Yello Brick Road - Throw Back Thursday

This story is from when Andrea was 5 years old...

Andrea found her first dandelion a couple of weeks ago. She eagerly ran out to pick it. When she got around the side of the house she looked up and yelled in her most ecstatic voice...

Two Below

Why is it that when we talk about temperature we say it is two below and when we talk about gas prices we say it is below $2,00.

Well both things happened in confluence this week. We have gas prices reach the mythical $1.99 per gallon and we flew right by two below zero (farenheit) in the weather department as well.

I just thought I would document this for posterity as we haven't seen gas prices this low for quite a few years. We have three young drivers in our house hold and they have never seen prices this low. Using my HyVee fuel saver card I actually paid less that $1.50 per gallon last week. Sounds amazing but...

When I was in high school and starting to drive in the 70's the typical price was a whopping

A Rainy Day Playground

In honor of all the rain this week, here is a story from when we were young.

A haymow is a place in the barn where the hay is stored. Hay is well... hay. A mow is a cavern or open space in the barn. On a rainy day most any time of the year when I was growing up we would often seek refuge from the weather by playing in the attic of the barn called a haymow.

There were ooodles of things you could do. One of my favorite was...

A Look in the Mirror - Graduation

GET BACK, BEHAVE, LAY DOWN, STOP IT, said a "stage whispered" little girl voice, which greeted Lisa and I one June morning at 5:00 am.

Upon investigation I found a three year old Jenna standing on the counter in the bathroom in front of the mirror working on her hair which had suffered some set-backs during the night in bed.

15 years later...

Humerous Happenings at the Rocheser Compost Pile

Compost is truly one of the many wonders of the natural world. I get 5-6 pickup loads a week so I am at the waste to energy facility in Rochester a lot. The county does an excellent job of processing leaf and grass clippings into black gold.

My fellow composters are the salt of the earth but sometimes the things they do at the compost pile in pursuit of their world class gardens just make me laugh... 

The Radish as a Marketing Case Study

One of the gems of spring is the humble radish.

When we first started selling at the farmers market radishes were gong for 50¢ a bunch. They are way to much work to sell for that, so what we did to be able to sell more is a classic study in marketing...

Detassling

When I was a teenager one of the best paying jobs was to be on a detasseling crew. I think they paid $6 - $8 per hour over 35 years ago. It was pretty hard work as you would typically be reaching over your head to pull out the tassels on the corn. I did this for a number of years and got pretty good at it.

Walking Beans With My Dad

When I was a teenager Dad would have us kids walk through the bean fields and pull or cut weeds. My father would hire neighborhood kids to work with us to speed up the process. The weeds between the row were generally taken care of by the tractor and the 4 row cultivator. But there were a few weeds in the rows that continued to grow. Those were the target of the bean walkers. Being a bean walker wasn't some kind of mystical thing or some kind of new sleeping disorder...

Dad's Watermelon Memories

Some of the old timers around Elk Horn, Iowa would remember when a teenager named Lynn would take watermelon to town. He would take a wagon behind a Farmall H, which was new at the time and sit on main street and sell delicious melons. This was a popular venue for the folks in town to get a taste of summer, I'll bet he took sweet corn a few times too. Later the better Elk Horn club would host a watermelon day at the city park and I always wondered if the roots of that event weren't from a local teenager, who later became my father.

I'm sure dad hasn't really thought much about watermelons in the last few years, but I have.

Walking with My Father

My Dad had "Management By Walking Around" all figured out over 40 years ago. When I was little we would often park the pick-up by one of his fields and walk for what seemed like hours to look at the crops. It was often hard to keep up with my shorter legs and I would often have to run a little, but there was nothing more fun than being out "farming" with Dad. I know more than once Dad would feign the need to pull a couple of weeds until I could get caught up and we would launch into the next field.

With my own crops, I can relate to the deep sense of enjoyment this gave him.

