Market Farming

["Hook Family" <guldann AT ix.netcom.com>]

Jeanine, I missed your post first time around, don't know why.  Wow you grow
some interesting things.  I grew lemon grass this past summer I loved it.  I
am in New England so I can't leave it out all winter.  I read in a book
simply dig it up plop it in a bucket water it only rarely (its dormant) and
replant in the spring where it will get a jump on the growing season (as
opposed to last year when I started it from seed).  In Ms can you leave it
out all winter?
I went as far as purchasing yard long beans never planted them :), I have
planted soybeans for two years now yum yum.  And easy to grow.
Flower seeds are the things that tempt me and I haven't finished my seed
order, Celosia you say? :).
I have planted fingerlings for 2 years on a very small scale they grow fine
just like reg. potatoes.  Of course they are much smaller.  I would think
you should get more per pound than reg. potatoes.  All our veggies are
marketed via our CSA so can't help with retail price.  In fact haven't grown
enough of them to really pass out to entire membership (yes hoarded a few).
They are very tasty.  I cooked some for my father boiled I think with
something (meat) and my sister had some of the left overs she told my father
these potatoes are really good my father told her they were finger potatoes
she simply thought they were small potatoes.  She doesn't live local but
shops at a farmers market I can see her next year buying some.
How much per lb do you charge for yardlong beans, and okra.  Speaking of
okra I am going to try it this year, don't laugh I have never cooked it.
Any tips.  I love to try a new veggie especially when it turns out well.
Soybeans were like that, new and easy to grow and yum.
How many stems and at what price were your flowers?
As in all years I am toying with some farm stand sales.  5 years ago it
would have been silly, I would have sat there and watched an empty road.
But a public transportation train stop went in right down the bottom of my
street, traffic has increased.  Getting commuters to stop at a farm stand in
the evening?  I don't know, but I believe 100+ cars go by between 5-8 and
I'd like to think they've noticed that they drive by a beautiful :) working
farm and wow a farm stand (cart) has opened :).
Good luck to you Beth in New England where it is snowing, supposed to quit
by noon.

> few times, just to see how things worked. I grew and sold Calabash gourds
> (edible) one of my biggest sellers, lemon grass, yardlong beans, okra,
> squash, tomatoes, peppers, basil, baby corn, and Japanese eggplant, and
> oriental melon. I planted one pack of soybeans, made only a few hills, so
the
> family just ate them. Planted broad beans, waited to late in the season to
> plant these, so they didn't make, and azuki beans, deer ate them. I lean
more
> toward the oriental vegetables, because there is a large Asian community
in
> Biloxi, and I see that there is a good market for them. Also this market
has
> been there for about 18 years and the customers are pretty loyal to the
> longtime farmers, and it would be hard to break in just selling the usual
> veggies, I think. Also, I like to grow different things. This year I will
be
> including Hyacinth beans, winged beans, bitter gourd, edible amaranth,
> perilla and several other different veggies>
snip
 Watch 4/11/01 about fingerling potatoes, it was very favorable. I order a
big
> percentage of my seeds from Johnny's Selected Seed catalog and they have
the
> fingerling potatoes, but I will need to order them before January 18th,
> (times running out) because I live in the deep south, we plant earlier
than
> most folks, because it gets so hot here. I don't plan on growing and
selling
> just Asian vegetables and would like to have a variety of different
things. I
> plan on also growing some cut flowers, last year I planted flamingo
feather
> celosia, pampas plume celosia and chief mix celosia, I mixed a bundle of
them
> together and took them to the market last year, with no sleeves on them,
just
> a rubber band holding them together and they sold within 30 minutes. No
one
> sells cut flowers at this market, but this year I will properly make a
> bouquet with the sleeves and filler, not just flower stems. I don't want
to
> give a bad name to cut flower growers, by having sloppy looking bouquets.
I
> have purchased several cut flower books, so maybe with their help I will
be
> able to make them properly. I will stop rambling on now, and look forward
to
> any response about my post, even if its just a quick, "I don't grow those
> potatoes."