Vegetable Gardens at my House II

The previous thread is here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/522566/

Tomatoes are coming in like crazy and I am getting tired of making sauce. I do give a lot away but John and I talked about selling them and he made it possible! He stenciled me a sign "Garden Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes For Sale" and set me up in front of our house. The road out front is used my commuters cutting in between two major roads. I do lots of waving, chatting and even a sale every now and then. I have my laptop and phone and a book! We do have squash, beans, eggplant and beets but mostly tomatoes! We will see how long the tomatoes and I last :))

I feel for the market farmers. Most everyone who stops wants your 'regular' round red tomato I practically force them to taste a Sungold and a piece of Aunt Ruby's German Green and of course they love them and buy red round ones. Converting the tomato consumer one bite at a time!! - yeah right.

Ernie, I won't grow Thai pink turtle egg. Edelrot, Yellow pear, Oregon Spring and I am on the fence about Isis Candy. Now I know why we grew lots of varieties!

-Kim

Hey Kim;
You're right about customers.

Our stand is on the busiest hwy in Texas outside an interstate. Hwy 59!
Business is hot and cold. Gotta do something with tha produce though huh.
-
Post is ta show I followed ya lol.......

Pic shows a little of the hwy. Sometimes its near bumper-bumper.
We have signs about a mile down tha road so they have a chance to start looking.
They start seeing some of my garden areas as they come upon the stand.

The sweet-potatoes are hauled from around Grand Saline and Canton Tx.
I don't have tha room to grow them in any quanity here.
That's about 80 buschel in the trailer.
-
Usually I start /60 buschel and after tha first couple of weeks its 80 per week through Dec.

To answer un-asked questions:
I sell @ $10.00 per buschel, 6. per half, 4. for a peck 2.50 half peck.
Love them baskets!

I let them, the customer pick and choose. Haha, didn't always till I found there is no accounting for taste nor size lol. it averages out so there's always a good selection.

I buy bulk. Its a controled field run so I get a little of all sizes.
I know most owners and deal with a given one, long as I can. My last one is going on 15 years.
Have hauled for about 25 years starting in 1980.

Its appx 400 miles round trip and the extra price on smaller baskets pay for expensives there & back.
Other works I figure an average net of $10.00 per buschel.
I start hauling, generally Oct.
_________________________

I guess I should post this kind of thing on another forum lol, but I was here!

That's a fine lookin bunch of sweet taters Charlie.

That's also a fine lookin veggie stand Kim! You need a couple of flower pots out there too. I have the perfect one. A tire planter! ;~)

~TC

bluekat76, FINE looking stand of fresh produce... but where's your chair and accoutrements?

Kim very nice presentation you should sell a bunch sometimes people need to get used to you being there. I to cull a lot of varieties but never do I cull the likes of Tumbler, Buffalo,Earl of Edgecombe they are on steady lol. Ernie

Glad you guys found me again!

Darius - my chair is back there, you can see the legs under the table. I leave most everything by the road but I take the laptop with me even if I go in for a drink.

Yesterday I went out for the afternoon and John was out there. He pretty much sold out and made more than I did in 3 days. Maybe we should just open on Saturdays?!? Today I get to make more sauce with the few over ripe ones that didn't sell. I will check the garden again today but don't know if there is enough to open for a few days. We are leaving for Maine and New Brunswick Canada on Sunday so someone needs to come by and pick while we are gone!

Charlie - that is a LOT of sweet potatoes - like you didn't know that:) So here we have the tiniest veggie stand and possibly the largest on DG!

Ernie - I will look up the Buffalo and Earl but Tumbler is not on my list again. The skin is too thick for my taste, I just use them for sauce.

T.C. That is a lovely planter, I am sure you have directions for making one you could send along. Or is delivery an option??

Kim very nice looking stand, should make all passersby stop , look, and buy. Have a great trip north.

Hey Charlie, wish I lived closer would come and buy some of your sweet potatoes. Love them, sure are expensive in our stores.

DonnaS

Beautiful sweet potatoes! I wish I could grow them here, season is pretty short. But.... I just had an idea, might try growing them in tires. Regular potatoes fry in tires, but maybe the sweet potatoes or some yams would appreciate the extra heat. Anybody tried it? We get a lot of 90+ days with intense sun but the nights are cool, down to 40 last night. The tires would help the vines stay warmer during the night but would they fry during the day?

Last night we pulled up some of the bean plants and the pineapple tomatillo/AKA ground cherry. That thing was going wild, we couldn't keep it under control and harvest is a big pain too! No more of those. I want to put in broccoli and cauliflower for the fall. We did harvest some brussel sprouts off the base of a few plants, they were tasty but they take up too much room for too long so none next year.

I hope my tomatoes are still standing when we come back! There is some kind of evil thing going on - the leaves at the bottom are turning yellow and stems are falling off. Any guesses? Maybe I will spray some Daconil before we leave....

-Kim

Inconsistent moisture?

