Planning, development of business plan for sustainability growth:

 REV. TOM LEE / MICHAEL SHEETS /     LANE CHANDLER / JUDY BEST / SHARON MASON / ROBERT FOSTER / GERALD PETERSON / LINDA     CHUBBUCK / ANNA MARIA ENGLAND

Comments

[Gerald]

Step 5

We have talked about having the volunteers (leaders) involved in the labor. When we get to the point that we are harvesting a number of acres of vegetables and fruits, we will not be enough. In fact, one acre of strawberries would probably strain our capacities and I think of 5 acres of sweet corn of an acre of green beans and peas and that is a lot of work. We can make our choices and do not have to have everything that can be grown.

Many crops can be harvested as ‘pick your own’ where they pick and pay or pick and leave us a share to sell. I also think that we may find some young people with an interest who would be will to help. Also, other churches from around might be willing to step in.

We will I am sure, at some point need hired help. But this should not be an issue until our finances will support our efforts. We have some issues that will help us to succeed. Most orchard and truck gardens have moved out to escape cost of land and taxes. By being able to stay close, we also stay close to our market.

It would be unfair not to reimburse Unity for land. But looking at the land as a wasted resource at the present time, our efforts to make it a contributing factor to the Unity movement should not be overlooked.
I would think that a break for a couple years with maybe the use of under utilized buildings and maybe some free water and or electricity would be in order. After that time, then some method should be devised that would compliment Unity without taking away from the efforts of the garden. Maybe a submitted budget on a yearly basis after three years or as the profit becomes as such to allow an earlier return to Unity

[Gerald]

Step 4

Fruit trees are a long range project. Most trees planted will need three years for production to begin and even then will not reach full potential. The same is true of grapes and berry plants. They can be utilized to fill in ground that should not be planted in crops because of soil loss.

There is an upfront cost which will be substantial. As I understand planting practices, we could have a break in this aspect. The trees and bushes can be planted in the fall as well as the spring. Another aspect for the good is that once established, watering will be less of a concern.

I have a post hole digger that goes on the back of a tractor and the afore mentioned rental tractor could drill many holes in a day. By digging a 3 or 4 foot hole, we have loosened the soil and can put some of the compost we have for natural fertilizer.

I think that we would need to consider tools for trimming and this is an annual job. I think that there are small branch cutters that go on a long pole and are powered by a small motor like a chain saw motor. So that expense would not be great.

If we go with organic spray, I believe that there are three times a year that would require spraying once they begin producing fruit. I believe that there are spray units that can be pulled around with a small garden tractor and we are not looking at a great expense(less than $1000). Besides, this is an expense that we will not have to face as a start up cost.

Because of the length of time before bearing, we should begin planting as soon as possible even if it is only a portion at a time.

I believe it was Judy who expressed an interest in making jams, jellies, ect under Unity’s label and this would certainly increase the amount of income from a tree. But we would be looking at expenses of sanitary equipment and a space to work in. But this is an option that could be added at anytime as we have the income.

Our own bees would benefit the production of the orchard and would give us additional income.

[gerald]

Step 3

Why limit ourselves to produce??

We can in the spring sell bedding plants along with tomatoes and radishes and….

I am leading up to the use of a green house next year, but this year..

Some of my wholesale sources will sell starter plants that we would repot to sell as tomatoes and or flowering plants for the yard. The main problem with these sources are the lead time-6 weeks- and the volume of each variety. So, why can’t we start them ourselves.

Last year I started hundreds of plants in peat pellets. If each of our 30 members could take a 72 plant tray (about the size of a cookie sheet) and put in a pkg of seeds and after a week in the house to sprout, sit it in a window, within a month we would have plants that could be transferred to a 4 in pot and by this time we could be sitting them out the south side of the old barn in the sun. We might have to cover them or even bring them in to the barn once or twice, but 72 plants times 30 people and that is over 2100 plants(in 10 weeks 21,000). We can do that each week and our expense is small and by the time they start blooming, we have sales to make. Last year, greenhouses were still selling bedding plants(flowers) up until July. The neat thing is that if they out grow their 4in pot, we transfer them to a larger pot-6 in- and double the price and if we have some creative people, we can take these plants and put them in large planters which we get very cheap wholesale We will have a pile of compost behind the barn to plant them in.

As you can probably see, by next year we will be wanting a green house. I am experimenting with hoop houses, small economical unheated greenhouses (cost about $300 for a 12 X 30) and they can be used to extend the harvest of every thing from tomatoes to greens. I have heard of 10X60 hoop houses producing $10,000 a year.

A green house would give us a chance to tap the market for Christmas flowers before we begin growing bedding plants for our own use and to sell to the public after the first of the year.

Another plant that can be grown to help fill in the fall slack are garden mums. Again, we can start them our selves, transplant them to pots, sit them on plastic so we have no problem with weeds and at around $5 each, a couple thousand would help our bottom line.

Since we are on the subject of green houses, the Fort Osage school district has a green house that they use for teaching purposes. Maybe one of the local school school districts would be interested. That could be a source of labor for us and at the same time we would be contributing to skills for our youth and letting people know we are here.

As a side note, I can get 5 gal cans of honey wholesale from the Amish and we could package in bottles for additional sales. My Amish friend is working on getting USDA approval for the production of homemade candy and he is looking for an outlet to sell the product. His in laws in Wisc sell by the truck load wholesale.

