School is Now in Session

This past Sunday, I broke my Farmer's Market "innocence".  I'm now a grizzled vet of the 10' x 10' space of parking lot in hopes of selling my goods to consumers of the Tigard area.  That's probably an exaggeration.  I certainly had a lot to learn on the first day.  So much to take in and process; it was quite overwhelming. 

The day couldn't have been more idyllic, in that it rained the entire time the market was open.  Of course, it stopped once the market closed.  The first one couldn't have happened any other way, right?  Still, thru the rain and somewhat gusty wind, I made a few sales here and there and actually made my rent.  I was delighted to reach that, given weather and my limited (re: zilch) knowledge about how to set up a space at a market.

I showed up with two tables and 20 flats of plants.  Not much in the way of signs or advertisement to be had, as I wasn't even sure what I would do.  After seeing other vendors spaces, it became clear I need to highlight my specialties in a far more robust manner. 
1) I have a ton of pepper varieties, but I left some at home (mainly the sweet varieties).  Those, of course, were the ones that people asked about.  I have to remember that most people are more fond of sweet peppers than spicy ones...unlike me.
2) I realized after browsing that my prices were a bit high compared to other vendors.  I don't need to undercut anyone, just pull in line with the other folks.
3) My organization on the tables needs some work.  I need to put the valued product like basil, tomatoes, & peppers as the first thing that people see, not sunflowers and lettuce.
4) I need to cut way back on the flowers, lettuce, and non-basil herbs.  Even with the small sample size, most people wanted (or were at least curious about) tomatoes, peppers, and basil. 

In many ways, I was lucky to have my first day be so rainy.  While it was cold and miserable standing underneath my canopy, I essentially got a free day of school.  Instead of having a crush of people on a nice sunny day, I was able to walk around and observe a bit of how I could adapt my space to better suit potential customers.  I was also able to bend the ear of a couple vendors and get some advice on how to improve as well.  All in all, it was a fantastic day.

Then, I went home and potted up more plants.  The last of the tomatoes and peppers are now outside and getting hardened off to go into a warming garden near you.  Also, lots of basil now coming into maturity.  Sweet, Mammoth Sweet, Genovese, Italian Large Leaf, Serata, Red Lettuce Leaf, Red Rubin, Purple Ruffles, Cinnamon, Thai, Indian, Christmas, Clove, Holy Red & Green, African Tree, Lemon, and Lime basils are ready (or, are very close.)

It's kind of sad, actually.  Not much left in the basement these days.  I'll plant a few more flats of greens and some squash/cukes/melons, but this really is the wind-down period for planting stuff indoors.  One by one the lights are being turned off as they aren't needed anymore.  Only 15 flats in a possible 32 spaces remain.  That will continue to shrink this week as I move more basil and marigolds out. 

Here's hoping that the weather is a bit better this weekend.  I'm ready for a crush of people.  I would love to sell out of plants.  It sure beats throwing them into the compost bin.  If you are in the neighborhood and are having a hankering for some peppers, tomatoes, basil (and/or kettle korn), come on out to the market.  It's pretty easy to find in the parking lot of Young's Funeral Home.

Take care, everyone.  Hope your week has been going well.

cheers,
Zach

Is This Make-Up Weather?

After tormenting us for the better part of six months, has La Nina begun to subside?  A couple 70 degree days in a week is one helluva way to make up for stepping out on us in April.  I even planted a few tomatoes as a celebration of the wonderful change in temps.  Of course, that may be a bit premature, but I've got my plastic handy if the rains decide to set in again.

I want to thank everyone that came out to the sale on Sunday.  That was a great time and I was happy to meet a some new people.  I hope your plants become everything you hope for and more.  While I love starting plants, nothing will give me more joy or a bigger smile than someone who said that their tomato or pepper exceeded expectations.  Like a proud father, I'll be.

I do have one note of regret, however.  In my obsession to start as many plants as I have, I've over-run my capacities to protect them.  As such, I've built one greenhouse after another as way to keep them outside, yet somewhat sheltered from the elements.  In doing so, I've taken up space in my garden that I normally would be now planting things in.  It's a bit ironic, really.  I began growing starts as a way to make my garden more interesting and fun.  Now, they are a bit of an inhibitor of the original desire to do them in the first place.  C'est la vie, non?

***

So, I decided to tempt fate.  Some time ago, I put up a post detailing my amazing luck with the Early Jalapeno's germinating at 100%.  I couldn't just stop there, now, could I?  Hell no!  Like a derelict gambler, I had to put it all on red.

In my last wave of peppers I started, I planted twelve more EJ seeds.  Amazingly, they all came up.   Well, except for one.  I waited a few extra days longer to see if I would get it to pop from the soil, even a sickly/weak one would qualify for 100% germination.  Alas, it was not to be.  I ended the year 43 out 44 - good for 98%.  Great, but not perfection.  Sigh.


***
It does look like the rain is coming back for the weekend which is a shame.  After taking in the warmth today and watching all of Portlandia come out of the cave to jog, walk, bike, bbq, and generally rollick in the streets, it's tough to go back to the unpleasantness from before (I'll just refer to it as the month that shall not be named.)  Yet, this little warm patch sure gives hope.  Refreshing hope.

Take care everyone - here's to the sunny days and warming soils.  Please email me if you want something tomato-y or pepper-y or lettuce-y or basil-y to stick in those warming soils - winonafarms@gmail.com.

Cheers,
Zach