Vegetables! Get your vegeteble starts herrrrrrrrrre!!

[DoubleDogFarm]

All right, all right! get in line, no cutting, back of the line!, Oh! Ouch! you all right ma'am!

So, I'm off to the Farmers Market tomorrow. Just wanted to show off my wares, "seedlings.

Anyone else doing the farmers market




Eric

[cynthia_h]

Those seedlings look absolutely terrific! Where do the duck eggs ride? And do the dogs go with you to the market, or do they stay home and keep the eagles from having a field day with the ducks?

Hope you sell out of seedlings tomorrow.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[DoubleDogFarm]

Cynthia,

Thank you. My brother and I share a 10 x 20 space. He has his truck full of plants and produce as well. Stirfry greens, salad mix, sun chokes, chicken eggs, etc.


All the perishables ride in the cab, some in a cooler. I could bring the dogs, but I don't. Pepper would want to play frisbee with every passerby.

[Ozark Lady]

Okay, the very problem that I have been meditating on.
All I have is pick up trucks, and how does one haul seedlings, I mean uncovered it would be 55 mph winds, won't that shred them?

How do you protect your seedlings? And how do you carry a full load? Do you have racks?

I keep looking at the trays and going.... how does one haul these to sell them?

[scot29]

That's a great sight! Good luck at the market.

[DoubleDogFarm]

ozark lady

On the brother's truck he has cyborgs, no- no side boards. They are solid plywood sides that go up just pass the top of the cab. Up against the cab are shelving. Two flats deep and about 8" between shelves. We start from the bottom up. Load the self and apply the next self, load .......... Then over the whole thing is a shade cloth cover.

We also have rebar shelves that I welded up. Two designs. One hold (9)1020 trays and the other (12) 1020 trays

Scot29, Thank You

[applestar]

Am on my way on the red-eye <stop> See you in the AM <stop> Save me the best and some duck eggs. <end>

[tedln]

Eric,

Are you selling any really unique "can't find anywhere else" seedlings. I wish just one grower in my area would produce a really good selection of heirloom tomato seedlings. Did you empty your greenhouse for tomorrows market or do you have some hold backs for the next market?

Ted

[soil]

i sold a few hundred dollars worth of seedlings yesterday at an earth day festival. made a lot of people happy gardeners knowing how there tomatoes were started.

[DoubleDogFarm]

applestar, Your to funny, <stop>

Ted, No, your basic veggies.

Tomatoes
Siletz
Legend
Chocolate Cherry
Stupice

Tomatillo, Mexican strain

Collards, Champion

Swiss Chard, Bright Lights
Broccoli, Thompson
Arugula, Roquette

Lettuce
Buttercrunch
Valmaine
Red Sails

Squash
Spaghetti squash W
Zucchini, Black Beauty S
Bush Delicata W
Benning's Green Tint S

Borage

Rosa Rugosa gallon
Aronia, Viking gallon
Marrionberry gallon
Fig, Desert King gallon
Native, Gooseberry gallon
Ox-Eyed Daisies gallon

Duck Eggs

I have some hold backs. More tomatoes, egg plant, winter squashes, etc. Plants that don't sell go in the ground and will be sold as produce. In the fall seedlings start over again.

soil, way to go. Organic and knowing the gardener is wonderful stuff.

I sold about $150.00 in plants last Saturday. My brother sold about $150.00 in salad greens and about $300.00 the Saturday before.

[gixxerific]

Looking good, can you stop by here. Yeah like I need any more plants.

Good luck at the market. My friends keep telling to me to sell my stuff but I don't have near as much as you but I do have a bunch of stuff growing. Maybe next year or maybe later this year I could at least try to sell some stuff on Craig's list or something.

Again good luck.

[Ozark Lady]

Interesting design on hauling them.

When did you start them to get them up to this size this early.

I have lots of trays, but they are far from that size!

Goodluck selling them. And making some good gardening friends.

