A story from my youth | Main | Oh, wow! There are a ton of heirloom tomato seeds out there!
January 24, 2008
I've been kinda busy trying to figure out what to grow!
One of John's fellow Rotarians, Bill, runs a truck farm. He and his wife, Joy, grow herbs, heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes and cut flowers for the Farmer's Market in Leavenworth and for some restaurants. On top of that, they have developed a list of people who get weekly deliveries of veggies and flowers during the season.
I'm a really long way from that! However, I went to a Rotary lunch with John yesterday so I could talk to Bill. Gosh, he really made me feel like I can do this - nowhere near his scale to start, but I will be able to do this!
So, I've been "talking" to other Market Growers on forums, mostly from http://wwwdavessgarden.com - a wonderful website for anyone who wants information and discussions on all possible gardening subjects, including farming, horses, pets, goats, poultry, selling your produce, crafts, arts, etc. It's well worth the annual subscription fee to be able to ask all these folks questions about anything! If you do not get a subscription, you can still read everything.
Anyway, I'm going to be figuring out what to grow in the next few days. I think I'll post links to the on-line catalogs and the items I like and get your opinions - what you need to consider is ease of care and what you think I can get at Market for the produce. Maybe we could make it like a football pool, only with no money involved, just the glory of getting it right!
Anyway, I have also been busy preparing this great Irish Stew recipe I found on the web. It smells wonderful while cooking! This is the second time I've done this one. Naturally, I take the recipe as a suggestion. I added more wine, mushrooms, more carrots, more onions and fewer potatoes and more beef. I'll probably go ahead and make some biscuits, too. Biscuits are always good with stew!
Look for my list of possible plants tomorrow!
Posted by Beth at January 24, 2008 4:13 PM
Comments
Grow some gourds too; birdhouse and dippers are easy to grow, especially over a trellis of hog-panels. You don't harvest them in the fall, but leave them in the garden to dry over the winter. A great item to sell to crafters.
Posted by: Gary at January 24, 2008 8:50 PM
Thanks, Gary! That's a great idea, I think I'll do that.
Posted by: Beth at January 25, 2008 4:28 AM
Beth,
Grow the heirloom tomatos and consider some sweet corn. Big sellers at the Market. My understanding of the local Farmer's Market is that it is costly to get a booth and quite political in terms of who gets to play. Research carefully.
BTW, Irish Stew is a lamb stew. Irish Beef Stew sounds quite interesting and I would love to see John ingesting Guiness in that manner. Of course with a dame line Donovan it should be like mother's milk to him.
Posted by: JimC at January 25, 2008 10:32 AM
Dame line? Dame line?
Oh, wait - name like...
Her stew is *wondrous* delicious. I actually got myself a cup of the broth/gravy all by itself...
Mmmmm Mmmmm Good!
Posted by: John of Argghhh! at January 25, 2008 6:17 PM
Irish Stew is fantastic. It's really hard to stuff up as well and doesn't have to be as ingredient complex as the recipe provided. Hmm maybe i can make some come winter. Mashed potatoes. Stew. Extra Beer. A bit more beer. mashed stew beered potersumthings. did shumwun shay beer?
I wonder if we have one of those slow cookers. Hmm .
Posted by: Trias at January 25, 2008 10:45 PM
Sweet corn. Hm, if you have no raccoons nearby, maybe.
Grow green beans and sweet peas. Good constant yield and great return on investment work wise. Some hoeing.
Get a Troy Bilt. You'll need it.
Posted by: og at January 26, 2008 7:30 PM