Your display is very important to haw well your produce sells - we had a vendor a few years back that had some of the best specialty potatoes at one of the markets we attend that was a total failure in marketing. He set cardboard boxes on the ground, chainsmoked all morning and dressed like he had just come from digging the spuds. His produce was very nice and reasonably priced but people took one look at his "booth" and shyed away. Was a shame as when you got to know him he was a great guy. Over the years we have tried several different things - some work better than others. We started using small baskets for our display but they were not very efficient on using table space (tall and round meant people were constantly digging through to see the bottom and damaging the produce). We now use wooden crates that I build in the offseason but several vendors use pop flats or plastic trays which also work well. We also try to keep products in a logical order on the tables - new potatoes go next to the green beans, all the summer squashes next to each other, ect. It's on old marketing trick you see in grocery stores and works well. Signage is also important. We tried the old style sandwich board out front with prices but for soome reason people never looked at it. Now we use regular paper and MS Word to make signs on slips about 3" tall with the name of the item and the price. Those get laminated (one of the best investments we made was a simple hand crank laminator from Staples) then taped to the table right in front of the item. The signs are re-usable and as prices change we simply make a new tag filling the old one in the market box for future work. Your still going to get people asking what your prices are but it has helped cut a lot of that problem back. Boulderbelt sugested getting ice chests to use - could not agree more. Try watching garage sales as they are a great place to find decient used coolers at a good price. We like the 48 quart size best. They hold enough to get the job done but are not too heavy to manage. He also sugested an EZ-Up canopy. Again right on the money. We have both 10X10 and 12X12's - the 12's are nice but not as durable as the 10's. We always (ALWAYS) always use tiedowns on the corners no matter how calm the weather is. The tent goes up then the tiedown goes on immediatly (concrete block and bungies) on all the legs. The Richland Market we attend is in a rather open area and has proven to be a canopy killer. I bet there were a dozen canopies blown loose there last year including on of ours when the stall next ot us broke loose and caught the corner of ours. You'll have a blast doing this and all the little things will come to you after a bit. Tom

As long as it left some layers of leaves behind then there will be some nodes left. New leader branches will grow from these nodes and growth will resume. Your plant may be bushier as a result, but most would agree that this is not a bad thing. Still a good excuse to pick up a new plant, try to find something you've never grown or eaten before :)

You all are so nice. There is so much to think about. Today I couldn't even get a professional looking invoice going on my computer. It is getting a bit overwhelming. Bronwynsmom, that is a great idea about the lighting. In fact we already have hooks in the garage ceiling from when we hung a canoe there, and I have some leftover shop light fixtures from when I was growing seedlings in the basement. Megsy, I can't wait to see the finished product either. I just hope it isn't years from now! Seriously, I will show pics if it comes out alright. Carminnc, what a great picture. That is my kind of world with all that color and all those flowers! I see what you mean about how it all goes together. i wish you could all come to my house too to help paint. I'd make sure you got the best and freshest food to eat, and I would send you home with a huge bouquet! Deedee99, thanks for your well wishes. My farm does have a name and actually the color blue would play well with the name. JGBE, wow, that is a great glimpse of what it could be! Thank you!! And thank you for getting rid of the garbage. I'm going to have to think carefully about all of this. As I said, I only want to paint once!

Out of the 2 GN trees I bought last year, one held on to a fruit. I was not expecting much since it was late season and barely planted in the ground. Well, my SO found it on knocked off on the ground. From what I hear, it was pretty good. could have used some more time to ripen if it didn't fall off the tree. Glad someone in the family got to enjoy it. :( really. i.am.glad.to.wait.another.year.if.i.am.lucky.it.holds.on.to.fruit.again.