Starting an Organic Market Garden

The idea of starting an organic market garden can be very appealing. However, market gardening is not just about growing crops, and there are many aspects to be considered and decisions taken prior to actually getting your hands dirty out in the field or polytunnel.

Careful planning is essential and a progressive approach to establishing the business will enable you to gain the necessary practical skills and understanding of organic production.

The information below aims to give guidance to prospective organic market gardeners in terms of developing and running a commercial fulltime or parttime organic business.

It should be read in conjunction with other CAFRE organic leaflets relating to horticultural production.

Your market garden is a business

Running a successful market garden is a business venture, and realistically will encompass all or most of the following:

Growing crops
Marketing and promotion
Obtaining finance
Keeping accounts and records
Sourcing casual labour
Maintaining machinery
Packing and delivering produce

A successful, well planned and organised market garden should, however, provide:

Good returns
Year round production
Year round cash flow

It will also require:

Development of knowledge and specialist skills
Long, anti-social hours at certain times of the year
A quality product
An identified market

What should I grow ?

There are several answers to this question, but the basic ones are:

‘grow what you can sell’

and thus

‘grow what will make money’.

This means finding out what your customers want and will pay a reasonable price for. In simple terms staple vegetables such as carrots, cabbage and salads will be in greatest demand, but experience has shown that organic consumers are willing to eat a wider range of vegetables, particularly those which are more seasonal in their availability. This will allow you to grow a wider variety of crops throughout the year.

Another possible constraint on deciding what to grow will be the availability of labour, both in general terms and at high demand periods during the year.

High value and ‘exotic’ vegetables

Some vegetables such as scallions have a high value, but there is clearly a limit to demand. Depending on your marketing strategy, you should therefore only grow quantities which you feel will match the demand and provide you with a reasonable return.

More exotic vegetables and salads are becoming increasingly common and available. However, not everyone likes them or is willing to try them.

This is not to say that you should not grow some, but you should test market small quantities with your customers to gauge demand and pricing structure for them. This is particularly important when attempting to introduce new lines to your range of produce.

Quality

Quality is very important and is one of the keys to retaining and increasing your customer base. Whilst there is a degree of acceptance that it is more difficult to grow visually ‘perfect’ vegetables organically, you should still aim to produce the highest quality you can.

Attention to detail and integrity in grading produce for sale are essential for supplying your customers with a high quality product.

Customers will compare your produce with other organic produce and with non-organic produce. If they are not satisfied, it is likely that they will look for another supplier.

Should I grow everything myself?

Initial enthusiasm leans towards trying to grow everything you want to sell, but the work involved in growing an extensive range of crops is considerable.

There may be good reasons such as soil type, machinery, land, labour or storage availability why you may find it difficult to grow certain crops (eg carrots, potatoes) and it may be easier to buy in such crops, perhaps by having another specialist grower contract grow them for you.

This will allow you to concentrate on growing what you are good at and what you are equipped to grow in terms of machinery, time and labour available.

Most organic producers who sell bought-in organic produce find that the retail mark-up still gives an adequate profit margin.

It is, however, very important to ensure that any produce you buy in is of an acceptable quality.

Field production

On many market gardens field production will be the main source of produce, both during the summer and winter, and will involve the majority of time, effort and machinery put into the business.

It is very weather dependent, particularly early and late in the season, and, as discussed below, will require an investment in machinery to allow you to cope with the challenges, particularly weed control.

Protected cropping

Protected cropping, usually in polytunnels, is used for :

Early season production
Late season production
Over-winter production
Summer production of crops not suitable for outdoors

Polytunnels are also often used for plant propagation, particularly in the early part of the year. As the season progresses this can lead to conflicts between the need to grow transplants and the need for crop growing space. It may be easier to have a dedicated propagation tunnel.

Protected crops are, by nature, very intensive but often contribute a considerable proportion of the income.

Many growers consider them to be an excellent investment.

What you should not do is grow crops in tunnels at a time of the year when they will grow happily outdoors. You will be able to use the tunnel more profitably to grow crops which need the protection.

What equipment do I need ?

You will obviously need equipment and machinery, but this does not mean that you have to buy or own it all. Field operations such as ploughing can be carried out by a contractor, and equipment required only occasionally can be hired.

