As a vegetable grower, offer a broader range of vegetables and keep your customers coming back with a different crop every week, while still dependably supplying their old favorites. Learn how to distinguish between the crops likely to succeed and the siren call of too many weird eggplants.

1. Diversify Your Vegetable Crops
©Pam Dawling 2017
Twin Oaks Community, Virginia
Author of Sustainable Market Farming
Published by New Society Publishers
SustainableMarketFarming.com
facebook.com/SustainableMarketFarming

2. The Purpose of this Presentation
To give you ideas so that you can
• Make your selection of vegetables the most interesting one
around.
• Offer a broader range of vegetables and keep your
customers' coming back with a different crop every week,
while still dependably supplying their old favorites.
• Attract restaurant chefs by offering crops and varieties they
don't easily find elsewhere.
• Introduce your CSA sharers or your school and other
institutional clients to crops they haven't tried before.
• Learn how to distinguish between the crops likely to
succeed and the siren call of too many weird eggplants.

3. Outline
Part l: What does diversify mean to you?
1. Offer a broader range of vegetables
A. Introduce your customers to crops they haven't tried before.
B. Offer varieties your customers don't easily find elsewhere
C. Consider gourmet high value crops - (but do you have a market?)
D. Include some non-food crops (but this presentation is about vegetables!)
2. Signature crops – ones that become associated with your farm - many kinds of
one crop, or one type of crop
3. Season extension – crops when customers don't expect them
4. Don’t stop supplying old favorites! Succession planting – never waste a chance to
sell squash!
Part ll: Once you’ve listed crops that look interesting to grow, winnow out the chaff
1. Clarify your goals
2. Which crops are likely to succeed? Distractions, including the siren call of too
many weird eggplants
3. How to decide which crops to grow - Rate crops against each other, using factors
important to you
Resources and my contact info

4. 1A. Less usual crops
• Introduce your customers to crops they haven't tried
before. Keep them coming back with a different crop every
week. Restaurant chefs particularly like special new
ingredients.
• Peanuts, parsnips, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, chicories,
radicchio, endives, celeriac, kohlrabi, multiplier onions,
daikon, Asian greens, unusual greens, microgreens,
perennial vegetables
For details, see my slideshows
Fall Vegetable Production
Storage Vegetables for Off-Season Sales
Cold-hardy winter vegetables
on www.slideshare.net

5. Peanuts
• Peanuts need a frost-free period
of at least 110 days.
• They like warm or hot
conditions, with adequate but
not excessive water.
• They can be transplanted, but
they do not germinate well
without soil. Use actual soil, or a
mix containing soil.
• Slow growing at first
• Hill when 12” (30 cm) tall
• Do not disturb the soil during
pegging
Carwiles Virginia Peanut
Photo Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange

6. Parsnips
Root crops that thrive in mild weather,
surprisingly easy to grow in warmer
climates
Similar requirements to carrots and beets
but parsnips are slow growing, start them
in spring only
Need at least 110 days before winter gets
too cold for them to grow any more
Sow March - late April - they are almost
guaranteed to be big enough by the end of
the season
Don’t harvest before frosts
– poor flavor
Hybrids are often smoother,
higher quality than OPs
Photo Small Farm Central
Hollow Crown parsnips.
Photo Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange

7. Leeks
Unlike onions, leeks grow
independently of day length and
will stand in the field at
temperatures below what many
other vegetables can handle,
increasing in size until you harvest
them. Leeks are slow growing,
start them in spring.
Overwintered leeks with a scattering of snow.
Leek varieties - 2 main types:
• less hardy, faster-growing
varieties, often with lighter
green leaves, which are not
winter-hardy north of Zone 8,
• blue-green hardier winter
leeks. We like Tadorna (100
days), Bandit, Jaune du
Poiteau, King Sieg (84 days)
and Bleu de Solaize (105 days,
very hardy).
• Giant Musselburgh (105 days)
is bolt-resistant, for
overwintering in milder
climates.

8. Jerusalem artichokes/Sunchokes
• Simple to grow, 10ft tall sunflower cousins
• Different skin color and root shapes are
available - look for smooth, not knobbly
ones, to save cleaning time
• Better to have a semi-permanent plot, as
any small tubers you miss will regrow
• Plant small, whole tubers from early spring
until last frost.
• To get big roots, give plants the longest
possible growing season.
• Harvest 100 lbs from 25 sq ft.
• Dig them up from late fall to mid-winter,
depending how cold it gets. Cool weather
improves flavor. Can harvest in early spring
• Store under refrigeration or in a root cellar
• Save small tubers to replant

9. Endives and chicories
• Related to wild chicory and dandelions, naturally bitter.
• 3 main species: endive, wild endive and common chicory
Endives
and
Chicories
Common
Chicory
SugarloafRadicchio
Belgian
endive
Wild
Endive
The weed
Endive
Escarole
(Batavian
endive)
Frisee
(curly
endive)

10. Endives
Frisée endive is the most bitter.
Normally it is blanched before
eating.
Upper photo Hudson Valley Seed Library
Escarole is the least bitter member
of the family and looks like a sturdy
lettuce. Although it can be eaten in
hearty salads, it is generally sautéed
or braised, which brings out the
sweetness and mutes the bitterness.
Lower
photo
Van
Geest
Inter-
national
Photo NPR Kitchen Window

11. Chicory for chicons
• Belgian Endive (Witloof
chicory) – forcing chicory
• The seeding date is earlier
than other chicories, to get
a large root for harvest
before the ground freezes.
• The harvested roots are
stored (planted) in deep
crates of soil mix
• In late winter the crates are
warmed in a completely
dark space to force leaves to
grow, forming a tight, very
pale head of leaves.
• Darkness reduces bitternessWitloof chicory

12. Heading chicories
• Unlike frisée or escarole, some
chicories including radicchio and
sugarloaf chicory are storable
• Chicories develop their peak flavor
and sweetness as temperatures drop
in the fall
• More hardy than lettuce
• Hold well in the cooler, much better
than lettuce, especially when
harvested slightly immature with an
inch of root attached
• 2 main types of radicchio - Chioggia
(round and red), and Treviso (oblong
and red).
• Longer maturing varieties are more
cold tolerant, shorter maturing ones
are more heat tolerant.
Photo www.growitalian.com

13. Sugarloaf chicory
• A heading chicory between a
Belgian endive and a
radicchio in appearance
• It grows to the size of a small
romaine lettuce
• One of the sweetest, least
bitter chicories
• But also the least cold hardy.
Photo www.growitalian.com

14. Celeriac
Mars celeriac. Photo Johnnys Selected
Seeds
Also known as turnip-rooted
celery, celeriac is an unusual
vegetable, which stores very
well. Only the root is eaten,
the stalks are fibrous. Growing
celeriac is similar to growing
celery, but is somewhat easier.
• Slow-growing - 85 days to grow to
transplant size and at least 95 days
from transplanting to maturity
• The seeds need light to germinate.
• After seedlings emerge, do not
expose them to temperatures
below 55°F/12.7°C for a period of
10 days or more - this can cause
bolting.
• Harden off seedlings before
transplanting carefully
• Transplant once the weather is
settled warm. Plants 6–8” apart in
the row with 18–36” between
rows.
• Keep the soil damp for
uninterrupted growth and good
quality roots.

