Pick your own~ veggie patch
 

I was wondering if anyone is doing this. It seems to me that ther would be plenty of people who would be willing to pick their own veggies if it saved them a little money. And as someone with children I think it would be fun for families too.

Thought about it but have ruled it out so far, due to liability issues of having people on the property, and the fact that children (even my own) sometimes pull out whole plants instead of picking the fruit, or trample them. I pick everything and put it at a stand at the end of the driveway that is usually on the honor system. People only pull into the end of the driveway, take what they want and put cash in the box. Anything left I donate to the church food pantry. That way people aren't running all over my property driving the animals (and me) nuts, any damage is my own stupid fault, and I can leave the stand unattended if I have to run out or am just plain old busy. If people have such poor character that they steal produce or plants (I've had mums stolen, so you know it wasn't because anyone was hungry:evil:) I don't get in a huff over it, just figure what goes around comes around and I only sell what is above and beyond what my own family can use anyway so nothing is really lost in my view. Oh, and lets not forget all those folks who might need to "use the bathroom" while they are picking. I don't want strangers in my home, or to rent a port a john, and what heartless person is going to tell a mom with a 3 year old they can't use the bathroom? So I just avoid the whole thing, for now at least, with a stand at the end of the driveway.

The liability alone is enough for us to nix the idea - and, as Lurley pointed-out, they tear the crops up.

Jack

Yep. While I was having a Norman Rockwell daydream about families with baskets and veggies, I started seeing someone yanking and pull on the beans. STOP! Then for about a second I thought I could give them clippers to cut things off~like maybe their fingers. I see my folly.

I've read about pick-your-own farms that claim to be profitable. We have a couple blueberry farms near here that operate that way, and have for a number of years.

Jack

I think it works best with hard-to-pick edibles, such as brambleberries or strawberries, and where it'd be hard to damage the plant itself because it's woody or sturdy. Or it'd work if you were done picking for the season and wanted the field culled (or couldn't stand to see food go to waste). At that point, it wouldn't matter if the plants were damaged.

I've gone to u-pick farms in New Jersey, Oregon, and Calif. -- all berries.

iirc, I went to a u-pick farm near the big flea market in NJ with my mom and aunt, and we got some daikon!

I haven't been, but I've seen a tomato farm or two advertise an end-of-season free-for-all. The Agnes Varda film "The Gleaners" shows a lot of that in France.

There is a beautiful Pick Your own place near me [URL="http://www.jonesfamilyfarms.com/farm"]http://www.jonesfamilyfarms.com/farm[/URL]....it features pumpkins, blueberries, strawberries and cut your own Christmas trees.on about 400 acres I think it says. Now they have a winery on site as well. There are several of these types of places around here along with a few pick your own Apple places...there used to be a pick your own veggie place but the land was more valuable and after the old farmer died off the family sold it.
I think liability is a big issue....

I remember going to a farm with my mom to pick our own strawberries when I was a kid.

For all the reasons Lurley mentioned, it's a hassle.

We've offered PYO tomatoes but rarely have anyone even come out to the farm. And we are only 5 miles from our town of over 25,000. we do have a similar self-serve honor system stand in the driveway tho that does well at times.

Even at the markets few people take bushels of tomatoes any more. With everyone working few have the time to can stuff these days.

Carol