How Market Growers Make Gardening Their Business:- Market gardeners are the unsung heroes of the gardening world; they spend the whole growing season delivering truckloads of fresh food to neighbourhood consumers at farmers’ markets, CSA sites, and roadside stalls. These diligent people can make great teachers for backyard gardeners since they have real-world experience cultivating fruits and vegetables.
How Market Growers Make Gardening Their Business
I invited small-scale producers of fruits and vegetables to share the experience they’ve gained over the years that enables them to consistently deliver food to their clients’ tables. They kindly replied with advice and methods that we gardeners could apply to our own tiny plots. Remember to strike up a conversation with the growers when you’re at the farmers’ market. They have an abundance of knowledge!
Use Cover Crops Like a Pro
There are numerous benefits to cover crops. They can replenish the soil with organic content, offer habitat or nectar for beneficial insects, and stop erosion by covering and holding otherwise bare soil. A cover crop’s roots loosen the soil, enabling subsequent plants to delve deeper for water and nutrients. By occupying the space that weeds could otherwise occupy, cover crops can aid in weed control.
Allelopathic effects refer to the ability of certain coverings, like rye, to emit compounds that prevent seeds from germinating. Although it can be a terrific technique to lessen weed pressure, a direct-seeded crop shouldn’t be planted after an allelopathic cover. We only perform transplants following an abruzzi rye cover.
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Favorite Crops
Buckwheat attracts pollinators
We utilise a lot of buckwheat throughout the spring and summer. Since it takes only four to six weeks from seeding to bloom, this is an excellent option if you’re short on time to incorporate a cover crop into the rotation. Beneficial insects and pollinators are drawn to the blooms.
Since the plants are so delicate, returning them to the soil is simple. You may just hoe them back into the ground or cover them with mulch. If let to go to seed, buckwheat can turn into a weed. We take care to include the plants a few weeks after they begin to blossom, just before they produce seeds.
Legumes boost soil fertility
Because they have a symbiotic relationship with the rhizobia bacteria that grow on their roots, legumes like peas, sun hemp, and clover supply nitrogen to the soil. As soon as legumes begin to blossom, they should be added. A legume plant will employ the nitrogen it has fixed into the soil to fuel its seed production once it begins to do so.
Autumn cover crops prevent erosion and nourish spring crops
We grow tillage radishes, oats, abruzzi rye and red clover in the autumn. The earlier you plant autumn cover crops, the greater the opportunity they will have to establish themselves and offer reliable winter protection. We attempt to plant our autumn covers in September because our first frost usually occurs in late October.
Succeed with Succession Planting
In order to provide our customers with a steady supply of fresh produce, we grow numerous successions of dill, cilantro, mustards, cress, rocket and lettuces throughout the summer. This translates to two or three plantings in May through September per month. The number of hours that the bed is exposed to sunlight determines its size. We plant smaller beds more often over the longer days.
Purple Sage Farms in Middleton, Idaho; Arlie Sommer, Kelby Sommer, Mike Sommer, Tim Sommer, and Tamara Sloviaczek. Picture courtesy of Purple Sage Farms in Middleton, Idaho. From left to right are Arlie Sommer, Kelby Sommer, Mike Sommer, Tim Sommer, and Tamara Sloviaczek. Pictured by permission of Purple Sage Farms
Every week, we typically have four beds growing with different varieties of lettuce and herbs. Every stage of life is represented by a different bed: one with young seedlings, one being harvested, one where the harvest is complete and the plants are beginning to flower, and one being turned over and ready for new planting.
To feed the bacteria, the plants and weeds in an overgrown lettuce bed that is knee high and just about to flower are chopped up and tilled into the soil. Once the soil has been tilled, we roughly level it and water it for a few days to allow the plant matter to be completely broken down and weed seeds to sprout.
We hoop-hoe the bed to include the seedlings after the weeds sprout, level the soil once more, draw the crop’s boundaries, and plant. After three days of watering, the bed is moist enough for seeds to sprout. Then it’s off to another sprint to harvest.
Extend the Season with Cold-Hardy Greens
Summers on Prince Edward Island are not long. By planting cold-hardy vegetables like kale, spinach, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, rocket and bok choy, we may prolong the growth season. These plants become extremely sweet when exposed to cold because they release sugars that function as natural antifreeze.
Since most plants lie dormant when day length falls below 10 hours, we normally sow our winter crops in September. However, if given sufficient protection, the plants can withstand the coldest days of winter and resume growth in February when the days get longer.
In our unheated greenhouse, we have had excellent success overwintering greens with floating row cover for further protection. In addition, winter crops can be planted in low tunnels, cold frames, or row covers supported by wire hoops. Although snow cover reduces light penetration for your plants, it offers additional insulation.
Give Your Melon Crop a Head Start
Warm weather is ideal for melons to thrive, and many types require a long time to reach maturity. We start the seeds in late April, approximately a month before the earth warms and transplants can be placed in the fields, so that melons are ready for the market sooner in the summer. To reduce root disturbance and give the seedlings a balanced fertiliser (20-20-20), we start our melons in peat pots.
In order to provide each seedling plenty of light and air, we also make care to space them out. About a week before to their planting, we begin the process of hardening off the seedlings. The plants are put into the field in late May or early June, and by the end of July, we are transporting baskets full of ripe melons to the market.
Don’t bring a list
Every week at a farmers’ market is a surprise. You never know what to expect. As you browse the market, base your selections on what’s in season and what appeals to you. After that, it’s simple to go home and organise your meals around what you purchased.
Shop early for variety
The early hours of the day will provide you with the best selection. Make every effort to arrive at the market as soon as it opens.
Browse before buying
Make an investment of some time in comparing the prices that other vendors are offering for their products and experimenting with the products that are being sold by a number of different suppliers.
Be eco-friendly
It is imperative that you carry your own luggage and baskets. Bring along a cooler so that your sweets will be able to maintain their quality and freshness even if you have a long travel back to your hotel room.
Ask questions
You come across something at the market that you are unfamiliar with. Put it to the farmer to find out. Unlike the majority of locations, many farmers will allow you to try their products before you buy them. In addition, they can provide you with suggestions for how to cook them and how to properly store them. Asking the people who farm your food directly is the best way to learn about it. There is no other method to learn about your food.
Stock up at the peak of the season
Is it possible to find tomatoes at almost every stall at the market? It is highly probable that they are at the pinnacle of their season, which indicates that they will be bursting with flavour and will be available at an excellent price. When you come home with your abundance, put food aside so that you can enjoy it throughout the year by either freezing it or canning it.
Store food to last
Place all of the greens, including lettuces, chards, and other greens, in plastic bags and place them in the refrigerator. The temperature at which tomatoes, garlic, potatoes, and onions are kept should never be lower than room temperature. When kept at room temperature and in a dark environment, several types of hard squash can be preserved for several months.
Make it a habit
To get to know local farmers, to support your local economy, and to connect with the changing of the seasons and the environment, being a regular shopper at the market is a terrific way to do all of these things.