15. Kohlrabi
• Kohlrabi can be direct sown or transplanted for spring or fall
• Only 58 days from sowing to harvest.
• We have transplanted 3-4 week old starts on August 3, and
harvested at the end of October.
• We could plant mid-August for early November harvest.
• Kohlrabi is hardy to about 15°F (–9.4°C). The temperature is not
likely to get that cold before the beginning of November
• It stores well in perforated plastic bags under refrigeration
Kohlrabi Photo by McCune
Porter

16. Multiplier Onions
• Potato onions are planted in
September (the largest ones)
• Medium-sized ones are planted in
late October or early November
• Small ones are planted in November
or in early spring (less good)
• Mulch over the top immediately after
planting
• Do nothing all winter
• Weed in spring
• Harvest as the tops fall in June
• Sell the largest ones for eating (but
save back any for planting)
• Cure and store the smaller ones for
replanting or sell for growing
Yellow Potato Onions
Photo Kathryn Simmons

17. • We sow winter radish August
4. China Rose and a daikon.
• We harvest in October or
November before
temperatures drop to 20°F (-
7°C)
• Stores well in plastic bags
under refrigeration
• Popular for making Kim Chee,
as well as for salads and stir-
fries.
Frosty daikon. Photo Bridget Aleshire
Winter radish, including daikon

18. Green Wave Mustard. Photo
http://www.rareseeds.com
Mature Red Giant Mustard Photo Planet Natural
Mustard greens
Asian mustards such as Red Giant, Osaka Purple Brassica juncea, and
American Mustards (eg Southern Green Wave) are hardy to light
frosts. Attractive colors. 21 days to baby leaves, 40–45 days full size

19. Asian Greens
• Huge range of attractive
varieties
• Grow when you normally grow
kale
• Quick-growing, bring fast returns
• Short spring season, bolt when
it gets hot
• Long fall season, no bolting.
Success depends on getting them
germinated and planted in June
and July
• Grow particularly well in the
hoophouse, all winter in zone 7
Blues Napa Chinese cabbage
Photo Ethan Hirsh
For details, see my slideshow
Producing Asian Greens on
www.slideshare.net

20. Advantages of Asian greens
 A quick way to fill out your
market booth or CSA bags
 A catch crop for spaces
where other crops have
failed or otherwise finished
early. Keep a flat of seedlings
ready, pop plugs into empty
spaces as they occur.
 Better able to germinate in
hot weather than lettuce.
 Faster growing than lettuce
 Some of the faster-growing
types are ready for
transplanting 2 weeks after
sowing (or you can direct
sow them)
Photo Ethan Hirsh

21. Healthful Diversity!
 Flavors vary from mild to
peppery - read catalog
descriptions before
growing lots
 Colors cover the spectrum:
chartreuse, bright green,
dark green and purple.
 Nutritious as well as tasty.
Photo Ethan Hirsh

22. Asian Greens – many types
• Napa Chinese Cabbage
• Pak Choy
• Tokyo Bekana
• Maruba Santoh
• Tatsoi
• Yukina Savoy
• Senposai
• Komatsuna
• Mizspoona
• Toraziroh
• Thick-stemmed mustard
• Yokatta
• Hon Tsai Tai
• Mizuna
• Scarlet Frills & other
mustards
• Chrysanthemum greens
• Mustard-based salad mixes

23. Unusual Greens
3 hot weather greens
Malabar spinach
Jewels of Opar
Purslane
3 cold weather greens
Miners Lettuce/Claytonia
Upland Cress
Minutina
3 “all season” greens
Orach
Sorrel
Saltwort

24. Baby Lettuce
Lettuce Mixes Small-leaf lettuces: Osborne’s
Multileafs, Johnny’s
Salanovas, Tango, Oscarde,
Panisse. Photo Osborne Seeds
Lettuce Mix. Photo Twin Oaks Community

25. Brassica salad mixes
Wild Garden Pungent Mix,
Brassica juncea, (Wild Garden
Seeds, Fedco).
A cross of pungent Indian
mustards for those who like
Big Flavor. 40 days to harvest.
Photos Wild Garden Seeds
Pink Petiole Mix, Brassica
rapa (Wild Garden Seeds,
Fedco).
Fast-growing, cold tolerant,
adds a touch of color to the
brassica portion of winter salad
mixes. A varied mix of colors
and shapes. Ready in 40 days.

26. Other salad crops
• Sylvetta, Surrey and Astro
varieties of arugula are
particularly cold-hardy.
Even’Star arugula photo credit
SouthernExposure Seed Exchange
• Parsley, Belle Isle upland
cress, winter purslane,
salad burnet and mache
(corn salad) are also very
winter-hardy.
Belle Isle Upland Cress. Photo Credit Southern
Exposure Seed Exchange

27. Microgreens
www.chelseagreen.com and Andrew Mefferd
For clear instructions on
efficiently growing microgreens
for sale, see Andrew Mefferd’s
Greenhouse and Hoophouse
Grower's Handbook – Organic
Vegetable Production Using
Protected
Culture

28. Perennial vegetables
• Asparagus
• Rhubarb
• Globe artichokes
• Cardoon
• Arrowhead
• Ramps
• Sissoo spinach
• Water celery
• Scorzonera
• Yacon
• Okinawa spinach
• Sea kale
• Good King Henry
• Nopale cactus
• Bitter melon
• Water Chestnut
• Ostrich Fern
• Hyacinth bean
• Water Lotus
• New Zealand
spinach
Hyacinth bean.
Photo by
Raddysh Acorn

29. 1B. Unusual varieties
• Boldor beet, Purple Haze
carrot, lemon cucumber, Clara
eggplant, Islander pepper,
Adirondack Blue potato,
Cherokee Green tomato from
Johnnys Selected Seeds.
• Louisiana Long Green
Eggplant, Bowling Red Okra,
Suyo Long Asian Cucumber,
Georgia Streak tomato from
Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange.
• Oscarde lettuce, Redbor kale
from Fedco Seeds

