Consumer Supported Agriculture (Market Gardening)
Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a farming system where the farmer has a relationship with
those who are to consume his produce. Basically during the off season the farmer will gather orders
and payments from certain clients and then give them weekly portions of their orders when the
vegetables are in season. The prepaid vegetable delivery system benefits the consumers in that they
are sure of a weekly supply of adequate foodstuffs while benefiting the farmer in the area of upfront
money to pay for farm expenses.
A juxtaposed evaluation of the conventional commercial farming system and the CSA system
brought up some drawbacks in the former being:
1. Unpredictable demand: Uncertainty of which vegetables will have a higher demand when
you set up a variety of vegetables in the farmer’s market. For example, tomatoes may sell
more than cabbages and cause one to lose out if they didn’t bring enough tomatoes in
relation to other vegetables. This may also lead to wastage and spoilage of the unsold
vegetables.
2. Competition for customers: Chance of other growers selling the exact same produce that
you are. It’s possible to establish a niche by trying to be the earliest grower, or growing
unusual or gourmet vegetables. But these all take extra time and attention, and the demand
remains uncertain.
3. ‘Price erosion’ as the season progresses. This happens if a neighbouring farmer has a good
yield of a certain crop and can therefore sell it at a lower price than other sellers in order to
capitalize on quantity sale. One may either lower prices to compete although it lowers
profits from that crop, or maintain price risking a loss in customers
4. No platform to get to know the customer and their preferences.
5. Opportunity to make a customer base for other farm products like poultry eggs and
pasteurized meat.
Compare this to the CSA model that is built up on soliciting customers in a planned delivery area.
The farmer meets with prospective customers well in advance of the growing season and finds out
their preferences for vegetables. Asking them if there are other farm products they would be
interested in. And, collecting payment in advance for the season!
The CSA Model in detail:
1. Farmer establishes a known demand for his products. Customers tell the farmer exactly
what they would like the farmer to grow, and in what quantities. No wastage and no wasted
effort.
2. A known demand lets one plan better. Knowing exactly what customers want can help
determine the required level of production, labour needs and space requirements in great
detail.
3. No competition for customers. Once a family has signed up with the farmer, he is a customer
for the whole season and the season after that if the service was pleasing to the customer.
All the vegetables are sold before they are grown.
4. No ‘price erosion’. Customers pay in advance for the whole season. Farmer determines the
price needed for vegetables to make a profit, and then finds customers willing to pay that
price. Income and cash flow are known in advance.
5. Creates a ‘customer base’ for more sales. Opportunity to learn a little bit more about the
lives of customers and to determine if any other farm products might interest them like
meat and eggs. And if there is something they want that the farmer just can’t provide this
year, he can find a partner to supply it (as in another farm), or add it to his planning for next
year.
6. The advance payment helps ‘bootstrap’ the farm operation; that is, the early cash flow allows
farmer to construct farm buildings such as plant starting room and a small greenhouse, buy
equipment and supplies and pay for part-time farm help, with no out-of-pocket expenses.
There are not many businesses you can start up this way. Plus, no accounts receivable (debtors), and
no cash floats to mess with.
When you have your production requirements for the season documented, all you and your farm
help have to do is follow the plan. This makes training helpers easier, reduces risk (for farmer and
customers) peace of mind that the market garden model can succeed.
Market Gardening Tips and Hints
Successful Market Gardening Tip 1: Grow natural. Demand for organic produce is increasing by as
much as 20% annually (American estimate). And fresh local organic produce commands a premium
price with your customers (maybe not so much in Botswana).
Successful Market Gardening Tip 2: Grow for your end customer. Avoid middlemen and
wholesalers and go right to your end customer. You will make and keep more money by dealing
directly with consumers. And as a bonus, you will get to know them, find out their likes and dislikes,
and perhaps find out other things you might provide them. This is a great opportunity to add a sideline business to your market garden.
Successful Market Gardening Tip 3: Grow a large variety of crops. If you grow enough different
crops, you are less threatened if one particular crop fails to produce. For example if you grow 30
varieties of vegetables and 3 don't thrive, you are still operating at 90% capacity. Growing a large
variety of crops also 'stretches out' your season, as different vegetables mature at different times.
While the mix will change as the season progresses, aim to have a dozen or so different vegetables
ready for sale all the time.
Successful Market Gardening Tip 4: Don't grow unless you know you can sell it. Observe what’s
selling at your local farmers market, and grow (mostly) the same things. Experimentation is okay but
should be regulated.
Successful Market Gardening Tip 5: Market gardening is just as much about the marketing as the
gardening. This is the most important tip of the 5. Make sure your customers know you have the
vegetables that they want. It is pointless to grow vegetables and not market them because they
won’t be bought.
Marketing is how you let people know about the vegetables you have growing on your farm which
you want them to take a share in. Good vegetables should be accompanied by good marketing.
To be really successful as a market gardener, the marketing has to come first. In other words, you
need to know how, where and to whom you will sell it before you grow it.
A few tips for considering Market Gardening as a career with expert input.
Selling it.
Before you grow anything, think about how you will sell it first. Are you close to a population centre
that will provide a market for your farm goodies? Is there an established farmer's market close by?
Can you create a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) veggies box delivery program? How will
you price your products to make a profit? Did you include the costs of harvesting, processing and
transportation in your calculations?
