How to setup an organic farm?
The answer to this question really depends on the scale that you're considering, and what type of market you're aiming for. Are you looking to sell wholesale to a distributor? Start a CSA? Just do farmers' markets?
If you have a small and diverse farm in mind, and have no prior farming experience, I would suggest:
1. Submit a soil sample (can usually do this through your local extension agency) so that you know which soil amendments you need.
2.Only till up 1/2 - 1 acre to get your feet wet. If you don't own a tractor and you're in a rural area, there are always random people who offer this service (you can usually find them on Craigslist, and they'll come to your property with their own personal equipment). Before they till, add whatever soil amendments you may need. Some of the amendments you might be able to spread by hand via bucket or wheelbarrow; for something like compost, slowly driving a pickup truck through the field while someone rakes it out of the back is a great option.
3. Measure out your beds (with a walking measure) and delineate them with flags/stakes/whatever. 100'x3' is a nice size. If you have your eye on a specific walk-behind tractor that you'd like to purchase at some point, you can tailor your bed size to that.
4. Drip irrigation, drip irrigation, drip irrigation!!! It is not as intimidating as it might seem. And it's totally worth the money. You want to reduce the onset of disease as much as possible in organic farming, and drip irrigation helps by reducing topical foliage moisture, thus decreasing your risks for several fungal and bacterial diseases. You can literally set up a drip irrigation system from your home's hose spigot (at this small of scale, at least). It's super easy to set up. This is the company I usually buy from: Vegetable Growing Equipment. You also have the option of NOT irrigating your first year (this was suggested to me by my extension agent when I was starting out in Western New York State), to see what your irrigation needs really are (or aren't). Things will grow more slowly but unless it's doughty or you're growing a water-intensive crop, the plants will be fine.
5. Now, which crops to grow to gain initial experience? If you're really looking to keep costs down, I would only grow crops that can be directly seeded (to avoid the costs of building a small greenhouse). Beets and radishes are incredibly easy. They grow fast, they don't require any special maintenance (except for thinning them initially, because you typically sow them thickly), and you usually don't have to worry about disease too much (sometimes they get wireworm, which can be prevented by using floating row covers, but if you're just starting out and looking to reduce costs, I would wait until your second year to buy that). Also, those crops will help you gain experience in succession planting, and the seed is usually inexpensive. Swiss chard is also very easy to grow and it's beautiful (bright lights rainbow chard and perpetual spinach are my favorite varieties)!! I have grown all of the above crops without irrigation before. Cucurbits can be directly seeded, but they produce PROLIFICALLY so if you don't have the storage space, only plant a few of them. Squash is really easy because the only maintenance it requires is harvesting (squash do require a lot of water, so if you don't have an irrigation system set up, I wouldn't plant them). Cucumbers are also easy, but may or may not need to be trellised depending on the variety. Melons are also easy and it's great that you can store them (short term) at room temp. I would also suggest doing peas in the springtime; you'll learn the ins and outs of trellising (which will be useful for the next year when you try out tomatoes ;-]) and the virtues of staying diligent with your harvesting (also VERY prolific producers). They're one of the first crops which can be seeded in the spring, while you're still getting frosts. Definitely grow some herbs, maybe sticking to annual herbs for your first year: parsley, cilantro, and dill (watch out, you will have dill weeds popping up forever) are all easy to grow and usually have low pest and disease pressure. Now, if you plant radishes in the spring and early summer and find that they haven't been super molested by flea beetles, then for fall crops you should seed kale, arugula, mustard greens, and other asian greens; all are very easy to grow as long as you don't have those damned flea beetles (if you do have bad flea beetles, it's almost impossible to get a marketable crop without investing money in remay, organic pesticides, and a backpack sprayer). You can also directly sow broccoli, which is relatively maintenance-free.
For your second year, I would suggest adding carrots, garlic (to be planted the fall of the first year), beans, and potatoes to your list (also all crops which don't require a greenhouse).
If you have a small and diverse farm in mind, and have no prior farming experience, I would suggest:
1. Submit a soil sample (can usually do this through your local extension agency) so that you know which soil amendments you need.
2.Only till up 1/2 - 1 acre to get your feet wet. If you don't own a tractor and you're in a rural area, there are always random people who offer this service (you can usually find them on Craigslist, and they'll come to your property with their own personal equipment). Before they till, add whatever soil amendments you may need. Some of the amendments you might be able to spread by hand via bucket or wheelbarrow; for something like compost, slowly driving a pickup truck through the field while someone rakes it out of the back is a great option.
3. Measure out your beds (with a walking measure) and delineate them with flags/stakes/whatever. 100'x3' is a nice size. If you have your eye on a specific walk-behind tractor that you'd like to purchase at some point, you can tailor your bed size to that.
4. Drip irrigation, drip irrigation, drip irrigation!!! It is not as intimidating as it might seem. And it's totally worth the money. You want to reduce the onset of disease as much as possible in organic farming, and drip irrigation helps by reducing topical foliage moisture, thus decreasing your risks for several fungal and bacterial diseases. You can literally set up a drip irrigation system from your home's hose spigot (at this small of scale, at least). It's super easy to set up. This is the company I usually buy from: Vegetable Growing Equipment. You also have the option of NOT irrigating your first year (this was suggested to me by my extension agent when I was starting out in Western New York State), to see what your irrigation needs really are (or aren't). Things will grow more slowly but unless it's doughty or you're growing a water-intensive crop, the plants will be fine.
5. Now, which crops to grow to gain initial experience? If you're really looking to keep costs down, I would only grow crops that can be directly seeded (to avoid the costs of building a small greenhouse). Beets and radishes are incredibly easy. They grow fast, they don't require any special maintenance (except for thinning them initially, because you typically sow them thickly), and you usually don't have to worry about disease too much (sometimes they get wireworm, which can be prevented by using floating row covers, but if you're just starting out and looking to reduce costs, I would wait until your second year to buy that). Also, those crops will help you gain experience in succession planting, and the seed is usually inexpensive. Swiss chard is also very easy to grow and it's beautiful (bright lights rainbow chard and perpetual spinach are my favorite varieties)!! I have grown all of the above crops without irrigation before. Cucurbits can be directly seeded, but they produce PROLIFICALLY so if you don't have the storage space, only plant a few of them. Squash is really easy because the only maintenance it requires is harvesting (squash do require a lot of water, so if you don't have an irrigation system set up, I wouldn't plant them). Cucumbers are also easy, but may or may not need to be trellised depending on the variety. Melons are also easy and it's great that you can store them (short term) at room temp. I would also suggest doing peas in the springtime; you'll learn the ins and outs of trellising (which will be useful for the next year when you try out tomatoes ;-]) and the virtues of staying diligent with your harvesting (also VERY prolific producers). They're one of the first crops which can be seeded in the spring, while you're still getting frosts. Definitely grow some herbs, maybe sticking to annual herbs for your first year: parsley, cilantro, and dill (watch out, you will have dill weeds popping up forever) are all easy to grow and usually have low pest and disease pressure. Now, if you plant radishes in the spring and early summer and find that they haven't been super molested by flea beetles, then for fall crops you should seed kale, arugula, mustard greens, and other asian greens; all are very easy to grow as long as you don't have those damned flea beetles (if you do have bad flea beetles, it's almost impossible to get a marketable crop without investing money in remay, organic pesticides, and a backpack sprayer). You can also directly sow broccoli, which is relatively maintenance-free.
For your second year, I would suggest adding carrots, garlic (to be planted the fall of the first year), beans, and potatoes to your list (also all crops which don't require a greenhouse).
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