I don't know. Yield calculations are always inaccurate.

The tomato is Marzano, San Marzano. It is a paste tomato.

Manzano is a type of chile pepper, also called "apple" pepper, about the range of a serrano in terms of heat. You could Google it and try to buy seeds, or go over to the Hot Pepper forum and see if anybody has any seeds to give away. People usually trade, but I just started growing chiles last year and this year got a lot more in return for some of my seeds, you might get someone over there to send you some to try for just a SASE.

One of my "gifts" (not a trade) was an apple pepper, but guy said it was "Alma" so I'm not sure it would be what you're looking for.

They also might be able to give you an idea of yields, chiles yield more than bell peppers but 5 lbs a week consistently (for how many weeks? Preferably year-round LOL?) might be a tall order, even in zone 6b.

Hi Anthony.
You are going to learn a very complex process in a fairly short time. Calculating yields is not only seasonal, local to your soil and specific to your growing style, but it's also very difficult. It mostly comes with experience.

Your farmers market stand is by far your best solution. It offers no commitment and therefore becomes a buffer to you, you bring what you can and a lot of it if you have a lot. This will free you up to plant heavily based on your past experience and whatever yield expectations you can find (try the Johnnys catalogue). Plant enough to cover your bases with your contracts (restaurants) then any extra goes to market.

As far as pricing to the restaurants, thats going to depend on a few things. If you grow organically (certified or not) check Whole foods pricing, or find whatever local pricing you can compare your produce with. The standing order from restaurant #1 isn't so large that they deserve much of a discount. I often charge full retail prices, especially to picky chefs.
Hope this helps.
-Mark

Hi Anthony,

Like Mark, my prices are based on retail, not wholesale. You are essentially a contract grower of specialty produce. If chefs want specific varieties, they must pay a premium, and truly high-end restaurants (that's my market, as well) will just pass on the cost to the guests - don't short yourself. I have worked in high-end restaurants for over 25 years, and been a supplier to them for as long. If your quality is good, don't be afraid to charge what it's worth - it is a lot of labor and a lot doesn't get sold to the best restaurants, because they only want the best, and that is expensive to create. Chefs want clean, unblemished, uniformly sized produce, because it is cheaper for them to process into an elegant presentation. Generally they prefer smaller rather than larger sizes - haricot verts instead of large green beans, slender short carrots instead of large ones - because it means less prep time in the kitchen so less labor cost. They prefer, and know how to recognize, freshness, so harvest your most perishable crops early on the morning of delivery day, and field chill if necessary. If you bring them bug-eaten leaves, crooked carrots, or 10 pounds of potatoes that weigh 1/2 oz and 2 lbs in the same bag, or anything that needs to be washed, they aren't happy. Do your first sorting right in the field into 3 categories - best quality, very good, and the rest. As an example, my purple carrots are grown in beds that are 30" wide and 20' long (50 sq. ft) where the soil is sifted 18" deep, so they all grow straight and fast. I wash them by hand, sort them by size, cut the greens at 1 1/2 inches from the top of the carrot (I sell the tops separately) and sell them 12/$5. They are ready to cut and cook when they arrive. I have a replacement guarantee for any produce that gets returned because of quality issues, or I credit the next order if they don't want a replacement. I deliver on Thursdays and Mondays only, because they are too busy on weekends and Monday they have time to spend talking about the week ahead. I expect payment within ten days, or impose a service charge. Most pay on delivery.

For your first year, one restaurant may be all you should commit to, and market the surplus to the others as you have it. Tell the other restaurants that this is your first year doing this type of marketing, and you don't want to sacrifice quality, but you will keep them apprised of any surplus specialty items and they will have first pick. Chefs are very pressed for time and don't like any BS, so be upfront and direct - they'll appreciate it. It is more important to meet the expectations of volume and quality in the beginning, and create a reputation that will allow you to maintain a premium price for your produce. If it's really good, the chefs will be calling you. The only discount should be for produce that doesn't meet your highest standards, and if you can find a non-restaurant market for that, such as caterers or gourmet grocers, it will serve your reputation... chefs talk to each other all the time. I grow in Maine, and most of my markets are local, but I have sold my produce in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, D.C., and Palm Beach, and they pay air-freight shipping rates.

