Market Stand is Underway

Well, you all know how I did with the "My Garden is Now Underway", and the time has come for me to put all of that gardening to good use. (Other than eat a lot)...... :)

After the new driveway was put in, lots of raking, then the fill dirt brought in, and lots of raking, and then the top soil, with still more raking, I finally got it looking half way decent.

I still have some landscaping to do and I haven't completely finished the stand, but here are a couple pictures of the progress of the vegetable stand.

Pic. 1

Pic. 2

Making great progress, Darrell. :)

Darrell
What a huge amount of work you have done!
Looking forward to seeing the finnished product.
Ann

Wonderfull job Darrell
Proud of you

It's looking good Darrell.

WOW - that is going to be beautiful filled with all your veggies! Thanks for sharing your progress.

-Kim

Thanks for the compliments everybody.

Today it rained so I didn't get to do much outside. I did manage to to pick a couple summer squash though. I immediately got the fry pan out and cooked them. LOL

I sure hope to get this stand open this coming weekend.

I talked with a guy for the sign, who said he would make the sign in exchange for fresh vegetables during the summer. When I went to pick it up, he hadn't even started it, and told me he forgot about it. So, I'm making my own sign. I'm not the best in the world, but at least I'll have something up there for people to see. (don't laugh when you see it. I'm hanging it on a swing set frame too. you can laugh at that. LOL)

Thanks again everybody.

Darrell

Best of luck, it's looking good.

Can't wait to see the finished booth full of your lovely vegetables, Darrell. Well done!

Finished the sign. I wanted "Script" print, but could only find "Block" print at the office supply store.

I did NOT paint the pictures on the sign. :)

I looked around the internet and found pictures I liked and then resized them so they would be large enough for the sign. Cut them out, spray glued the backs and now I need to find something to coat them so they will stand up to the rain.

Lookin' good Darrell.......now you will have to post pics of your tables laden with with the fruits of your labour.

Great looking sign, Darrell :)

You did great with the sign, Darrell! Love the veggies on it.

Why not go back with a small paint brush and fill in the gaps in the stencil outlines? It would read a little better from a distance.

I think I can connect the spaces in the letters. It was easy doing the stencil, just stay inside the line. Ha ha ha ha

OH! I am excited for you. Did you go to the bank for change?

-Kim

Good job on the sign Darrell.

Fantastic job on the sign Darrell. Lookin' good!

I'm going to "try" digging holes for 4x4 posts. If I can get through all the gravel and rock. If I can get through, I'll put the sign on the posts, rather than the swing set.

I also have an idea for putting other things next to my sign. They are smaller signs that will have things that I have that were picked fresh that same day. I'll show you what I mean later when I have them done.

I rather like the sign on the swing set.

I went back and filled in the letters tonight. Then I put a coat of sealer on it. I'll put more on tomorow morning.

Leave it on the swing, eh? I think it looks ok too, but I didn't know for sure.

Thanks again everybody for the great compliments. I'll have to tell you, I've worked hard on this and I'm still not real sure of myself. I hope the market goes ok.

I'll post some more as I go along. I hope to have it all done by Friday morning. (fingers crossed)

I'm curious to know what people think about me "Not" being open on Sunday's. Do you think I'll miss a lot of sales?

I don't have family near by and so I'm by meself. I wouldn't be missing any "quality time" with the family, is what I mean, if I "DID" open on Sunday's.

I don't know.....What do you all think?

(It would have to be after Church, if I had the Market opened) Maybe people go for rides in the country like they use to, I don't know.

Do what is right for you Darrell. Our store here in my town is not open on Sunday, they seem to be doing great.

Darrell:

I think people still do go for rides - why not try a couple Sunday afternoons to see what business is like? Then there won't be any guessing.

With so many families having both spouses working, sometimes Sunday is the only time they have to get out and drive around.

Can't wait to see your tomatoes and beans. I only have about 3 tomato plants, and so far the squirrels and raccoons have gotten them all - though I did manage to get a couple cukes.

I opened the Market yesterday. Even though I didn't get it up and running until about 11:30am, and then the rain came pouring down, and even though I didn't have the sign close enough to the road, (which, after the rain stopped, I moved closer to the road so it was more visable), I did pretty good.

