First, make sure you have the right type and amount of seed. How many tomato seeds are in 1/16th of an ounce? Okay, do you need to order the seed or have some saved? Do the saved seeds germinate? Assuming it is the right time for you to plant, now we can get started. Looks like we have a mix of saved seed and need to purchase extra. High end tomato seed runs about $.43 per seed, we will need 500 seeds so $215.
Now, somewhere to put the tomato seed. Potting mix, check. Plastic tray, check. A nursery can be anything from an indoor grow tent, windowsill, or a stand alone greenhouse. You’ll want to make sure wherever that seed germinates there is plenty of heat, humidity, light, and airflow. Insure there is a consistent water source nearby because you will need to check on the newly growing baby plants every day. Good idea to have a generator on hand as well in case a big storm comes through and power is shut off. Got to keep those heaters running. An alert system will notify you if such an event occurs.
So now the seed is growing! The clock is ticking. Make sure the tomato plant has the appropriate nutrients because we have 6 weeks of growing ahead (longer for other crops). Fertilizer is best applied every 2-3 weeks. In between checking germination and managing crop growth, you will need to prepare soil for these babies to take root and grow into food. This could mean having more space in the greenhouse, or outside in the ground. Has the soil been tested? Does it have enough nutrients to grow the crop? How will you apply these nutrients?
Preparing the soil is easy enough, given machinery. Actually wait, better check the tractors and make sure they are in good order. Oil? Oil Filter? Coolant? Hydraulic fluid? Tire pressure? Does it start? Check, check, check. An oil change later and some fluid top offs we are good to go.
Okay, now once the soil has warmed and dried enough. We can get the ground ready. It is snowing today so looks like we won’t be using the tractor in the field. Luckily, these crops are going in the greenhouse!
The beds are pretty compacted after last season so we will need to broadfork them. It will take about 45 minutes per bed to perform this task or about 6 hours of active labor. Then the nutrients. Given tomatoes are heavy feeders we will need to spread 7 yards of compost, $39.33 per yard delivered. Now the tractor is running and we can use it to load wheelbarrows. With 3 people these beds can get composted and raked smooth in a big morning.
Irrigation then gets laid out and the system is in place, another couple hours of labor. Okay, how are the baby plants doing? They look a bit overwatered, better turn the heat up a few degrees.
We can utilize the last few weeks of nursery growth to irrigate and tarp their beds, forcing weeds to germinate and die before the tomatoes are planted. This will take about 2 people and an hour to get them watered, covered, and secured. Another hour to remove the tarps in a few weeks. Hopefully, this will save several more hours down the production schedule.
Finally, we can plant! Now just another 10 weeks of growth before our first harvest. A little trellising and training, let’s say generously an hour per bed per week, and we are on our way to enjoying early fruits of summer.
Tomatoes are an extreme example of the lengths farmers consistently go to grow your favorite crops. There is so much time and attention paid that it can be difficult to properly account. A similar process happens across all crops, throughout the entire growing season. Huge amounts of effort are put into the front end of production in the hopes of a plentiful harvest.
This is why CSA members are the backbone of our farm and many others. They make this incredible lift possible and even share in the season’s risk down the line. A crop like tomatoes can have thousands of dollars of annual costs paid into it before a single fruit is harvested. This neglects the previous investments into the crop like the greenhouse structure, soil prep equipment, heaters, trellis equipment, the generator, and monitoring system. It also does not account for overhead costs like rent, insurance, and subscriptions.
Our CSA program is half full and shares are selling. Now is the best time to insure your access to fresh, local produce! We have about 9 weeks till opening day and the support now helps carry us to a tremendous growing season.