[Pete Williams]

Step 2

Proposal

I have outlined in the previous comment how we can begin with a minimal amount of money, land, labor and with little risk, begin the process of selling produce. At some point we will want to raise as much as possible of our own produce. If we begin with raised beds, we can produce many short season crops such as greens, peas, radishes and green onions, etc. Several crops may be produced on the same land as we harvest and replant. Many of these crops normally grown in the spring are also good late summer and fall crops. Many people who have gardens have let the weeds overtake even the tomatoes by the first of Sept when they could be planting and harvesting up to Thanksgiving and in some years even later. In addition, these crops utilize seed that is inexpensive, for example, I pay around $80 for a 50 lb sack of turnips from Planters seed at the city market and that will plant over 10 acres, enough to feed all of Lee’s Summit.

One crop that can be planted in the spring if we have the land, would be strawberries. One acre of strawberries will literally produce tons of produce. A plant that costs about 10 cents on the commercial wholesale market will bear around a pound of fruit. Crops planted in the spring will bear the following year and if properly cared for will produce for several years. If we cannot plant in the spring either because of lack of funds or lack of properly prepared land, you can plant in the fall and have a spring crop. Although the procedure is different, less land is used and this is a common commercial practice.

To prepare the land, the land needs to be tilled both for strawberries and many other crops such as corn and vining crops such as pumpkins and cucumbers. We can rent a tractor with a roto tiller on the rear for about $200 per day. With my pu and trailer, we can haul and easily prepare the soil of about 5 acres in one day. If the soil has not been utilized for crops before, a second pass might be necessary before planting. This is a small cost and it would be hard to justify purchasing our own equipment at the present time.

I doubt that we could plant sweet corn the first year and we really would need to upgrade our soil because of the fertility needed for corn. It is not unusual for sweet corn to bear close to a hundred bushel to the acre and if you figure 60 ears to the bushel, you can see that an acre would bear 6000 ears. By next year we should be able to afford electric fence for deer repellant. I think that 5 acres would be a nice plot for the second year.

It is possible and an old practice to plant pumpkins in the corn patch. They will do their vining after the crop has been harvested around July and can add more value. My Amish friend last year planted one acre and harvested over 1200 pumpkins. At a wholesale price of $5, he brought in more than $6000. With our location, one could have pick your own and save a lot of labor. This is a good draw for new members and combined with a tractor or pu pulling a wagon as a hayride, can generate a lot of good will.

More crops that need lots of room would be melons, cucumbers, all kinds of squash, and again, many of these crops can be planted after the 4th of July and still produce. In fact, weeds can be less of a problem. If we are given 5 acres this spring, some of it could be devoted to these crops.

In the above I have tried to give an example of how 5 acres could be utilized this year and another 5 next year as a goal to aim for. From there, I think we would have enough machinery purchased to double our production as long as space available.

One note, all farming operations will have years when one crop or another fails to live up to expectations. As long as we can utilize the Amish and even local growers, we will have a method to fill in gaps

[Gerald]

If we were to plant seeds of different crops now, we would see a harvest that would come in at different times. We need to be able to supply our retail outlet with a variety at the same time !

What land we will have to work with is not prepared for a crop. We are facing a delay in that area !

We don’t have any money !!!!!

Proposed solution:

I have three Amish farmers in my area who start early crops in a green house. The Amish at Jamesport Mo have an auction where over 150 families contribute. I have on my own land high tunnel green houses as well as other land for vegetable production.

I propose that we target the date of April 1, 2009, as the day we will begin selling produce.

We begin by each of our current members contributing $20 each which will give us $600.00. If we use the barn east of unity on the north side of the road, we can build a lean-to shelter with a few tables and we have parking, exposure, and traffic for our first sales. We buy from the Amish at wholesale prices. We make our mark up and increase our “kitty”.

We advertise as farm fresh produce from Unity and Amish farmers. We will be looking at three years before we have “organic” certification anyway.

We will have to determine how many days and how many hours that we would be open. My suggestion would to be start with a Wed afternoon opening as the Amish auction is on Tue and again on Fri evening and Sat day as they have a second auction on Fri.

I would use my truck and trailer to begin in the Stanberry area(my farm land and Amish community of 50 families) swinging by the auction on Tue and I would be in Lee’s Summit for Wed morning. Again on Fri I could begin my trip and we could have produce on the tables for sale by Fri evening. If we invest $200 for a stand and maybe $300 for our first produce, we would be within budget. We could continue this for the summer and fall until we begin to fill in with our own produce.

WE WOULD BE IN BUSINESS MAKING AN INCOME !!!!!

We don’t know what land is available and I am sure that the land that has been farmed in the past probably has some type of commitment to the farmer.

Worst case!! We have to settle for the land surrounding We haul in compost and unload in rows four feet wide and every four feet has a walk way divider. Normally, one would have rail road ties or some other method of keeping the dirt hauled in from spreading, but it is not necessary and in addition, saves on expenses. These raised beds would be mulched with straw (which I can help provide) and we would plant either in rows or one plant per square foot in cases like cabbage etc. We could begin hauling as soon as we get the go ahead and could plant many cold weather crops such as radishes, lettuce, cabbage, etc. Many of these crops are 45 days and with floating row covers, we might be able to contribute to the produce from the Amish.