Background
I have been growing vegetables for over 6 years and this book contains all the things I wish I had know before I started and everything I have learned along the way.
Its not easy starting out, and if like me, you have no background in anything vegetable related then it is even harder. It becomes easier over time, right up until the moment of burnout, or breakdown, or disillusion, or whatever you want to call the crisis that overcomes many growers at some stage.
After six years I came close to quitting and it was only the prospect of seeing the destruction of years of hard work creating the beds and building the infrastructure that stopped us selling out.
My journey
My journey began when my partner and I decided to leave the city and move to the country. It was our desire to live in a more sustainable fashion by becoming as self-sufficient as possible. We purchased a small farm, known in New Zealand as a "lifestyle block" and moved in. We very quickly started with growing vegetables and cultivated 200m2 of pasture to form sixteen permabeds, or permanent beds, which once formed remain in that position while the crops are rotated in and out. This collection of beds we call a garden.
We were then contacted by a school where the principal asked us to provide a course for his horticulture students. Each cohort of students required their own growing area so after three years we had expanded the number of gardens to four with a total area of 800m2. The gardens we named North, South, East, and West. Within each garden were 16 beds numbered 1 to 16 from east to west.
Following on from this we were invited to be design and help build Te Maara Kai O Wirihana a market garden attached to the school we worked with. This amazing project took 2 years to set up and now employs ex-students and produces an abundance of food for the community. The project uses the same tools and techniques we describe in this book.
We have used permaculture design principle to determine the layout of our farm.
Phases of a market gardening
These phases are based upon my experience and interviews with colleague growers. I accept they are subjective but they serve to structure this book in a meaningful way.
Phase 1 Getting Growing:
In this phase the gardens are planned, the beds created, infrastructure built, seeds sown, and the basic infrastructure installed.
(For those seeking a property the Appendix details the process we went through to find our farm and how we used Permaculture Principles to create the initial design.)
Phase 2 Growing:
By now its clear that growing the crops is achievable and its time to build your business and develop the brand. In this phase the customer base is developed.
Growing for market requires discipline and dedication and processes and practices will need to be refined and formalised.
Phase 3 Consolidation:
By now everything should be coming together and the operation should be running as a well oiled wheel.
Unfortunately this may not always be the case. Its quite possible:
- shortcuts made in order to get started are coming back to bite
- second hand implements and machines are breaking down
- irrigation has started to leak and parts need replacing,
- seed boxes made, or the purchased or donated second hand plastic ones are falling apart from constant use
- customers are becoming bored with the same old vegetables every time. Since the sector of the population that is prepared to support the local economy has been signed up it is hard to find new customers. New products and sales channels are being explored e.g. microgreens, or maybe a different range of vegetables.
- Success has not gone unnoticed and other growers are starting to compete. Customers spurred on by the tastiness of the food they have received start to grow their own.
The question that now comes up is whether its worth it? Is the skewed work-life balance sustainable? When was the last time a holiday was taken? Are the early morning starts, the late evening finishes becoming too much?
This is where we were after spending five years trying to build a sustainable customer base, growing up to 40 different crops a year in order to meet customer demand (either real, or perceived), the constant social media marketing, arranging casual labour to help meet demands, the daily slog through the mud in winter and the dust in summer, the evenings spent planning and marketing,.... the fun had gone, motivation was low and we were burnt out.
Phase 4 Breakthrough
This book
This book will will provide the knowledge and confidence to get growing, and provide pointers to prevent the burnout mentioned above.
Each chapter is self-contained. The tips and checklists in each chapter will be valuable for those just starting out, for those who have mastered the initial setup and may want to take things to a new level, and for the experienced grower who is reassessing their operation with a view to making changes.
Many books and youtube vidoes explain the nitty gritty of growing vegetables and flowers. This is not another gardening book. Instead this is a book of tips and tricks to make your life as a grower easier. It will help to set up quickly and with certainty. Equally important it will offer a path through the moment of truth when everything is questioned.