i waffle a lot about when to start cruciferous crops. unless youre very diligent (aka silvia!) and/or have some controlled environment, getting a really early start may not provide much benefit, as the seedlings are invariably stressed by the heat and there are so many diseases and pests in late summer. last year i managed to get my broccoli crop in pretty early, mid-august. but the seedlings were puny, i lost probably 50% of them to drought, inundation, or bugs. and they really didnt start growing until the first cool weather in october, anyway. i started a second set of plants much later (dunno when, probably mid-september) and planted them in another row. by december it was hard to tell which row was producing better. similar experience with tomatoes, etc--they dont start growing well until warm weather, so seedlings set out at different times all even out by the time they start producing. anyway, as we're on about the same latitude (29*) and our weather patterns are similar, you might find this post interesting... adding... ultimately, seeds are pretty cheap (at least compared to return on investment). in florida, it pays to have a 'rolling' approach to seed sowing. save for mid-summer, i ALWAYS have seedlings in cups, ready for transplant to the garden when i've harvested or when another plant dies. for instance, i have a bunch of nice, medium-sized tomatoes (tomande) that are still setting and ripening fruit. i put them in the garden "late" and they're just now in their prime, and though they wont bear nearly as much as a plant that i put in the ground on time, you can eke out another week of tomatoes... Here is a link that might be useful: what should i plant now?

I would contact your local ag folks and ask them, there may be some grants available, take a magnifying glass for the small writing-they may require you to grow a certain crop for x amount of years, or get involved in your land more than you'd like. Take a few courses in bookkeeping and find a mentor if you can. Perhaps you could look into starting a CSA, where your future customers buy into part of the farm & in return they get a % of your produce weekly. It's not easy to make ends meet on a farm and it's a lot of work. I personally feel that vegetables are much easier than livestock, but that is just my opinion. As far as what to grow, I would choose 2 targeted vegetables and add as I grew. Maybe pumpkins or butternut squash & tomatoes, research what your customers prefer. I would also set up a small greenhouse to grow plant starts to sell in the spring. How will you maintain the organics of the organic produce? This is something you should research & make sure it's sustainable in your area. I guess I'm not clear on just what you are asking nor if I was much help. Brenda

Thank you everyone! This is exactly what need. I'm learning that reading how to do something and actually DOING it are two different things, jejeje. I know I can get black plastic and fabrics to make mulch and floating row covers, not sure about drip tape. Must be out there, just have to find it. I've seen stiff tubing that you install sprayers into like for landscaping. I'm going to start off by doubling the size of my garden like myfamilysfarm suggested and see how I do with an actual plan :). Before I've only grown whatever I feel like, without any regard to schedule because we're lucky to have a really long summer. And if the bugs get oh well better luck next year. The real challenge for me, i think, will be to be able to produce a projected harvest every week according to plan. Boulderbelt, do you also use the row spacings in the Coleman book? So you use primarily the wheel hoe? What about the shuffle hoe attachment that Coleman recommends? Anybody have any recommendations for a seeder? Earthway? I'm pretty sure I can sell my produce, I bring seeds from the states that you can't get here, and every one's been telling me I should start selling. So I'm going to do a serious survey, start a website, and see what real response I get Thanks again!

Check out my CSA page. I has all the specs of what I put in a share, what I charge, what my season length is, what I grow season to season. If you can get members well before you order/start seeds than you can ask them what they would like Here is a link that might be useful: Boulder Belt Farm Share Initiative