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brookw_gw

ornamentals

brookw_gw
12 years ago

How many of you do ornamentals--flowers,gourds, corns, etc? I always get very mixed results with these and am considering dropping them. Occasionally, at the markets, these do very well. It's the same with local flower shops. However, my online customers and restaurants only seem to want edibles. Two years ago, I ended up with 20 extra bushels of gourds. Many of these we sanded, painted or stained, and turned into art or assorted houses. They are like the flowers--sometimes great--most of the time not. What are your results with these?

Comments (8)

  • myfamilysfarm
    12 years ago

    I agree, Brook, the ornamentals don't do as well as the edibles, but they are an added attractions. Personally, I'm adding flowers and more ornamentals, due to couple of friends selling bouquets. I hope to supply them some.

    When I have extra gourds, I send them into the grandkids classrooms for halloween/thanksgiving decorations. The smooth ones can be made into Christmas ornaments. Another good place is the Girl/Cub Scouts for their crafts. It's a helping hand to them, and they are sure to announce "Thank you to xxxx for donating the gourds", some of them actually ask their parents to be sure to try to shop us.

    Marla

  • 2fennelshirts
    12 years ago

    I do a few different grouds: autumn wings,caveman,birdhouse,speckled swan, and apple. They really aren't worth the time, but they are easy to pick and load up for an attraction. I do the same thing as Marla, give them to the boy n girl scouts or to some little kids that can't stop looking at them. I use to paint some up, but no one wants to pay any $ for them (alot of time to this) since they can buy the plastic ones at wallyworld etc. for next to nothing.
    Deb

  • randy41_1
    12 years ago

    speckled swans sell. i get $5. but i've got a pile of cavemans clubs sitting on the porch. this year its just going to be speckled swans. i grew the smaller ones for a couple of years and they sold ok. i have kudzu growing here and made kudzu baskets a couple of years ago. they sold well. had no time to make them this past year.

  • magz88
    12 years ago

    There is only one other vendor who sells flowers at our market, oh and one that just sells glads. Since there isn't competition we do cut flowers and potted flowers because they sell. Next year I will be growing a lot for drying. There is no one that sells them at our market.

    We don't have room to grow gourds, corn or any woody ornamentals.

    I am going to do sweet grass this year as a trial.

  • myfamilysfarm
    12 years ago

    I don't think I could sell the cave man, or not many. Maybe a frat, but not sure even about them.

    The swans, I've see with bonnets and aprons, I could sell some, but not many either.

    I'm trying the snake gourds, you can eat them when same, like zucchini, and use them as gourds (walking sticks) when mature.

    Marla

  • jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
    12 years ago

    I sold sweet dumplings as edible ornamentals this year. Next year I am planning on adding the Carnival variety. The orange mini pumpkins sold ok, but the sweet dumplings sold better, strange!

    Jay

  • myfamilysfarm
    12 years ago

    I personally like the different shades of color on the dumplings. That might be why. Plus alot of people know about they being edible along with ornamental.

    I always sell more variable colored squash than one-color ones.

    Marla

  • henhousefarms
    12 years ago

    We sell quite a few decorative gourds each year - mostly small, nasty looking things (wings, wartys and little orange things that look like pumpkins) but the return is pretty small ($.75 ea or 3/$2.00). Give quite a few away, too. Little kids are always enamoured with them and usually if you give a kid one the parent feels obligated to buy something off the table (just writing this makes me feel like a snake-oil salesman). We also grow some of the larger gourds (Lunch Ladies, Turk's Turbans, birdhouse and the like) but there is a limited market for them. Now edibles do sell well - especially Sweet Lightning and Carnival/Celibration. I almost always try to tell people that after they enjoy looking at them they can eat them. We have done the dried thing but they sold poorly. We have a few around the shed from a couple years ago and will take them if someone asks but do not keep on the table. Dad wound up taking a bunch to the art teacher at school a couple years ago (dried birdhouses and swans mostly) which seemed better than stomping over them every time we needed something out of the back of the shed.

    One of the nice things about the markets we do is they are pretty good about letting us sprall out, especially in the fall when the pumpkins are selling. A good display sure makes people stop and look at your other produce.

    Tom

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