Congrats!

It was a great meeting. I am in and all I have to do is hurry up and grow some stuff. I can't believe I am doing this. We'll if tall have any tips from a Consumer side I would appreciate it.

Kim, I don't know if it really is important, but when I think to my ignorant days: I saw a bunch of produce at the farmer's market and thought it was very curious and fascinating, because I had no idea what to do with these veggies when I got home.

I don't know where the consumer market is, really, at this point. I'm betting some of your buddies at the meeting will have some raw marketing science (numbers) on the local consumers. (If you need help painting a picture with those numbers, just message me.) I'm assuming without data. Your intuition is usually right. Perhaps there are more who will flock to the market with the same ignorance.

Recipe pamphlets/handouts!

bon

I was going to do that. Thanks Bon! I was just talking to my son last night about how I need a computer so I can print up little recipe cards for different items. Or even storage tips help a lot. I always hated when I spent good money on produce took it home and it turned into a science experiment. My mom didn't teach me how to store stuff so I didn't know for a long time.

I agree with Bon that you need to grow whatever produce is in demand in your area. You could grow wonderful parsnips and salsify, for example, but I expect that they wouldn't sell very well because they just aren't a common type of produce. Tomatoes and peppers always sell, and so do lots of other kinds of produce but you'll have to do your research and find out what sells there at the place where you'll be selling. What you happen to have to sell at any given time is only going to sell if it is what people are wanting to buy and eat at that point in time.

Kale has gotten extremely popular with lots of folks who are eating healthy and who seem to be in a certain demographic group....but, is that demographic group shopping at the market where you'll be selling? That's the sort of thing you'll have to figure out, either from talking with other vendors about what does/doesn't sell there. Some of them may not want to encourage more competition so may not share info well, but I think some of them will talk freely.

Remember that the early bird gets the worm, and the best prices. Tomatoes sell fast and at a somewhat higher price early in the year when they first appear at the Farmer's Markets, and the price drops rapidly as the supply at market increases. That's true of certain other kinds of produce as well. In that sense, it is worth your time to push the limits and plant early in order to have the best possible early harvests at market. Ripe tomatoes in May might very well cause a stampede, whereas ripe tomatoes in July or August are not as special because by then there are ripe tomatoes everywhere.

Have you visited the Market forum here at GW to see what they have to say? I'd pay attention to what jrslick is growing in KS. He seems to be a very successful market gardener.

Yes I have read and studied many hours paying close attention to Jay. He is very open and shares all the ups and downs of having a market garden. I feel like without hoop houses I am at a slight disadvantage.

All of the people I met at the market meeting yesterday are awesome friendly and very encouraging. The market manager makes write on wipe off signs for all growers to advertise what where and how. My main crop will be tomatoes and I was assured they will sell there's over 1000 people come every Saturday and about 12 produce vendors. They are very excited to have another produce vendor. I will have a variety of leafy greens kale and chard do very well for me. Chard goes for 1.00 per stem at local stores and it sells well so that will be a good one. I am also going to make and sell jams and produce bags. Just to have something extra. I already said this but I believe this is the open door I have been looking for. It is all coming together very well. Gotta get planting

If I plant basil now and keep in pots to sell will it be big enough by April 9th

I think the basil will be big enough, but if you don't have row covers or something, it is hard to know for sure. Basil likes heat so the plants do not make good growth while soil and air temperatures are fairly cool, and you have to watch them because cold can freeze them back or even kill them.

You probably are at a slight disadvantage not having a hoop house, but that's always something you can build yourself somewhere down the road. My greenhouse is a hoop house and I love it, but I still had a great garden even before we built the greenhouse. It is nice to have but not esential. Even low tunnels, properly vented, can give you a head start on the season, as would low tunnels underneath heavy-duty frost blanket row cover type material. I used low tunnels long before we finally found time to build a hoop-house style greenhouse.

When you become a market grower, it is important to start small and build upon your successes. Starting too big can become overwhelming, so maybe it isn't that bad that you aren't starting out with a hoophouse. You'll master growing in the ground first and that will help you be even more successful with the hoop house that I'm sure you'll have one of these days.

