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Old July 16, 2017   #271
Starlight
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Beautiful! So glad your doing so well. A good feeling too when you can make a couple of bucks over your costs. Really makes all the work worthwhile when you have a few coins to jingle in your pocket doesn't it. : )
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Old July 16, 2017   #272
BigVanVader
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Thanks Star! Yeah, and it is starting to happen so fast. I've had several opportunities to sell large amounts to wholesalers but just don't have enough. I could double my profits if I had a tunnel full of greenhouse hybrids. When I add a few more crops like salad mix & root crops, plus all the new flowers I will be adding, I think I could actually make quite a bit of profit next year.

One big game changer this year is we have met so many great farmers that are always looking to help or offer advice, including connecting us with other distributors. It is also nice to see how other backyard farmers actually make a living doing this (with 5 kids no less) so that makes us really feel like it is in reach. I don't even plan to go full time for 3 more years, so I have plenty of time to build a customer base, learn, and gather all the tools/equip I need. Then if all has went well the retirement comes out and I'm going full time.
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Old September 30, 2017   #273
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Long time since an update but I've been busy reconfiguring the garden. I made all my beds 30 inches wide with 16 inch pathways. This nearly doubled my bed space.

I'm also doing winter growing for the first time and so far so good. I bite the bullet and ordered Salanova lettuce and it was worth every penny. My salad mix bags are full with 3.5 ounces. They regrow in around 2 weeks after cutting and harvesting is easy compared to mesclun mix or the like. Also doing mini romaine. Also have some late Mat-Su growing well. Here are some pics.
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Old September 30, 2017   #274
bower
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Nice garden, good luck on the winter grow, BVV! It looks great and I wish I had something looking like that in the greenhouse right now, instead of the old tomato plants I haven't cut down.

Will you get frost at all?
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Old September 30, 2017   #275
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Yes. Our first frost is usually around the end of October, but it seems to get warmer every year. For example it was 80 degrees in February here this season. I plan to grow lettuce year round now. Multiple watering per day with overhead irrigation are key in our heat.
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Old October 2, 2017   #276
creeker
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The lettuce looks fantastic. Do you direst sow the lettuce or grow starts than transplant? Using pelleted seed? Ron
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Old October 2, 2017   #277
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Thanks! All my lettuce is transplanted. All Salanova is pelleted, the mini romaine is not. I do 4 rows per 30 inch bed on 6 inch centers staggered. It helps do to the outside rows first to get the distance right.
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Old October 3, 2017   #278
wildcat62
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Looking good
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