The Gobblers Knob Controversey

In our previous post on compost, I was explaining how my father was very innovative in the making and use of compost. He often used compost to rebuild areas with poor soil, Dad called one of these spots that the glaciers messed up "Gobblers Knob", because they would see turkeys in this area of the field. It is a bit of a local land mark with the neighbors and he had a colorful sign commission that he posted out in the field to show how to get there. (No one ever went there except my Dad or his family, this was kind of an inside joke, and he thought that was great.) But I digress...

It was kind of steep on "Gobblers Knob" and so Dad had it growing local prairie species like "Big Blue Stem" and volunteer clovers. It was very pretty in the early summer when everything was blooming but later in the season the organic matter from these native species was massive. So he got the idea that he should compost all this organic matter and return it to the soil. Gobblers Knob was a little thin on top, kinda like my Dad's hair, so Dad thought it could use a little enrichment. No not his hair, "The Knob".

But Dad...No One Else Has to Do This!

My children haven't always liked the discipline of having to do farm work and get up early (4:30 AM) on Saturday mornings to go to the Farmer's Market:

• They often observe that NO ONE ELSE had to do the things they had to do. (This was true. But none of their friends had the level of experience they had and none of them made the amount of money they were making either. You can't sleep until noon and watch TV all summer and pile up money for college at the same time.)
• They would say that EVERYONE ELSE got to do fun stuff when ever they wanted to and sometimes fun stuff had to take second priority for them. (This was not as true as they thought. Many other children were not able to do what ever they wanted when they wanted. I submit that our children were probably more involved in attending school, church and skill building events than most. We ran into situations frequently where their friends had to attend a family event or were on restriction and couldn't participate in something fun. I've never "grounded" one of our children for a rule infraction. I guess we keep them busy enough that they don't have time to get in trouble. They also have done well at their choice of friends.)
• However, because they LIVED LIKE NO ONE ELSE growing up 
• They now have discipline, experience, knowledge, life skills and savings for their futures like NO ONE ELSE. So sometimes it is very good to be like NO ONE ELSE.

The point was not to make them farmers, though they are very good at that. But to teach them skills and values that are transferable to any future endeavor. So my children can make choices and seek opportunities where ever God would lead them.

Beware the Cat with the Deaf Eye

If we are honest we all know a house cat or barn cat that just wasn't quite the same as the other cats. Well Louie was one of those weird cats a few years ago. We raised him from a kitten, but somewhere along the way he took ill and was never quite the same. He had a cataract in one eye and walked kinda sideways and his feet would cross over some like he was about ready to trip himself. He was sort of yellow and had a crook in his tail. You know how cats kinda vibrate their tail when they get excited. Well this cat did too and it always seemed like he was pointing at you when he did that, because of the kink in his tail.

Reed was  in first or second grade and he kinda liked this old cat.

Vital Not Viral

When Reed and I started our blog our goal was to provide useful information on the topic of market gardening and a family farm. We also wanted the content to be high quality and to use photography to add a level of interest. We are learning as we go and the project has been very educational for us both.

We wanted to develop a significant amount of content before sharing the blog address with a large audience. We now have about 150 posts published with about 175 posts written and pending publication over the next several months. We went public May 1 and have had 2500 posts read since then.

We will likely never go viral in the way some of the online content does, but that is not our focus. We don't want to be sensational or titillating. We don't need any big names or fancy titles. We aren't inventing any new technology or patents. Only tried and true information that has stood the test of time.

We are sharing the story of our families years of experience at raising and selling vegetables in the upper Midwest, near Rochester, Minnesota. We also have teenagers that have been involved in our farming operation since they were preschool children. Our family experience and raising children is intertwined with our farming experience and many stories in our posts come from when our children were young.

It is our quest to provide information, experience, farm lore, family stories, and answer lots and lots questions for our friends who are new to gardening and those who are very experienced. For many things there is no wrong answer only an alternate perspective.

