so im young (26) and im currently an automotive mechanic for chevy. ive been working on vehicles for 8 year and have realize that this isn’t what i want to do forever, as cars are literally junk. i live on long island in suffolk, ny, population 1.4m people. we have 3 apple u picks, only 2 sell apples with actually variety names. people travel from the nyc to visit these orchards too, the oppsite side on the island. ive dreamed of having my own farm, me and my wife bought our first house 3 years ago and transformed it into an orchard only 2 acres. we plan on in the following years selling at farms markets, to get a feel for things. (blueberrys, raspberries,blackberries, apples, pears, cherries, veggies)
so i would like to start my own u pick, berry’s and fruit but land here is so much. all our farm lands are been sold for double if not more to developers for housing. so it a bad idea to lease land/lease to buy for a farm, 3 mins down the road from me is 23 acres for sale or lease, vacant old farm property prob last used 1984ish now just over grown mess. the land is all leveled and is pitched alittle, behind the 23 acres is an private community with a few thousand people and golf corse. which can be good or bad
i know equipment is going to a big expense i currently have a 1979 ford 545 loader with live pto all functional, figured i can use this for alot. sprayer is one of the biggest expense i see
having an well installed may be a big cost for me
is my dream a fantasy? any advise or insight
how much start up money do you think i would need
I think your biggest pro is that the largest city on the eastern seaboard is literally on your door step! Think of all the people that travel to NYC each year, as well as residents. Thats literally millions of potential customers. Your dream is a lot closer to reality than you think.
Id be weary of a lease, as they can be voided or not renewed and you loose your investment into the property. 23 acres is a huge piece on Long Island. Im sure that its pretty expensive. Maybe look into seeing if they would sell a smaller chunk to start with.
I have 52 acres in Upstate NY, but no where near that many potential customers within driving distance. I still farm my piece with a 1953 Ford Jubilee, as well as a 2017 Kioti.
If you are a mechanic, im sure you could build a sprayer unit cheaper than buying one, thats what im doing. As im also planning on a small U pick, i dont want trellises everywhere, so im going with smaller trees that dont require support.
Look into grafting your own trees aa well, and save a few bucks.
Your totally right I can build one. I don’t know why it didn’t come to mind. I was looking into this and it seemed like I can build something like a roller pump off pto to power a setup I build for under a few thousand. I was thinking about doing this for home with a hand spray wand but the tractor is over kill. In an orchard I could rig up like boom wands to spray as I drive through rows.
I was planning on doing a high density orchard set up. It will require trellis/support. I graft tons of trees the last two years just Apple. It’s new to me, but I’ve been pretty successful nearly 100%.
I’ve never asked someone about subdividing but I don’t think anyone want too. 10 acres more East is selling for 2.9 million its crazy! I almost feel like I need to partner with someone that isn’t using land or something idk.
I would be wary of jumping right into high density orchards. They work well, but are a much larger investment up front. As well requiring knowledge of how to properly train and maintain them.
You and your wife could probably graft your own conventional orchard for little more than the cost of rootstock. Freestanding trees: ±150/ac, If you use tall spindle: 1200-1500/ac plus trellis cost).