More like Early Blight, I am going to spray before we leave for vacation - maybe twice if I can. I went picking one day when they were all wet so I am sure to be the cause of spreading trouble. Next year they will be further apart. I pulled out a couple of determinates that were about done for anyway. The tomato plants not in the main bed are fine with no trouble - they are later varieties so I wasn't picking them.....

Had to close up the stand since we were about sold out of most tomatoes except small cherry ones.

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time. I went to take a picture of our Moon and Stars watermelon and found this on the way. I only got one chance before he flew away.

Look, an actual watermelon in our backyard! How big should these get before you can eat them?? Ours are around basketball size right now.

-Kim

There's an art to thumping a watermelon to see when it's ready to eat. So, start thumping. ;~)

Somebody posted this site on another thread about watermelons.... http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sustainable/peet/profiles/waterhar.html

Also see this thread: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/530782/

This message was edited Aug 25, 2005 9:29 PM

How do I know when my thumping is art and not just music for the bees?? One of them does sound pretty hollow now, maybe we will give it a go before we leave. I will check the leaves etc. closest to the vine.

John bought some broccoli transplants so now we have those and cauliflower for the fall. I want to compare how they do early and late to see which has less worms! I don't want to plant beets cause John thinks we should eat them all because we grew them! Some is good, all is not. Last year I had to peel gnarly bent carrots just because we grew them. Not again! Guess I should be careful about the spaghetti squash....but it is a volunteer...

-Kim

Tell John I will happily buy up any extra beets at your veggie stand.... or don't tell him, if you want the space for something else. What beets are you planting? I thought I'd missed the window for planting those Lutz Winterkeeper seeds (packet says plant in July). I could pull up my wormy tomatillos and sow beets....

Hmmmm, if you need someone to pick while your gone--maybe I can get some extra tomatoes after all or maybe an occasional watering if it doesn't rain soon. Just let me know.

Your watermelon looks great! I've got watermelons hanging from a tomato cage--I don't think they are going to make it much longer because they are getting a little too heavy. But they seem to have a mind of their own.

Hope you guys have fun on your trip! Take lots of pictures to share with us!

So I sprayed Daconil last night and then it rained all day today. Did it just wash away like it was never there? It did dry before it rained. I have since discovered I should have sprayed *before* any sign of trouble as a preventative - is that right?

Closed up the stand and made sauce...again. We are getting excited about Maine/New Brunswick and SEAFOOD! Still doing laundry and packing.

Hey Nancy - you might have to put those watermelon on the ground! We are going to show our vaction pics at your house on the big screen! About watering it looks like it is going to rain here for the next few days so I don't think you have to water. You can always stop by and pick though.

Jill/Nancy, We told so many people to come pick that there either won't be anything or no one will come and it will be out of control. Here is a hint, come the minute it stops raining on Thurs/Friday - bring nippers. You must kill at least one stink bug for each tomato you take:)) P.S. there are 2 tomato plants down in the flower garden....

Check back for reports from the road!
-Kim

Did you add some spreader-sticker to the Daconil spray? If so, that should've let it stay on even through last night's rain.

Hope you and John have an absolutely spectacular vacation!! I can't wait to see pics and hear stories when you return! (Reports from the road would be most welcome, too.) Take care, and have fun!

Beet Lovers
http://www.slugsandsalal.com/plantdb/veg/beet.html

Hey, Charlie! What a great article!! Thanks for the link. Now I want to grow mangels.... :-)

Sounds to me like there's no reason to be trying to plant beets now... I'm not sure there would be enough time to harvest even baby beets... ??

Thanks Charlie - I didn't know beets were multi-germ - learn something new everyday.

I forgot to add the Turbo sticker when I sprayed :( Can't worry about it now.

-Kim

She's back in town! I just talked to Kim, she said their Canada trip was fabulous, and the garden looks like a complete jungle. I told her we want pictures & a full report when she gets down into it!

Quick update, who knew Okra could get over a foot long?? Zukes are dead, baby cauliflower and broccoli are dead, Edamame not looking so good. Tomatoes still looking good despite the Early blight. Powdery mildew on the spaghetti squash and canteloupe. Eggplants looking yellow but hanging in there. All brussel sprouts eaten by worms and aphids, John pulled them and rescued some for dinner and composted the rest.

Tomato sandwich for lunch, some things don't change! I will update on the vacation and meeting Darrell in New Brunswick!
-Kim

Welcome back Kotter, er....I mean Kim! ;~)

TC

Nowt, but I do lurk. ;-))

Hey Kim;
"who knew Okra could get over a foot"

Tha bright side; look at all that free seed!

I'll bet that was 'Longhorn Okra'. Sequee said one of her long okra pods got woody, but the DGer who sent me seed said that they stay tender even when long, and he suggested stuffing them with cheese like chiles rellanjos.

LOL, Blooms -- this is fun thread to lurk on!

Here are those crazy Burgundy Okra.