If our blog is "Vital" not "Viral" we will consider our efforts a success.

Fire Flies

Fire flies are winged nocturnal beetles the produce their soft golden light by oxidation of a chemical called luciferin. I explained that to the girls but they seem far more interested in skipping around like Alice in Wonderland than in scientific explanations.

When they were little, the girls were taken back by these "buzzes" that flashed. Jenna called the potato patch the "deep blue sea" and that is where Andrea found the first few, which were soon followed by dozens of their cousins. The night was filled with wonder,

What are Age Appropriate Vegetables for Little Children

What vegetables should you plant for little children. When they were 3 years old our children wanted to help in the garden. But little fingers and little seeds are a difficult mix. So what to do?

The Market Debrief

The Market Debrief  is one of our favorite family meetings. When our children have kids of their own one of the things they will tell them is about is our family round table after the Farmers Market. This usually takes place over lunch:

In the Debrief each of the children would share stories about things that happened at the market that day. Things we learned, things that went well and sometimes things that didn't go so well.

There have been many funny things that have happened over the years.

• Reed had one customer that wanted to negotiate a $1.50 bunch of radishes for $0.50. We had some very nice radishes and Reed was immovable. The customer kept asking for a better price in increments of $0.10. How about $0.60, then $0.70, etc. Until they got to $1.50. At which point Reed said, "Yep, that was the price."  Then the customer gave him a $0.50 tip and paid $2. He said that was the most entertainment he'd had all day and he admired Reed's negotiating skills.
• When she was 10, Andrea would sell lots and lots of flowers. We'd bring 15-20 buckets to a market. She would sometimes go around to the front of our tables to work with customers on arranging them and helping with special requests for colors or sizes. A woman stopped by dressed very very nicely (at least by farmers market standards), clearly on the way to a special occasion.  Andrea took both of her hands, looked into her eyes and with a big smile said you are dressed very beautiful and I have the perfect bouquet of flowers to match your outfit. The lady about melted and said, "I love your daughter, that really cheers me up". She was visiting a friend in the hospital who had cancer.
• Jenna is our family artist.  She does a lot of work with herbs and potted flowers. Her signs and tags are beautifully arranged and written. The first market of the season  about 5 years ago she was arranging some pansy's with bright festive blossoms and a photographer from the Post Bulletin stopped by to take some pictures. Her picture was on the front page above the fold. (Must have been a slow news day). We had 8 articles in the PB that year. We have some very full scrap books.

Radishes a Disarming Project for Jenna

These stories are from when the girls were very young, June of 1998.

We wash the radishes and count out 10 (or so) and then put a rubber band around them to get them ready for market. Jenna was helping bunch the radishes and asked me if she could put the NECKLACE on the bunch. I usually remove the yellowed baby leaves from the radishes. Jenna wanted to know if it hurt the radishes when I pulled their ARMS OFF. I told her that it didn't hurt and it made them look pretty. So she was merrily helping me DISARM the radishes.

Andrea had a garden party one Friday afternoon to pick radishes with her friend David. They picked and packed 40 lbs of radishes. Andrea was supervising and the end result was excellent. The radishes were spotless, stacked in neat rows, in the tubs. I picked another 40 lbs after I got home. They were premium radishes picked at the peak of flavor and color.

I figured we had so many that we'd have some left over. To my surprise, people hauled them away so fast that we were sold out in about an hour. The cloudy and rainy weather the previous couple of weeks was just perfect for radishes. We did a repeat performance the following week.

Spinach Then and Now

On Saturday, May 7, 1988 the Rochester Downtown Farmers Market opened for the first market of the season. This was our second season, having attended sporadically the year before.

 Andrea, always the early riser, literally leapt out bed when I went to get her up. She was "on a mission" to get there, plying me with questions all the way.

