BIG PROFITS FROM LITTLE PLANTS
(Page 3 of 5)
Then the work of putting out the sets began, and the young
businessman found that the tomato planter—though
extremely helpful—had its shortcomings. The trouble
was that tomatoes aren't particular about how deep they're
planted, so the implement that digs the holes doesn't need
to be accurate about depth . . . and John's borrowed piece
of equipment wasn't. Strawberries, however, must be set
with the crown of each plant flush to the surface, and the
only way to maintain this exacting depth was to go slowly
and spend twice as long on the task. (Zoeller learned only
later that the tool's manufacturer could have sold him a
special attachment to adapt the planter for his crop.)
RELATED CONTENT
On top of the planting difficulties, Zoeller's whole first
year in the strawberry business turned out pretty rocky.
The plants were all set out by June 1, and on June 5 they
were almost drowned in an inch and a half of rain. Then, as
soon as the crusted earth was dry enough, the field was
cultivated twice. On June 11 came another inch of downpour
. . . and from that time until early September you could
have counted the drops of rain on the fingers of one hand.
As the earth grew parched, the Surecrop plants lived up to
their reputation for drought resistance, but Midway fared
badly and half of that variety was lost.
John's worries about the bad weather were partly offset by
the relief of having little to do for most of the summer.
Other than weeding, the only major project was the 12-hour
job of picking or pinching bloom stems to encourage bigger
and better berries the following year.
The first productive season of the new venture started off
with a beautiful spring. Runners from the parent plants had
filled the intervening spaces with strong, healthy
offspring, and the buzzing bees that held a daily
convention in the field ensured lots of delicious fruit a
few weeks later.
Soon, as June breeze flipped the green capes of the plants
to show flashes of crimson beneath, laborers sent from the
state employment office began to harvest beautiful berries.
(At the rate of $1.00 for every eight quarts picked, these
workers earned above-average daily wages.) John also
reserved a portion of each week during the bearing season
for "Pick Your Own" harvesters, who paid 35¢ per quart
for the fruit they gathered.
It was interesting to compare the picking methods of the
two groups. The professionals—whose object was to
fill their boxes as fast as possible—took all the
ripe berries as they moved down a row and didn't pile fruit
on top where it might roll off. By contrast, the "Pick Your
Own" customers (99% housewives taking a break from dishes
and dusting) were not only too selective to pluck anything
less than the largest red morsels . . . but heaped each
basket high enough to shame the ancient Egyptian pyramid
builders. The medium and small berries which they passed up
became a problem that John solved only by sending his
family out to glean the rows once the do-it-yourselfers had
picked them over.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 | 3 |
4 |
5 |
Next >>
