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Did you learn anything new this year?
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Posted by herbgardener (My Page) on Mon, Sep 14, 09 at 13:06
Just wondering if anyone tried to sell something new, if so, what was it and was it a success or failure.
For the record, I tried asparagus peas. They were prolific but awful - ended up pulling. Also tried the rainbow carrot mix. Ended up getting white carrots that looked like parsnips and the rest average size. Would plant each colour separately next year. Tried the mignon carrot and it was really nice and stayed uniform in size.
Also did different cherry tomatoes - Ildi, Sugary and Black Cherry were the best a definite keeper for next year.
It is always trial and error and weather certainly plays such a big role but in the end it feels really good when someone says how much they love your product or how great your garden looks. Then all the hard work seems worthwhile. |
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RE: Did you learn anything new this year?
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I also tried a mix of cherry tomatoes and it sold very well. People loved them and kept coming back for more. I had Black Cherry, IsIs Candy, and Dr. Carolyn. The Black Cherry is a for sure for next year and I will probably grow the others also. I also plan to grow some other different ones to add to the mix. Was planning on trying the yellow, red, and black pear tomatoes next year for a mix. I think people would really like those too.
 People always love our colored peppers, and were especially crazy about our purple ones (Islander from Johnnys). The purple ones sold out every week, and is another thing people just kept coming back for. I plan to grow those next year and add another purple variety also (different shade of purple). I also grew one type of green sweet pepper and people loved that also. I plan to grow other types of sweet peppers next year. I grew Bush Baby Zucchini (from Johnnys) and that seemed to do pretty well. Didn’t grow too many of them since it was just a trial, but next year I plan to grow more of them.
 In the spring our salad mixes did really really well. We did not plant any fall lettuces and greens though because we have big plans for the area we plant them in and are going to be working on putting up a hoophouse, and rearranging everything. No one else at our market sells lettuce and greens which is why I think they sell so well for us.
 Well those were some of my biggest successes and I will have to post again about what some of my failures were. |
RE: Did you learn anything new this year?
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| We grew about 8 varieties of small fruit tomatoes. People LOVED the assortment boxes. We did not have a good tomato year, tho. We also tried sweet corn, not good variety, need to buy more expensive seed, the cheap seed didn't taste very good. Also planted cantalope and watermelon very late, still waiting to find out IF they will ripen before frost. Also, arranged with our 3 kids (33,31,and 28) to 'help' and are still trying to figure out how to be 'fair' with money and work. Some liked to do market and not gardening, and others just the opposite. Of course, everyone thought they had the 'hardest' job and deserved more money for their work. HELP!!! |
RE: Did you learn anything new this year?
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I learned that even though people beg you to plant more hot peppers for next year, they aren't always around to actually BUY those hot peppers. I've been picking about half a bushel of habaneros a week, and I think I'm going to take some to the produce auction next week and see how they do there.
I learned that drip irrigation is worth its' weight in gold if you have a 3 week dry spell with no rain!
I also learned that having 4 kinds of eggplant is better than 1, people want to try one of each at least once! |
RE: Did you learn anything new this year?
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| I managed to get sweet red peppers this year. In our climate, having time for them to ripen doesn't happen every year. Made red pepper jelly from them and it is a very hot commodity. I also started drip irrigation, making my own water lines from 1/2" pvc pipe that I drilled a 5/8" hole in every 10 or 11 inches. It was cheap, and worked like a charm. I also grew cabbages under floating row covers. I started them at the beginning of May, and put a one gallon milk jug full of water beside each one. They survived one night with 5" of snow, and at least eight or nine nights of frost. They were totally protected from the cabbage butterflies that usually destroy them. Third week of July I made saurkraut. For our growing zone, this is a remarkably early crop. Next year I'll use the row covers more, and may try them with tomatoes as well, at least early in the season when there is danger of frost. |
RE: Did you learn anything new this year?
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| Our late planting of cantalope and watermelon are just starting to ripen (frost warnings have been issued for north of us). Cantalope are ugly, but taste ok. Watermelon is doing fine, hope the temps will let them have 1-2 more weeks. We picked 1 last night, alittle underripe, but tastes wonderful. |
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