Gardening with Grower Direct

VEGETABLES

There is a high demand for fresh, locally produced vegetables for Farmer's Markets, restaurants and local grocery stores, including the large chains. We are not in a position to deal with the joys and sorrows of marketing your vegetables at the Farmer's Markets, nor to the large grocery stores. Those are whole separate courses. We do, however, have some interest in supplying specialty vegetables to the restaurants along with our herbs and edible flowers. The restaurant trade is a very large and diverse market. There is much demand for standard vegetables like broccoli and onions as well as for the more exotic items like fancy salad greens, tomatillo, and jerusalem artichokes.

Following is a list of some of the fancier types that have been requested already. If you are already growing vegetables, we suggest you consider growing enough to supply the restaurant trade as well with fresh product during the summer and storage crops through the winter.

Vegetables can be difficult to handle. Quality is very important. The produce must be clean, insect free, very fresh, and delivered on a regular schedule.

Post harvest handling is very important. Vegetables must be kept cool, and as fresh as possible. Immediately after harvesting, cool off the vegetables by washing in cold water, store in a cool room, or shade, and ship as soon as possible, as cool as possible.

All vegetables should be well washed and bundled or boxed in uniform units. For instance, Baby carrots should be made up in bunches by numbers,or by weight, so each bunch will be the same. Root vegetables are best washed with a high pressure water spray. Leafy vegetables can be kept cleaner if grown with some mulch under the plants. Clean straw is easy to use and does a good job. This saves a lot of extra washing after harvest. Don't wash lettuce, it's gets too soggy and then doesn't store well.

Aim for high quality, fresh, clean, insect free, colorful and flavorful product.

For drying - Hot peppers, Garlic, Corn and Herbs can be dried and used for ornamental arrangemnts, like garlic braids, during the winter. Try also ornamental and edible gourds for decorative purposes.

VEGETABLES

Most of these are for salad greens, usually sold in a mix of leaf shapes, colors and flavors, called mesclun. The leaves are picked when young and tender.

Cool Flavored Salad Greens
- Corn Salad (Stoke's Seeds, Johnny's Seeds)
- Claytonia (Cook's Gardens, Johnny's Seeds)
- Purslane (Johnny's )
- Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum)
- fancy lettuces
- red varieties, interesting leaf shapes, whole small heads

Spinach types
- Spinach (Stokes)
- Orach (Nichols, Blum)
- New Zealand Spinach (Johnny's, Stokes)
- Chard - baby leaves only
- Beets
- baby leaves only
- Amaranth (Johnny's)
- Joseph's Coat
- another Amaranth

Hot flavored Salad Greens
- Arugula (Johnny's)
- Osaka Purple (Johnny's)
- Mizuna - Shungiku
- Red Kale
- Mustard greens
- Perilla (Shiso) (Nichols)

Sprouts
- Sunflower
- Buckwheat
- Popcorn
- Corn

Vegetables
- Serpent Cucumber (Dominion)
- Jerusalem Artichokes
- Dahlia tubers
- Purple Sprouting Broccoli
- Ground Cherries
- Beans
- Dragon Tongue, Romano, Purple
- Cherrytime Peppers
- Lipstick Peppers

Potatoes - a big item. Best are Bintje (Yellow Dutch), Purple potatoes, any unusual varieties. In general, restaurants want small potatoes, the size of a large egg. To get the best quality small potatoes, try planting the seed potatoes closer together. There are many exotic South American potatoes if we can find a seed source.

Herbs - Basil, Oregano, Sage, Mint, Savory, Dill, Garlic, Horseradish, Chives, Cilantro, Fennel, Marjoram, Parsley, Rosemary, Sorrel, Tarragon, Thyme. See herb information package for more detailed information.

Edible Flowers - Bachelor Buttons, Begonia, Borage, Calendula, Carnation, Dianthus, Geranium, Marigold, Nasturtium leaves and flowers, Pansy, Peony, Phlox, Rose, Schizanthus, Snapdragons, Stocks, Sunflower petals or small flowers, Sweet Pea, Sweet Rocket, Tulip, Viola. See Herb Information package - Edible Flowers - for more detailed information.

Any kind of baby vegetables - carrots, potatoes, lettuce, squash, beans, etc. Any unusual colors, shapes, textures of standard vegetables.

It is worth investigating this market further, and worth experimenting with other vegetables to see what's popular and what sells well. It is important to develop your skills in producing a particular specialty crop and then increasing the volume.