Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Entertainment And Profits In Pick Your Own Berries

By Edward Howard


To source fresh produce and some such products, it seems the only way to go is the grocery store. Of course, there is also the farmers market. Beyond these, one would think that there are no contingency options. The last part is a myth, though, because theres actually a nifty alternative with Pick Your Own Berries Cleveland.

This is subsumed under the newly coined terms agritourism and agritainment. New words for new developments. After all, PYO has become a mainstream only in decades. These are all about diversifying and upping the offers and profits of your farmstead. After all, it is only a matter of course that you use it for planting and then harvesting. Unbeknownst to many, though, farms and ranches are very versatile places that can be accordingly tailored to the fickle needs and demands of the general public.

Pick Your Own, abbreviated PYO and alternatively called U Pick, is a kind of strategy that directly markets to the consumers, since they themselves are the ones that do the harvesting. That also hands an on hand income to the farmer, who has the proceeds even before the customer leaves the farm. The advantages in this enterprise are two way, or mutual, for both farmer and consumer.

PYO fields have been around since time immemorial. The yields offered are also sundry, from apples, potatoes, peaches, even pumpkins. The most popular variants for fruits, though, are unsurprisingly the berries. The miniature pulpy fruits are characteristically sweet, some sour, rounded, juicy, and brightly colored. Kinds include the raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and the currants.

In PYO establishments, its important to not that there are so called calendars. This is pretty much intuitive since these fruits are also sensitive to the vagaries of the seasons and are therefore not available all year round. Strawberries, for example, can be harvested from early to late June. Raspberries in early July, and blueberries up to late August. For auxiliaries, one can also appreciate sunflowers, which are available from June to September.

One can glean a lot of boons and advantages with pick your own farms. To start off, it has lesser operating costs, as with farm labor, transportation, packaging, and downtime, so it goes without saying that the retail price is also cheaper. To top off, its also healthy since its most likely organic and assuredly fresh.

The farmer or producer also has considerations to take into account. This comes in the form of all the needed business permits and liabilities. Marketing and management knowhow are not just advantages per se but are also must haves. One also has to be innovative and creative enough to further diversify the operations in this field. For the extra produce, there would have to be ways to innovate it, as with turning them into jam, jelly, preserves, pies, and cakes.

There are many considerations a farmer should keep in mind when thinking to start this operation. Marketing and management skills are imperative if you want to streamline the business. Liability considerations are to be watched out for. The producer also has to be methodical and innovative. To really optimize profits, the surplus produce must be made the most out of. They can be cooked, frozen, smoked, canned, preserved, or made into jelly and jam. After which, they can be sold in an in house store.

Picking your own berries offers a two way advantages galore. Aside from gathering fresh, farm to table produce, you also get to reconnect both with nature and your family. More practically, it also proffers support to the local farming economy. It is a way for small farms to reduce labor costs and diversify income.




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