Be first and last to market

Growing and selling over the longest possible season is a key to success on your market farm. Being the first to market with farm fresh products in the spring and having a variety of products available through winter will help differentiate your operation and build customer loyalty.

Extending CSA shares through 3–4 seasons lets you spread the workload and the risks by growing across multiple seasons. Bottom line: you'll make more money. At home, you'll own bragging rights with family, friends, and neighbors.

Sow spring vegetables in an unheated hoophouse as soon as your day length reaches 10 hours. In January, February and March, plant arugula, beets, carrots, chard, kale/collards, lettuce, radishes, salad mix, scallions, spinach, and salad turnips.

Start the cold-hardy vegetables listed above under Quick Hoops or caterpillar tunnels for a low-cost alternative to greenhouses, as soon as the soil can be worked.

After the last frost, plant summer crops on plastic mulch for maximum soil warming.

Use row cover to provide a protected environment that will get seedlings off to a good start.

Plant several successions of crops, counting back from the first frost date to calculate the final planting of the year.

Grow plenty of storage crops, including onions, garlic, winter squash, potatoes, leeks, storage cabbage, carrots, parsnips, kohlrabi, and sweet potatoes, to sell throughout the autumn and winter.

Plant cold-tolerant crops in the field and be ready to protect them with row cover as the frost date approaches.

Plant cold-hardy crops under Quick Hoops, caterpillar tunnels, or hoophouses for fall harvest.