30. 1B. Small varieties
• Baby beet, Atlas carrot,
Unistars cocktail cucumber,
Kermit eggplant, Lunchbox
peppers, Russian banana
fingerling potatoes, Purple
Bumblebee tomatoes from
Johnny’s
• Jenny Lind melon, Fireball
pepper, Claytonia, Camelot
shallots from Fedco
• Chires Baby Sweet Corn,
Lemon squash, Matt’s Wild
Cherry tomato, White
Galaxy Asparagus bean
from Southern Exposure

31. 1C. Gourmet high value crops
Restaurant chefs particularly like special new ingredients
Be sure you have a market, and that prices reflect the time and
land involved.
• Bulb fennel
• Crosnes
• Edible flowers
• Garlic scapes, scallions, and green garlic
• Gherkins
• Gobo
• Ginger
• Horseradish
• Herbs
• Jicama
• Mushrooms
• Turmeric and Galangal
West Indian
gherkins
Photo Mary
Kranz

32. Bulb fennel
The crunchy white “bulb”
consists of the swollen stem
bases of the leaves. Has a
vaguely licorice-like flavor.
• A cool-weather short-lived perennial
grown as an annual in zone 6 and
warmer.
• In zones 2-5 it grows as a biennial.
• Depending on your climate, seed may be
sown in early spring, mid-spring, late
summer and early fall.
• The two seasons for planting bulb fennel
in zone 7 are March-April and July-August
• Can be sown outdoors when the danger
of hard frost (28°F) is over
• The fall crop is likely to be more
successful than a spring one.
• Sensitive to day-length, and sudden chilly
spells
• If your spring crop bolts before forming a
good bulb, your weather is too hot for
spring planting - stick to fall crops in
future, or start earlier in the spring
• Grow the plant fast, harvest before
flower stems form and provide plenty of
water

33. Crosnes/Chinese artichokes
• Perennial, also known as Japanese
artichoke, chorogi and knotroot
• Trendy tiny spiral-shaped tubers that
come from a member of the mint family.
• Plant in fall or early spring in full sun, 3”
deep, 12” apart (crowding reduces yield,
size)
• Harvest in the fall when the mint-like
leaves die. The ones you miss grow next
year
• Cleaning can be slow so pack size should
be relatively small and price relatively
high
• Store crosnes in plastic bags at a
temperature of 35-40 F
• The flavor is mild and juicy - it can be
eaten raw or cooked, more as a garnish
than a staple. Salads, stir-fries, pickles

34. Edible flowers
• Calendula Pacific Beauty,
SESE
• Nasturtium Jewel Mix, SESE
• Borage, SESE
• Edible Flower Collection,
Johnnys
• Rocket Mix snapdragons,
Johnnys
• Lemon Mint Monarda,
Johnnys
• Helen Mount Viola, Johnnys
• Costata Romansco squash,
Johnnys

35. Garlic can be
several crops!
It’s not just bulbs!
Bulbs (and braids)
Garlic scapes
Green garlic
Garlic scallions
(shown here)

36. Reasons to grow garlic scallions
• A very tasty and visually attractive crop during
the Hungry Gap, the spring period before any
new crops are ready for harvest.
• Supply garlic taste at a time when supplies of
bulb garlic may have run out.
Photo from
cbf.typepad.com

37. Garlic scallions
Set aside the smallest cloves when
planting your main garlic crop
Plant close together in furrows,
dropping them in almost shoulder
to shoulder, just as they fall. Close
the furrow and mulch over the top
with spoiled hay or straw.
We harvest garlic scallions from
early March, once they reach about
7-8" (18-20 cm) tall,
They last till May, unless we need to
use the space.

38. Garlic
scapes
• The firm, round seed stems that grow from hard-neck garlic, starting
to appear in our region 3 weeks before harvest , as the bulbs size up.
Day-length and temperature determine when.
• Remove them! The garlic bulbs will be bigger and also easier to braid,
if you want braids from hardneck varieties.
• Contrary to ideas mentioned by some sources, leaving scapes in does
not increase the storage life.
• 1 acre (0.4 ha) of hardneck garlic produces 300-500 lbs (136-226 kg)
of scapes
• Most people who remove scapes cut them where they emerge from
the leaves. We prefer to pull ours, to get the most out.
Photo www.greencitymarket.wordpress.com

39. Scapes post-harvest
• Scapes are aligned in a
bucket, with a little
water.
• Easy to bunch or cut up.
Scapes sell in bunches of
6-10.
• They store well in a
refrigerator for months if
needed.
• Use for stir-fries, grilling,
omelets, quiche, soups,
pesto, pickles, dips,
sauces, dressings
• Photo simpleseasonal.com

40. Green garlic
The juicy immature
plants before the bulbs
mature.
Could be small bulbs
before they differentiate
(divide into cloves) or
later, before they dry
down.
Worthwhile if you have
a large planting and you
can get a good price
Photo by Small Farm Central
www.smallfarmcentral.com

41. Gherkins
Mexican Sour Gherkins
Photo Johnnys Selected Seeds
West Indian Gherkins
Photo Bridget Aleshire

42. Gobo (Japanese Burdock)
Harvest is not easy -
Success with root
vegetables Haruka and
Jason Oatis
www.slideshare.net/LeahJoyner/suc
cess-with-root-vegetables
www.omafra.gov.on.ca
https://wawaza.com

43. Baby ginger
• Fresh baby ginger sells at $9-
$20/pound.
• A yield of 8:1is good. 4:1 is
poor. You could get 17:1
• It needs a heated space from
mid-March to mid-May, while
the plants are young.
• You can save the highest
yielding, good shaped roots for
next year’s Mother Roots.
• To overwinter ginger, it must
remain planted in soil/media
and soil temps should not fall
below 54-57°F (12-14°C).
Below 50°F the roots will die.
Ginger in the hoophouse.
Credit Kathryn Simmons
Virginia State University is working on tissue
cultured ginger to supply planting material

44. Baby ginger
• Planting rate is about 30 lbs per 100
feet, with one 2oz seed piece every 5”
• Start in mid-March in zone 7.
• Week of March 24-April 1 - When
buds are obvious, plant in lightweight
crates.
• Keep at 70-80°F (night min in high
40’s).
• When hoophouse soil is 55°F and rising
(check first thing in the morning),
transplant at 5” in-row spacing, rows 24”
apart.
• Feed and hill 4 times with 2-3” soil, every
2-4 weeks
• Harvest early to Mid-October (5 months
after sprouting) before the soil
temperature cools to 50-55°F. Dig and lift
roots carefully
For details, see my slideshow
Hoophouses in Spring and Summer
on www.slideshare.net
Photo Kathryn Simmons
Refrigeration (34-45F) will turn
ginger rubbery. OK to use for
cooking, pickling, or candying
another day, when rubbery is okay

