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King George Farmer’s Market – report

Bill and I arrived at the King George Farmers’ Market this morning about 9:30 A.M.

We were directed to DeLaura Padovan who is the Market Manager.  She asked if she could be of assistance and when I told her who I was — she greeted me like an old friend.  I felt very welcome.

She took me over to the Master Gardener’s tent and introduced me to Mary, Clara and Linda.  (Linda was the one who sent me the invitation via email to attend the Market.)  All three women were instantly likable and I felt that I had known them all forever.

The next 2 1/2 hours flew by.

The market wasn’t crowded, but there were enough people to keep us busy.

A Bee Keeper thanks me

One lady came over to thank me for what I was doing to call attention to organic gardening.  She (and her husband) have lost three bee hives recently.  Bees — as I have explained in prior posts — can range about 3 miles from their hives.  Her bees got into fields that had poisons on them and it killed them all.  It’s been costly to replace them —- and there is always a chance that they will be poisoned again.

Sheila benefited from encouragement

I met Sheila, a lady who had already emailed me about how she could start over with her small garden.  She had numerous problems — bugs being one of them. She did not want to use poisons anymore. I had already addressed the problems in an email to her and was happy to learn today that it had helped her.  I suspect that she needed a bit of encouragement just as much as a few suggestions on improving the soil.

First Time Gardener Disappointed

Gregory and his wife, gardening for the first time this year, were not successful.  The beans didn’t do anything, nor did the peppers or the tomatoes. They were disappointed naturally. I asked him about how he prepared his soil.  He had a 4 x 8 raised bed that he had filled with some bagged soil dredged from the river bottom. And I think he may have said some bagged compost as well. I suggested he save his money and dig the soil and add leaves and straw or other forms of organic matter that he had access to.

Why Clara Became Organic

I asked Clara how she came to be organic.  She said her parents had farmed as a livelihood and when her Dad retired and farmed just to feed the family — he went organic.  She had attended college to become a doctor.  She became a biology teacher instead and learned about how harmful all the chemicals are that are sprayed on food. She became an organic gardener.

Critter Problems were numerous

Lots of folks stopped to ask how they could solve their problems with deer.  I said an 8 foot fence is about the only protection you can get.  Bill — thinking he was terribly cute — suggested getting a bigger freezer.  (If you don’t get that — just think about it for a while.)

One couple had gone to all the trouble to raise peaches (takes years) and the squirrels got everyone of them!! (Getting the numbers down is about the only solution for squirrels.)

Mary recently discovered that ground hogs can climb trees.  Her husband comes home from work and lays in wait for the ground hogs.  This is a great pro-active approach and the only way to prevent trouble and heart break in the garden.  A ground hog can eat 1/4 acre of crops in one day!  (I missed a lot of this conversation, but Bill had a wonderful time talking to Mary!)

I learned too that I’m not the only one that noticed  “teenage” mockingbirds seem to be the delinquents of the bird world when it comes to finding ways to get inside the netting a gardener puts up to protect blueberries.

One of the highlights of the morning was meeting Gwynne who is 82 years young.  What a lovely energetic lady!  She said she had been reading the works of Rodale since 1956!   All of us agreed that although Organic Gardening Magazine is not a total loss – yet —- it does not compare to the wonderful issues of yesteryear! (The other gardeners told me that Gwynne has one of the most beautiful gardens you’ll ever see!  She does vegetables and flowers and knows all the Latin names.  And – she does all the work herself. )

At one point Bill went to the truck and got his cap to keep the sun  from hurting his eyes.  One of the ladies noticed his original design on the cap and later asked me about getting two for her husband for Christmas.  (I am happy to report that I’ll soon have that website ready.  You can go there now — but I have yet to add the hats.  I plan to do that this week.  Bill’s main site for art is here.)

A Square Foot Gardener

Amanda and her husband  just started gardening this year.  They started with the square foot gardening and were not as successful as they had wanted to be. If I remember correctly (I didn’t write any of this down) — they added bagged compost, peat moss, and potting soil.  I suggested digging the soil and adding organic matter and not adding anymore peat moss or potting soil.