I got plans from the market forum (Jays) for a hoop house and I have everything except the plastic. I am going to get my son to put this together for me but it may not get done till summer for fall. Like you said Dawn it may be good to start slower. I have seen some of the growers at this market with only 20 squash and 10 cucumbers and handfuls of other stuff. Since tomatoes are my main thing I want to have a lot and then if I have other stuff that's fine too. Mostly I want other stuff to make my booth look nice.

Last year I gave away several hundred plants and over 300 pounds of produce which I will do again plus market. Well I don't know if I will have enough plants. I am short on lights this year.

Who needs lights? I have my shelf set up with all the lights on it, but haven't plugged it in yet.

Every morning I carry my plant flats outside to the patio (the luxury of being home all day allows this) to bask in the real sunlight, and then I carry them inside at night and line them up on a baker's rack in the corner of the mudroom. Since it is gloriously warm and sunny for February, I intend to take full advantage of the warmth and sunlight and raise my seedlings outdoors to the extent that it is possible to do so. Once the nights are slightly warmer (it is 25 degrees here right now as I am typing this), I'll just leave the flats of seedlings in the greenhouse at night.

I think the last time I raised my seedlings outdoors without using the light shelf was either 2003 or 2005, and both were horrible drought years, so I hope this warm and dry winter isn't an ominous sign, but I love being able to raise seedling plants in full sun instead of underneath artificial lighting. The plants sprout faster in the heat of the sun, grow better (stay shorter and more compact because they aren't stretching for more light than the plant shelves can give them) and just have great color. Plus, they are being exposed to wind from day one and that makes them stronger. Who knows if the sunny, warm days will last, but I don't see anything but a piddly little 20% chance of rain on one day in my 7-day forecast, so it will last in the short term if not in the long term.

I'm likely to go ahead and start seeds of warm-season annuals indoors on the light shelf now and let them grow on right there. There's a limit to how much carrying in and out of plant flats I'm willing to do this early in the season, and it is limited to veggies and herbs. Our weather, too, can turn on a dime, although it really has stayed remarkably sunny and warm for days and says on end. I'm just waiting for the nights to catch up. I had to force myself to wait and start tomato seeds and pepper seeds at the proper time instead of starting them early. No good comes from me starting them early because then they are big early and I want to put them in the ground early when soil temperatures still are too cold for them. It is the soil temperatures that tell me when to transplant, not the sunny and warm daytime winter highs.

There have been some previous "warm winters" just like this one where I had everything in the ground far too early because the weather allowed it, and then a long, cold spell (the one in 2007 lasted 3 weeks during which time I had tomato plants blooming underneath low tunnels that were protecting them from sleet) returned with ice, sleet, snow and cold rain, leaving me scrambling to find ways to cover up everything to try to keep it warm enough to survive. I didn't have low tunnels or row covers back then and quickly improvised some ugly ones, but I've got them now, and I still try to avoid needing to use them. It can take hours to cover and uncover a large garden, and it can get really old really fast.

Who knows what sort of weather we'll have in March and April? I hope it is as nice as what we're having in February but I know how quickly the warmth can just go away too.

Dawn

Dawn, at the moment your temp is exactly 20 more than mine. It is very cold here.

You are so right. I ran home and put my babies in the sun for about and hour and then shade they are still smiling. I tried some ws too. It may be too late but I have to get some stuff going.

My logo my daughter did for me

So nice!!!! Your daughter is talented. It looks like things are coming together really well for you.

Thank you. She is and it is coming together. I only hope I have enough to sell

Thank you Bon.

Kim - can one of us non-locals get one of those shirts???!!! I love the design!!!!! And I've got faith in you!....You're going to do GREAT things! Several here have gone on to do great business in "markets"....we'll talk at the Fling.

I bet you could. She is using several different colors of tshirts Paula I will let you know. I am glad you like it. I am very pleased and can't wait to get my hands on one.