Some form of seedbed preparation equipment will be required, often in the form of a rotavator. On a small scale and in polytunnels this can be a wheeled, hand operated machine, but for use on larger areas, a tractor-mounted machine will be required. This also creates a need for a tractor.

The main area where new producers are likely to under-equip themselves is in weed control equipment. Small areas can be hand weeded, but without suitable machinery weeds can quickly become unmanageable. The labour requirement for hand weeding can be enormous, not economically viable and sourcing labour is often difficult.

What capital do I need ?

Anyone considering starting an organic market garden should realise that there will certainly be a need for capital.

The main requirement, and one often not taken seriously enough, is the need to finance machinery purchase. Whilst some machinery can be hired, and other operations carried out by a contractor, some basic machinery and hand tools will be required.

There will also be a requirement for start-up and/or working capital. Once a market garden has been initiated it will be at least several months before any home-grown produce is available for sale. In the mean time you will have had to buy supplies such as seeds and propagating equipment, pay living expenses and/or wages, and organic certification fees.

Full-time or part-time ?

Right from the start, it is important to be realistic about what can be achieved on a parttime basis.

There are many time limitations which will dictate the scale and thus financial returns of a part-time operation, particularly if this is in addition to other employment.

What skills do I need ?

The skills you will need fall into two basic categories, production skills and business skills.

Production skills

Unless you are already growing vegetables you may not have the horticultural skills necessary. Basic skills needed include:

Rotation, crop sequence and continuity planning
Composting, manure and nutrient management
Plant propagation and transplanting
Machinery operation and maintenance
Weed, pest and disease control operations

Business skills

Developing your business skills is an essential part of running a market garden including:

Marketing
Accounts and farm records
Wages and tax calculations
Employee management

Some statutory requirements you should be aware of

EU Regulations EC834/2007, EC 889/2008 and EC 1235/2008 – To sell your produce as organic you must be registered with the EU as an organic producer. The organic certification process does this for you.
Business ID number – in order to claim the Organic Farming Scheme grant (assuming you are otherwise eligible) you must have a BusinessID number for your land. If you do not have one then you should apply for one through your local DARD Agriculture Development Centre.
FEPA - The Food and Environment Protection Act1985(FEPA) and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994 (COSHH) apply to organic producers as they do to conventional growers. Under FEPA and COSHH Regulations employees, employers and the self-employed all have legal obligations:
Everyone involved in the use of pesticides must have received adequate instruction, training and guidance in the safe, efficient and humane use of pesticides and be competent for the duties which they are called upon to perform
This applies to the use of both backpack and tractor mounted sprayers.
Most users of agricultural pesticides must now hold a personal certificate of competence, though some people may work under the direct supervision of a certificate holder.
Health & Safety at Work legislation - Anyone applying pesticides for you must have a personal Certificate of Competence, and their equipment and protective clothing must meet Health & Safety requirements.

Also, if you do not check, or they do not meet the requirements, and they continue to work, you will be liable should there be an accident.

What does organic certification entail ?

Certification essentially involves three linked elements:

Initial inspection of the unit based on plans and details submitted
Annual inspection of your unit, accounts and farm records to ensure you are meeting all the requirements of approved organic standards
Paying an annual certification (licence) fee which then allows you to sell produce as organic
Keeping clear, up-to-date records of all operations and financial transactions will assist both your management of the unit and will allow your inspector to get a clear picture of how your unit is running.

Without good records you will soon run into certification difficulties.

You are strongly advised to have a comprehensive recording system operating right from the start. Also note that random spotinspections may take place in addition to the annual inspection.

When should I start conversion ?

Conversion of land to full organic status takes a basic two years. For many people, starting conversion in the early part of the year prior to the planting season means that the first fully organic crops are planted out or sown in the spring two years after the start of conversion.

However, starting conversion at other times of the year may be required in some cases for very specific reasons.

What are the main challenges ?

Developing your market – this should be addressed right at the start
Maintaining soil fertility – crop rotation and supplies of manures must be clearly defined
Weed control – lack of control can lead to failure – mechanisation is advisable
Record keeping – you must keep on top of this for certification purposes
Labour availability – can be difficult, mechanisation can help
Continuity of supply – good planning is required
Quality – attention to detail is essential