Expert Answer: We operate a CSA, delivering to about 50 families this year. The families are all
located withing 25 kn of the farm. The advantage of the CSA is we know how many customers we
have, and how much we have to grow. Therefore we can set a price per share to make a profit, using
the cashflow Planning spreadsheet I created. We also sell overflow produce at a farmer's market in a
nearby town (less than 10 km away.)
Growing it.
Do you have good market farming land, or can you get access to land for a reasonable price? How
will you till the land? What crops can you grow profitably in your area, with your growing season?
Will season extension (using row covers, greenhouses) be necessary to provide a reasonable season?
What about access to water for irrigation, and electricity for tools, fans, pumps, etc?
Expert Answer: Our farm has good Class One farmland; the soil is fertile but a little heavy. We hire a
neighbour's tractor for primary tillage, then I use my walk-behind rototiller for finishing the beds. We
use raised beds to help in drainage, and drip irrigation for watering. We have a heated plant starting
room with grow lights for the earliest seeds we start, and two small greenhouses. We use a half-mile
or so of row cover each year as well.
Protecting it.
– how will you protect your crop from insects, and diseases and wildlife? Will you use passive and
preventative means of insect control, and strictly organic controls? Will you need fencing to keep
out marauding wildlife (or your own livestock?)
Expert Answer: We use passive means of insect control in the garden and the greenhouses; we use
sticky traps, row cover, and if necessary a soap and water spray for the persistent bugs. We try to
select disease-resistant varieties of vegetables whenever possible. My whole garden is surrounded by
electric mesh fence to keep out the bad guys.
Harvesting it
when and for how long does each crop produce? How long will it keep in the field? What are the
processing requirements? Does it need to be cleaned, weighed, counted, packed? What kind of
storage is required? Do you need refrigeration? What about transportation to your market, and
keeping your goodies fresh there?
Expert Answer: My whole garden is planned out using a spreadsheet I developed. I know when I can
expect to harvest each crop, and when I need to replant. We have a veggies processing area with
shade, weigh scales, power and water, located between my two gardens. I built a walk-in cooler to
store the veggies until delivery. And my CSA delivery runs are short, because I don't deliver further
than 25 km from the farm.
The Market Gardener's Secret Marketing Weapon
Market Gardening is as much about 'marketing' as 'gardening' for it is a business and the marketing
aspect is required in order for it to stay alive. Effective marketing tool to build a farm business:
What doesn’t work:
Space Advertising - i.e. like in newspapers or magazines - does NOT work for farms or work at home
businesses. Classified ads are expensive, they are not targeted - i.e. they go to everybody, whether
they would be a good customer or not - and they rarely get a response.
What does work?
Flyers – Mail out flyers go directly to the customer and are an effective way to get their full
undivided attention on the message on the message you are portraying on the flyer-the market
garden.
Advantage 1: Flyers are targeted.
One can pick the locations they want the flyers delivered to (by the post office), and specifically
target the areas that are most promising.
Advantage 2: Flyers provide lots of information.
One full page of a flyer printed both side allows for a lot more room to tell the customer about the
farm products and the market garden as well as prices.
Advantage 3: Flyers get results.
Cost-benefit analyses can show that flyers inexpensively attain more customers than any other
source of communication. 1500 fully printed flyers can cost around P500, and if at least 1% of the
respondents reply, that will be 15 people each buying vegetables worth P100 per month for a 5
month upfront payment. Thus 15 multiplied by P500 will be a revenue of P7500.
Expert experience says flyers are a cost-efficient and results-effective way to build any work-athome or farm-based business. No other means of communicating with your potential customers is
as targeted, or provides such immediate results.
Planning your Market Garden
Planning for a market garden shouldn’t be confused with planning a home garden. Six steps to
follow to determine a good market garden plan. These steps help to figure out what to grow and
how much space is needed for the market garden.
Step 1 - Decide when you will start and finish selling your veggies.
This is usually determined by the length of the local growing season.
An exegesis of the growing season for most vegetables in Botswana can determine the best times to
grow as well as how long the growing season should be. An estimate states that there should be
around 20 weeks of sales.
Step 2 - Determine when to start your crops
Take into account the date we want to start sales, the optimum age of transplants (if greenhouse is
available), and the 'days to maturity' (usually given in the seed catalogues) for each plant to
determine the planting schedule.
Step 3 - Determine how much of each vegetable you expect to sell.
You can check on the Internet or visit farmers markets to determine what the most popular
vegetables are in your area.
If you decide you can sell 10 heads of cabbage each week, you need to be able to harvest (at least)
10 heads of cabbage each week, for the length of the season. Farmer figures this out well before the
season so that he can determine how much space he will need in his greenhouse and in his garden.
Step 4 - Determine how many plants you need to start
To end up with a yield of 10 cabbages each week, you must with start more than 10 cabbage seeds.
Not every seed will germinate, and not every transplant will survive. So include a 'safety factor' when
determining how many plants to start. Expert advice is to start with 25% more cabbage transplants
than you think you’ll need. So to end up with 10 cabbages, start 12 or 13 seeds.
Step 5 - Determine how much space will each crop take
After figuring out how much of each crop is to be grown, you then calculate how much space each
crop will take. Refer to the vegetable catalogue to calculate the area needed in relation to the
amount of space required between each plant for all to grow comfortably, even the extra seeds.
Step 6 - Figure out how big your market garden needs to be
Once you know how much space each planting for each vegetable will take, you can determine the
total garden area required.
Repeat this process for each crop you plan to grow to determine the size of your market garden.
Insight from Scott Kelland, founder of New Terra Farm (CSA Market Garden)