45. Culinary herbs
Growing and
using the top 10
most popular
herbs, Jim Long
(basil, lavender,
parsley, mint,
rosemary,
oregano,
marjoram, thyme,
sage, chives, and
cilantro)
Herbs 101, Jim
Long
Herbs – culinary and medicinal
Medicinal herbs
Growing and Marketing
Ginseng, Goldenseal and other
Woodland Medicinals, Jeanine
Davis and W. Scott Persons
Lemon balm
Photo Southern
Exposure Seed
Exchange

46. Horseradish
• Horseradish is a perennial, easily
propagated from pieces of root
• It can be hard to get rid of if you
change your mind
• Traditionally harvested
September-April
• Harvested roots can be
refrigerated for several months
until used.
• It can provide value-added
products for out-of-season sales
• When you process it, do it
outdoors, with googles on
• Throw the peelings in the trash,
not the compost pile, as they
easily regrow!

47. Jicama
greenbeanconnection.wordpress.com • Jicama, a crunchy tuber, is not a
quick-maturing crop, but it is vining
and we grew it at the “back”
(=north side) of the hoophouse,
where it would not shade anything.
• Seeds are available from Pinetree,
and Baker Creek, who warn: “Takes
a very long season, these must be
started very early in all areas except
the deep south. Caution: the seeds
and pods are poisonous”.
• We came to the conclusion that we
did not have hot enough conditions
for long enough. If you are in zone 8
or 9, you might try it.

48. Mushrooms
• Organic Mushroom Farming and
Mycoremediation, Tradd Cotter
• Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms,
Paul Stamets
• Mycelial Mayhem, David and Kristin Sewak
• Cultivating Mushrooms, Stephen Russell

49. Turmeric and Galangal
• Other tropical root crops.
• Turmeric is not hilled. The
rhizomes grow out and slightly
downwards so will only need
hilling an inch or two if the
rhizomes appear above the
soil during growth.
• It needs less feeding than
ginger.
• Turmeric contains curcumins,
which have valuable medicinal
properties.
• Planting rate is 6" between
seed pieces. 10-16 pieces per
pound.
• Galangal – I know nothing!
Red Hawaiian Turmeric, Photo
http://www.quallaberryfarm.com

50. 1D. non-food crops
Consider some non-food crops (but this presentation is about
vegetables!)
• Gourds
• Luffas
• Decorative strings of chillis,
• Fancy garlic braids
• Halloween pumpkins
• Birdhouse gourds
• Seed crops
• Cut flowers
• Bedding plants
• Indian corn
Photo Johnnys Selected Seeds

51. Consider flowers as well as
vegetables
Mark Cain of Dripping
Spring Gardens, Arkansas:
 50% of their growing
area in cut flowers and
50% in vegetables.
 The cut flowers bring in
75% of the income.
Photo Tom Freeman, Twin Oaks Flowers

52. 2. Signature crops
A crop that people will associate with your farm above
all others.
One that you grow well and can earn a profit on.
Grow many varieties
• Garlic
• Winter squash
• Sweet potatoes
• Eggplants
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Hot peppers
• Microgreens Garlic Display and photo by Joanna
and Eric Reuter, Chert Hollow Farm

53. Types of garlic
• Garlic (Allium sativum) has 2 subspecies,
hardneck (ophioscorodon) and softneck
(sativum).
• Hardneck types have flower stalks or scapes,
bigger cloves, are easier to peel, more cold-
tolerant.
• Softneck (no scapes, easier to braid, stores
later, smaller cloves, harder to peel).
Left: Music hardneck garlic Right: Silverwhite Silverskin softneck garlic Photos SESE
For details about
growing garlic, see
my slideshow
Growing Great
Garlic on
www.slideshare.net

54. 3. Season Extension in Every Season
Crops when customers don't expect them
 Grow earlier crops in spring:
o Use fast-maturing hardy varieties and transplants
o Use rowcovers, low tunnels, Quick Hoops, high
tunnels (= hoophouses)
 Extend the growth of cool-weather crops into summer:
o Learn how to germinate seeds in hot weather
o Use shadecloth to cool plants down
o Use ProtekNet to keep bugs off
o Intercrop - let a new crop grow in the shade of the old
 Keep frost-tender crops alive beyond the first fall frosts
o Use rowcover
 Grow cold-hardy winter vegetables
 Grow vegetables to store for off-season sales
For details, see
my slideshow
Cold-hardy
winter
vegetables and
Storable
vegetables for
Off-Season
Sales on
www.slideshare
.net

55. Winter hoophouse crops
• Salad crops
• cooking greens
• Asian greens
• roots
• onions
• early peas, fava beans
• bare root transplants for setting outdoors in February &
March
For details, see my slideshow Fall and Winter
Hoophouses on www.slideshare.net

56. 4. Don’t stop supplying old favorites!
 Be a reliable supplier of basic crops
while adding intrigue with new crops
 Never waste a chance to sell squash!
 Many vegetable crops can be planted
several times during the season, to
provide a continuous supply.
 Plan for continuous supplies but no
waste of time or land in growing a
glut.
 Typically, plants mature faster in
warmer weather.
 So, to get harvests starting an equal
number of days apart, shorten the
interval between one sowing date
and the next as the season
progresses.
 Keep records and use information
from other growers in your area to
fine-tune planting dates.
For details, see my slideshow Succession
Planting for Continuous Harvests on
www.slideshare.net
Photo Kathryn Simmons

57. Rough plan:
Every 2 weeks for beans
and corn,
Sow another planting of
sweet corn when the
previous one is 1”–2" tall
Sow more beans when
the young plants start to
straighten up from their
hooked stage
Every 3 weeks for squash,
cucumbers, edamame
Every 4 weeks for carrots
2 or 3 plantings of
muskmelons
(cantaloupes) at least a
month apart.
Photo Kathryn Simmons.