We spent part of today picking: tomatoes, beans, spaghetti squash, eggplant and edamame (the ones that didn't die) Then I went through and pruned the jungle AKA the tomato plants. I just kept cutting and cutting, doesn't even look like I did anything! I hope that helps what is there ripen instead of producing more blooms.

Next is the pole beans, the lima's are looking like they need some attention - yea! I hope the Christmas lima's are ready soon, they are my favorite.

-Kim

Fry me up some of that okra wouldja please?

;~)

TC

Today's hard work has produced this. Now what!?! More sauce, blanching and freezing - maybe selling...

I am starting Esthetician (skin care) school in the AM. Yes, my first day of school:) I am a mite nervous as I will be much older than the other students (I am assuming this). Haven't been to school in 14 years and didn't like it much the first time around. Here in MD it takes 600 hours before you can take the state tests for licensing. I am going M-Thurs 9 to 3 and it will take 5 months. Also, I had to give up delivering Meals on Wheels and that is a bummer. I will go by and say goodbye this week.

Good news, looks like I am going to the Winterthur garden sale this weekend with nminmd AKA Nancy!

-Kim

We made sure to meet up with Darrell on our travels to New Brunswick. I have been following his thread about starting a garden market http://dg.davesgarden.com/forums/t/535526/ and the Tower of Beans http://dg.davesgarden.com/forums/t/518961/. What a nice guy!! We also met his friend AJ who was full of local information and was happy to see that Darrell''s "online friends" from DG were real, LOL

We had the best time chatting and traipsing around his gardens. The picture is of a quite large Diakon radish I just couldn't resist picking. He was very nice and let me pick wax beans for ourselves. Then John went and sold them to one of Darrell's customers and I had to pick more! We came away with beans, radishes, jams and jellies and new friends!! oh and mosquito bites - they don't tell you that in the vacation brochures. What fun! Darrell has the pumpkins like crazy there and his corn is almost ready - I was hoping. He also told me where to get a cheap scale on ebay, ours only goes to 6 pounds and has TARE but not an add on feature. What do I know? The one I bought is for baking a million years ago.

Thanks Darrell - wish it could have been a longer visit-next time!
-Kim

This message was edited Sep 26, 2005 4:55 PM

Wow, what a haul! We're just starting to pick a few tomatoes here again (that foliage disease slowed us down), and my eggplants aren't doing much, so LMK if you set up the stand again -- I'll come by & buy you out! :-)

We're doing peppers like crazy here... DH helped me seed habs yesterday, enough for about a quart of puree, and I did a quart or so of minced 'Bulgarian Carrot' and 'Fish' pepper. I'm going to do a few more today, and then I'm going to switch to stringing & drying them. I have a peck or two of sweet peppers, too, so I may do another round of pickled peppers today...

I'm glad you & Darrell got to meet up! What fun!

Hope your first day of classes goes well! Maybe you'll stop in afterwards & tell me about it. I won't make you help cut up peppers, honest. ;-)

Kim, welcome back.

Looks like you had a lot of fun on your vacation. Boy, the biggest daikons I grew down here were about 1/4 the size of the one pictured. Your harvest above looks real good for not being tended to while you were gone.

Good luck with your new schooling venture. I'll bet you won't have as much fun as you did down here at UM! Have a nice day,

Flip

Sounds a lovely trip Kim. I loved New Brunswick on my one visit there. Darrell looks to be a cheerful friendly fellow, ain't it nice to meet our DG friends? and I never saw a radish that looked anything like that. Amazing.

and to that event, Hi! Critterologist, Hi! TC. I smile ever' time I think of the RU
~Blooms

I just grinned from ear to ear too Blooms! Thanks. We all had such fun there at Candee's and Steve's.

(Kim never did say if she'd fry me up some okra. And I know how she feels 'bout bein the oldest one in class.)

TC

every year i kid my wife and tell her that i am going to set up a table in the front of my house and sell all the extra vegetable plants which i grow from seeds. i always seem to have more than i know what to do with. maybe next year i will. i thought i cvould put a big jar on the table with a sign that reads, "honor system" $3.00 per plant. by then the plants would be in 4 inch containers. she says i'm crazy. lol

Here I was, waiting and waiting for this thread to pop up on the opening home page so I could say "HI" and glad you made it home safely. But, it never popped up. It wasn't untill now, that I saw the thread. I forgot to add it to my "watch list" . LOL

It was really great having you and John here. I wish you could have stayed longer too. If you come up again, like next year? (hoping you can), I'll make sure I have room for you two. It would be great to spend a little more time with both of you.

Yeah......they don't tell you about the mosquito's here, do they. They're really bad up here. I thought about getting one of those gas operated things that attract them and then kill them, but I haven't heard enough about them to know if they really work. For sure, there is a major mosquito problem up here.

I hope everyone gets the opportunity to meet Kim and John. They are very nice people and very gracious people. I'd have to say they are "well rounded" individuals and I'm very proud to know them both.

Cheers

Darrell

I've had the pleasure of meetin them both in person Darrell. I'm sure it'd be a pleasure meetin you too.

TC