Ask the chef you are working with how many people he serves per week (in the trade we call them "covers", i.e.; "we did 158 covers last night," which means they served 158 entrees, not people. Remember that, in most fine dining, dinner is a salad or appetizer, the main meal, dessert, and beverages. You should try to have something from your farm on every plate, even if it is garnishing material like Blue Basil flowers. Even in urban markets, restaurants are seasonal - there are way more rich people in New York in the winter than in the summer (a lot come to Maine), and your area will have seasonal variation too. The chef should be able to guide you towards when demand will slow. Remember too that you have a good market around the winter holidays, so it pays to have something to offer between Thanksgiving and New Years, and Valentines Day can be a nice winter income pop if you plan right.

These days, "high-end" in the restaurant industry assumes that each guest will pay $80 or more for dinner, and often way more... some of my clients charge over $200, not including drinks, per person. The very highest-end restaurants routinely get $400 per person, and I have served tables that spent over $10,000 per person - it is a very different world for the 1% crowd. High-end restaurants have a lot of overhead, but they aren't hurting like the mid-range restaurants are. This is the market you want to shoot for, because they have a stable clientele who don't worry so much about economic fluctuations, they just want the best, and will pay for it. There were only 20 restaurants in America last year that received 5-star ratings from Mobil, considered the most stringent reviewer. There are hundreds of 3-star. You want to be selling to 4- and 5-star restaurants, because that will get you adequately funded for retirement.Your preference should always be to service the most expensive restaurants. They are buying from farms like ours.

Try to get your farms' name printed on the menu in any restaurant you sell to, this will serve both you and them in that it promotes the perception that they are concerned about local organic food - a very strong selling point these days. Put their names on your own marketing, and at your stand, if the chefs agree to it. Use press releases for marketing as well - if there is a culinary benefit, or the chef is doing a special event, donate something and get it publicized.

Sid Wainer is one of the largest purveyors of specialty produce in New England, his website will give you some insight on pricing of some specialty items. Professional cooking magazines will also have good references to follow up on for pricing - much of my garden planning revolves around culinary resources rather than seed catalogs. Publications aimed at the retail consumer market will be of less usefulness - Saveur being a notable exception.

I use Fedco for the bulk of my seed order, they are a Maine company that has principles I respect, and carry a lot of good seeds at fair prices, with substantial volume discounts. I also use Baker Creek, Johnnys', Ornamental Edibles, Kitazawa, Seeds of Italy, and Graines-Baumaux in France, and many others. I do not sell large potatoes, "utility" onions and carrots, standard green broccoli or cabbage - the return isn't worth it, and chefs can get it cheaper elsewhere.

Once you calculate your plant needs for one restaurant, at least double the number of plants. Stagger planting dates, and take advantage of micro-climates to stagger the harvest further. Explore using different growing techniques as well as unusual varieties, and invest in season-extension and crop protection technology - hoop houses, row covers, IRT mulches, drip irrigation and the like will make your life easier and your product more reliable. Buy varieties based on flavor, color, and heirloom qualities for the most part, but buy common cultivars for experimenting with growing techniques. Look for things like white celery, cornichons, treviso radicchio, sea kale, Egyptian onions, and any unusual colors - carrots are the big thing right now, but black and watermelon radishes, blue peas, orange or Romanesco caulflower, or white strawberries will appeal to chefs with "foodie" clientele. I have ways of growing radishes, carrots, and garlic that are unusual and offer a product unique to my farm, I also market a lot of unusual greens and edible flowers and micro-greens - anything that makes you stand out in the mind of the chef when he wants something unique will bring in $ and more clients. Eventually, you should be intensively working about 5 acres for specialty produce, making a good living, and not need the farm stand at all. Plan to have some of your farm dedicated to ornamental products as well - cut flowers in summer, unusual pumpkins and gourds in fall, and greens in winter can all add to the bottom line. The dining room manager or GM will give you guidance on what they might buy from you instead of a florist.