58. Use varieties with
different days-to-
maturity sown on
the same day.
We do this with
broccoli, lettuce,
sweet corn.
Sow several varieties on one day
Photo Small
Farm Central

59. Veg Finder
Example:
Squash
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/23 120’
Planted…..
Harvesting…..
Finished…..
BEANS CUKES SQUASH CORN CARROTS EDAMAME
#1 29W, 29E
Plant 4/16 180' dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 13W
Plant 4/20 90'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 23W
Plant 4/20 90'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 EAST Plot G 4x265’
Plant 4/26+4/29 1060' Bod
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 9E
Plant 2/14 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#1 BED 21W
Plant 4/26 90’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot G
Plant 5/14 176’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot I
Plant 5/24 180’
slice 90' + pickle 90'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot I
Plant 5/24 88’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot G 4x265'
Plant 5/21 1060' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 BED 25E
Plant 2/28 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#2 EAST Plot G No-soak
Plant 5/18 88’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/7 240’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/23 120’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot J
Plant 6/23 120’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 WEST Plot A north 4 x 180'
6/6 1080' Sug Pearl /KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 BED 12W
Plant 3/13 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#3 EAST Plot I
Plant 6/7 60’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 EAST Plot K
Plant 6/29 175' dbl
(5x35’)
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 CENT Plot D
Plant 7/15 240'
slice 120' +pickle 120'
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 EAST Plot K
Plant 7/15 105’
(3x35’)
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 WEST Plot A 6 x 180'
6/19 1080' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 BED 12E
Plant 3/27 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#4 CENTRAL Plot D
Plant 6/26 60’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 25E 22W
Plant 7/19 180’ dbl
(2x90’)
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 BED 15E
Plant 8/5 90' slicers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 BED 13E
Plant 8/5 90’
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 WEST Plot A 6 x 180'
Plant 7/2 1080' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 BED 19W
Plant 4/10 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#5 EAST Plot K
Plant 7/14. 70’ (2x35’)dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#6 BEDS 9W, 9E
Plant 8/3 180’ dbl
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#6 CENTRAL Plot D 7 x 200'
Plant 7/16 1400' Bod/KK/SQ
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#6 BED 17W
Plant 5/14 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#8 BED 1 CARROTS#8 BED 30W
Only if needed
Plant 7/8 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#7 Not this year, perhaps never
again
#7 BED 27E
Only if needed
Plant 6/11 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished
#8 BED CARROTS #9
Overwinter Raised Beds
Plant 7/28 Danvers
Planted
Harvesting
Finished

60. Making a
Close-fit Plan
Using Graphs
Sowing
Date
Harvest
Start
4/18 6/1
4/21 5/19
4/23 5/25
5/14 6/3
5/15 6/21
5/20 7/5
5/25 7/4
5/29 7/7
6/12 7/20
6/15 7/20
6/30 8/2
7/1 8/8
7/2 8/11
7/4 8/8
7/5 8/10
7/14 8/14
7/18 8/17
7/19 8/28
8/3 9/9
8/4 9/5
8/5 9/15
8/7 10/2
8/9 9/25
8/12 10/5
For each crop,
gather several
years’ worth of
planting and
harvesting records
in two columns
(this example is
squash).

61. Make a Graph - Five Steps
1. Plot a graph for each crop, with
sowing date along the horizontal
(x) axis and harvest start date
along the vertical (y) axis. Mark in
all your data. Join with a curve.
2. Mark the first possible sowing
date and the harvest start date
for that.
3. Decide the last worthwhile
harvest start date, mark that.
4. Then divide the harvest period
into a whole number of
segments, according to how
often you want a new patch.
5. Figure the sowing dates needed
to match your chosen harvest
start dates
For step-by-step instructions, see my
slideshow Succession Planting for Continuous
Harvests on www.slideshare.net

63. Step 4: Divide the Harvest Period into
a Whole Number of Segments
 (Switching to our sweet corn example) Count the days from first
harvest of the first sowing to first harvest of the last sowing: 75
days of sweet corn! (Plus the 15 days from the harvest start of
the last sowing to the end = 90 days!!)
 Decide how often you want a new patch coming on line
 Divide the harvest period into a whole number of intervals. If
we want fresh corn every 15 days, we’ll need 5 equal intervals
between plantings (15 x 5 = 75).
 The harvest start dates will be
July 9, July 24, Aug 8, Aug 23, Sept 7 and Sept 22.
 5 intervals means 6 plantings. (P-I-P-I-P-I-P-I-P-I-P)

64. Step 5: Figure the Sowing Dates to
Match your Harvest Start Dates
 Draw a horizontal line from one harvest start date to the
smoothed graph line
 Then drop a vertical line down to the horizontal axis
 Read the date on the horizontal axis at this point. This is the
sowing date.
 Repeat for each harvest start date:
 Sowing dates will be April 26, May 19, June 6, June 24, July 9,
July 16
 Sowing intervals are 23, 18, 18, 13 and 9 days – a lot shorter
later in the season.

65. Graphs for winter crops
• Using succession crop
graphs can also be used
for winter hoophouse
crops
• Keep good records and
eliminate sowings that
are too late to give a
harvest – some crops
bolt in January (Tokyo
bekana and Maruba
Santoh), some in
February (tatsoi)
Cherry Belle radishes. Photo by
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

66. Radish Succession Crops Graph

67. Year Round Lettuce Part 1
The short version is that we
sow
• twice in January,
• twice in February,
• every 10 days in March,
• every 9 days in April,
• every 8 days in May,
• every 6-7 days in June and
July,
Spring lettuce in flats
Photo Kathryn Simmons

68. Year Round Lettuce Part 2
• every 5 days in early
August,
• moving to every 3 days in
late August,
• every other day until Sept
21.
• After that we ease back to
every 3 days until the end
of September.
Those last plants could feed
us right through the winter. Tango cold-weather lettuce
Photo Kathryn Simmons

69. Part ll Winnow out the chaff
1. Can you earn a living growing it?
2. Is it challenging to grow in your climate?
3. Is there a market for it?
4. Would you have to reduce space for another crop?
5. Do you lose efficiency by growing many different
crops?
6. Diversify without overwork
7. Consolidate and simplify
8. Specialize in one crop and grow many kinds
9. Grow crops needing similar conditions or timing
10.Consider carefully – use a rating system

70. 1. Clarify your goals
• Jean-Martin Fortier in The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s
Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming, shows how to meet your
goals and fit your resources.
• Having decided how much money they need to support their family,
Jean-Martin and Maud-Hélène Fortier decided to provide the
equivalent of 220 CSA shares for 20 weeks.
• They choose vegetables based on demand balanced with the
financial value of those crops and the practicalities of growing. They
provide 8-12 different vegetables each week.
• 35 of their 160 beds grow mesclun – it's #2 in sales rank, although
only #19 in revenue/bed. But salad mix only takes 45 days in the bed,
and then another crop is grown, increasing the income/bed
• My climate is very different from Quebec. Our market is very
different. We don’t want 300 pounds of salad mix each week! We're
providing for 100 people for 52 weeks. We want potatoes, sweet
potatoes, carrots and winter squash to feed us all winter.

