Starting a (no-till) Market Garden: The Bare Essentials
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- Опубликовано: 13 июн 2024
- Everyone’s bare essentials will be different but I feel as though these cover the vast majortiy of what one would need to start a no-till market garden from scratch.
Two glaring omissions? Education and the stirrup hoe. Invest in those, too. Anyway, CLICK ALL THE LINKS!
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Apologies for the outfit I wear that you must endure to watch this video-I couldn’t find my jacket and it was 14 degrees. Also, there some glaring omissions! One, a stirrup hoe. You need a freaking stirrup hoe, ya’ll. Also education. That could be an entire section on its own. In fact, I may just do that video later. What else did I miss?
I would add some form of irrigation. All of our weather comes from the SW - passing through your area down there in Louisville/Lexington an hour before it gets here. Pretty much all that rain that hit you down there in KY hit us up here in Cinci - ... and yet even with the record rains last year we still needed irrigation. There's always multiple periods of multiple weeks without rain that hammer non-irrigated plots. Hand watering is not an option at scale. Could we do it without? Sure ... but product quality definitely and measureably suffers. You can see and record yield loss during those times. The longer the dry period, the more noteable the loss.
I did my first year with $4 rotary yard sprinker heads mounted on home-grown PVC risers and a truckload of cheap black poly hose from Home Depot.
Now I have a mix of those cheap old sprinkler heads and drip.
I seriously underestimated both cost and effort of getting water out to some of the field plots, as well as the water bill for those dry periods.
Oh snap! Good call. Irrigation is a must for most of us and for most crops. I still need to do an irrigation video... I may need to actually like my irrigation system first though
System? You have a system? I've got a Bubba-Engineered, Rube Goldbergian, Frankensteined tangle of inconsistent parts and half-baked ideas randomly cobbled together with under-capitalized financing and incompetent (me) labor.
Any kind of "system" would be an upgrade.
Haha. Yes. If you squint very hard at what I have and it's pretty dark out, you can make out the profile of a system.
Yep, education. A food safety workshop, before buying your wash and pack stuff. Had some friends that bought lots of nice looking containers that were difficult to wash, ended up having to rework their wash area, and buy all new containers. Lost some custom, due to having to spend so much time redoing stuff in the middle of the season, and missing some markets. Also, a water test. Very important.
I love just starting one video and just letting them all play. You are actually quite funny. Good sense of humor.
That’s awesome to hear, thank you!
For a young bloke like me who has no idea how to start, you really helped. Thanks for linking the books too! Liked and Subbed ♥
super informative video helps me piece things together before even doing my first season apprenticeship! cannot wait to get my hands in the dirt next spring but for now lets hit the slopes!!!!
Thanks so much for doing these videos, I've found them tremendously helpful. I was wondering if you could talk a bit more about the packaging aspect of your marketing - bags/containers, scales, labels, where you source, etc. A deeper dive into the wash/pack station would be great to see as well. Thanks again!
For sure! Would be happy to do that
Just stumbled on your channel, actually this video. I'm subscribing, I'm preparing to do a no till market garden and found this straight to the point. Thanks Man! Paxton
Great stuff. Quick, practical, and information dense compared to other more well known people covering this stuff.
Yes! Thank you! I was looking for a good place to get my starts. Banner looks great.
Banner is great!
Great video. Thanks for sharng
Great video. Broad fork, yes. Packaging from Uline is good. They have a scale that's nice too.
This is Pure Gold! thank you
Oh Awesone! So good to hear, Rob!
Blunt approach at the end and loving it! Creators need to stop the romanticism of gardening and farming.
Its a lot of work folks and it doesn't look anything like a Pinterest farming. 😂
This was helpful for me. Although I'm not starting from scratch I am stepping up this year and doing a market for the first time. Kind of nerve racking not knowing how much to plant, and definately need to step up my wash, packing and storage. Would be great to see a video on market essentials.
Oh for sure. I can do that! Good luck, Tim!
Great tips
I looove your editing :9
lol really?! That’s great to hear, I have no idea what I’m doing.
Thanks so very much
I'd like to see your walk in cooler. I don't think I've seen it yet. Very helpful video.
For sure! I’d like to do a video about it. It was relatively cheap, but I’m also upgrading it a bit this year so maybe I’ll do that video soon.
