sell what you grow

[Blackberry1]

How many of you TBNers use your compact tractor on a small scale orchard, vineyard, or garden for profit? How many of you grow some sort of crop just to justify a tractor? Just curious. What do you grow and sell?
Blackberry1

[woodmills1]

my thing is trees. i can't say i grow them though i have had the property for 10 years. I do cut them, bring them home with the forwarder trailer behind the kioti. then i cut them on the woodmizer and sell them.

[Blackberry1]

James,
Looks like you have a good sized orchard also. Is it in production?
Blackberry1

[Steelfan]

I've got a fair size garden, where I grow quite a crop of Tomatoes, onion, potatoes, and corn. I never got to the point of charging people for the stuff. I love to garden, and my wife, and I along with my parents, can alot of stuff. I've also got about 6 other people that I give stuff to. If I can work a deal on a tiller for my tractor someday, I may set up a stand in my front yard to sell some veggies. I think it would be fun.

[woodmills1]

we just moved here last summer. the orchard has been in production for 48 of the last 52 years. the previous owners couldnt make money so they stopped taking care of the trees. Next year i am going to stop teaching and cut wood/run the orchard full time.

[Robert_in_NY]

My tractor isn't considered a compact but we use it to maintain and work around our Deer pens. It is also a good tax deduction which helps when Uncle Sam comes calling. The tractor is used for building the pens, maintaing them, planting cover crops and food plots for wild deer and turkeys, maintaining the roadway to the pens and a few various other task. It also comes in handy when people keep sliding into our yard during winter. We do use it occasionaly on some of our construction jobs but not too often right now.

[Egon]

Steelfan:

On the road out to our land there is a fellow who has a roadside stand that has fruit, vegetables and little bundles of firewood. Everything is priced and the stand is usually unmaned. Always someone stopped there during summer months. This road is on the way to a very popular park.

Egon

[Steelfan]

Sounds like about the same shape, that I would be in. Unmanned stand and all. I wouldn't be in it to make a pile of money. Just a couple of bucks to buy plants, seeds, and such. Most of our stuff we start from seeds in the house. My wife is quite the seed person. Watches all the shows, and reads all the articles. Its fun seeing things grow from seed to bearing fruit.

[BWa]

I am one of the tractorless.... 8( But I am the owner of a small 20 acrea farm here in MA . it is leased out to a real farmer who grows sweet corn on it and does very well ...... In one of the wetter parts ( drys out by june with luck ) I am able to plant pumpkins that I have sold both retail and wholesale . This piece is only about 1/2 acrea in size and for a yield will easily produce over 14000 lbs on a good year. I have had bust years and years that I have retailed $6,000. but currently sell whole sale to a local farm stand and avg. about $2,200. after seed ,fertilizer, and tillage costs.
I have learned much from this forum, and hope to use this info to some day get my own tractor .

Tractorless Bill G.

[Blackberry1]

Steelfan,
Your mention of sharing excess produce reminds me of a line I heard on the national farm report. The reason you lock your car doors while attending a city church is to keep someone from stealing your your car. The reason for locking your car doors in a country church is to keep someone from filling your front seat with zucchini.
Blackberry1