could be divided into 6 parts cut the hay on 5 parts and use it as mulch on the sixth part for a easy growing method

permanite pathways kept mowed and for the tractor wheels

Oh MY! 6 Tillable acres...what a dream! You could do a variety of crops, but three that I recommend are strawberries, asparagus and cutting lettuces (sold washed and packaged). One acre of each (probably 1/4 for the lettuces) would probably generate a good return on your initial investment, especially if you are willing to grow organically. You could raise pastured poultry and eggs if you are into that sort of thing.

Contact your closest health/natural food stores (100 mile radius is what I consider local). They usually love to buy from local farmers.

I agree a variety would be great. Some of the hardneck garlics would grow well in you zone You would not want to plant but a few rows (beds of it to start) Seed is expensive but once you bought it you can save your own. What ever you grow check and see if there is a market for it and grow don't too much of one thing untill you find what grows and sells well for you

Fruit. What ever works good in your area.
We had a quarter acre of strawberries for a couple of years. We could make more from it than the whole summer of veggies.

howdy! First of all I am zone 5 so what I grow is different from what you can grow. We had 4 acres in production for 3 farmers markets . I n our best year we grossed oveer $8,000 in 12 weeks. Our primary crops were: eggs from our 100 hens, cucumbers , cantalopes, potatoes, tomatoes and onions. Pickling Cucumbers generated the biggest return on our investment.
We plant our cucmbers and melons on thermally opaic green plastic the first week of May. This special plastic warms the soil up a lot more than regular black plastic and protects the plants from an occasional light frost. Our last frost date is May 16 th. I start the cucumbers indoors 2 weeks before I set them out. As soon as they germinate they immediately go out into a cold frame so they do not get leggy. I like to plant them as soon as they have their first set of true leaves. By planting the first week of May we have cucumbers t sell around the Fourth of July. At the farmers market I sell cukes for 10c a piece 10 fit in a quart basket for $1 thats about $32 a bushel :) We wholesale for $15 a bushel to a larger farm they like our clean cukes over theirs raised on the ground. Because we are cooler, I like to pick my melons from Northern catalogs like Veseys and Johnny's. Check to make sure the varieties are resistant to Powdery Mildew. That seems to get us the most in the cooler climates. I like Fastbreak, Ambrosia, and French Charentais to name a few. Yellow Doll Watermelons have never failed us either.
Good Luck! Its really important to have fun doing this because its a lot of work.

hello. man,6 acres is alot of ground. i like the 5 acre hay one acre crop idea. if you will be doing even one acre and working a full time job, have a spouse and children AND want to actually enjoy a little bit of the summer whatever you choose needs to be easily mechanically cultivated. coming out of hay weed pressure hopefully won't be bad. if you move it to a new acre each year you may never have a weed problem! glorious!! what do people want in your area? if you can keep chickens safe and on one acre of pasture in rotation with hay and a vegetable crop you would hopefully be able to maintain soil fertility. what is your water situation? veggies want lot's of it so a reliable source and irrigation set up is vital. are there any current veg. growers in your area? i'd take them out for donuts and pick their brains big time. a nearby ally can be a life saver. good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions. We decided to use what I can work and leave the rest to hay right now and maybe slowly take it over as we get more machinery and experience. I did till up a 140' x 8' area and planted most of it to garlic. I had some seed from this year but still wanted to order a few other varieties. I plan on filling out that section with onions in the spring.

We did have a pumpkin/gourd patch out there in the corner this year and my son made about as much as we made the one year the whole area was leased out for corn!

I have a few other market buddies that I have asked about it. The one suggested sweet corn, but I lost most of my sweet corn this year to critters and really do not want to deal with that. Plus there are other sweet corn venders at my market.

I was thinking about asparagus, horseradish, onions, and dried beans. This area would not be fenced in and open to critters so that would be my main issue. We can reach it with a hose and I am thinking on an irrigation system.

I also think free-range chickens might be a good option.

I did do fairly well with pickling cucumbers this year, but they were planted too close, so a larger area would be great. And, also a large spot for dill...

Well, I have all winter to figure it out. And, yes, this is hard work but it is the best job I have ever had!

jasdesign it sounds like you are on the right track. How did you plant your cucumbers? I plant in green plastic to warm the soil and keep the cukes looking very clean. I use jiffy 7's to start the cukes 2 weeks before the last frost inside the house.I plant 2 seeds per jiffy 7. As soon as the seeds germinate they go outside into a cold frame to harden off. This prevents them from getting too leggy. Once the plants have their first true leaves they are planted in the plastic in the garden about 14 inches apart . I do not pinch out the extra plant and the cukes still have a very high yield. I start the plants indoors the first week of May. They are transplanted about 2 weeks later. I get my first picking JUly 4th. Cukes wholesale for $15 a bushel but I can retail them at the farmers market for about $32 a bushel. In cukes size is important. Anything longer than 5 inches is not really marketable, although, I sell the bigger cukes for 10c a piece at the farmers market. The guy I wholesale to will take anything under 5 inches so we sort everything we pick.
I think its great you planted so much garlic . Garlic is always easy to sell. I had great luck selling colored potatoes and fingerling potatoes. All blue and all Red potatoes as well as Rose Finn Apple and Porto Ricos went over really big at the Farmers Markets. I also made big money on Radishes, Carrots and Beets. These also grow well in Northern Climates.
I wish you good luck with your Garden in 2007.
Linda

Thanks Linda,

I usually direct seed my cucumbers in hills, but this year I did plant a few in rows--just too close. I usually separate the "pickles" from the larger cucs (4-6 inches) and sell the larger ones for slicing ($1 for 5). Those almost sell better than the pickles and better than the slicing varieties that I sell. I have a lot of customers that perfer smaller pickling varieties over the slicing varieties. A big seller (after handing out samples) were the lemon cucumbers. I had repeat sales and usually sold out towards the end of the season.
My son is going to try potatoes next year and I want him to try the fingerlings. I have never noticed those at our market. I think we will stay away from the colored varieties. Just don't think we have the right customers for those.
If anyone has good advice on dried beans....I grew some this year but due to the dry year and late rain, they started a second crop which did not fully mature before the frost. I tried the calypso and black coco. I did harvest some calypso and thought it was as good tasting as it looked.