Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - CSA- who does it?

clkeiper · October 20, 2015

I don't do one, but I think you will be surprised at how much/many plants you need to grow to fill the need. I do farmers markets and I grow mixed vegetables and small fruit on about an acre and another acre dedicated to sweet corn. I don't think you will need 300 tomatoes or 100 peppers, but staggering your tomatoes at different times gives you a window of really nice tomatoes to work with for the Summer instead of getting to the end of August and you are getting small or cracked tomatoes.

A packet of seeds (such as off the rack like burpees) is a 50' row approximately.

most CSA's are 4x a month.. not bi-weekly.
picking packing and delivery takes time if you are doing those for your market.
you also need containers and if you do 2x weekly you need 2x as many containers. bags are handy, but not terribly realistic. Too flimsy and you really can't pack them full without smashing the stuff at the bottom.
people like fruit... it is time intensive or space is too limited for the crop... such as cantaloupe or watermelon
You need to plant every week or two for some crops... such as greenbeans so you have them for the Summer, we plant corn once a week for about 6 weeks, several crops of zucchini to get through the Summer, etc. I have learned to keep planting all the way through to at least mid-August and even later for crops like lettuce.
But the best sellers for my markets are

peas
tomatoes
corn
peppers
fruit of anykind
cantaloupe
zucchini
lettuce
greenbeans
new potatoes
not so demanded:
beets, chard,eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, kale, but they do sell, just not as quickly.

but every market I do has different demand of the items. I have one market that I couldn't begin to have enough raspberries for the day and another that just doesn't seem to think they are anything special.
Don't offer things they have no use for.... Huge fruit of any kind is not generally well received or even used because it is too much for most people to use up in a meal or two. plant "personal" sized vegetables.
Too many eggplant will not make them happy...
arugala... spitter for me, but there are people who like it... will your customers want it? not every week I am sure.

October 20, 2015	#6
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	I don't do one, but I think you will be surprised at how much/many plants you need to grow to fill the need. I do farmers markets and I grow mixed vegetables and small fruit on about an acre and another acre dedicated to sweet corn. I don't think you will need 300 tomatoes or 100 peppers, but staggering your tomatoes at different times gives you a window of really nice tomatoes to work with for the Summer instead of getting to the end of August and you are getting small or cracked tomatoes. A packet of seeds (such as off the rack like burpees) is a 50' row approximately. most CSA's are 4x a month.. not bi-weekly. picking packing and delivery takes time if you are doing those for your market. you also need containers and if you do 2x weekly you need 2x as many containers. bags are handy, but not terribly realistic. Too flimsy and you really can't pack them full without smashing the stuff at the bottom. people like fruit... it is time intensive or space is too limited for the crop... such as cantaloupe or watermelon You need to plant every week or two for some crops... such as greenbeans so you have them for the Summer, we plant corn once a week for about 6 weeks, several crops of zucchini to get through the Summer, etc. I have learned to keep planting all the way through to at least mid-August and even later for crops like lettuce. But the best sellers for my markets are peas tomatoes corn peppers fruit of anykind cantaloupe zucchini lettuce greenbeans new potatoes not so demanded: beets, chard,eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, kale, but they do sell, just not as quickly. but every market I do has different demand of the items. I have one market that I couldn't begin to have enough raspberries for the day and another that just doesn't seem to think they are anything special. Don't offer things they have no use for.... Huge fruit of any kind is not generally well received or even used because it is too much for most people to use up in a meal or two. plant "personal" sized vegetables. Too many eggplant will not make them happy... arugala... spitter for me, but there are people who like it... will your customers want it? not every week I am sure. __________________ carolyn k