71. 2. Which crops are likely to succeed?
• In Market Farming Success: The
Business of Growing and Selling Local
Food, Lynn Byczynski identifies and
explains aspects of market farming that
growers need to tackle.
• She points out to new market growers
that you need a diversity of crops, not
just a few profitable items.
• You need not only early crops, but
critical mass for the whole of your
chosen season.
• Grow what yields well for least labor,
grow what sells best at the highest price,
and also grow what fills gaps between
your major crops.
For details, see my
slideshow Crop Planning
for Sustainable Vegetable
Production on
www.slideshare.net

72. Dollars per square foot
• Tomatoes, Heirloom $19.25
• Tomatoes, Hybrid $12
• Ginger $12
• Pea Shoots $10
• Salad Mix $10
• Spinach $10
• Spring mint tips $7.50
• Lettuce, Romaine $5
• Carrots, bunched $4.50
• Carrots, bagged $4.50
• Shallots $4.50
• Microgreens $3.75
• Rhubarb $3.75
• Turnips, bunched $3.30
• Garlic $3
• Beets, bunched $2.80
• Fennel $2.80
• Kohlrabi $2.80
• Lettuce, head $2.50
• Onions, green $2.50
• Pak choy $2.50
• Potatoes, new $1.30
• Broccoli $1.25
• Snap peas $1.25
• Onions, bulbs $1
From Ben Hartman, The Lean Farm
Dollars per square foot, highest to lowest (of the crops they grow).
Does not account for the time each crop occupies the space.
Bulb onions
curing.
Photo Wren Vile
Heirloom
tomatoes
Photo
Craig
LeHoullier

73. Crops that sell for high prices
(not necessarily easy to grow)
• microgreens,
• heirloom
tomatoes,
• baby
vegetables,
• salad mix,
• lettuce,
• arugula,
• herbs,
• edible flowers,
• storage crops,
• garlic,
• fruits,
• unusual crops
• out-of-season
crops,
• common crops
grown
efficiently,
• bedding plants
and transplants,
• cut flowers,
• ornamental
crops
• This list is from
Market Farming
Success

74. Which Crops Take Most Attention?
Steve Solomon in Gardening When it Counts provides tables of
vegetable crops by the level of care they require. Your results may vary!
Onion bed. Photo Kathryn Simmons
• His Easy List: kale, collards, endives,
chicories, spinach, cabbage, Irish
potatoes, sweet potatoes, all cucurbits,
beets, chard, sweet corn, all legumes,
okra, tomatoes (followed by the more
difficult eggplant, peppers).
• His Harder to Grow List: lettuce, arugula,
parsley, carrots, parsnips, broccoli,
radishes, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas,
mustards, non-heading Asian greens,
scallions, potato onions, garlic
• His Difficult List: bulb onions, leeks,
Chinese cabbage, asparagus, celery,
celeriac, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts,
early cabbage, cantaloupe.

75. Clifton Slade at Virginia State
University in his 43,560 Project
(how to earn $43,560 from one
acre), recommends choosing
crops which produce one
vegetable head or stalk, or 1 lb
of produce, per square foot.
Leafy crops feature
prominently.
Morris Heading Collards, Photo
Kathryn Simmons
Which crops are most profitable?
Some crops offer more money per area, some are more
profitable in terms of time put in.

76. Which Crops are Most Profitable?
Richard Wiswall Organic Farmer’s
Business Handbook
• Leafy greens, parsley and basil
earn more than fruiting crops.
• Outdoor kale can produce
$2463 from 1/10 acre, and of
the crops he compared, only
parsley and basil earned more.
• Field tomatoes came in at
$1872, and several vegetables
(bush beans, sweet corn, peas)
made a loss.
Vates kale. Photo Kathryn Simmons

77. Crop Enterprise Budgets
• Richard Wiswall’s Organic Farmer’s
Business Handbook includes crop
budgets for 24 crops.
• He makes spreadsheets easy, clear.
• The book includes a CD you can use
to create budgets, timesheets,
payroll calculator, a farm crew job
description template and the
Vermont Farm Viability
Enhancement Program Farm
Financials Workbook.
Vern Grubinger in Sustainable
Vegetable Production from Start-up
to Market, NRAES explains how to
make an enterprise budget for each
crop.
• Compare the financial value of one
crop with another, without delving
into overhead costs.
• Record the amount of work done
on each crop each day.
• Keep harvest records of quantity,
time and money from sales.
• At the end of the season, add up
the total time for each crop, divide
the income for that crop by the
time spent on it, and divide the
income for that crop by the area,
or number of beds.

78. Reasons to grow crops that don’t
make the highest income
 provide a good crop rotation for your farm,
 provide diversity (customers will only buy so much
parsley and basil).
 provide for times of the year when fewer growers are
selling produce:
fall crops to harvest before serious cold,
crops for all-winter harvests,
overwintering crops for early
spring markets with.
Kohlrabi. Photo McCune Porter

79. Distractions
From Ben Hartman The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase
Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work.
Which of your activities with a crop add value and which are wasteful? The
customer defines what is valuable! Avoid distractions that don’t add value:
1. Fascination with gadgets or complexity;
2. Weird and wonderful shapes and colors of vegetables; (The siren call of
too many weird eggplants). If you want to make eggplants your signature
crop, Baker Creek Seeds is the place to go! They have 61 varieties! Their
masthead:
3. Unusual methods of growing crops;
4. Letting supply determine your assessment of value.
More kale is not always better!

80. Ten Types of Farm Waste,
from The Lean Farm
1. Overproduction
2. Waiting
3. Moving things from A to B
4. Over-processing (when harvesting or when researching on
websites)
5. Inventory – too many supplies, tools, seeds
6. Motion – handling too many times, inefficient techniques,
not bringing all needed tools
7. Cull produce – poor field management, poor harvesting,
poor handling, poor storage
8. Overburdening with heavy loads, physical or mental
9. Uneven production – gluts and shortages. Monitor and
tweak succession plantings.
10. Unused talent

81. 3. How to decide which vegetable
crops to grow
• Some crops offer more money for the area, some
are more profitable in terms of time put in. A crop
which quietly grows all season from a single planting
early on, when time is less frantic, can be an
advantage. If the same plants provide multiple
harvests, this can be great value for time. Leafy
greens are the best example.
• In High-Yield Vegetable Gardening, Colin
McCrate and Brad Halm point out that
when planning what to grow, it's important
to consider how long the crop will be in the
ground, especially if you have limited space

