Farm Stand

Farm Stand

It's been seven weeks since the start of our farm stand. With the exception of last week, which was abysmally slow, it's been going surprisingly well for a poorly advertised, back street vegetable stand. The question is, was last week a fluke, or was it a sign of things to come now that it's summertime? Kids are out of school, so less pick-up traffic (we are right around the corner from John Wister Elementary). Time will tell I guess.

The nice thing about having a stand at the garden is that I can still get some work done if nobody shows up, although I'm not sure just how dirty I'm allowed to get before patrons are turned off. A possible fine line between authentic farmer charm and dirt-and-sweat-near-food gross out. Maybe stick to tying tomatoes and other duties that don't have me on all fours in the dirt on a 95 degree day in between sales.

My mom comes up every week to help me set up and she stays for an hour or two, depending on the heat (we are opposites in that regard, I'm afraid. She she starts melting at 85, 80 with humidity). People always seem very pleased to meet her. I think it's cute for them to see the two of us there together. She's also painting us a giant, beautiful sign for the gate (imagine that, a name posted out front and everything). As soon as she finishes it I'll post a picture of it. It's going to be great.

The refrigerator repair man is here now, to take a look at our Traulsen commercial fridge that's been either freezing everything or reaching a minimum temperature of 82 degrees, depending on the day. Here's hoping we don't have to squeeze everything into that tiny little fridge for much longer.

Women Infant Children

Today someone from the PA department of Agriculture came to make sure I was growing food so he could approve me to accept WIC checks. Approved!! Starting in June (which I guess is when they start giving them out) we will be accepting WIC farmers market checks at our stand. I even get my very own stamp with my very own vendor number on it. This operation is just getting more and more legitimate (and cost prohibitive?) by the day.

Systems

Mulching first, then planting is the best idea I've had in a while. It's a huge time saver.

For example, I used to plant a tray of peppers into bare soil, align the irrigation perfectly, then put salt hay down in between and around all of the plants, careful not to cover up their stems. Today, I laid salt hay over the entire bed and irrigation lines, then simply put the pepper into the hay, brushing excess hay out of the way with my hand. This is probably something a lot of people do. It takes me a while to get a good system down.

Revision: It's 2013 now, and I've changed my mind about this whole issue. I was really excited about this at the time, because it meant that I didn't have to reach around the plants with tiny stacks of straw, tucking it under leaves and getting it all over the place. However, pre-mulching the bed presents a problem that I think is bigger than the one it solves: irrigation. All of the irrigation is below the mulch. If I turn the drip line on at the time of planting, and I wait to mulch, I can plant each head of lettuce exactly at a drip site, so that each plant is being irrigated directly. If I mulch first, I can't see the drip so I can't plant accordingly. I should mention that my drip system is not so great, and if a plant is a few inches off the hole, it might suffer. So, back to old systems I guess.