Market Farming

["Adriana" <gutierrez-lagatta AT charter.net>]

Marcy,
Yes, once the flowers are cooled down and begin to soften a bit and re-close 
you can easily pack into clamshells...you can transport the clamshells in a 
cooler as well.
> Thanks for all the great tips Adriana! Do you transport in the cooler and
> then repack into clamshells?

Definitely leave the fruit on
> Leigh, I had one guy that saw all my little squashes and asked if I could
> bring blossoms. While we were talking about how he was going to fix them
> several others overheard and then the next week several others noticed the
> blossoms waiting for this guy to pick them up. I wouldn't be surprised if
> there was something on a cooking show though!

The other suggestion to cut "ripe" buds late in the day is a good one too - 
I've done that as well and the benefits are:
- No bugs and bees, etc. inside the blossoms
- Easier to harvest and handle without tearing
- Cleaner flowers
- Easier to pack
- You can pick in the late afternoon for a morning market
You can tell they are "ripe" because you can see the orange color of the 
petals.  In fact, if you put the buds  in a glass of water and leave them on 
the counter they will open the next day.  You can also transport and display 
them in plastic cups with water.

The one negative is that they don't seem to open quite as big as when they 
are allowed to open naturally....