There were questions from family and friends about the fruit stand that Farmer Deno was creating.....I was sort of questioning it too.....but that always comes with new projects. The nightclubs and the construction businesses that I created...all had the same big gut question to them as well:
......will it work?
Every farm should have a fruit stand. Our farm especially .....since there are 78,000 folks living a scant 4.5 miles from our farm! Easy to reach from this human infestation of 78,000 folks of Natomas CA. Two main streets from there to the stand. No little left turns...no right turns. Just a straight run from Natomas. Then we have Rio Linda and Elverta, CA. which has 25,000 more potential clients. In other words.....we did our homework before buying this farm.....knowing that we could have access to 100,000 people within a 6 mile radius.
At first we stayed at the fruit stand on the weekends.....to serve our customers. Til noon at least. This took way too much of my time. I then installed a steel strong box....and advertised the stand as a self serve. The hours and days were expanded...and the fruit stand had to be restocked 3-4 times on the weekend days. So far...all right decisions. I do occasionally spend time down at the stand to greet clients....to keep in touch with their complains to their compliments.
Black Watermelon and the Healy cantaloupes were a big hit. The Russian pickling cucumbers ......went out in 20 pound boxes....were sold out within a few weeks. The big seller was the Pluots and Peaches. From the experience of the stand this summer...we are fine tuning the crops to the big demands. Out will be the regular salad cucumbers, zucchini, and the banana squash.
Yes......the fruit stand was an outstanding addition to the farm. We sold out of everything. I should had planted three times the amount of that I had. ....we got caught off guard at the stand by the demand for goods.
That is good......
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