All good info and keep it coming. Such a breadth of knowledge here! @missing Yes, it is exciting, but we want to choose wisely and plant well to avoid over extending ourselves. We have 10 acres, so plenty of room to grow. Recommedndations would be great, I don't know much about the online/catalog plant ordering business. I get a few things from Park Seed as otherwise my options are limited to big-box store selections or expensive nurseries. I didn't know all that about black walnut, good to know. I guarantee I would have found out the hard way, it is a variety we are considering. Also good to know about the multiflora, they are definitely not blackberries (I grew up with black/raspberry brambles) so we'll keep them in check. Too bad, they aren't completely unattractive. Didn't know that about the apple varieties either, thanks! @ Karin You're right, there is a forum here for the Hudson Valley, but it's growing tumbleweeds... I found some local message boards, but the posts deal more with everyday flowers and garden varieties than things like Mirabelles and Currants. Re: Schneeglockschen; my Mother is from Germany and most of her family came over as well, so it rubbed off on us kids as we spent holidays and summers with them. My other half lived there for 10 years and has family there as well, so there's lots of German influences in our thinking. I'd never seen Snowdrops (I knew the name) but had visited Husum in North Germany in early Spring and there is a "castle" that has tens of thousands of Crocuses covering the grounds mixed with the Schneeglockchen. I learned later that Snowdrops are essentially the same thing. Absolutely beautiful, and an effect I will attempt to reproduce on an albeit smaller scale in NY. We have the site and drive selected and mostly planned. We are planning trees and the like now so that we know how much to clear or thin beyond these areas. We also have a good idea where the garden and "mini" orchard will be, so that's why I elected to come here. I'd just as likely have bought foolish choices from a catalog or overdone it. Folks here have a good knowledge if what works and what doesn't. None of this is going to be planted until the heavy equipment is gone.

Hi Anthony, Like Mark, my prices are based on retail, not wholesale. You are essentially a contract grower of specialty produce. If chefs want specific varieties, they must pay a premium, and truly high-end restaurants (that's my market, as well) will just pass on the cost to the guests - don't short yourself. I have worked in high-end restaurants for over 25 years, and been a supplier to them for as long. If your quality is good, don't be afraid to charge what it's worth - it is a lot of labor and a lot doesn't get sold to the best restaurants, because they only want the best, and that is expensive to create. Chefs want clean, unblemished, uniformly sized produce, because it is cheaper for them to process into an elegant presentation. Generally they prefer smaller rather than larger sizes - haricot verts instead of large green beans, slender short carrots instead of large ones - because it means less prep time in the kitchen so less labor cost. They prefer, and know how to recognize, freshness, so harvest your most perishable crops early on the morning of delivery day, and field chill if necessary. If you bring them bug-eaten leaves, crooked carrots, or 10 pounds of potatoes that weigh 1/2 oz and 2 lbs in the same bag, or anything that needs to be washed, they aren't happy. Do your first sorting right in the field into 3 categories - best quality, very good, and the rest. As an example, my purple carrots are grown in beds that are 30" wide and 20' long (50 sq. ft) where the soil is sifted 18" deep, so they all grow straight and fast. I wash them by hand, sort them by size, cut the greens at 1 1/2 inches from the top of the carrot (I sell the tops separately) and sell them 12/$5. They are ready to cut and cook when they arrive. I have a replacement guarantee for any produce that gets returned because of quality issues, or I credit the next order if they don't want a replacement. I deliver on Thursdays and Mondays only, because they are too busy on weekends and Monday they have time to spend talking about the week ahead. I expect payment within ten days, or impose a service charge. Most pay on delivery. For your first year, one restaurant may be all you should commit to, and market the surplus to the others as you have it. Tell the other restaurants that this is your first year doing this type of marketing, and you don't want to sacrifice quality, but you will keep them apprised of any surplus specialty items and they will have first pick. Chefs are very pressed for time and don't like any BS, so be upfront and direct - they'll appreciate it. It is more important to meet the expectations of volume and quality in the beginning, and create a reputation that will allow you to maintain a premium price for your produce. If it's really good, the chefs will be calling you. The only discount should be for produce that doesn't meet your highest standards, and if you can find a non-restaurant market for that, such as caterers or gourmet grocers, it will serve your reputation... chefs talk to each other all the time. I grow in Maine, and most of my markets are local, but I have sold my produce in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, D.C., and Palm Beach, and they pay air-freight shipping rates. Ask the chef you are working with how many people he serves per week (in the trade we call them "covers", i.e.; "we did 158 covers last night," which means they served 158 entrees, not people. Remember that, in most fine dining, dinner is a salad or appetizer, the main meal, dessert, and beverages. You should try to have something from your farm on every plate, even if it is garnishing material like Blue Basil flowers. Even in urban markets, restaurants are seasonal - there are way more rich people in New York in the winter than in the summer (a lot come to Maine), and your area will have seasonal variation too. The chef should be able to guide you towards when demand will slow. Remember too that you have a good market around the winter holidays, so it pays to have something to offer between Thanksgiving and New Years, and Valentines Day can be a nice winter income pop if you plan right. These days, "high-end" in the restaurant industry assumes that each guest will pay $80 or more for dinner, and often way more... some of my clients charge over $200, not including drinks, per person. The very highest-end restaurants routinely get $400 per person, and I have served tables that spent over $10,000 per person - it is a very different world for the 1% crowd. High-end restaurants have a lot of overhead, but they aren't hurting like the mid-range restaurants are. This is the market you want to shoot for, because they have a stable clientele who don't worry so much about economic fluctuations, they just want the best, and will pay for it. There were only 20 restaurants in America last year that received 5-star ratings from Mobil, considered the most stringent reviewer. There are hundreds of 3-star. You want to be selling to 4- and 5-star restaurants, because that will get you adequately funded for retirement.Your preference should always be to service the most expensive restaurants. They are buying from farms like ours. Try to get your farms' name printed on the menu in any restaurant you sell to, this will serve both you and them in that it promotes the perception that they are concerned about local organic food - a very strong selling point these days. Put their names on your own marketing, and at your stand, if the chefs agree to it. Use press releases for marketing as well - if there is a culinary benefit, or the chef is doing a special event, donate something and get it publicized. Sid Wainer is one of the largest purveyors of specialty produce in New England, his website will give you some insight on pricing of some specialty items. Professional cooking magazines will also have good references to follow up on for pricing - much of my garden planning revolves around culinary resources rather than seed catalogs. Publications aimed at the retail consumer market will be of less usefulness - Saveur being a notable exception. I use Fedco for the bulk of my seed order, they are a Maine company that has principles I respect, and carry a lot of good seeds at fair prices, with substantial volume discounts. I also use Baker Creek, Johnnys', Ornamental Edibles, Kitazawa, Seeds of Italy, and Graines-Baumaux in France, and many others. I do not sell large potatoes, "utility" onions and carrots, standard green broccoli or cabbage - the return isn't worth it, and chefs can get it cheaper elsewhere. Once you calculate your plant needs for one restaurant, at least double the number of plants. Stagger planting dates, and take advantage of micro-climates to stagger the harvest further. Explore using different growing techniques as well as unusual varieties, and invest in season-extension and crop protection technology - hoop houses, row covers, IRT mulches, drip irrigation and the like will make your life easier and your product more reliable. Buy varieties based on flavor, color, and heirloom qualities for the most part, but buy common cultivars for experimenting with growing techniques. Look for things like white celery, cornichons, treviso radicchio, sea kale, Egyptian onions, and any unusual colors - carrots are the big thing right now, but black and watermelon radishes, blue peas, orange or Romanesco caulflower, or white strawberries will appeal to chefs with "foodie" clientele. I have ways of growing radishes, carrots, and garlic that are unusual and offer a product unique to my farm, I also market a lot of unusual greens and edible flowers and micro-greens - anything that makes you stand out in the mind of the chef when he wants something unique will bring in $ and more clients. Eventually, you should be intensively working about 5 acres for specialty produce, making a good living, and not need the farm stand at all. Plan to have some of your farm dedicated to ornamental products as well - cut flowers in summer, unusual pumpkins and gourds in fall, and greens in winter can all add to the bottom line. The dining room manager or GM will give you guidance on what they might buy from you instead of a florist. Here is a link that might be useful: Manzano seed