82. McCrate and Halm distinguish between
• Fast Growing Crops (25-60 days from sowing or transplanting)
Direct sown arugula, baby lettuce mix, mustard greens, some Asian
greens, radishes, spinach, turnips; transplanted head lettuce, endive,
heading Asian greens.
• Half Season Crops (50-90 days from sowing or transplanting)
Direct sown snap beans, lima beans, beets, carrots, corn salad, snap
peas, snow peas, shelling peas, scallions; transplanted broccoli,
cabbage, cauliflower, collards, chard, cucumbers, eggplant, kale,
kohlrabi, okra, radicchio, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes.
• Long Season Crops (70-120 days from sowing or transplanting)
Direct sown edamame, fava beans, shell beans, sweet corn, parsnips,
peanuts, rutabagas, potatoes, winter squash, pumpkins; transplanted
Brussels sprouts, celeriac, celery, bulb fennel, garlic (longer), leeks,
cantaloupe, other melons, bulb onions, peppers, watermelon, sweet
potatoes.
Curtis Stone, in The Urban Farmer, distinguishes between Quick Crops
(maturing in 60 days or less) and Steady Crops (slower maturing, perhaps
harvested continuously over a period of time).
Quick Crops and Steady Crops

83. Crop Value Rating
• Curtis Stone has designed a Crop Value Rating system
based on 5 characteristics. To use this assessment, you
look at each characteristic and decide if the particular
crop gets a point for that characteristic or not. Then look
for the crops with the highest number of points. Spinach
gets all 5 points; cherry tomatoes only 3. The smaller
your farm, the higher the score the crops need to get chosen.
His 5 are:
1. Shorter days to maturity (fast crops = chance to plant more; give
a point for 60 days or less)
2. High yield per linear foot (best value from the space; a point
for1/2 pound/linear foot or more)
3. Higher price per pound (other factors being equal, higher price =
more income; a point for $4 or more per pound)
4. Long harvest period (= more sales; a point for 4 months or
longer)
5. Popularity (high demand, low market saturation)

84. Crop Value Rating
Some examples of CVR scores from The Urban Farmer. (not an exhaustive list).
• 60 days to maturity or less: spinach, kale, leafy greens, fast varieties of carrots and
beets, lettuce, arugula, other salad greens, salad mixes, microgreens, radishes,
salad turnips, pak choy, summer squash, zucchini, early tomatoes, cilantro, dill,
parsley
• High yield per linear foot: spinach, chard, kale, leafy greens, beets, carrots,
lettuce, arugula, other salad greens, salad mixes, microgreens, radishes, salad
turnips, pak choy, summer squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, other tomatoes,
basil, cilantro, parsley, dill
• Higher price: spinach, chard, kale, beets, carrots, arugula, lettuce, other salad
greens, salad mixes, microgreens, salad turnips, pak choy, cherry tomatoes, other
tomatoes, basil, cilantro, parsley, dill
• Long harvest period (either harvesting the same crop for 4 months, or replanting
and getting continuous harvests that way): spinach, kale, chard, beets, carrots,
arugula, lettuce, other salad greens, salad mixes, microgreens, radishes, salad
turnips, indeterminate tomatoes, cilantro,
• Popularity: spinach, kale, beets, carrots, lettuce, arugula, other salad greens, salad
mixes, microgreens, radishes, salad turnips, summer squash, zucchini, cherry
tomatoes, other tomatoes, basil, cilantro, parsley, dill
• Losers on CVR: long-season and low yield/ linear foot crops such as onions,
potatoes, cabbage, winter squash, melons, sweet corn, garlic

85. Putting together these various ideas, here's my list of possible factors.
Loosely speaking, there are 6 categories:
A. time involved (#1-4),
B. yield (5-8),
C. likely income (9-10),
D. likely demand (11-15),
E. strategic importance (16-20)
F. complexity (21-25).
Fast-maturing tatsoi Photo Wren Vile
Time
1. Is it labor efficient? (Some space-hogging crops like sweet corn are
not labor intensive)
2. Does the intense work for this crop come in at a less-busy time of
year?
3. Is this crop fast-maturing? (If labor is short, weed control might be
an issue for a slow-growing crop, even if space isn't)
4. Is it high yielding for the labor intensiveness? (Okra doesn't provide
much food for the space or the time)
Factors in DIY crop value rating

86. Factors in DIY crop value rating:
Yield
5. Is it high yielding for the space occupied (does it produce
one vegetable head or 1 pound of produce, per square
foot or1/2 pound/row foot)?
6. Is it high-yielding for the time it occupies the ground? (if
land is short)
7. Does it provide multiple harvests from a single planting?
8. Does it provide a single bulk harvest of a storable crop?
Bulk harvest of
long-storing
sweet potatoes.
Photo Nina
Gentle

87. Factors in DIY crop value rating:
Likely income
9. If you are selling produce, does it bring a high
price, above $4 per pound?
10.If you are growing for a household, or a non-
profit, or considering buying wholesale from
another farmer for your CSA: Is it expensive to
replace?

88. Factors in DIY crop value rating:
Likely demand
11.Is it popular (do you have a good market for it)?
12.Is it a staple?
13.Does it store well/easily?
14.Does it provide harvests at times of year when other
crops are scarce?
15.Does it provide appealing diversity for your booth or
CSA boxes?

89. Factors in DIY crop value rating:
Strategic importance
16. Is it a resilient "insurance crop" (forgiving of difficult weather)
which provides harvests even if other crops fail (chard, storage
root vegetables)?
17. Does it help provide your land with a good crop rotation?
18. Is it in the Dirty Dozen? (What are the pesticide levels in the non-
organic crop, if that's the alternative source for your customers?)
19. Are you relying on this crop for personal sustenance?
20. Is it nutritionally dense or important (a protein crop, an oil crop,
a mid-winter crop?)
Chard is an important
Insurance Crop.
Photo Wren Vile

90. Factors in DIY crop value rating:
Complexity
21.Is it reliably easy to grow? Or fun or
pleasantly challenging to grow?
22.Is there minimal wastage/maximum
saleable yield of the harvested
crop?
23.Does the crop require minimal
processing to be ready for sale?
24.Is its peak period for water use at a
time when you have plenty of
water?
25.Will it grow without a fence for
deer/rabbit/bird protection? Frosty fall cabbage – cut and sell
Photo Lori Katz

91. Customize and chart the most
relevant factors
• Rearrange the list of factors to suit your farm
• Select 6-10 of the most important factors and make
up a chart.
• List all the crops you are growing (or might grow).
• Assess the crops as objectively as you can.
• Award each crop a point for each check mark.
• Knock out the crops with fewest points.
• If you need a tie-breaker, you could use secondary
factors from the list.

