The Farmers' Market here in town begins outside on the square May 5th this year. They have had an indoor market going on throughout the winter also. I will not make my appearance until Saturday May 19th. For the first couple of months, I will have only perennial starts. This will include pink and white honeysuckle, a couple of different hostas, yellow trumpet vine, white or pink rose of sharon, an outdoor bamboo, and also possibly lily of the valley and maybe some lettuce plants both leaf and butter head. Once I begin getting some vegetable yield I will bring those things also! Let me know here if you're interested in any of the plants I have so far and I'll let you know what the prices will be. I will do another blog on my first day experience selling at the market. I hope eventually to make gardening/farming a full time job.
Next up is my garden update! So far my dad has had to do the majority of planting because I injured my back at work. But here is what has been planted so far. Tomatoes, potatoes, peas, carrots, onions, beets, radishes, giant chard, rainbow chard, collard greens, kale, turnips and a early corn variety. So far, the sprouts I have up are onions, peas, and tomatoes. The others will sprout quickly if we get a few warm days! Here are the onions I just checked on this morning.
Now for the chickens! I will be ordering 12 baby chicks today. All hens. I've decided not to get a rooster at this time. They can unexpectedly turn very aggressive on the owner and one of the only ways to deal with it, is to cull (kill) it. Since I'm a vegetarian and I'm only getting the chickens for the eggs I do not want to do that. So, for now (until I figure an alternative to dealing with this) I will not be getting a rooster. The types of hens I'll get are Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Welsummer, and Delaware. The chicken coop is all ready to paint, I am just waiting on a day warm enough to do this. Once its all ready I will write a blog on all of the repairs that were made and a few photos of it along the way! The chicks won't be here until June 18th so I've got plenty of time. I am looking forward to everything this summer has to offer! All of the vegetables, the chickens and the farmers' market! I will keep blogging and updating along the way. Thanks again in advance for reading!
Hi Amy!
ReplyDeleteHopes things continue to go well. Would you mind sharing more about what you had to do to become trained to do the famer's market? Just curious what that was like. Thanks and good luck!
Hey Holly! It was really easy actually! It could be different in your county...but for me all I had to do was attend a free 2 hour Quality Assurance seminar. We went over the rules and regulations of the Mt Vernon Farmers' Market. I am not permitted to sell crafts but if you want to sell crafts you have to get a vendor's license. Also you have to live within 25 miles of the MtV square to allowed to sell. At the end of the seminar we received our cards. Really informal because there are no federal laws about being "trained" at the farmers market level. Thanks for reading and for the question!!
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