What Did You Do In The Garden?

[seedcorn]

My wife purchased a canteloupe at the grocery store about a week ago. Rather large { for a cantaloupe }, firm, rather light in color and not quite ripe. So she left it on the kitchen counter to ripen. Yesterday , it had a soft spot show up, so she cut it up. It had a pleasant sweetish taste, but the flesh was quite FIRM and HARD. My wife had to cut the flesh about a half inch away from the rind due to the firmness of the flesh or risk cutting herself. Taste was only OK, but the loss of volume of eating ... NOT so good! I guess they value shipping quality over taste and loss of available eating.

Yes, shipping quality is #1 priority. Otherwise the commercial growers would have all this produce and nowhere to sell it. Want quality, has to be home grown. Even some (commercial) farm markets buy from suppliers that ship. Consumer just pays a higher price for the privilege of buying there vs super market. IF farm market can’t show you the fields, odds are same product that comes from a supplier super market.

 

[digitS']

IF farm market can’t show you the fields, odds are same product that comes from a supplier super market

I joined a group of local growers to demand an end to competition from resellers, when I sold produce at a "farmers' market." It was one thing to bring out-of-season produce in from a thousand miles away in May, quite a different thing to be selling boxes of tomatoes and peaches in August and September.

We were sympathic to the desire by the market to meet the expectations of consumers and to have a long season of operation but the resellers would sometimes pick up fruit and vegetables at a produce company and return what hadn't sold in the afternoon. Competition was with the wholesale outfits.

I once asked the primary reseller why he would bring in tomatoes when the local folks had so many in their booths. He said that he would pray about it. Management asked him to voluntarily comply to only out-of-season produce. He refused and management promptly gave up. The following season, nearly all the local growers left for another market. The original folded, despite government grants and free use of buildings, within 4 years.

I had a member of the new market's board of directors visit my gardens. Was nearly a full day since they were in 3 different locations .

Steve

 

[heirloomgal]

I joined a group of local growers to demand an end to competition from resellers, when I sold produce at a "farmers' market." It was one thing to bring out-of-season produce in from a thousand miles away in May, quite a different thing to be selling boxes of tomatoes and peaches in August and September.

We were sympathic to the desire by the market to meet the expectations of consumers and to have a long season of operation but the resellers would sometimes pick up fruit and vegetables at a produce company and return what hadn't sold in the afternoon. Competition was with the wholesale outfits.

I once asked the primary reseller why he would bring in tomatoes when the local folks had so many in their booths. He said that he would pray about it. Management asked him to voluntarily comply to only out-of-season produce. He refused and management promptly gave up. The following season, nearly all the local growers left for another market. The original folded, despite government grants and free use of buildings, within 4 years.

I had a member of the new market's board of directors visit my gardens. Was nearly a full day since they were in 3 different locations .

Steve

What kind of produce did you sell?

 

[heirloomgal]

DW & I went out to the rural garden expecting to pick-and-run; but a nice breeze made the heat tolerable, so we stayed there for the afternoon. DW was harvesting the 2nd cutting of water spinach; I harvested gherkins, okra, and dry seed. The gherkins are really starting to produce, so they need to be picked at least every 2 days now... but I'm letting the three fruits with the fewest spines mature, in hope that I can improve the variety over time.

The first better melon (Taiwan Large) has finally begun to ripen. This is a seed renewal, so we won't eat any of these unless/until we have saved enough seed.
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A few ears of the Painted Mountain corn were mostly dry, so with rain due tomorrow, brought them safely indoors to dry further. It looks like all of the Painted Mountain will be drying down, just about the same time the Miracle sweet corn is ready.
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All of the tomatoes have begun to ripen, both at home & in the rural garden. Those in the rural garden are stunted, but will bear enough to replenish seed with a little extra. Fortunately, tomato salsa was not on the calendar this year. Salsa Verde is planned though, and it looks like there will be plenty of tomatillos.

Are the red cherry looking things in the melon seeds?

 

[seedcorn]

I joined a group of local growers to demand an end to competition from resellers, when I sold produce at a "farmers' market." It was one thing to bring out-of-season produce in from a thousand miles away in May, quite a different thing to be selling boxes of tomatoes and peaches in August and September.

We were sympathic to the desire by the market to meet the expectations of consumers and to have a long season of operation but the resellers would sometimes pick up fruit and vegetables at a produce company and return what hadn't sold in the afternoon. Competition was with the wholesale outfits.

I once asked the primary reseller why he would bring in tomatoes when the local folks had so many in their booths. He said that he would pray about it. Management asked him to voluntarily comply to only out-of-season produce. He refused and management promptly gave up. The following season, nearly all the local growers left for another market. The original folded, despite government grants and free use of buildings, within 4 years.

I had a member of the new market's board of directors visit my gardens. Was nearly a full day since they were in 3 different locations .

Steve

Good to read but even out of season are the same as super market-just higher priced. Any time you see produce out of season or unripe, it’s super market produce-which may not be bad, it’s just not what was advertised.

 

[digitS']

What kind of produce did you sell?

The regular sort that was available at the moment from any local garden. Flowers were also important. The higher value veggies were those that might be in a salad. Storage vegetables brought little income per square foot so I didn't focus on them except for our home use.

The time that the a reseller really slammed us was when I thought to grow some iceberg lettuce. It wasn't something that I thought too much of and, it really is important to sell what you like so that you share in the customers' enthusiasm. Fortunately, I didn't have all that much iceberg lettuce but partly because my gardens don't have the best conditions for lettuce, of any kind. It was a chance and I gave it a try.

Anyway, they grew well. Wow! Off we go ... the reseller put a sign out 2 booths down - "free head of lettuce with any purchase." Took care of any $ coming back from that growing effort.

Yes. We were competing with every supermarket on every farmers' market day. Tough go but I had large gardens and surplus produce decades before we decided that DW & DD might enjoy selling it.

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

Are the red cherry looking things in the melon seeds?

The red is the fleshy aril that surrounds each seed. It is slimy, but sweet & edible... the seed is not. I've separated the aril from the seeds in one of two ways.

If I only have a few, I spread the seeds out on newsprint, and place them somewhere they will dry quickly. When the aril has dried, it will stick to the paper, and the seed can be peeled out cleanly.

If processing a lot of seed (as I did today) I place them in a bucket of water & beat them briskly with a wire whisk, until all of the arils have separated. Most of the seeds float; I skim them off the top with a large wire strainer. Then I can either pick out the seeds (as I did today) or spread them out on newsprint, stirring until most of the arils have stuck to the paper... at which point I can gently pour off the clean seed.

 

[flowerbug]

picked tomatoes this morning, picked dry beans and weeded until it was time for lunch, shelled and oogled some beans, waited until things cooled off and then put up the first eight quarts of tomatoes for the season.

the tomatoes were not the kind i'm used to processing, they were hard even if they looked ripe. they processed very easy. the problem i had with them was that they pretty much tasted like grocery store tomatoes. for sure we won't be growing these again.

i'll let the next picking stay on the vine a few more days but i'm not sure they're going to improve all that much.

 

[Phaedra]

Again a rainy Sunday (so much rain this year, 35-40% more than year 2020), we have a breakfast in the garden shed.

 

[seedcorn]

Again a rainy Sunday (so much rain this year, 35-40% more than year 2020), we have a breakfast in the garden shed.

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Nice “shed”! Not what I’d term a shed...