I’d just like to point people in the direction of Jim Kovaleski, if 10-18k startup is not a possibility. You can start small 😉 He doesn’t do RUclips, but a friend at Green Dreams films him and the videos are full of tips. He even cycles some of his produce to local shops because I imagine that even a truck or van might be out of reach for some. Jesse, you’re international now, not all will have access to grants for hi tunnels etc, and some folks will even have tricky access to water and power. I think it’s great when you can scale up and feed lots more people locally and make a good living, but not everyone has the seed capital, that said, if you don’t love it, don’t do it, it’s a tough business, get a job working for someone else. Great video as always, watching from Spain 🙏🌱🌱🌱
Very helpful. Liked.
Thanks, man!
Great info. Thank you! Looking into microgreens.
Nice man. I'd love to hear more about your soil prep and how long are you leaving the trap on before you plant?
Thanks
Great info, thanks. Giving up the Alaska off grid life and heading to Ohio to do a homestead, and would like to make a few bucks in the process. I would love to attend your August workshop, but will still be in Alaska, I am a disabled retired Army vet, and would like to visit in September or October, I have a lot of questions, want to do some personal beef and would like to know more about the walk in cooler set up....hanging is key. Love what you are doing, thanks.
Well... I think you've just made the outlines of my plan for my new business adventure. Many thanks.
I just want to say thank you 💞 your videos have been so helpful. If you could only have 1 book in market gardening what would it be??
Great content. You are trustworthy with a more scientific approach and very little bulls***. Have you recently upgraded your way of starting a garden bed or does it remain the same (mowing, tarping, compost…)? Thanks
Just subscribed, I am starting a low till farm this year and have started accumulating tools and knowledge. Looking forward to more videos. Where are you located?
Oh Awesome! Thanks for subscribing and watching! We're in central ky.
I have a no dig garden . My main investment will be in compost mulch and organic heirloom seeds.
Would like to know more about packaging. Thanks.
What about a root cellar? Would that work to keep your veggies fresh?
How do you like the Earthway so much? Carrots? Greens? Only because it shreds brassica seeds. I think I need a turtorial on using the Earthway for different seeds. Please!?
I am doing honey production on my bee farm to finance the market garden. I also want to do lavender production for the oil to make lavender soap or sell the oil.
Would you recommend pulling the sod off where planting will occour?
The problem with cool bots is that people put the fan on max on the ac unit not accounting for the heat index. Put the fan on med and it will get the cooler down to around 36° with an 8000btus.
Can you share harvesting tool if growing large amount of greens?
I would like to ask where do your bags n berry containers?
Great stuff, I’m curious what your thoughts are on the jang and the paperpot after using them this season?
I used the earthway and the 4 row pin point and have to say the jang is a stud 💪🏼
Love the Jang! Truly. Only using the earthway for large seeds now. I see the potential for the Paperpot but it doesn’t work well in our system. Too hard to bury them in the deep compost mulch. Dry out and grow slow. If we used a tilther or something that would likely help, but we don’t
What is a harvest card? I think that’s what you said in the video somewhere.
Good video :)
Maybe a tip regarding the style of your video: the speed was good but somehow it was a little bit stressful to watch - I'm not quite sure why .. Anyway, keep up the good work you're doing :)
Oh interesting, thanks for the critique. Let me know if you see what in particular made it stressful (besides the wind, haha) and I'll work to improve it.
More visuals of what you are discussing would be helpful...
When do you need a broadfork, when isn’t it necessary ... I have clay but not horrible
What does your harvest cart look like?
I need help with sourcing packaging and labels. Right now I order my labels and have them shipped and its so expensive! I want to do bags for salad mix. Maybe clam shells. IDK
Are the labels for retail or market? We do not label makret stuff. Extra work. No need. Packages we get a lot from uline or webstaurant.
Rough Draft Farmstead We are just doing farmers markets right now. You don’t label salad mix for markets? I bundle most of our produce for market so those don’t need packaging or labels but salad mix and baby spinach I package and label.
I live in WV and we also had over 70 inches of rain so I feel ya. We average 43-44 inches a year and last year set an all time record. What part of KY are you from?
Ugh yeah. We are from central Kentucky, though the had a stint in south western Kentucky for about 6 or 7 seasons.
