Enterprise budget for bench-top production of salad greens

Have you wondered if you could grow salad greens in the fall, winter and spring like I did? Is it possible or profitable? 

Using the enterprise budget we've put together you can start to figure it out! An enterprise budget estimates the profitability of an agricultural enterprise. They document all the steps, resources, management practices and technologies used to grow a crop. This enterprise budget is built using all the data collected from the past few years of salad green production. It will help determine if you have all the resources needed to grow salad greens, the growing period of greens as the seasons change, and potential yields. It's important to note that this is an educational tool to be used for planning. We've given users the ability to customize many aspects of the budget to reflect their own growing spaces. 

This budget is built using Microsoft Excel. When opening the file make sure to 'enable macros.' You can download the enterprise budget here.

What is a 'baby' sized green?

There is no standard size to define what is considered a 'baby' sized salad green - at least I haven't seen one yet.  So I made up my own set of parameters based on observation, salad eating and a few reliable sources.  Johnny's Select Seeds suggests harvesting salad greens at 4-5 inches tall  which translates to 10.16- 12.7cm.  I feel like Eliot Coleman of Four Season's Farm wrote that he harvests salad greens at 4 inches, but since I can't find that anywhere in my notes I could be wrong.

For harvesting and data analysis I consider lettuce and brassicas in the 8-12cm range a good size for baby greens.

Currently, I consider 6-10cm perfect size for spinach.  Unlike lettuce and brassicas, spinach has an official size: the size of a soup-spoon (again I can't find my notes on this right now).  I don't have real soup spoons, but hopefully a tablespoon is an ok substitute.

Baby plants for a rainy day

Today is grey and gloomy.  

I am waiting for the rain to let up just a little bit 

so I can run up to the greenhouse.  

These pictures are from only a week ago when it was sunny.  

(Ruby streaks, kale, defender lettuce.)

Five weeks old today!

Everything that's growing (except arugula)

Scarlett frills, tokyo bekana, mizuna, red romaine, red russian kale, 

green romaine, tatsoi, spinach, ruby streaks

plant profile: kale

Without meaning to I've neglected to say anything about kale.  I am not not quite sure if I like eating kale as a salad green, which may be why I haven't written anything about it.

Don't get me wrong, I love kale, but I prefer it cooked.  As a baby green it seems rather frilly and tasteless compared to the other mustard greens I'm growing right now.  Since I've been collecting growth data for two weeks now I can say that kale has been steadily growing, so maybe I'll change my mind by next week. 

 After every harvest I photograph a few representative leaves of each species.  When I'm done with the study I'm going to put the pictures together along with graphs to really show the growth rate of each salad green.  Right now I don't have enough data points to make a worthwhile graph, but I think the photos of kale growth look pretty nice.

 I'm growing red russian kale, which is a pretty typical variety.  Maybe a different variety would be a better salad green?  My favorite is white russian because it is sweet and tender in comparison to red russian.  Siberian kale is advertised as being good raw, so I better try it next fall.

four weeks of growth - it's time to eat!

All the greens are not 'full size' yet, but the kale, mizuna, tokyo bekana, tatsoi and scarlett frills are!

plant profile: tatsoi

During last week's heatwave it took only three days for most of the brassica species I've planted to sprout. Three days!  Tat soi was one of those greens.  Until last year I thought tat soi, pak choi and and bok choi were the same thing.  Obviously then this is a variety of green I need to know a bit more about.

image from http://www.stonofarmmarket.com/tat-soi.html

Tatsoi is a another green in the Brassicaceae family.  It makes up the Narinosa group (Maybe - apparently there is some debate - see the comment below.  This kind of debate is typical in organizing plants which is why I don't study botany!)  It forms a head of compact spoon shaped leaves at maturity.  We'll be growing it as baby greens, not as a head.  It can be grown as a microgreen too.  It likes cool weather which is why we are growing it for the wintergreens project.

image from Johnnyseeds.com

Tatsoi is apparently really easy to grow.  I followed the sowing directions from Johnny's for baby greens when I planted last week.  In a few weeks I'm hoping for some spoon shaped leaves to photograph and eat!

