landis valley

i've talked a bit about how much money i've been spending to get the farm ready for the upcoming growing season. buying seeds is probably the biggest draw of money right now, however, supplies add up quickly, too. farms have a lot of money going out this time of year and, even with our successful winter markets, not a whole lot coming in. one thing lime valley mill started doing a few years ago was sell plants. plants are sold fairly early in the spring when there isn't a lot of produce to be sold yet. it is a way for us to make a good chuck of money early in the season.

the money is nice, but it also makes for a lot more work when things are starting to pick up on the farm anyway. we start almost all the plants we sell from seed, adding to the fullness of the front seed starting room. we then have to transplant all those plants (that were started in those small cells that i mentioned in the previous post) into four inch pots for sale. tags have to be made up for each plant so people know what they bought when they bring it home. extra supplies (pots, tags, trays, soil, etc) have to be purchased for all the sale plants. when i talked about working on the plan for this year, planning for landis valley herb and garden sale was a part of that. i looked at what we took last year - what sold, what didn't, what new varieties should we bring, how many, when should seeds be started, when should the plants be transplanted, etc. the sale is a two day event, plus one day before to bring all the plants to the location and set up. so there goes three days...plus all the time planning, planting and transplanting. most of the herbs we sell, we don't start from seed, but purchase small plants (kind of like our plants in the small cells). many herbs don't start well from seed for the 'home gardener' and it is easier and more cost effective to buy them in. once we get them, we have to transplant them into four inch pots, as well.

despite the extra work, it is worth it. the boost in income helps the farm. a lot of people attend this event and it is a great way for us to get our name out there and what we mostly sell (produce and meat) and where we sell those items. we try a lot of varieties of vegetables and sometimes they just don't work out for us. this is a way to use up any extra seeds we have around that we won't use. and at the end of the day, it is amazing to see all those plants we take (this year it will be about 2000 plants, i believe) sell. as simple as that.

this year will be a little more of a challenge though. the landis valley sale is the friday and saturday of mother's day weekend. saturday is also the winter market at eastern market. saturday is also the opening day for the quarryville market. we have committed to going to all three events, though the details are still to be worked out. here's to everyone coming out of that weekend alive. :-)