I sold all my Green Beans & Wax Beans.
I sold some Broccoli, English Cucumbers, Green Onions, New Potatoes, Red Bell Peppers, Green Bell Peppers, Red Radhishes, White Radishes, Yellow Summer Squash (Zucchini) and one bunch of Carrots.

It all turned out to be fun and I really liked meeting the people and talking with them. They were all happy, at least I think they were, they were smiling as they left and most of them said they would see me later and or, now they know where they're going to buy the vegetables from now on.

I did get nervous when it came to running the adding machine though. I sort of got a mental block a couple times on how to operate it. LOL I just said to the customers, "Please bear with me" They were very understanding and said something like, "No Problem." Then I said, "Good! This may take a minute." We all laughed.

I felt bad that some of my things were all gone when a new customer would come. So, while they were paying for their vegetables, I mentioned to them that I would have Green Beans and Yellow Wax Beans in a couple days and that they had sold out fast. One person asked me to put asside a pound of each and she would stop by in a couple days to get them.

I think my prices are right where they should be. They are almost the same as the grocery stores. Although I am a bit higher.

I was taking the money from one lady and I said, "I don't bother with the penny's" when I told her how much she owed. She said, "Penny's add up to Dollars".

Today, after sleeping on it, I have to agree with her. Penny's DO add up to Dollars. Not only was this elderly lady nice looking, well kept, pleasant, and cheerful, she was smart too! God bless her.

I will post some pictures later.

Thank you EVERYBODY for your support. I wouldn't have been able to do this with the ease I did it with if it hadn't been for you, the D-mails and the support you've given me in these Threads.

Cheers!

Darrell

This message was edited Aug 6, 2005 8:29 AM

Good for you Darrell. We are all rootin for ya.

Yay, Darrell!!!

Darrell...

Ok,

Here's a few pictures.

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Edited to add: After I got everything where I wanted to be, I put the prices on.

This message was edited Aug 6, 2005 5:30 PM

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Tis Moi! :)

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The End.

Looks wonderful!

Well, I am impressed. Looks very inviting and your produce, lovely and healthy. I am so envious of your Bell Peppers. I am trying to grow Yellow ones, and they haven't even got fruit big enough to see yet.

Nice to finally put a face to your name Darrell, and you are as handsome as your vegetables. Good luck with your venture. :)

This message was edited Aug 6, 2005 5:40 PM

That's super Darrell. I'm very impressed with your wonderful looking vegetables. I wish your stand was in my neighbourhood. I would certainly shop there.

Sandy

Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you. :)

Remember back when I had huge piles of compost manure? I sure do. I didn't have a wheel barrel, so I had to move that stuff with buckets. As you can see by my picture, I'm not a young man and I'm a couple pounds over weight. Ha ha ha ha ha Well, there were days when it got so hot here, it was all I could do to fill a couple buckets and then I'd have to sit down and cool off. I'd get back up and dump the buckets and fill them again, and then sit back down. The humidex was right up there for a few days and it felt like 40 degree's.

All that poop pitchen turned into those vegetables. I gotta say this is the fun part and I'm glad I did it. I'm meeting some nice people and I enjoy listening to them.

One lady, her husband and daughter stopped in and we got to talking and come to find out, she owns Computer place, and an Ice Cream place. I told her I get my empty ice cream containers in Hillsboro, which is about a 40 minute drive for me. She said she had about 300 empty containers. She'll sell them to me for a quarter a piece, she's local, and she's 25 cents cheaper than in Hillsboro. Woo Hoo They're great for planting tomatoes in and next year, I'll plant a few other things in them that need that much soil to grow in. Great space saver and if the plants get to wide, you can move them a little.

I was too tired I guess when I posted pictures, to mention, "would you believe I'm taking orders all ready? I have 7 people on a list for vegetables. 4 are due to pick up today and 2 for Wednesday, and another person is coming every week for green tomatoes. His wife wants a bushel of green tomatoes later this fall so she can make Chow Chow. I took everyone's name and phone number, and what they wanted.

Since this is my first time out, I'm learning what people want the most. Next year, I'll plant accordingly.

Thanks again everybody. I'll check in later today.

:)

Darrell

One gal said, "You know you're going to do good when you start making a list and it's only your second day of business."