June 4th, 2010 by Dawn
These last couple of weeks have been really nice here ‘on the farm. We have harvested many pounds of food, including chicken, green beans, lettuces & spinach, basil and now today our FIRST cucumber of the season! I’m very excited to use it in tonight’s salad and see how good this variety is.
We’ve been very busy getting started in our Farmer’s Market booth. I only wish I had planted more of everything!!! I’m enjoying all this gardening a great deal and look forward to the long season ahead of me.
I’m working hard to keep the Farmer’s Market website updated too, so bear with me as we drum up business for the season! If your local, please DO spread the word!!
http://www.NewportTNFarmersMarket.com
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May 16th, 2010 by Dawn
My First Farm Booth experience! We didn't have much to sell but were very happy to be there!
My daughter and I set up our very FIRST Farm Booth at the 2nd annual Newport, TN community celebration for Armed Forces Day! We didn’t have very much to sell in the way of produce as it’s quite early in the season, but we did offer cut Peppermint, Russian Sage, Greek Oregano, Flat Italian Parsley, Green Onions, Arugula, Mixed Leaf Salads and a few select fresh Strawberries!
It was fun to meet so many locals, great to see the community honor our military and really nice to have sort of a “soft opening” for the actual first market date coming in 2 Saturdays! I hope by then we can also offer pickles, green beans and possibly a few select tomatoes & much more salad.
We made several contacts who also know we have great chickens and eggs available as well. We will NOT be selling eggs at the market. The state of TN requires me to wash eggs for sale, and I believe that is counter productive to eating fresh eggs as washing introduces bacteria and takes away the protective layer that all eggs have. Additionally, they also require that I refrigerate even FRESH day old eggs, something that uses too much electricity and is completely unnecessary in my experience. Our eggs are sold generally within 1 week of being laid by the hens, we do not store eggs long term. Eggs that are here longer than that are fed to the animals, or given away to the local food pantry if possible. Therefore I would have to seriously modify my practices and participate in methods I believe are a detriment to my fresh eggs. Eggs will continue to be sold as a DIRECT FARM SALE, which means you can buy/pay for them ahead of time, & pick them up here at the farm or the market on Saturdays when you pick up your other weekly produce.
I’m looking forward to it, and I’ve got SO much still to do! I have to order our booth banner and aprons, create & print some much needed sign-age and of course keep the gardens going!
See you in two weeks on Saturday at the Market! More info: www.NewportTNFarmersMarket.com
Tags: dawn suiter, farm booth, Farmer's Market, newport, newport farmers market, tn
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May 14th, 2010 by Dawn
I planted the last of the sweet potato slips last night. I put them in a different area this year and swapped them out with my corn patch, I do hope that was a good choice. I’m pleased to say also that the perimeter fence/driveway posts/grape arbor posts are now cemented into the ground, the hard work of digging post holes in solid rock is complete. We can now focus on the horizontal pieces & wires and really start making this place look great!
I planted “Nest Egg” Gourds in the front of each and every coop. My hope is that they will all grow up and cover the front of the coops offering additional shade during the hot summer days ahead.
We’re about to chainsaw down the Forsythia bush at the front of our yard, it is apparently making a wonderful nest for mice, and THEY MUST GO!
Garden photos have been updated, check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dawnonthefarm.com/FoodGardens?feat=directlink
Once I get done putting up the new fence & cleaning everything up, we’ll do a video walk through of it all.
I am doing pretty well to keep my Gardens page updated, more specifically my Harvest Amounts & Garden Expenses. The garden plans are a little out of date and I will try and update those soon. Check out what we’re harvesting and how much here: http://dawnonthefarm.com/gardens.html
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