Do you have any tips for packaging edible flowers?
We really like the clear plastic pint and quart deli containers! You can get them from restaurant supply stores or amazon as well.
I am a first time farmers market participant. I am having a hard time finding affordable packaging. And bales of potting soil.
Yeah, both can be expensive. You can make your own potting soil if you can't afford any locally. Follow Eliot Coleman's recipe in the new organic grower and use the best ingredients possible. As for packaging, just find what you like, calculate your per-bag price and take it into consideration in your product price. I will do a video about packaging shortly.
Hi, what's the name of the place you mentioned you get your starts from? Please
Banner Greenhouses. They are in NC. You may have someone closer, so be sure and check.
Great information. Does the 10-18k estimate include labor? Or just materials etc?
Haha labor on your first year.
Hi! So is it possible to start a No Dig garden in a very hard and compacted clay soil (is the soil I have) or would it be needed to till it first? thanks
Heavy clay soil has its advantages. Clay has the ability to hold a lot of water! I would never recommend tillage in clay soil because tillage decreases soil organic matter (SOM) a cover crop can really help create soil aggregates and increase SOM. We now know that SOM is best formed by the microbes that feed on root exudates and and mycorrhizal fungi. So in order to increase SOM you need to have a living route in the soil feeding soil biology which is why I suggested going to cover crop
your cut's to images is too quick, let it sit on the screen a second or two longer
Totally agree. Been working on it! Check a more recent video and tell me if it’s any better.
Kind of fits his personality and energy!
Wow Jesse, great video! About a minute in I was yelling at my phone “woah , woah, woah, slow down, I need to get a pen!” So i have been down the square foot/ urban homesteading rabbit hole for a couple of years now and I finally realized that I just don’t love canning and all that as much as i thought I did, but I really love growing. Really love it. So this year I have just four quasi CSA subscribers and it has changed how i plan and harvest, but I haven’t really changed my layout or bought any new equipment. I would like to increase productivity and customers slowly because I have small children and don’t want to change my childcare arrangement. So I haven’t been down this market gardening rabbit hole long, but I think they call it “bootstrap farming” when you sell enough to buy the next thing. Is that right? So what do you think of doing it that way (slowly increasing productivity and waiting on each new piece of equipment) as opposed to just putting a $10,000 order in at Johnny’s and going from there?
Hi Danielle, great to hear and apologies for the pace of this video (I’ve since tried to slow it down!). Between bootstrapping and just going for it, I think there is a balance. At first, the things that will render the biggest return are anything that extends your season--high tunnels, low tunnels, row cover. Also take care of your soil first as well. Then grow a year with some basic tools and see what areas you want to improve upon--bootstrap those things. That’s the simplest, cheapest way to go in my opinion.
Im thinking about making my main crops different salad greens and doing a "build your own salad mix" kinda thing. However, salad mixes are almost always sold in plastic, and i want to keep as much plastic out of my business as possible. Does anyone have any ideas on what packaging i could use?
I know this two years old so you’ve probably though of this already, but paper bags is what I’d use. Lots of variety in material and size and most are compostable
Since this video was made, would you say that your opinions on this topic have changed?
It would be great to know what size your coolbot is? We are building ours very soon and want to ‘future proof’ it I.e. make it big enough to grow into. Obviously, the bigger the space the more BTUs, so just trying to weigh up the cost element.
Great question! Our room is ~8'x8' with a 6.8' ceiling, decently insulated
Awesome. So our plan is to buy a set of walk in cooler panels (12x8) with a floor but no evap/compressor/condenser and retrofit the AC window unit into one of the panels. We have the option of doing a 8x8 set up to then add the extra 4 ft at a later date too. Would love to know your thoughts! We chose to go this way over a total build based on prices of materials around us, tools available etc.
Awesome. So our plan is to buy a set of walk in cooler panels (12x8) with a floor but no evap/compressor/condenser and retrofit the AC window unit into one of the panels. We have the option of doing a 8x8 set up to then add the extra 4 ft at a later date too. Would love to know your thoughts! We chose to go this way over a total build based on prices of materials around us, tools available etc.
