Danielle Keeter & Mark McDonagh, Mighty Gnome Market Garden
Expanding Production of Most Profitable Crops
Grant Award: $6,000
Mighty Gnome Market Garden is a small scale, intensive vegetable garden serving a growing number of CSA members while selling at two farmers markets. Their business model is designed to maximize production on small acreage.
By using a formula that factors yield per bed, days of work in the market garden, the overall marketability of the product, number of beds and total revenue, they have identified the crops that will bring the highest profits; salad mix, beets, arugula and spinach.
To concentrate on these crops in the most efficient way, they purchased equipment to create the most efficient process from seed to harvest – a germination chamber, a paper-pot transplanter, drop seeder, harvest bins, and a quick greens harvester.
With these specialty production tools, they have the ability to double production of each crop while simultaneously saving time and money from labor costs (which they hope to see cut in half). This will enable them to meet growing demand from farmers markets and CSA members.
Contact the Local Extension Agent