[DoubleDogFarm]

gixxerific,

Thank You.


Selling, give it a shot. Craigs list, road side stand, farmers market, CSA, direct to restaurants. Heirloom Tomatoes Find a niche. My brother's seems to be asian braising greens.

[DoubleDogFarm]

ozark lady,

I'd have to check my records. About 6 weeks ago. Our last frost date is the 15th April, so I just count back from there. Tomatoes 8 weeks, Peppers 10 weeks, cucumber- squashes 1 or 2 weeks. Lettuce 3-4 weeks.

It also depends on how big you like your transplants.

[Kelsey Jane]

Wow I read that wrong the first time! I thought you purchase all those plants from the market.... thought you had a HUGE garden!

The seedlings look amazing!

The greenhouses here do not open here until May 1st.... so it gives me something to look forward to

Kels

[barbelle]

WOW...That's awesome!! This is exactly what I would love to do if I had some space. I am currently in an apartment growing in containers. My dream is to have a small piece of land that I can turn into a "farm." I already have a map of how it will be laid out. I guess it's never too early to start planning!!!

[DoubleDogFarm]

Kels,

Quick reply and I have to go. I have a decent size garden 54ft x 72ft. In this fenced area are (25) 3-4ft wide x 20ft long raised beds. So I raise starts for my garden, brothers and for sale. Small 8ft x 16ft greenhouse can start many plants. No heat, no light, no heating mats. All way to expensive and not needed IMO.


Thanks eveybody! I'll see you after the market

[Susan W]

Thanks for sharing! An inspiration for all, either to buy good starts or sell some starts/herbs/veggies.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Well this market was about the same as last week. I sold (62) 4" pots and a few 1 gallon plants. It rained in the morning and was overcast all day. Pretty meager crowd. A lot of the customers looked at tomatoes and squash plants and said maybe next week, their garden area is not ready.

This is our little setup today. Plants on the rebar racks behind and some produce on the table.

[Ozark Lady]

Nicely set up. Looks very inviting to folks.

I have noticed that my February plants are about the right size to sell. I had more room in the house back then. But the March ones are too small. Is there a secret to keeping them growing? Could it be heat? Because I have had to move them to an unheated mobile, it has a small heater, and can hold the temp above 50 at night, but not really warm. It is warmer than the ones that are outside, and those are quickly catching the ones outside.

They are well-fed, and watered, light is fine, so it must be the heat issue!
What takes most folks 6 weeks to get to, takes me 3 months, it must be the heat?

[tn_veggie_gardner]

Oooo...very nice! Almost as good as getting high quality co-op seeds & starting the plants yourself. Seriously though, nice lookin' seedlings! =)

[tedln]

Eric,

I would definately stop in your space and buy something. It looks very inviting.

I guess to sell at a farmers market, the stars must be aligned perfectly and the weather must be great. We didn't have any farmers markets in our area today so I went to Home Depot instead. I was looking for some Neem oil. I didn't know they were having a plant sale. The parking lot was almost full and they were selling vegetable plants, flowers, and related materials as fast as they could make the cash registers say cha-ching. They didn't have any Neem oil, so I went to a local family owned nursery. I had a hard time finding a parking place they were so busy. Again, people were filling the trunks of their cars with all sorts of plants. Again, no Neem oil.

Your busy time will probably hit in two or three weeks. Good luck!

Ted

[DoubleDogFarm]

ozark lady,

That's a good question Are we talking all plants. Cole crops, lettuce should have no problem with low temps. Peppers, Tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, winter squash, may slow do at lower temps.

My greenhouse is unheated. It rises to over a 100f on sunny days and down to the 40's at night. The greenhouse has raised boxes filled with 50\50 compost and sand. I'm thinking it acts like a heat sink and moderates the heat at night. Heat maybe your problem as long as all the other aspects are covered. Not sure
*****************************************************

tn_veggie_gardner,

Oooo...very nice! Almost as good as getting high quality co-op seeds & starting the plants yourself

Sh-hhh Not So Load!!

