Allotments 4 All

I'm going to look at a piece of field with the prospect of growing fruit/veg on a larger scale then I have been doing in my smallish allotment. This is with the view to supply a family of six and sell any excess to neighbours/ passers by etc. Has anyone here made that step and can they give advice. I think the field is mainly overgrown grass/small trees. I'd like some top fruit trees, xmas trees, flowers for cutting aswell as the ususal fruit and veg. There may not be any water but I can tow a trailer with 1000L water tank if I must (300m) and pump it from there? I may not be able to have a shed/polytunnel

Any advice welcome

Jeremy

I would love to think you could do this but frankly I am convinced it is doomed as a commercial venture before you start.

If you get a glut to sell. So will every one else and the price will drop. You will be lucky to cover your costs.

Christmas trees will take several years to get to a decent size but you would at least have something growing which will most likely look after it's self. You only need to cut the tree when some one wants to buy one and that would mean no waste. I would say that was your best chance of making money.

Fruit tree growers are letting the fruit in their orchards rots because the cost of picking exceeds what they can sell the fruit for.

Planting root stock in autumn to sell as bare root shrubs  but even so, we bought a load for hedging a couple of years ago for around our site and the grower charged us less than 40p for each one.

Bee keeping might help produce some income. I know that we have bees on site and people are prepared to pay over £2 a jar for it. You would need to grow your own flowers to supply the bees, like lavender. Local Lavender honey.

Perhaps  growing over winter vegetable crops to sell when vegetables are most expensive. Leeks or PSB for example.

It is nature which will be most against you, giving you weeds, and all the garden pests, too many to name.

A lot of fruit is left to rot because it doesn't meet supermarket standards, but it would be worth investigating alternative outlets which might not be so fussy about appearance. There are far too many hoops to jump through before you can sell honey; I don't bother, as I either use it myself or give it away. Someone with more hives than me might find it worthwhile.

If you can afford it and have the time to work it I say go for it. I don't think gluts are too much of a problem as the local market consists of imports and there is always a market for quality.

Feeding a family of 6 and their extended followers would go a long way towards profitability by itself. It all depends on the cost of the land.

If you have the time, i say go for it. Even if you matched the supermarkets for price, i know which i would buy, especially if you were growing organically. Is there much passing trade, if so more the better. This is something i wish i had the time and space for. I would love to keep some livestock on a small scale. Maybe one day.

Thanks for your replies. I'm not looking to make any money really, just cover some costs and money to pay the fruit pickers (kids). It was more of a question of growing on a larger scale and what the differences will be. I'm guessing the extra effort to double my produce wont be double the effort but there must come a point when you can't grow things the same way. ie. is it feasable to net a large area of brassicas or pick off catapillars? I tend to start things off in pots but that could get unmamageable?

For info the field has recently been ploughed and I'm having a 3/4 acre section. There is water.

Are there issues with growing in this "field" soil /will the fertilility be up to the same standard as an allotment or could it take many years?

Funny you should mention bees. I was thinking about it but don't know what's involved and how much work they are yet.

thanks again

jeremy

Grow asparagus! A Kent family I know saw our asparagus patches just as they were losing money on hops, and converted their hop field to an asparagus field about 15 years ago, and it is so popular it was quite difficult to get there before they sold out each day, selling from the gate and the field and by local reputation. Normal Kent heavy clay. Very short season, and the ground can't be used for anything else, but it is one among a number of enterprises (another being free range hens and eggs) and they still find it worth it.

Hops themselves fetch what I think is surprising prices in autumn as decoration for pubs and homes, and it's not hard to grow a few.

I saw a wonderful crop of box balls once, growing in a field. I have tried to persuade my penniless daughter, who at least has some land, to plant rows of them. I've done one row for her. Free cuttings, attention a couple of times a year to feeding, weeding, trimming; then pot and sell in markets as they grow.  A very slow crop like Christmas trees, but again, one that looks after itself much of the time. And it doesn't go off if no-one buys them at first. A family of six might enjoy trimming them to different shapes, and they cost a lot in garden centres. Another friend had homegrown box balls in pots stolen from her garden, and insurance paid up £70 each - she was stunned.

Raspberries, if you can bear the picking, are always very expensive to buy, gluts or not, though labour intensive in the season. So are blueberries. So are globe artichokes, another crop that needs little attention.

Another way to make a little money is to add value - make chutney and other relishes, jams and so on. As you say, you don't expect to make money, just to feed yourselves and sell on carefully chosen "gluts".

Hi Jeremy, Hi all,   :)

I would do this if I could. As others have said some added value products and selling by honesty box could bring in a small income. I think that real added value is in trays of seedlings or rooted cuttings potted up. I would definitely have bees and hens.

I think you would need to be clear about your ability to have sheds and polytunnels, for all the usual reasons but also for rainwater harvesting. If not then a pond or collection area draining into an sunken tank might be helpful if your water supply is metered. To cut down the work of pest control I would get blue water piping and debris netting from builders merchants and make huge tunnels at an early stage and grow all brassicas in those. I would also cage bush fruit and plant an orchard from the outset.

Unfortunately you need to think about security too. Its all a big investment but I`m sure it will give huge rewards in many ways.

Best of luck, start a blog so we can see you live our dreams, Col :) :)

Just some pics on progress:
http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/114522280

Biggest problem has been the weeds which took me by suprise. I've been using the lawnmower just to stop them from seeding. Another problem is the cabbage whites either getting through/under the netting or laying through the netting.

Jeremy

Our site was a field 6 months ago and most people are doing brilliantly.

QuoteAre there issues with growing in this "field" soil

If there has been livestock in the field it will grow like crazy. You can add fertility very quickly.  Manure and fertilzer will make up an deficiency.  (part of my plot was 100% gravel).  (Check manure is not contaminated).  The weed seeds will be more of an issue.

In 3/4 acre you should have enough vegetables for a whole street. ;D

Grass can be an issue with a field - if there are perenniel grasses they are very persistent.  Suggest you rent out the field to a set of pigs for the winter.

I do not have much space for growing seedlings, so a lot of my stuff (apart from courgettes etc, tomatoes and peppers) was sown direct.  Tend to just chit the seed first. 

Depending on the previous crop the soil depth may not be very deep.  I have had to build up earth bunds to produce enough depth for beans. 

Wind is a bit of an issue on our site.  I suggest that you identify where you want to grow courgettes etc and grow a wall of tall peas, and plant some fruit trees, or your xmas trees on the west and northern sides.

What is the situation regarding rabbits, deer, badgers etc? 

My answer to the weeds is pumpkins or potatoes, I also try not have any bare soil, everything is very well mulched.