for the basket, five for me...... More fruit goes down my gullet than ever makes it into the house.

I don't buy at U-Pick. If I did, I'd make myself not eat any until it was weighed and paid for, but sometimes I suspect that I am more honest than your run of the mill person.

On the plus side, and it's a very big plus, you don't have to pick the fruit yourself and haul it to the farmer's market, or local restaurants.

OregonWoods,

I've heard the horror stories too. One guy reported catching a couple having sex in his orchard.

Having heard all kinds of stories, I put some pretty stringent qualifiers on my small U-pick.

One of the qualifiers was no children under 13. Mind you, I'm all for kids, but mothers look at U-pick as an entertainment venue for their children, and I'm not set up to handle it. Many U-picks cater to that clientele with mazes, etc. But if you have other garden crops, children will utterly trample them down. They are also tree climbers, which increases potential accidents, as well as broken branches.

People will do all kinds of unexpected things. I know of one guy who didn't provide ladders to his customers due to liability, and one customer searched his barns till he found one.

Last summer, one lady brought her dog to my U-pick. I suppose a person should expect that kind of thing dealing w/ the public. Not a problem as long as you don't have other pets.

It never bothered me that people eat some of the U-pick. I know it bothers some farmers (I heard of one who weighed customers in and out, and charged for the difference). For me, I figure it's to be expected, and one should figure eating loss in the pricing.

Ken,

Thanks again for the good advice. I've got my email set up on my new domain (one small hurdle). I've also started looking into the tools I need to get the first page up; FTP software along with software to build the first page. Software's all free of course. I may have a different opinion once I get started, but so far it doesn't look too bad. Maybe I won't need the hot shot after all.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Mark

olpea,

If you need any help with designing your web space just let me know and I will be glad to help you...Ive been into computers since the 70's so i can help you get up and going.

Ray

Thanks Ray for the kind offer.

I've watched a couple Youtube tutorials for using the software (RV Sitebuilder). That part doesn't look too difficult, but if I get stumped, I may drop you an email.

Mark

I don't do u-pick and probably never will--although I do offer up tours of my farm to customers. I cherish the privacy my farm provides. I registered with Local Harvest, and it brought me quite a bit of business--probably about 30%. I added 3 new customers just this week from it. You can check out what it's like at Paw Paw Ridge Farm at the Local Harvest site. The bulk of my business, however, comes from local restaurants. It is a very easy, reliable way to move a lot of fruits and produce. I have yet to do Facebook but have heard good things about it.

Brook

Brook: Do you get a good price from chefs for your fruits? Do they pay the same as if you were sell them at a Farmers Market? In early June we sell our blackberries and blueberries for $5 a pint at FMs and sell out everytime. Are your chefs willing to pay retail for quality berries or do they expect a discount? Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Ken Barber
Millbrook AL

Ken, I usually cut my restaurants a little break. I don't mind as they are such good customers with other things we raise--like squash blossoms. No one else will buy 18,000 of those from us. The economy was abysmal here long before the recession, and there is no way anyone would pay $5 a pint for berries. That's what I get for a quart!!

Brook

Thanks Brook. That price only lasts through June. Once the market starts getting flooded by the big berry growers from Georgia and up North, the price starts heading downward, but not by much.

A discount for a local restaurant can work in your favor if the restaurant provides you some advertising in return. The nicer places around here will tell you the name of each farm in the description on the menu. That's how I found a great spinach grower since the best restaurant in town was using their spinach.

One of the U-picks near me decided the Honeycrisp were too valuable and they would only let you pick under supervision. They had two afternoons, two days a week where you could sign up and then they'd have someone take the group up and make sure you were following the rules (it's yours once you pick it, etc...). They were full almost every time I wanted to do it so it must have been working for them.