Awesome. So our plan is to buy a set of walk in cooler panels (12x8) with a floor but no evap/compressor/condenser and retrofit the AC window unit into one of the panels. We have the option of doing a 8x8 set up to then add the extra 4 ft at a later date too. Would love to know your thoughts! We chose to go this way over a total build based on prices of materials around us, tools available etc.
Awesome. So our plan is to buy a set of walk in cooler panels (12x8) with a floor but no evap/compressor/condenser and retrofit the AC window unit into one of the panels. We have the option of doing a 8x8 set up to then add the extra 4 ft at a later date too. Would love to know your thoughts! We chose to go this way over a total build based on prices of materials around us, tools available etc.
Where can I buy young plants for the home garden in bulk?
Local farmers market
How about a test garden before you start so you can grow a little and see what sales best in the market as research first as you save to open as a business
Sure! That’s a great approach
Totally agree on the 15K mark for starting a farm. You can certainly spend a lot more but you wouldn't really want to spend a lot less than that.
On a side note, what is the huge allure of having a website? I personally have never really seen the need for it and don't think that in today's world it's all that valuable. Certainly the professional look helps but how many people are visiting a farms website and actually making a purchase based on that? Might be a wonderful thing for CSA farms though
Great critique, Stephen! Yes, a website is less relevant these days except for the csa model. I completely agree with that. Even then it may not be necessary but most social media people I've talked to seem to say that if you're going to get a customer who's maybe never met you to give you money before the season, a website helps legitimize you. Great point, though! May have to steal that for a blog post 😉
If you want to waste all your money on nonsense right out the gate go for it. You don't need any of this crap.
I'm not a market Gardner full time but mainly concentrate on tomatoes. I would add immediately apply for the NRCS grant. Have a garden in existence that is as big as the tunnel you want to get. Most states grant your tunnel off of your existing garden.
Then buy good drip tape, not that cheap thin crap. It will blow off repeatedly from the main line. 8ml not 16.
Good point about the drip tape, Tim! Thank you for the comment
You can get whatever size you want. You just have to be eligible for EQIP.
Most states cap the dollar amount per year. Our cap this year is about $ 9,600. You can apply every year and do multiple tunnels depending on how many people are applying and where your ranking ends up each year.
We pay by the square foot. Beginning farmers get more per sqft than regular.
You used to have to have a $1,000 in sales to be eligible (along with other paperwork stuff). Now you just have to have the potential to produce something along with having control of some land no matter how small. Get a farm and tract number assigned to you by your local FSA office and apply for eqip. You probably already missed the app deadline to get one in 2019.
All great info! Thank you for adding that-I would like to do an NRCS video in the future.
@@notillgrowers I've been cruising through your video's and am finding so much stuff that will help. Thanks for that.
One thing I have to ask which I haven't found yet is: (dramatic pause.......)
What drip tape/pipe can you recommend? Size, brand, valve/compensator spacing (I think that's what they are called)..
Thanks in advance
(Although this comment is 9 months late on the video release)
To BCS or not to BCS?? I got a great deal and it seems to work well for a lot of people (especially at the beginning with new soil, bed prep etc.) What are your thoughts? Which implements would yield the greatest returns?
I think it totally depends on your goals. The BCS can be a great tool for starting a garden and building beds. However, so can getting a neighbor to plow and disc/till and setting up beds with a wheel barrow and compost. I like the flail mower a lot. A LOT. It’s a great implement. But we literally don’t use any others anymore on our farm. None of them. So it may be worth just buying a nice mower if you want to go no-till and skipping the bcs. It really just depends on your goals, your crops, and the style of no-till you want to achieve. We’re going to just get a push mower and sell our BCS honestly. That’s the future of our farm, though I am eyeing this new compost spreader for the BCS... Could be helpful.
Thank you!! I'm very grateful fo your perspective and your points make a lot of sense. The compost spreader sounds interesting, adding it to the research list. Have a fantastic day!!
What is BCS? Please enlighten the ignorant here lol
Seriously, every cool gardening tool or infrastructure is available only in the US...
1:10 Soil mgmt/prep
1:50 Seed starting
4:08 Season extension/pest mgmt
5:58 Harvesting
8:50 Storage
10:30 Marketing
your thumbnail images are deceiving these videos are just one long selfie.
The bare essential are seeds. It really doesn't need to be so complicated and I'm not sure why people are obsessed with buying crap.