Market Garden Location

If you want to sell your produce, your market garden must be in a suitable location. In today's society, where many people are concerned about carbon footprints and food miles, having your garden in a central location close to prospective customers, such as restaurants, hotels, greengrocers and markets is essential. This will not only reduce your carbon footprint and increase your green credentials, it will also save you money in fuel and make it easier for you to interact with your customers, because they will all be close by.

It will cost more to rent land near a large town than in a more rural location, but the extra cost of rent will be more than offset by the cost of carriage and transportation. Being able to bring your produce to your customer whenever it is convenient for him or her will make you more popular with your customers, and therefore help you to increase your profit.

In addition, market prices can sometimes change quickly because of changes in supply and demand.

If you do not have to travel long distances, you can take advantages of these changes in rates by bringing more goods to market on days when they will fetch a higher price.

You can also bring fertilizer or manure back with you when you return to your market garden.

If you cannot find suitable land close to a large town, you must ensure that your market garden is located where there are good transportation facilities.

You can pay a carrier to pick up your produce in the evening and then take it to the market that night.

If you have your own truck, you can bring your goods to market yourself. However, as long as the carrier's charges are reasonable, it is better for you to allow the carrier to do this, so you can focus on growing your vegetables.

Condition of the Land

The condition of the land will affect how long it takes your crops to mature. This can have an enormous effect on how much income you will gain from your corps, as prices for the same product can change significantly within the space of a few days.

It is easiest and to work on a square or oblong, level piece of ground, where soil will not be washed away easily.

However, working land with a gentle slope can be advantageous if it allows your plants to obtain more sun when it is needed but to avoid the full glare of the summer sun in the afternoon.

Sloped land can protect your crops from cold winds. Trees, a wall or a boarded fence can also help cold winds from harming your plants.

It is important that tall trees or other structures that are designed to protect your crops do not obstruct sunlight or prevent air from circulating freely.

Plants must have full sunlight and air that is well circulated in order to be healthy and produce valuable crops.

In addition, the growth of insects and fungi is encouraged wherever it is dark and the air is stagnant.

Soil

In general, moderately light loam with a good depth is the best soil to use if you will be cultivating intensively.

However, it is not always easy to obtain land with this type of soil.

You can make most types of soil fertile by draining them, working them deeply and often, liming them, and adding animal manure to them.

However, these activities can be expensive, especially since it may take a long time before their beneficial effects are realized.

If you do not have much money to spend on improving the soil, you should avoid heavy clays that have not been drained, shallow, thin soils, and gravelly, sandy or dry soils that are very open.

The expense of bringing rundown land that has not been cared for may be more than the value of the land itself; you should avoid this type of land unless you are willing to invest such a large amount of money, which you may not receive back, into it.

Drainage

Soil should always have good drainage.

If there is no natural drainage, the land must have an adequate outfall so that when artificial drainage is added, there is somewhere for the water to go once it leaves the drainpipes.

You should always avoid waterlogged soils and land with low damp, as these cannot be drained easily.

Water

There must be an unlimited supply of water nearby, especially if you are doing intensive work, as your crops will frequently need to be watered.

It is best to water your plants with rainwater, and you should have a way of catching and storing rainwater.

You may also use water from your home, from a public water supply, from a river, a stream or a pond.

Well water should be avoided whenever possible, as it can contain salts that harm plants.

Fertilizer

If you are cultivating intensely and want your crops to grow early, it is important to have a cheap and abundant source of fertilizer or manure.