Lower House Farm Project Update Final

Exploring best methods for the establishment of a Pick Your Own horticulture venture

 Key results

 

  • Diversification into Pick Your Own Pumpkins proved a worthy investment and financial success. It will become an ongoing part of the farm’s business model going forward.
  • There were pros and cons of direct drilling vs ordering plug plants. Financially the seeds were a better choice but the plug plants established well and out competed the weeds more effectively.
  • The financial model of charging visitors per car and for pumpkins had benefits for both the farmer and the visitors. Adding value with catering and including additional free of charge activities made for a successful horticulture based tourist attraction.

Background

  • Lower House Farm occupies 114 acres at the bottom of the Wentwood Hills in Llanfair Discoed, Monmouthshire. Historically a dairy farm, it is now being used for mixed livestock mostly calf rearing and breeding ewes. The Monmouthshire County Council farm is run and managed by Laura Pollock and Matt Brooks, new entrant farmers looking to diversify the business in a number of different directions. In addition to the above, they have other animals including highland cows, belted galloways, goats, sheep, chickens and pigs for local engagement and enhancing people’s awarenessand appreciation for agriculture and food production in Wales.

As an additional diversification venture, Lower House Farm dedicated 1.5 acres to trial a pick-your-own pumpkin venture this season. The trial compared different methods of propagation against plant establishment, trialling different pumpkin and squash varieties, and exploring value added tourism for open days on the farm. 

What we did

The three propagation methods in this trial include direct drilling, plug plants, and propagating seeds in modules for planting out. 

Organic plug plants came from Delfland Nurseries and the varieties included:

  • Jack o lantern
  • Atlantic giant
  • Ghost
  • Goosebumps
  • Wicked F1 

11 trays totalling 1144 plants came to £528 including delivery. Squash and pumpkin plants come in trays of 104 plants, a minimum of 96 are usable.

Seeds came from Tamar Organics and Mole Seeds. Varieties were:

  • Black futsu
  • Hungarian Blue
  • Leckor
  • Red Kuri
  • Musquee de provence
  • Sweet dumpling
  • Jack be little
  • Jack o Lantern
  • Polar Bear
  • Crown Prince
  • Knuckle Head
  • Atlantic Giant
  • Autumn Crown
  • Harvest Moon
  • Chucky
  • Casperita

Seed cost came to £3716.91 for 5144 seeds.

A mixture of 600 seeds were sown by hand into modules using module trays and Fertile Fibre compost. The farmer didn’t have access to a polytunnel so seed trays were germinated in a barn for warmth and then moved to a brighter location. These were planted out 5 weeks later. 

Maize was drilled around the pumpkin site to make a ‘maize maze’ as part of the tourist attraction. Wildflowers were also broadcast around the site to encourage pollinators and beneficial insects.

Key dates 

3 May

Seeds sown into modules

8 May

PYO field ploughed and power harrowed

21 May

Squash and pumpkin seeds were direct drilled by a contractor. Maize surrounding the field was also drilled

22 May

Plug plants from Delfland started to be planted into field by hand

5 June

Own propagated plants were planted into field

15 – 29 September

Harvesting

Ground preparation 

The field had been heavily compacted by horses over the Winter months. Therefore, to prepare the ground for planting, a contractor was brought in to plough and power harrow the field. Preparation of the ground was delayed due to the wet weather conditions.

Planting

The plants were planted (and seeds drilled) at random to create variety throughout the field to make it visually more attractive to visitors on the open days.

Irrigation

Following a cold wet Spring, a hot, dry spell coincided with the planting period which required irrigation to support plant establishment. The farmers used a hose system to water in the plants, and although effective, was extremely time consuming. After a 4 week dry spell, the season returned to being wet and mild.

Tourism

The farm opened to the public for 12 days over 3 weeks starting on 12 October. This included weekends and half term. An online booking system was set up with dedicated timeslots to manage footfall on the farm. Entry cost was £9 per car. In addition to PYO pumpkins, additional engaging activities were set up around the farm and hot food and coffee trucks were brought in for catering. Orange ‘standard’ pumpkins were charged by weight and the unusual pumpkins were charged by weight +£1. 

Outcomes

Approximately a total of 2500 pumpkins were grown. Due to the wet, mild weather the larger pumpkins didn’t all grow to full size. Therefore additional large pumpkins were purchased from a local pumpkin grower to supplement their own grown squash and pumpkins. 

Seeds were far cheaper than buying in plants, however, the establishment was more reliable with plug plants particularly in the first few months. During the dry period the plug plants were more resilient and less affected by the weather and weeds.

Weeds were the main issue during the trial. Thistles were the prominent weed in the field and due to the mild damp weather, the weeds quickly outcompeted some of the smaller plants (which were direct drilled). A weeder was hired in for the tractor but this had limitations because of how the plants had been planted out. After an assessment near the end of the trial, a decision was made to pick all the pumpkins out of the field before opening to the public. This was partly due to the thistles making it difficult to walk through the field and also the ground being so wet that some of the pumpkins started to rot. Approx 200 pumpkins were lost. The farmers picked all the pumpkins by hand and moved to a barn. The field was then topped before putting the pumpkins back for the public. This was a lot of manual labour and very time consuming.

Financial results

Costs 

Pumpkin trial setup - £2,297 (Including seeds, plants, irrigation, contractors and professional advice)

Catering costs for open days - £2,100

Revenue

PYO Ticket sales - £5,630 (£9 per car)

Pumpkin Sales - £12,000

Catering revenue - £4,000 (hog roast, burgers, sausages, coffee van)

Profit

£17,330

Observations and lessons learnt

  • Overall good yield for the year despite poor weather, difficulty with weed control and working with plants for the first time.
  • Planting out by hand was time consuming and in future years the farmer would consider using a contractor or hiring in machinery to plant mechanically
  • Regarding irrigation, a sprinkler system would be better suited to the size of the venture than using a hose
  • Next season plants will be planted in blocks of varieties and include paths which can accommodate both visitors and the tractor. This will make management of the field easier
  • Creating a stale seed bed to plant in is a definite for next season as to not have the weed burden experienced this year.
  • Most varieties grew well and having lots of choice was of benefit to the visitors. The more unusual and interesting varieties were most popular
  • Charging per car and for the pumpkins gave visitors options depending on what they could afford. Charging per car guaranteed income for the farmer, and there was no pressure to buy pumpkins once on the farm. There were plenty of free activities and photo opportunities for visitors and the added value of the catering brought in additional income.