Continued interest in locavore eating means an increasing demand for produce availability beyond the traditional selling season. Though the term season extension might bring heated greenhouses to mind, continuing sales through the end of the calendar year can be a simpler matter of well-timed planting and proper storage conditions for carefully selected produce varieties.
PLANNING & PLANTING AFIELD
To extend your selling season, you can raise produce that will hold in the field in cool weather, surviving wholly unprotected or with modest protection such as a simple layer of straw mulch or a floating polyester cover. Protection may even be temporary, sheltering crops through an early frost. Just don’t forget it is not only air temperature but wind chills you have to watch.
With fast-growing crops, begin planting in early September and look for harvestable produce in roughly a month (though plants may require an additional week or two beyond their normal days-to-maturity as the cool temperatures and shortening daylight could slow them down). Such crops are salad radishes and a variety of greens including lettuce, spinach, chard, mizuna, endive and kale.
Other field-holding crops will require an additional month (or much more) in the ground. Beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese or napa cabbage, carrots, collards, kohlrabi, scallions, leeks, parsnips, rutabagas and turnips can all be timed for a late-season harvest.
CURING THE PRODUCE?
The other option for continued sales is to have produce harvested and in storage, ready to be brought out when needed. Whereas you need to pay close attention to the timing and protection of your plantings with the preceding crops, this group requires the greatest care with post-harvest handling and storage conditions.
Denne historien er fra November - December 2024-utgaven av Hobby Farms.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November - December 2024-utgaven av Hobby Farms.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The RISE of Opportunist WEEDS
Be prepared to see increasing changes in weeds we fight, such as poison hemlock and poison ivy, and in the crops we grow.
LIVESTOCK Health
Prepare yourself for how to spot symptoms of illness in your farm animals so that you can get them help before it's too late.
CUT FLOWER Farming
If you're considering growing flowers for sale, brush up on these five key things to know before diving in.
WINTER Survival
Keep your land, animals and yourself in good shape this winter with this helpful advice.
COVERAGE CONCERNS
Avoid common insurance mistakes for rural and hobby farm businesses.
FARMER'S GUIDE Berries
Set the stage for tasty strawberries, blueberries and brambles with these soil-boosting garden tips.
Preconditioning CALVES
Follow our step-by-step guide to get more money for your calves.
Soil Conservation
Often, outside of having a specific problem that needs to be addressed, soil conservation isn't something every farmer readily thinks about. Yet conserving the soil should be at or near the top of every farmer owner or manager's list of concerns because absent the prevention of soil erosion, we have the opportunity for another dust bowl.
Year-Round Lettuce & Salad Mixes
It's easy to think of salad greens as just a spring- or fall-garden crop, but it's possible to enjoy freshly harvested lettuces, mustards and more from your own garden year-round.
Barn Improvements
Days are never long enough for a farmer. From dawn to well into the night, tasks arise that often require immediate action. Having to search for tools or equipment is an enormous time waster and incredibly frustrating when you can't find what you need, especially when you know you have it.