92. Beets, both greens
and roots, whether
spring or fall, scored
well for us. Photo
Southern Exposure
Seed Exchange

93. Resources cited
(I have reviewed many of these books on my blog at www.sustainablemarketfarming.com)
 The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming, Jean-
Martin Fortier, New Society Publishers
 Gardening When it Counts, Steve Solomon, New Society Publishers
 The 43560 Project, Clifton Slade http://www.slideshare.net/LoudounBiz/clifton-slade-43560-
project, https://vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/clif-slade-43560-demo-project.pdf
www.markklingman.com/docs/43560_Project_Overview.pptx
 The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall, Chelsea Green
 Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-up to Market, Vern Grubinger, NRAES
http://host31.spidergraphics.com/nra/doc/fair%20use%20web%20pdfs/nraes-104_web.pdf
 The Lean Farm, How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits
with Less Work Ben Hartman
 The Urban Farmer, Curtis Stone, New Society Publishers
 High-Yield Vegetable Gardening, Colin McCrate and Brad Halm, Storey Publishers
 Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook – Organic Vegetable Production Using
Protected Culture, Andrew Mefferd, Chelsea Green
 Market Farming Success: The Business of Growing and Selling Local Food, Lynn Byczynski
 Perennial Vegetables, Eric Toensmeier, Chelsea Green
 Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and other Woodland Medicinals, Jeanine
Davis and W. Scott Persons
 Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, Tradd Cotter
 Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, Paul Stamets
 Mycelial Mayhem, David and Kristin Sewak
 Cultivating Mushrooms, Stephen Russell

94. Other good books
The Complete Know and Grow Vegetables, J K A Bleasdale,
P J Salter et al.
Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers, Donald N.
Maynard and George J. Hochmuth. The 2012 edition is free
online from Missouri Extension
The New Seed Starter’s Handbook, Nancy Bubel, Rodale
Books
The New Organic Grower, Eliot Coleman, Chelsea Green
Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers, Daniel
Brisebois and Frédéric Thériault (www.cog.ca)
Turn Here Sweet Corn, Atina Diffley
Wholesale Success, Atina Diffley, Jim Slama
http://www.familyfarmed.org/publications/wholesalesucce
ss/

95. Resources – books and articles
 Root Cellaring, Nancy and Mike Bubel (for construction details and advice)
 Growing Great Garlic, Ron Engeland, 1991, Filaree
 Growing for Market Nov/Dec 2016 “How to grow heading chicories” Josh
Volk SlowHandFarm.com
 Decision Innovation http://www.decision-making-solutions.com
 Holistic Management from ATTRA: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-
pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=296
 Holistic Management Test questions:
http://managingwholes.com/test-questions.htm
 Holistic Management International http://holisticmanagement.org/

96. Resources for Ginger and Turmeric
Alison and Paul Wiediger
http://aunaturelfarm.homestead.com/High-Tunnel-
Ginger.html
Reza Rafie and Chris Mullins at Virginia State University
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auayx8l_M04
http://www.vsuag.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Ginger-
Day-Presentation-2014.pdf
College Of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources,
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/scm-8.pdf
Puna Organics and Biker Dude to buy seed ginger in November
http://www.hawaiianorganicginger.com/how-to-order.
Turmeric and galangal also available
Growing For Market August 2008, November 2011
www.quallaberryfarm.com in NC for info and supplies of
ginger and turmeric

97. Resources – websites
 ATTRA attra.ncat.org:
Scheduling Vegetable Plantings for a Continuous Harvest,
Season Extension Techniques for Market Farmers.
Organic Pumpkin and Winter Squash Production.
 SARE www.sare.org A searchable database of research findings.
Season Extension Topic Room www.sare.org
 extension.org/organic_production The organic agriculture community with
eXtension. Publications, webinars, videos, trainings and support. An
expanding, accessible source of reliable information.
 Growing Small Farms: growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/ Click Farmer
Resources
 2012 Production Guide for Storage of Organic Fruits and Vegetables, Cornell
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/42885/organic-
stored-fruit-veg-NYSIPM.pdf?sequence=1

98. Resources - season extension
 www.hightunnels.org
 Penn State Center for Plasticulture
http://extension.psu.edu/plants/plasticulture
 U of MN High Tunnel Production
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/fruit-vegetable/#high-tunnel
 The Winter Harvest Handbook, Eliot Coleman
 Extending the Season: Six Strategies for Improving Cash Flow Year-Round
on the Market Farm, a free e-book download for online subscribers to
Growing for Market magazine
 The Hoophouse Handbook, 2nd edition, Lynn Byczynski
 Walking to Spring, Paul & Alison Weidiger
http://aunaturelfarm.homestead.com/
 The Northlands Winter Greenhouse Manual, Carol Ford & Chuck Waibe
 Cold Climate Greenhouse Resource
www.extension.umn.edu/rsdp/community-and-local-food/production-
resources/docs/cold-climate-greenhouse-resource.pdf

99. Resources - storage
 Johnnys Storage Recommendations http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-
storage-crops.aspx
 Washington State University Extension, Storing Vegetables and Fruits at
Home pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=EB1326E
 USDA Agriculture Handbook 66: The Commercial Storage of Fruits,
Vegetables, and Florist and Nursery Stocks.
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/oc/np/CommercialStorage/Comme
rcialStorage.pdf Revised Feb 2016
 UMass Extension Post-harvest and Storage Resources
https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/resources/winter-production-
storage/storage
 UMass Extension Harvest, curing and storage conditions for fall and winter
vegetables. https://ag.umass.edu/sites/ag.umass.edu/files/pdf-doc-
ppt/harvest_and_storage_chart_winter_sare_project.pdf
 Vegetable Harvest and Storage. http://extension.missouri.edu/p/g6226

100. Resources - slideshows
Many of my presentations are available at www.Slideshare.net. Search: Pam Dawling.
 Cold-hardy Winter Vegetables
 Crop Planning for Sustainable Vegetable Production
 Crop Rotations
 Fall and Winter Hoophouses
 Fall Vegetable Production
 Growing Great Garlic
 Growing Sweet Potatoes from Start to Finish
 Producing Asian Greens
 Succession Planting for Continuous Vegetable Harvests
Other slide shows I recommend:
 Mark Cain Planning for Your CSA: www.Slideshare.net (search for Crop Planning)
 Tom Peterson Farm Planning for a Full Market Season
vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/tom-peterson-farm-planning-for-a-full-market-
season.pdf
 Brad Burgefurd, Cultural Practices And Cultivar Selections for Commercial
Vegetable Growers. www.slideshare.net/guest6e1a8d60/vegetable-cultural-
practices-and-variety-selection

101. Diversify Your Vegetable Crops
©Pam Dawling 2017
Twin Oaks Community, Virginia
Author of Sustainable Market Farming
Published by New Society Publishers
SustainableMarketFarming.com
facebook.com/SustainableMarketFarming