Thank you everyone.
A little of the backstory...my FIL has only had the farm going for about 5 years. He was able to buy a lot of bulk inventory from a gentleman who was retiring in our area. My FIL never does anything small either. We have about 350 registered cultivars in 3 acres of fields. Most cultivars are from the late 80s through the early 2000s. These are field tested, hardy varieties as he almost never waters the fields. They look amazing this year because we got rain at all the right times. Many have been there for 5 years now, so the clumps are HUGE!
Right now he just does walk up business. We had over 70 visitors and sold about 500 DF just in the past four weekends of Daylily Days. In the past he has dug orders in late August and then personally delivers them to people.
Some of my goals for the place, which he and I have been discussing for the past month include
1) weed control...we have to find something that works for that area and the types of weeds he has (ragweed, sedge, dandelions, some type of invasive vine, etc)
2) make digging and delivering orders more efficient and done in a way that the plants are delivered right after they are dug. My first priority with that is getting them lined out to make digging easier...and we would have the ability to dig an order the day it was placed if a customer wanted that option. I also think we should eliminate delivery as it just isn't cost effective...but my FIL says he would be willi to keep doing deliveries.
3) eliminate some of the excess inventory. He has LOTS of BIG clumps of some cultivars. We don't need that much inventory. For example, he has about 25 BIG clumps of Hamlet...we will never sell that much, especially not when these things keep multiplying. My plan there is to contact area nurseries and landscapers and offer them bulk prices or per clump prices.
4) website. The biggest reason I haven't done a website yet is that several of the ones out in his fields are mislabeled. Many of the bulk varieties he got from the guy going out of business were already labeled wrong, then he misplaced some labels while mowing, and other labels just wore out over time. So I have spent a LOT of time this year taking pictures of and measuring the mislabeled ones so I can identify them. The man who they purchased them from gave them a master list of which daylilies he owned...so that will narrow down the possibilities quite a bit. However, most are already confirmed, so I am exploring website options. I like the look of the plantstep websites and the cost is good for starting out...if anyone has any inside info on how that website server works, I would love to hear it.
5) yes to the teenage labor! My kids are 14, 12, & 10, and they have a 14 year old cousin. I plan on making them my first labor force (paid of course)
I'm sure I am forgetting something else very important. But those are my steps for now...
Thanks again everyone for the encouragement and advice. Right now I plan on this being part time for me during the school year as I am a speech therapist at a school. But that also means I am almost completely free mid-May to mid-August...which is prime garden season for us. We will see where it goes from here!
