I couldnt say no to my 7 year old . Now I need help with planting an acre .

[Sprinklerman]

we started a garden in my back yard , 10 by 20 . My 7 year old is digging , moving dirt and has his seeds germinating in egg cartons and some corn is already sprouting . This is my hustler , he wants to make money , so all on his own he came up with the idea of my tractor and the 4 acres I have 10 miles away . He wants to grow vegetables and sell them . I do landscaping , I can grow grass . But the planting I am a novice . Heres what I have sandy top soil good drainage , land was farmed for years , last thing the guy had was strawberries 7 years ago . No irrigation , just mother nature . Equipment and implements I have , Kubota bx24 , and a new holland 1925 ( 35 hp 4wd ) A 4 ft and 5 ft box scraper ,a 6 ft york rake , a 5 ft disk that you pull that I found in the weeds and a 4 ft rototiller . My son wants corn , watermelons and pumpkins . Now it will be a learning experience for him and work for me and a reason to play with the tractor . Any advice will be appreciated . A bit of deer and groundhogs

 

[newbury]

<snip>He wants to grow vegetables and sell them .<snip>

The first thing you should do is check the local laws and figure out the ways he can sell them. If you are in Severna Park, MD you are on the border of the burbs. I'm in Fairfax County, Va and remember seeing news paper reports of child run vegetable stands being shut down.

If he could line up a grocer or restaurant to buy his produce that would be ideal.

Good luck!

 

[Dutch445]

sounds like an awesome project!
i would take a few soil samples to the local coop and have it tested, from there you can look up
the best soil requirements for the crops desired, match it up, or treat the soil to make it work.
fertilizer, lime etc. you already have the tools for most the hard work, disk, roto tiller, and
you could use the rake to remove a bunch of rocks.
corn would require some sort of planter, or borrow one or hire a food plot guy to help plant.
pumpkins can also be done with a row planter, or, by hand. i have not seen how watermelons get
planted but i would guess it's similar to pumpkins. they need room to grow!

does he have any sources for wholesale sales? or are you thinking roadside stand or both?
a bumper crop on that much land could be a lot of produce!

it sounds like a great experience for both of you to take on together.. have fun!

 

[Sprinklerman]

The first thing you should do is check the local laws and figure out the ways he can sell them. If you are in Severna Park, MD you are on the border of the burbs. I'm in Fairfax County, Va and remember seeing news paper reports of child run vegetable stands being shut down.

If he could line up a grocer or restaurant to buy his produce that would be ideal.

Good luck!

Severna Park isnt the border of the burbs , its Yuppieville . ( I have fun bringing equipment home and leaving it in my driveway for the weekend) My acreage is in Pasadena . I am not worried about selling theres a local produce guy who I know , I just need to grow some of it .

 

[buckeyefarmer]

you will need to fence the corn of it will be deer food. other than that, a good learning experience. You have the tractor and tiller, might need an initial plowing, but might be able to rip it up good with the box blade teeth. You will need to keep the weeds out.

 

[Bird]

Sounds like a good project and learning experience for the kid. But you do need to find out if there's a market for what he produces. I didn't start doing that sort of thing until I was about 11 years old. I raised okra, picked it every other day, and sold it to the local grocery stores, but I'd be surprised if stores would buy such things now.

 

[ESBkevin]

I would work a small part of the plot in year 1. Kids can flit from one thing to another real quick and you will be left to do all the work or watch it rot in the field. You can then manage hand planting and see if further investment is worth the effort.

I like the youngsters learning about food/business/natural cycles, it's good for them.

 

[Billy Bee]

The critters are going to have a "field" day, deer, woodchucks, rabbits, and racoons will get their share. They call them food plots because critters are always plottin' a way to get your food. Dont be discouraged though, I think it is a great idea for the boy and lots of learning for both of you. You want to grow corn, pumpkins, and watermelon. The corn is a buffet for deer and 'coons, the other stuff, not so much, but the 'chucks will eat anything. I would recommend planting some "sacrificial" crops like swiss chard, beans broccoli. Just broadcast in in unused part of the garden and rake it in. Hopefully, the animals would eat those and leave your goodies alone. Also I would plant the rows wide enough to get your tiller in between, 1 acre is a lot of weed control. Here it is legal to dispatch 'coons and 'chucks if they are doing damage, but for deer we have to wait for the season. Anyway, good luck I hope it works out, and kudos to the boy for his ambition.
Bill

 

[GPintheMitten]

Start small. Create a record book that your son can make entries to for avtivities and dates. Also include costs including fuel, and sales.

You can plant a small garden the first year by hand - maybe 1/2 acre which really isnt small but more manageable than 4 acres. Have him participate in as much as possible but we know he cant really do it all himself at his age.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I wouldnt space the rows at tiller width for a 4 foot tiller. 80% of the plot would be wasted and you still need to weed the rows close to the plants. But you may want to use round up or generic to control weeds. Weeds are probably going to be your biggest challenge.