Here is a link that might be useful: Manzano seed

Here are some more opinions

Here is a link that might be useful: Restaurant related thread

WOW!! Thanks to everyone for all the help!

I'm definitely going to be making certain that I'm only at the first restaurant this season, and will be able to take my produce to the farmers market a block away from them as well.

Bi11me-

Great input! I have a big focus on the unusual edibles here, and have most of the varieties you've suggested. I have 55 varieties of tomatoes, broken into eleven categories; Black, Bicolor, white, yellow, orange, pink, red, green, paste, cherry, and extra oddballs. The total number I've based my plans off of is 880 plants. I'm choosing varietals that exhibit traits that the chef is looking for in specific dishes- fluted slicer tomatoes, stuffers, etc... They are a French restaurant, so I've focused on French heirlooms as much as possible across the board.

I'm also putting in season extending crops- carrots in all colors, blue peas, romanesco "broccoli"(?), yellow strawberries, purple asparagus, various herbs, beets, greens, melons, cukes, squash, beans, berries and fruit trees in a rainbow of types... practically everything I have is not being supplied in this area. The quality of the produce is excellent, and I'm installing a root cellar for storage over the winter. I've installed 28 large cold frames (convertable to raised beds in the summer)and have a 400sqft hoop house and a small greenhouse for cloning herbs and maters and whatnot.

I'm still a little nervous, as the season they are looking for tomatoes is pretty early (memorial to labor day, roughly) But I'm not nearly as worried about the amount of produce weekly anymore. I'm pretty certain I can accomodate.

I'm going to chew on this info a bit more and check back soon.

Thanks again!

Memorial day in MI for tomatoes, that is very early for field tomatoes. In Indiana, we're lucky if we have them for 4th of July (normally).

If your produce is high quality sorted to only the perfects, then YES you will have people running to your stand as soon as they realize how good your produce really is.

Definitely DON"T undercut yourself by trying to match the wholesalers costs, your items will be SO much better and the chef's know it.

Good luck, you have your work cut out for yourself.

Marla

In my opinion, 880 tomato plants is enough to feed a small army! I will have about 350 in 4 plantings, and another 60 cherry tomatoes and I am pushing it to get all that sold. I have 8,000 square feet in High tunnels. In SW michigan, I don't think you can have tomatoes by Memorial day unless they are in a heated greenhouse. I am pushing it here to have tomatoes in early June in Kansas.

In also believe to be successful, you should have a lot more high tunnel space. That way you can continue to grow year around and have steady supply of produce going to this restaurant. Just a thought!

Jay

Bill,
I never thought i'd get through your post when I first saw it's size. To my surprise once I started, I could not stop and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Thank you for sharing your insights and expertise. (Ever consider writing a book?)

-Mark

Mark,

As a matter of fact, the book is the last element of my retirement plan. If the topic is of interest to me, I can take up more than my share of bandwidth with a reply, which is part of the reason why I don't post photos. Since I was a kid I've loved restaurants, and the arc of my career has revolved around food since the day I turned 16 and started cooking french fries - 3 years short of forty spent feeding people. When I retire, I would like to grow for the opposite end of the spectrum - highly nutritious produce for food pantries, disadvantaged children, womens' shelters, prison release programs, and the like. I'm not at all enamored of the gross inequities that are involved with the "gourmet" industry, but it has distinct economic advantages that can make small-farm operations profitable. Most growers work very hard for a moderate income, in large part because of the expectation of inexpensive food that has evolved in this country because of government practices and extractive farming techniques. We are currently in a time when there is a growing appreciation for the importance of local, sustainable, and clean agriculture; people are once again becoming aware of the importance of what we small-holding farmers really do.

Thomas Jefferson sums it up pretty well:

"I think it the duty of farmers who are wealthier than others to give those less so the benefit of any improvements they can introduce, gratis."
June 27, 1810

"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it's liberty and interests by the most lasting bands."
Aug. 23, 1785

Oops I read that wrong.

Anthony - finally remembered the other specialty purveyor I wanted to steer you towards - it may give you some further ideas for crops or pricing

Here is a link that might be useful: Earthy Delights