Considering a U-Pick. Laurie Elliott, Owner, The Pickery Terre Haute, IN

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1 Considering a U-Pick Laurie Elliott, Owner, The Pickery Terre Haute, IN

2 Welcome to the Pickery! As Fresh as it Gets!

3 The Pickery, Terre Haute, IN, Overview You-pick vegetables about 80 different things, adding fruit and flowers Certified organic Edge of the city, fairly busy road, good frontage used for signage, visible Farm stand stocks items for people who cannot pick their own. Prices are higher for labor-intensive picked items. We will pick items for customers who cannot pick their own if it isn t at the farm stand. Online ordering is also available with pick up at the farm or farmers market.

4 The Pickery a few details Woven plastic is placed between the rows to suppress weeds and keep customers from getting muddy. No dogs allowed! Children welcome! We also sell our produce at the Farmers Market, to a food service company and to restaurants. We grow all of our vegetables from seed, with a few exceptions. I live there with my daughter and all of our pets, including two fostered horses.

5 Property Considerations Is your farm appropriate? Location within 25 miles of your customers. Parking at least ten spots to start. Also, have a plan for overflow. Customer flow from parking check in field check out. Location of bathrooms. Customer supervision. Great if you can see them at all times. Zoning, Signage GAP Implications

6 Check-in Station Welcome! Be friendly and relaxed. Owner greeting is a plus. Customers must check in. Be clean and presentable. Hands must be clean. Get harvest containers, instructions, prices, maps. List of available things to pick. Clearly mark prices!!! Provide drinking water on hot days.

7 Check-out Station Weigh and Pay This can be the same place as your check-in station if you are small. My farm stand is here, too. Need an accurate regulation scale to weigh the produce. Have a plan if you get busy so people don t have to wait. Pricing: Some people charge by the container-full. If you do this, be clear about how full is full. Fewer hard feelings if you charge by the pound. Pricing II: I give people a price sheet upon arrival so they have no excuse for not knowing the prices. People will try to bargain with you not fun.

8 Personal Considerations Is your family appropriate? Will you and your family enjoy this lifestyle? Will this upset anyone in your family? Hard work, retailing, dealing with people and kids Waste of produce Management skills, manage staff, extra planning Must be people person with thick skin Must market your business: Facebook, Google, newsletters, advertising, signage, answer phone

9 Vegetable U-Pick vs. Fruit U-Pick Rural locations may be more appropriate for fruit where people would drive further and spend more per trip. Good vegetable U-pick customers come every week to an urban location, but most spend less per visit. If you grow vegetables, you have to know how to grow everything and there is a lot of planning, seed starting, succession planting, weeding, crop rotation. Fruit may have higher startup costs with the purchase and planting of trees and bushes. Almost everyone likes fruit and know what to do with it. With vegetables, they want recipes and you find yourself in education- and sales-mode frequently. Fruit: people come once per year or so. Vegetables: you are hoping it is a weekly stop before they go to the grocery store.

10 Vegetable planting considerations Think about your customers Succession planting of crops like cucumber, beans, cilantro, dill Spring and fall planting of crops like sugar snap peas, arugula, lettuce Planting seeds in flats until you can t see straight; place to grow them. Tomatoes want a long harvest season, so indeterminate plants are good, but need support. I grew bush beans but am now switching to pole beans because they produce longer and you don t have to bend over to pick them! Most popular: asparagus, cucumber, beans, peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, winter and summer squash, kale, sugar snap peas, beets, carrots, lettuce, onion and garlic. Early spring and late fall people don t know you are open and business falls off at the farm. More marketing.

11 Insurance and Employees Your insurance company may not insure your You-Pick operation, even if they already insure your farm. Look around for another insurance company. Make sure you have enough liability insurance. You can get an umbrella policy to back up all of your other policies. Get a liability waiver sign from Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and display it prominently. Consider workers compensation insurance even if you are not required. Many people still do not have health insurance and it helps with that if your employees are injured on the job. If you are hiring employees for the first time, make sure you know what you are doing. Talk to your accountant.

12 Miscellaneous Considerations Start small and increase in size as demand increases You will be asked if you use chemicals. Be prepared to answer honestly and specify which ones you use. Advertising: Facebook, Google, Newspaper (regular and classified), TV ($$$), newsletters (MailChimp), other.