Learn from the experience of a seasoned farmer and you will be able to grow a successful market gardening career on less acreage than you ever thought possible.

Founded by Jean-Martin Fortier and his wife, Les Jardins de LaGrelinette, is an internationally recognised 10-acre micro-farm.

Only 1.5 acres are cultivated in permanent beds, using bio-intensive growing methods. In the last decade, the focus at LaGrelinette has been to grow better, not bigger.

To optimise the cropping system, they use low-tech solutions and place heavy emphasis on intelligent farm design, appropriate technologies, and harnessing the power of soil biology as their key components to successful farming. You can find more about their methods in Jean-Martin Fortier’s book, The Market Gardener.

The market farm grosses more than $100 000 per acre, with operating margins of about 50%, enough to financially sustain the family. Every week, the market garden produces enough vegetables to feed over 200 families.

The low-tech strategy kept start-up costs to a minimum, and overhead expenses low. The farm became profitable after only a few years, and he claims they have never felt the pinch of financial pressure.

So, let’s do the math.

Farm Income

For the last decade, the Fourtiers have had no other income than from their 1.5 acre micro-farm.

When I asked JMF about this income he replied: “Our economics are not complicated. We sell around 150k of veggie produce on site. Our cost of production (including two salaries for employees that are around 6 months) makes up about 50 % of that amount. The other half is the net profit that my wife and I share. Our salaries, if you want.”

Here is a brief summary of the numbers from their 1.5 acre operation for 2013:

• Revenue: $140,000
• Customer sales breakdown:

CSA operations (140 members): 60%
Farmer’s markets (2): 30%
Restaurants/grocery stores: 10%

• Staff: 2 paid employees plus the Fortiers
• 2013 Expenses: $75,000
• 2013 Profit: $65,000 (~45% profit margin)

Ok, so this proves that it is possible to have a career in market gardening. In fact, one can envisage making a pretty decent livelihood.

Their initial start-up costs were in the $40,000 range. They did, however, receive financial aid in a form of a government grant of $30000 because of their sound business plan. With this additional support, the chances of market gardening success improve greatly.

But grants or not, one fact remains: keeping costs low when starting a business reduces financial risk and ensures profitability over the short term.

This, in itself, is a winning business model. So, let’s elaborate…

The Market Gardening Model

The features that characterize their market gardening operation are: high productivity on a small plot of land, intensive production methods, season extension techniques, and selling directly to public markets.

However, that is only one part of the equation. To start an operation like this you must first reduce start-up costs, avoiding mechanization and machinery-related costs (purchase, fuel, maintenance, etc.) and, most importantly, limit dependence on outside labor.

Low start-up costs

The start-up costs (cost of equipment) total $39,000. This might sound like a lot of money to pay upfront, but if we do the math, it’s well worth the investment. Here’s what I mean:

JMF claims that a well-established, smoothly running market garden with good sales outlets can generate $60,000 to $100,000 annually per acre in diverse vegetable crops. That’s a profit margin of over 40%.

A bank loan of $39,000 spread over 5 years at 8% interest means an annual investment of around $9,500, which is reasonable when compared to the potential revenue a market garden offers.

However, this doesn’t factor in the mortgage and other business expenses such as the delivery vehicle and other variable costs (inputs, administration fees, supplies, etc.)

Even so, the initial costs are still relatively small, especially in comparison to the costs of equipment used in mechanized vegetable growing. Furthermore, some items can be purchased second-hand or over time.

Low operating costs

Reducing start-up costs is a good first step. Avoiding mechanization and machinery-related costs (purchase, fuel, maintenance, etc.) is another.

But the most important one of all is limiting dependence on outside labor, which generally accounts for 50% of the production costs of a diversified market farm.

In his case, Lion’s share is done by the owner-operators with the help of either one or two seasonal workers, depending on the area under cultivation and the number of greenhouses. The major operating costs are therefore reduced to inputs (amendments, seeds, plant protection products), which are generally fairly minimal.

Productive farming method

JMF book serves as a manual for his growing method, please refer to the book for more detail. Here, however, is a quick summary.

Les Jardins de la Grelinette contains 180 standardized raised beds, with 40-50 vegetable crops in cultivation. These are grown using a biologically intensive approach, (intensive spacing and encouragement of biologically rich soils).

To cultivate the beds they adopt minimum tillage but use appropriate machinery including a two-wheel tractor, broadfork, and tarps. The biology of the soil is of paramount importance and soils are fertilised organically using good compost, poultry manure and green manure crops.

The growing season is extended by using floating row covers and low tunnels, caterpillar tunnels and hoop houses. This allows for the protection of crops from cold and frost in both early spring and late fall, and has a market advantage of offering ‘out of season’ crops.

Direct marketing and selling

Their sales method is a direct exchange between producers and consumers, CSA (community supported agriculture). To summarize, the consumer buys a share in the farm’s production at the beginning of the season. In exchange, the farm commits to providing quality produce, usually harvested the previous, or even the same, day.

In their case, although they sell at two farmers markets, CSA has always been the preferred option since it guarantees sales and simplifies their production plan.

For new market gardeners, JMF recommends CSA because of the many advantages and its tailor-made sales outlet. When starting out, adopting CSA provides backing and security because customers are paying up front, therefore 30% is guaranteed income.

CSA or not, the point of direct selling is to build a loyal customer base and forge interdependent relationships. People want to build a relationship with those who grow their food and CSA facilitates this. However, when it comes to customer loyalty, JMF emphasises that the quality and presentation of products are key to success.

Planning and management

At Les Jardins de la Grelinette nothing is left to chance, everything is planned in minute detail. During winter months a cropping calendar is prepared and decisions made as to what exactly they are going to plant, and precisely when and where they are going to plant it.

Crop planning is absolutely fundamental to profitable market gardening. Once you develop your crop calendar and garden plan, running a complex production system becomes much simpler, and forward planning removes the anxiety from those hot summer months.

They also keep records throughout the growing season, making notes of what works and what doesn’t. These are important when preparing crop plans for the following season. Record keeping is also highly significant in determining customer preference , allowing them to prioritize the production of the most profitable crops.

This kind of planning and management leads to improvements and when they talk about profits using big numbers like 150k a year, one must understand that these profits are a result of fine-tuning production.