[RockyGlen]

We are going to order extra seed plates for our planter. Currently we have the sweet corn, and the field corn plates.

If you were going to put in a few acres of a vegetable crop for U-pick, or to pick and sell, what vegetables would you plant?

We are thinking bush green beans because they produce quite a while, are not finicky, and produce well for the amount of space they take up.

We thought about peas, but they need trellissed and are a pain to shell.

We are considering carrots if we can find an old pull behind carrot harvester (our potato harvester does not work well on carrots).

SO.....what crop would you want to be able to put in?

 

[Stephen in SOKY]

I would encourage you to consider how labor intensive harvesting would be for the pick & sell option. Green beans are rather time consuming for the return in my area at least. U-pick strawberries are profitable here, but pick & sell are a pain. Pumpkins are great for either option.

 

[fin29]

There is a variety of self-trellising peas that all the u-pick places use around here. They just clump on themselves and you grab the plant bundle and flip it to and fro to pick the peas on both sides of the plant. Very productive and hardy--we're close to zone 3.

 

[MWG]

Down here in NC bush beans do very well and produce a lot in a small space. I would probably do bush beans and cucumbers depending on the space you have. You don't have to weed corn so it would be fairly easy to take care of....

 

[turtlehead]

Like fin29 said, not all peas require a trellis.
Peas are done early enough that you can pull them out and follow with carrots if you want to.

You might think about the brassicas; they're kind of pricey at the store most times and lots of folks don't want to bother with growing them.

Or peppers! Those cost a danged fortune at the store. Lots of different colors, some sweet and some hot...

 

[Windy in Kansas]

My Stanhay 740 planter units use belts not plates. The flat belts have holes punched in them to fit the seed you specify and also for the spacing you specify. One can even use a divided shoe opener and plant two or three drills (rows) side by side such as for radishes, carrots, etc.

I have belts for two planter units to plant the following crops. Sweet corn, special India bean, watermelon, cilantro, popcorn, lentil, pinto bean, okra, green bean, cantaloupe, turnip, beet, all single row crops, peas and radish double rows, and a triple row carrot belt. By changing chokes, repellers, and pulleys to vary spacing I can use the same belts to also plant many other crops which have similar seed size and spacing needs.

Just answering your title question, not the remaining portion of you post.

 

[RockyGlen]

http://www.starcomfg.com/products.html

This is the planter we have. They are locally made right here in Wyoming.

I'll look into the self trellising peas, as I like the idea of putting in carrots afterward.

We would love to plant peppers and tomatoes, but they only have time to "make" here about every three years. Last year a hail storm wiped everything out in July. This year, we had a hard freeze the last day or so of June that killed them all. They come back, but are just now producing, and our high today is 54.

The reason we are looking into this is that our cash crops are animal feeds. People are selling their herds because they can't afford the feed. We do well selling our excess veggies, and usually don't have enough to sell to everyone that wants them.

What do you all think?


(regarding animal feeds...I just called for pricing today. Last year, by the semi-load, we paid $245 a ton, delivered. This year, the cheapest I can find for the exact same quantity and feed is $330 a ton if we pick it up and $375 a ton delivered) That is why we just bought our own combine! We already grow corn, oats, and wheat - now we will harvest them ourselves and make our own feed.)

 

[Windy in Kansas]

You asked, "What do you all think?".

I think that you may very well benefit from some hoop houses to extend your vegetable cropping season. They can be about $1 per square foot to build.
Here are some pretty good plans in PDF format. I haven't studied them enough to tell if they would handle your snow load or not.
http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/CR-606.pdf

If you are having trouble growing some open air crops then others around you are probably having the same problems. Perhaps those would be the crops to aim at for growing and selling.

The planters look interesting, but I'd really like to see some better views of the seeding mechanism. Yetter bought out the rights to the old John Deere Flex-71 design and are continuing to produce them without virtually no changes. The parts from the new ones will fit the old ones. I like the idea since the 71s were such good planters. I'm not sure what all capabilities they have, but I used to plant milo with them (JDs) and got excellent stands.
Doubt you'd need any since you have some good precision planters, but mention them because others might need something like them.

 

[Beeman]

Asparagus, rasberries,blueberrys, maybe peppers.

 

[myheaven]

I have to agree with windy in ks. We have 1/2 inch pvc pipe that is 10 feet long. I push it into the ground about a foot and it leaves 8 feet of hoop out of the ground to cover plants. It normally covers all my plants even tomatoes just not the corn. I got our pvc pipe at menards for .87 a peice on sale. I can cover it with netting also to keep pests out. I also hAve raised beds that have extended my growing season for 40+ days. Milk jugs painted black in the tunnels will gather the heat for the sun all day and radeate it all night and keep everything warm enough so it wont freeze. Plus mulch, mulch, mulch. Mulch retains alot of heat. the dark stuff Holds more heat.

Now to plants what about lettuce, spinach, water melons, melons of every sort. raddishes, onion, cabbage. along with all the above mentioned.