I read that wooden boards, when dried, do not harbor bacteria. I use a variety of cutting boards. My two favorites are hard maple. The very large on isy pastry and bread dough board. It never sees water. I use a bench scraper, then a clean damp white cotton terry before storing it (end on). The other, smaller ?Vermont hard maple board I use for anything -- mostly vegetables, but not sopping wet ones. If I slice bread on a nice board, I don't press down past the bottom crust or perhaps lift it. A friend learned that from an experienced German baker. I wipe this board w a clean white terry cloth, damp, not wet. Water or sopping wet good ruin wood. I often add a bit of chlorine bleach to my light soap and water, wring out till damp. Wipe w clear barely damp clean cloth. Store vertically on edge. I do not put oil on my boards, but if I were to, I would use a thin coat of fine mineral oil, then wipe it off. Oil can collect dust and odors. For something like watery meat, chicken, lobster guts <g>, I use the plastic/nylon boards that I also clean up w bleach soap and water and or run through the dishwasher. I have bamboo boards too and these are easy to clean (wipe, never soak, never dishwasher). I think non-bamboo hardwoods are the kindest to sharp knife edges. Just clean up as you go along. BTW, I never put food prepping knives that I value in the dishwasher, nor do I leave them in the sink where the blade can get chipped or the handle get mongey. Quick wash and rinse and dry take less time than opening the catalog to find a replacement. And not a good knives need to cost a lot. If my boards want to slide or rock on a solid surface, I put a few small silicone cupboards door quiet stop circles here and there. I love hardwood cutting / pastry boards!

Amy, wow! LOL OH I absolutely love the deviled eggs with the gherkins, lol. Did you add the gherkins on the tops? DH thinks its so funny that I do that, but anyone that tries those, loves them, LOL! I have more of those seasonings if you would like or need more, I keep those on hand until I run out and then will make more. (usually only twice a year, around the time I harvest and dehydrate my peppers) The chocolate habanero salt sounds incredible on your scalloped potatoes! YUM ...My favorite is the cajun ghost, I use that with all kinds of things.... burgars, meatloaf, soups, olive oil dipping & dressings, fries, baked potatoes, potato salad, shrimp, pork chops, beef kabobs, steak tips, even toss a pinch of it on top salads... the list is endless.... The kodiak spice rub is DH's go too for salmon. I dont care for Salmon but he loves it! We do lots of tailgating and bbq's ...so that 'seasoning' is sorta one of my specialtys. Can you tell I enjoy cooking ....LOL So happy to hear you enjoyed those! =) heres a few others too....Let me know if you need more! LOL