A big thank you to everyone who has chimed in. I have certainly found cheaper named cultivars (in bare root form) now that I've looked around more and checked out some of the suggestions.. I think I will start with bare root plants to get a quicker start and save the hassle of starting from seeds. There's going to be a lot of stella de oro growing! I'm going to plant them along the horse fencing closest to the driveway with other taller cultivars behind, I think the yellow looks great with our property. To answer your questions, I'm definitely not looking to get rich quick. I'd be happy to break even for a while and having enough deductions (continual investment in the farm) to balance out the income when the income eventually starts. I'm not sure on the tax laws on hobby loss yet but I'd be happy to do that up to the point that is allowed. In the longer term, selling online and creeping "into the green" profit-wise would be great. We have very fertile soil that has been fertilized by horses for the past 40 years. Not to mention being surrounded by streams (can't divert them for irrigation but they add nutrients I think). I hope that will prove to be a boon for us. I'd love to sell locally but the insurance/liability/town issues of having people come onto the property are daunting. But I suppose I can figure that out later if I change my mind. Right now the biggest thing is making decisions on the scale and layout. I'm trying to decide if I should plant them close in less beds so there's less weeding with the plan of splitting them earlier or plant spaced farther apart in more beds with the plan of splitting them further down the road, but that may mean more weeding... Thoughts on that would be greatly appreciated and thanks again!!!! Really siked about it