One week of growth

Although I have finished data collection for the germination trials, I have been observing the sprouted seeds as they grow.

Lettuce from white plastic, plastic with holes and clear plastic low tunnel coverings.

I've commented before on the pigmentation of lettuce grown under the different low tunnel treatments.  Those little seedlings have grown quite a bit in two weeks, but the pigmentation patterns continue.

I planted plugs in trays of soil on the 13th of February (on the left).  A week later the greens look fuller and many of the plugs have more leaves.

These pictures of arugula are also from the 13th and 20th of February, respectively.  In just a week the seedlings have gone from cotyledon stage to the true leaf stage.  

Today I am going to plant a few herbs to see how they grow in the tunnels.  I am thinking about dill, cilantro, parsley and basil.  Any other ideas?  What would you like me to try growing?

plant profile: Mizuna

Brassica rapa juncea

(kyona, shui cai)

Appearance - Mizuna is an upright green with deeply cut serrated leaves on thin white stalks.  It is part of the hot and spicy group of mustards in the Brassica rapa family but has a mild flavor.  It can tolerate both heat, humidity and cold weather making it a good year round crop.  

Uses - Originally, mizuna is from China but is thought of as a Japanese green that is primarily used for cooking.  Here in the west is mainly used as a salad green but as it becomes more well known its uses are growing to include stir fries and stuffing for raviolis.

Varieties

Culture - Mizuna is easy to grow and should be treated like other Brassicas.  Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep in moderate temperatures between 60-85.  Once the seeds have sprouted temperatures a bit lower, between 55-75 degrees, is sufficient for growth.  

For baby greens seeds should be sown in 2-4 inch bands with 60 seeds per foot.  For larger leaves sow only 15 seeds per foot in 2 inch wide bands in rows 18 inches apart.

Harvest - Baby greens should be ready for harvest in about 21 days, depending on temperature and light levels.  Full sized leaves should be harvestable in 40 days.  Mizuna is a cut-and-come-again crop and will produce multiple harvests.

Pests - Like all Brassicas flee beetles are the major pest of mizuna.  Using floating row covers is an easy method of controlling these pests.  For more information check out the UNH Cooperative extension's page on flee beetles.

mesclun

Endive, lettuce, arugula and chervil from Johnny's Seed Co.

What is mesclun?  The traditional French mix included only endive, lettuce, arugula and chervil, but now it can include any number of baby greens harvested and mixed together.

plant profile: lettuce

Lactuca sativa

Asteraceae family 

Appearance

Uses

Varieties - There are hundreds of lettuce varieties but we'll only be using leaf lettuces - those that don't form heads. Leaf lettuce seeds can be purchased as a few pre-mixed varieties which are chosen to compliment each other.

Culture - Lettuce is a cool loving crop best grown between 60 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit, but can grow in temperatures as low as 40 degrees. For salad mix or baby-leaf size sow seeds in a 2-4 inch band with about 40 seeds per foot.  Cover lightly with soil and keep it moist.

Harvest

Pests

plant profile: spinach

Spinach is my favorite green.  


It is not fast growing like some of the brassicas.  Nor does it have sexy colored viens like swiss chard or red russian kale.  Harvesting spinach can be a true labor of love when each leaf has to be cut individually.  Despite all of this, spinach is great.  No, it's beyond great - it is one really cool plant.  Here's why:

~ Spinach is a diecious crop meaning there are male and female plants.  In the absence of any male pollen producing plants female flowers can ‘revert’ to become pollen-producing flowers, enabling continuation of the sexual reproduction cycle.  

~ Spinach is one of the hardiest leaf crops. It grows best in sandy, porous soil but can adapt to a wide range of soils.  Spinach germinates best in cool soil and can germinate at temperatures as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit.  

~ Spinach can grow at very low temperatures.  Other leafy crops can tolerate the cold but will not grow.  Spinach grown in the cold has higher concentrations of nutrients like vitamin C as well as higher sugar levels.