Ryan Burkitt

Bridget Evab wrote:Sandhill preservation center in Nebraska is a neat place![/quote
Do they ship over mail?

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:I buy a sweet potato from the store, and toss it into a pot. It sends out lots of shoots that I break off and plant into the garden. Sweet potatoes love hot weather, and don't really grow for me before June.

I wanted to do that, but I was afraid I didn’t have enough time to do slips. I read it takes 6 weeks and so that would mean not getting them in the ground til early June. What are your thoughts?

Had a lot of stuff come up this year, so I think I’m too late to start my own sweet potato slips. I live in zone 5b. I ordered slips in the mail last year from Annies Heirloom, but I wasn’t too impressed with them and a lot of them died. I was thinking of buying some off facebook, but I’d have to drive minimum 70 mi to pick any up. Nurseries don’t carry them near me. Anyone have suggestions?

I know one can grow sweet potato slips, but I watched a video saying that this can be done with regular potatoes as well. Is it possible to plant just the sprouts/slips of regular potatoes?

Christopher Weeks wrote:My potatoes usually start sprouting months before I can get them into the garden. I just leave them and plant them when I can, even with three feet of dangly stolon or whatever. It seems to work out.

My potatoes have done the same thing, I have sprouts that have grown to about a foot long. Do you notice a difference in harvest when planting potatoes with long sprouts?

Matt McSpadden wrote:Naturally if everyone is selling tomatoes, it is hard to start selling them too. But if everyone else is selling red cherry tomatoes... maybe you should sell orange, yellow, and purple? If everyone else is selling orange carrots, maybe you sell purple or white carrots. If everyone else is selling green lettuce, maybe sell some of the other colors. Stuff like that will make you stand out a bit.

Thank you, definitely helping me see how to market in creative ways

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:The best prices for vegetables occur for first of season produce. If you can have tomatoes or corn ready a week or three before the rest of your village, you can double or triple the price during that time.

That’s interesting I’ll have to consider that. I think I could get corn out at least a week early.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:If everyone sells the same produce you will have to compete by offering lower prices.
In Illinois I would focus on bush fruits: currants and gooseberries grow wonderfully there. Also aronia, elderberry and black berries. They will start producing within two years.

Yeah I’m thinking of going down that route.

Ben Zumeta wrote:I think peas and carrots are great gateway vegetables that really stand out when grown well. Strawberries are easy to grow and also have distinctively better flavor that can win people over from grocery store alternatives or not eating fruits and vegetables. If it would be possible to set up a farm stand near a school, church, or somewhere else people congregate regularly, that could help bring in customers in a dispersed area. I might then have a questionnaire or chat people up about what they’d like grown locally, or what they remember their grandparents growing or reminiscing about.

I considered strawberries, because the pumpkin patch next to my house started out as a strawberry patch and switched to pumpkins 15 years ago. So I know they do sell around this area

I live in a small town in central IL and I’m considering the best produce to sell in my area. It’s mostly corn and soy bean farms around and not a lot of big cities. The only thing that I’ve considered is sweet corn and pumpkins. However, there is already a pumpkin patch 1 mile from my house. But I have considered sweet corn tomatoes, and salad mixes. Anyone have advice?