Date post: | 22-Nov-2014 |
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Food |
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Annual bed strawberry production
Michael KilpatrickKilpatrick Family Farm
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We are in Middle Granville, NY - 1.5 hours north of Albany, NY Zone 4b
Marketing • Sell at farmer’s markets, CSA, and
very limited wholesale• Strategy is to grow a small amount
of 50+ crops so we never have to drop prices to get rid of product
• Marketing, marketing, marketing....
Land and Soil profile
Soil type Crops Acres
Bernardston-shaly silt loams
stays dry, early and late greens, melons, tomatoes, stony 4
Hamlin Silt loam
root crops, great for radishes, beets, carrots- no stones 8
Hartland sandy loam
class 1,general purpose, no stones 4
Vergennes Silty Clay
somewhat heavy, winter squash, brassicas, spinach,
beans5
Hoosick Gravelly sandy
LoamSweet potato heaven... 1
Strawberries• Annual bed system-(also known as
California sytem) plant fall, harvest spring, till under
• Variety Chandler• Buy in tips, propagate ourselves,
plant in September
Why annual bed?
The advantages of this system
Earlier yield• We usually start
picking 1 week earlier than matted row in our area
• premium price + ours are the 1st they taste every year.
Cleaner fruit
Mix of straw/mulch keeps plants and fruit much cleaner
You can actually go along with a blower and blow
off the plastic to reduce water damage after a storm
keeps grey mold and other diseases to an absolute minimum
• open plant habit• strawberries are
there only one year
• raised beds keep plants dryer
Annual systemPlanted
strawberries September of
08’picking spinach
from same section September 09’
This system only takes 10 months or if you are producing your own plugs, 11
months
=
Profitability- 09’ figures
Gross $13,300 on 0.12 of an acre
Builds soil• We apply 4-5 tons to the acre of
straw or weed free hay/mulch • keeps mud and weeds down, the
fruit clean, and increases organic matter.
• here we’re using 3 cut rained on alfalfa, which will also add nitrogen.
Other reasons we like the system
• Ease of harvest- open nature of the plant
• allows good rotation- in and out in under a year
• less weed pressure• less deer pressure
Cultural Practicesgrowing the crop
harvesting tips
• harvest tips around the 3-4 week of July
• important to keep them moist• only harvest large, healthy ones• scissors or pruners work great
Buying tips or plugs
• Per plant (13.6 cents)
• Greenhouse time
• Preparation time• Better Quality
• Per plant (27 cents)
• Come ready to plant
• Quality issues• Yields?
Tips Plugs
using the point to anchor the tip into the soil
DIG controller
Two weeks after sticking we will water with fish to give
a little extra boost.
Ready to plant out!
We want to get the plants in the ground the 1st or 2nd week of September.
• Soil tests are taken and fertilizer and lime applied to bring up to recommended amounts
• 4’ plastic is laid on 66” centers giving a 30” bed top and 3 ft between beds for picking paths
• Plants are put out 3 rows on the bed 12” between plants
• watered immediately afterwards• we machine plant, but for years did
by hand
Soil Prep
Biotello plastic- till right in at the end of the season
Spreading straw/hay
Key is to have weed-free straw or hay
What the field looks like in February!
Covered with Typar-518 before crown temperature reaches 20 degrees
Rowcovers are kept on in the spring until about 10% blossom.
We’ll throw down a little extra fertilizer when
we first uncover them in the spring to give
them a boost
Covers are coming on and off to prevent theblossoms from freezing.
Check for Tarnished plant
bug damage
We usually don’t get any until the last week of the season
and then will spray with pyganic
Fighting disease...• good soil health• adding mycorrhizae• good air circulation- giving
plants nessesary space, and uncovering so they can dry out
• clean seed, propagation trays, equipment
Sprays a last resort
• Regalia, rootshield, actinovate• Oxidate• Double nickel, greencure, milstop,
Sluggo
keeping the birds out
keep them irrigated
2 + inches a week
only water in morning- goal is to keep the leaves and fruit dry- drip is great
a good days picking
Annual bed production by the numbers 09’• 7 beds, 150 ft long, on 5 ft centers =
.12 acre• We picked 2960 pints off this area in
2009 (or right under 2800 lbs)• our 1sts command $5 a pint-season
long• 2nds between $3-4, for an average
price of $4.50 per pint• this is $13, 300 gross for .12 of an
acreor over $100,000 an acre (or 22,000 lbs/acre)
2013 for us was 1/2 that
• ran out of mulch so ground was bare- dirty fruit as well as disease
• because of no mulch, chickweed moved in outcompeting plants
• Rained the entire season- berries melted because of disease.
Pleasant Valley farm numbers 13’• 3500 plants in a 70x100 area (.16
acre)• harvested 2573 pints, or 2600#• Income on firsts and seconds
$11,170• 16,250 lbs per acre or around $70
k an acre.
Taking it to the next step
• growing on a north slope to delay production a few days
• Putting some of our strawberries in a hoophouse for earlier production
• changing spacing- no real yield difference
How do we get the price we do?
• Variety is amazingly flavorful• only selling perfect berries• large displays• hitting the market 1 week ahead of
matted row• our reputation- we can consistently
command a 50 cent to dollar premium over others with annual bed strawberries
Freeze our seconds for the winter
Sources
Strawberry PlugsJersey Asparagus
Farm856-358-2548
Strawberry TipsLareault [email protected].:1-450-944-1850
McNeil FarmsCell: 1-919-499-9706
Controller and misting system
Rainflow717-445-3000
Rootshield johnny’s selected seeds877-564-6697www.johnnyseeds.com
Want More?Join our team!
Intern, apprentice, or just come work for us!!!
Connect with us!@kilpatrickfarm
Michael Kilpatrick
www.kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com
www.michael-kilpatrick.com