When do you Begin Planting?

15 years ago

I realize that this timeline would be different for different growing areas. But I'm curious if you all grow early and/or late to capitolize on the market (having produce early and/or late when the bulk of it is no longer available).

And then for just normal sales that fit with the normal growing season of your area (of course, I'm most interested in my zone for GA) when do you need to start?

And if this early/late growing is done, what have you found to be the best means of growing this way (ie: greenhouses, hoop houses, tunnels etc)

And finally, are there certain items that have proven to be more successful saleswise and others that were attempted but failed to be worth the extra effort?

We have a very small farmers market in our local area and I'd like to attempt to sell there. Seems that the normal fare at this particular one is pretty basic and I'd like to find a niche of my own. Maybe with produce that everyone else doesn't have.

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Comments (4)

jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
15 years ago
Interesting that you asked, I start planting NOW!

I started Broccoli, Cauliflower, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Green onions, Spinach, Lettuce, and baby Choys on February 1.
On February started to direct seed carrots, spinach, lettuce, turnips, radishes and spinach yesterday in one of my high tunnels. I also started early high tunnel tomatoes on February 10th.

The early transplants will go out on Feb 26thish, and we will start more to plant outside then. Tomatoes will go out in the hoop house with row cover around the 20th of March, Peppers will go out April 1. Transplanted Zucchini and cucumbers will go out April 10th.

Onion sets will be planted the week of March 7th and potatoes planted, under row cover around the 20th of March. By this time, all the hoop houses will be full and we will be harvesting the early stuff, now it will be time to plant more outside stuff.

It is a never ending cycle, of plant, water and harvest. On a small "farm" to maximize production, you have to be well organized and ready at all times.

Once I get my grow room up and running, It seems to run from February-August!

I am in Zone 5, North Central Kansas. We grow year around with 6 hoop houses that cover, 6,700 sq feet a year. In addition, we have lots of crops grown outside.

My goal is to have crops when everyone else has few or none. We can achieve this with our unheated hoop houses.

Jay
myfamilysfarm
15 years ago
I have actually found that having items AFTER everyone else's is done works very well for me. I've tried to have early, but Mother Nature is so fickle, I just can't count on it. I don't have a large enough greenhouse/hoop house to plant inside, so I use what I have to produce my own plants.

Marla
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boulderbelt
15 years ago
we start our onions in December and keep on starting more alliums (leeks, shallots, more onions) through the beginning of March. We start lettuce about now. Kale, chard, broccoli, more lettuce etc., get started mid March through late April (we do a lot of succession planting with our greens). Peppers are started in Early to Mid April. Tomatoes are started early May and again in late may.

We shut down the seedling room in June for the most part (mostly because after mid May we can start everything out in cold frames and do not need the artificial light. We keep on seed starting 11 months of the year, sometime all 12 months.
little_minnie
15 years ago
Usually mid April here, but I usually start when I see the potato farmers in the fields. That way I don't have to think about it. We can get snow at any time in April but with the sand here we generally have plantable soil for much of the month. My plan is beginning of April lay drip irrigation and make some hoop houses and that kind of thing, 10-16th root seeds, pea seeds, onion sets, 17-23rd brassicas, onion plants, lettuce seeds, maybe potatoes, last week potatoes, lettuce plants. By the first week in May I will have one row of tomatoes and zucs in a low tunnel.