We got our one tiny table set up at about 7:30. In addition to some tomato plants, we also had about 20 large bunches of fresh spinach. We'd had a fresh spinach salad the night before that Andrea really liked. Everyone that stopped by got her sales pitch for spinach. She explained how yummy it was and that it had her personal endorsement, which often culminated in a twirling leap into the air (this girl was high energy). She then closed the deal by firmly offering to put a bunch in a bag for them. We were sold out by 9:00. By the time Andrea sold the last of the spinach all the vendors around us were asking if she would take a commission to sell their stuff. I told them that Andrea was in charge of our marketing strategy. This weeks technique was the spinach twirl!

The children loved this spinach and would perfer spinach and ranch dressing to any other treat before bed, even better than a cookie. Now that they are teenagers, they also love Candy Carrots, but spinach is still high on the list of coveted treats.

The reason we were able to have spinach at the very first market was we had some spinach from the previous fall that over wintered and it was one of the first things to come out of dormancy in the spring. I did not realize that the spinach would do that so this was a little bit of serendipity.

When we started at the market we grew Melody spinach and let it get big enough to bunch. So Friday night Andrea and I would wash the plants thoroughly, pick off all the yellow leaves, and group several plants together with a rubber band to form a bunch. We could get about 20 bunches in a large rubber maid tub and would typically take 1-2 tubs per market. We would get $2 per bunch.

Today we grow Tyee baby spinach and cut everything when it is just an inch tall. Andrea and Jenna are still the greens experts and do all the harvesting. I prefer to harvest with a knife, but they still like to use a scissors, which harkens back to when they were little. They can harvest about 20 lbs in 15-20 minutes. We typically get $5 for a a half pound bag. So we are able to pay our help a little better than when we started. That is important as both our children and our other workers are building their college funds.

EntreLeadership On and Off the Farm

Dave Ramsey defines EntreLeadership as "The process of leading to cause a venture to grow and prosper". Webster says a leader is "someone who rules, guides, and inspires others."; accordingly, the word entrepreneur means "one who takes a risk."

We have raised our children with a spirit of EntreLeadership. Since before they were school age they have contributed in an age appropriate way to the farm and selling at the farmers market. They each have had areas that they have enjoyed contributing to and they have developed expertise in. Reed has been our root expert: radishes, onions, garlic, leeks and potatoes. Jenna is the herb expert: basil, rosemary, mint and chives. Andrea is an expert in, well, practically everything. She especially likes transplants and flowers.

Now that they are teenagers how has that EntreLeadership spirit worked out:

• Andrea, a music education major, in the summer of her freshman year in college, is planning to organize summer music theory classes for middle and high school students. She has put together a syllabus and will develop curriculum for all the age groups. She was on a path to do this independently and offer classes to schools in the area. Her first stop was the honors choirs of SE Minnesota. Turns out they had been wanting to offer classes just like this and they are interested in hiring her. So an entrepreneurial venture turned into a summer job and may go well beyond.
• Reed has had a strong interest in electronics since he was little. When he was 8 I got him an Lego NXT robot that he could program. When he was 10 I got him a PIC microprocessor and bread board. He has done numerous electronics projects. In Junior High he got interested in buying and selling electronics like laptops, ipads, ipods and iPhone. He is now a freshman in high school. He averages one purchase/sale per week. He recently bought a iPhone with a broken screen and had to completely remove all the contents to replace the screen. Pretty cool operation and it worked perfect when he put it back together. He has a nice business started. It all started after winter market a few years ago when I paid the kids about $300 dollars as an end of the season bonus. Reed wanted to buy an ipod and a new one was a little over $200. I told him he could get one for half that price if we was willing to wait a buy a used one. He found one for less than half price on Craig's list and was hooked.
• Jenna, a junior in high school, has been working at Great Harvest. She decided she wanted to work there and was able to get a job. They are flexible on hours so that works great with her school schedule. She really likes bread and cooking so this is an ideal position.
• Jenna recently bought a camera with her earnings and she is a very talented photographer. She is working on ways she can use her camera to earn extra money for college.