yield; the number of tomatoes they will produce is “determined” by their genetics. Indeterminate tomatoes, or vining-type, can yield more tomatoes than determinates overall, but do so over a much longer period of time. For a pick-your-own, it is better to grow determinate tomatoes that may produce fifteen pounds of tomatoes per plant over a short

With enough manpower, storage, and production, a farm stand could be an effective means of dealing with surplus produce. We lack two of the three, but increasing production is leading us to consider adding manpower and storage. No matter what, pickers do not get every

Once you have captured a reasonably accurate revenue per foot, the next step is to analyze how to increase it for each crop, particularly those on the low end. Set a threshold of minimum revenue required per foot and take a hard look at those below the line. At Pure Land, any crop producing less than $5 per foot of row is in danger of being dropped

we planted half our normal short-day varieties and half similar intermediate-day varieties, and it worked like a charm. The intermediate-day onions were ready a few weeks later, so we concentrated pickers in the short-day varieties first, then let them into the intermediate ones as they matured, leaving hardly any short-day onions left for us to

earlier or later. Identify the window where the most in-demand crops grow in your area, and that is your growing season. For us, this is the period between last frost at the end of March and when production drops off due to the heat in late July. This makes our picking season May, June, and July. Your window may be longer or shorter, and earlier or

Avoid crops that are hard to tell when ripe and don’t continue ripening off the vine

The pick-your-own production strategy differs from the market garden because we are not necessarily trying to get the maximum revenue per bed possible for the crop; we are trying to get the maximum revenue per bed for the crop that can be harvested in the picking season window.

ripe piece of produce out of the field, and we do have customers more interested in the produce than the picking (particularly older folks). If the effort brings in more than it costs to execute, having a staff member harvest, prep, store, and market surplus produce in a farm stand on site may be the next most efficient means of sale.

Shorten the Season, Widen the Variety The more condensed your season, the better. Condensing your season means utilizing as much of your space as possible to grow a wide selection of crops that will be available to pick at the same time, eliminating crops that produce