herbs - biggest bang for your buck in my opinion.

Woco, you can make a friend out of the chef at a restaurant and find out what they want. Let them give you a list of things they have trouble getting fresh. These guys don't understand growing, seasons, etc. so they may have unrealistic expectations. Don't laugh at them just get their list and think about what you can supply.

You should also have a list of your own when you show up. Things you like to grow. Choose some that you can supply over a long season or that would be difficult to ship from other locations.

A good place to start is one of the instructors at your local culinary arts program. They enjoy providing their chefs with resources and talk to those guys all the time. They can provide you with leads. Of course, if you dine at upscale restaurants . . .

You may be surprised. We sell lots of arugula and celeriac to a restaurant. We didn't make any arrangements they just show up at the market.

If you want to grow a variety, sell at a farmers' market. Always have a little something unusual  as a conversation starter, if for no other reason. You'll still need to specialize a bit so that you can have a crop in quantity. We do that and try to have a crop available for a long season. Americans often have trouble understanding the seasonality of produce and we are all creatures of habit. "Oh, I loved those Sugar Snap peas we got here last month, where was that guy with the peas? There he is! LetÂs go get some more."

Steve

we usually grow 50 to 90 different things each year. As I get older I think more and more of specializing. Right now thinking alliums (onions, scallions, garlic, shallots and leeks), greens (lettuce, arugula, Asian greens) and berries (straw, rasp and black) and cut out things like tomatoes, melons, peppers, taters, squash, etc., as those things are a huge abundance around here but greens, alliums and berries are not.

Boulderbelt says: "cut out things like tomatoes, melons, peppers, taters, squash, etc., as those things are a huge abundance around here but greens, alliums and berries are not."

If I cut out these things, I would probably not sell anything! Tomatoes, Peppers and potatoes account for nearly 70% of my yearly income! As far as greens, I can't give them away! Lettuce and Spinach are items I think about stopping, but I am going to continue because my wife could live off of 3 salads a day and a salad for snack!

WoCo: You have to know your market. Are you near a large town. If you only grow one thing, then that may work. At the small markets I attend, there are not that many vendors. IF, I chose to only grow and sell tomatoes for example, I couldn't sell them all. I know I can grow and sell 2,000-3,000 pounds of tomatoes in a year. If I grew more, I would have to get larger accounts or throw many away.

I also like to be a one-stop shop. I am starting to thin down my variety of crops within crops. For example, I am only growing 5 types of slicing tomatoes instead of 20. I am seriously debating the same thing for squash.

At my markets, the only way I can sell more is to have more variety of crops.

I am cutting out melons next year and plant more early onions, carrots and haikuri turnips.

Jay

Jay