Is gardner your last name or did you mean gardener

******************************************************

Ted,

Thank You, In a couple more weeks the weather will settle a bit and the people will come out of hiding. Talked with some folks today that left the local Ale House restuarant, to start their own restuarant. Their menu will be all local grown foods. Trying to get my foot in the door. Duck eggs and organic vegetables.

[Dixana]

Where do you get all your 4" pots? I'm lokking for somewhere to maybe get them in bulk cheap. After discovering NO ONE around here (including the nruseries!) sells heirloom starts of any kind except bandywines I think I'm going to sell some next year.
I seem to be pretty good with seedlings, mine are all huge and look awesome, though I should give most of the credit to the worms

[DoubleDogFarm]

Dixana,

Our local landscape supple yard has a recycle nursery pot area. I just go in and grab several hundred and some 1020 flats and be on my way. I do, on occasion, buy soil, compost, gravel from her.

[cherishedtiger]

I will take one of each!!! Those look great! And what a neat idea! I wish our local farmers market had someone like you out there!

Keep it going! Because there are people like me who just seem to not be able to plant from seed!

[Joyfirst]

Beautiful seedlings and a beautiful set up. And I love farmers markets. I go every week to the one in my area(the same one, where the old guy killed many people by not being able to see a break pedal through the open air bag). But the market is the best in the area. My son loves sunflower sprouts(greens), and I can't raise them at home, because he eats them up before they get ready and with a dirt still attached...

[DoubleDogFarm]

Here is a link to the CNN story about the Car plowing through the Market.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/16/f ... ket.crash/

My parents are in their early 80's. It's that tough time when you have to take the keys away.

How old is your son He eats the sunflower plants

[DoubleDogFarm]

So it's looking like another wet Saturday. Bring a new green table umbrella.

New starts this week,

Tomatoes:
Taxi
Golden Nugget

Pepper:
Early Jalapeno

Pac Choi
Lemon cucumber
Honey Boat, delicata squash

and more of the same posted earlier.

It would be nice if only rained at night, but who can control Mother Nature.

Helpful Gardener could use a couple more topics.

1. Greenhouses Types, Techniques, etc.....
2. Market Gardening Growing for, Setups, Niche, CSA, Rules and Regs. etc.........

[DoubleDogFarm]

Much better weather today. The new umbrella work out just fine.

I sold (77) 4" starts today. 15 more then last Saturday. Here are a few pictures.

My brother talking native plants. Here I believe he is selling Red Flowering Currants to a gentlemen.


And here he is selling Jerusalem artichokes



Tell him to get his hands out of his pockets

[tedln]

Eric, again; very nice! I love the way you set your area up. I do have a question though. What do you do with Jerusalem Artichokes? If I remember correctly, they are the roots of a bushy herbaceous plant. Similar in appearance to fresh ginger. How is it prepared to eat?

Ted

[DoubleDogFarm]

Ted, Thank you.

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is a species of Sunflower.

We prepare the tubers many ways, Roast like a potato. Grate it raw over mixed salad. Slice and dip raw into ranch dressing. Soups. When roasted, creamier texture (not dry) then a potato with a slight sunflower taste.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Another day at the Farmers Market tomorrow. Last Saturday it rained and sales were down. It also may have had something to do with Memorial Day weekend. Tomorrow looks more promising, the forcast calls for sunshine and a balmy 68 degrees

Lots of warm season plants.

6 varieties of Tomatoes
2 varieties of Peppers
2 varieties of Eggplant
Swiss Chard, bright lights
Red Kale
Bok Choy
Borage
6 varieties of winter Squash
3 Varieties of sumer Squash
2 varieties of Cucumber
18 one gallon berry bushes



Anyone else doing their local Farmers Market

[cynthia_h]

yummmm! Best wishes for $uccess tomorrow!

Cynthia H.
with Vergil, Mr. TPLO knee rebuild veteran...