Wanted to see Pictures of my Gardens

Before she left the table Amanda wanted to know if I had pictures of my gardens on my website. (Seeing is believing.)   Here are few links, Amanda that will show you lots of pictures.  Almost all my posts have pictures of my garden but these have lots.

https://tendingmygarden.com/mid-summer-garden-feeling-the-change-towards-fall/
https://tendingmygarden.com/the-garden-and-borders-knee-deep-in-june/
https://tendingmygarden.com/garden-report-may-17th/
https://tendingmygarden.com/welcome-to-my-garden-may-2012/
https://tendingmygarden.com/border-design-evergreens-perennials/
https://tendingmygarden.com/november-the-gardens-last-hurrah/
https://tendingmygarden.com/backyard-landscaping-ideas-wildflowers/
https://tendingmygarden.com/july-4th-garden-and-border-favorites/
https://tendingmygarden.com/your-gardens-perennial-flowers-midspring-bloom/
https://tendingmygarden.com/developing-garden-structure/
https://tendingmygarden.com/mums-flowers-the-crowning-glory-of-falls-display/
https://tendingmygarden.com/3-simple-concepts-to-enhance-your-flower-gardens-and-borders/

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Putting up tomatoes came up.  From there my roasted tomato sauce came up.  Linda — here are the links for my various posts on roasted tomato sauce.

https://tendingmygarden.com/tomatoes-roasted-for-the-easiest-most-delicious-tomato-sauce/
https://tendingmygarden.com/a-quick-and-delicious-tomato-sauce/
https://tendingmygarden.com/addendum-to-a-quick-and-delicious-tomato-sauce/
https://tendingmygarden.com/canned-foods-one-your-garden-can-help-you-avoid/

Closing Time

Linda presented me some homemade snacks that DeLaura and her daughter had made. Also a cook book entitled King George Farmers’ Market Fields to Table Cookbook which I have already used tonight! The recipe is called Feta Bruschetta.  Instead of French bread I substituted sour dough rolls.  I cut them in half.  Drizzled with olive oil and heated for 8 minutes.  Mix crumbled organic feta cheese, minced fresh garlic, fresh basil.  Sprinkle on hot rolls.  Top with a tomato. Yumm—  Thank you Linda!

Final Thoughts

I am so glad I was invited to attend this morning’s market.  I enjoyed talking to everyone so much!

If you don’t have problems with ground hogs, squirrels, rabbits and deer — count your blessings.  Most of the time we can handle the other stuff.

If you’ve learned to prepare your soil properly, continually add organic matter, and mulch your soil —- you’re way ahead of many I spoke to today — and are on your way to bountiful gardens even though some years might be better than others.

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Organic Gardening is Easy, Effective, Efficient — and it’s a lot healthier.

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All content including photos is copyright by TendingMyGarden.com.  All Rights Reserved.

18 Comments

  • Theresa,
    It was such a pleasure meeting you and your husband Bill at the King George Farmer’s Market today! I enjoyed listening to your words of wisdom & your wonderful stories. I was so tickled to meet you!

    I was telling Bill that he should write on your blog about how to get rid of our larger garden pests! He has some really wonderful ideas!! 😮

    Thank you again for coming out and speaking with us today!!
    MaryAl

  • Thanks for sharing your wisdom in person at the King George Farmers’ Market this morning. Your tried and true gardening information is priceless. I plan to gather tomatoes tomorrow so I may roast them per your instructions!

    I love your posts and the pictures are great!

    Linda

  • You are more than welcome! Bill and I had a wonderful time and appreciate being invited.
    Let me know how the roasted tomatoes turn out!
    Theresa

  • I wanted to hurry and write the recap right away so I wouldn’t forget too much, Sandra. I do have a good memory, but I didn’t want to push it.
    🙂

  • Theresa,
    I have been looking forward to reading this post ever since you wrote (on 24th Aug) about being invited to talk on a subject close to your heart.

    Just as I was about to comment on this post, I was side tracked by Bill’s website. I did check it out and I am speechless! Just love the way he seems to effortlessly capture nature on canvas.
    Now I have bookmarked another website!

    I’m so glad you both had a wonderful time.

  • I am so glad you were looking forward to this post Aparna! As soon as we got home I started writing (after we had some roasted tomatoes) and didn’t stop until I had it up. Wish you could have been there to participate in all the wonderful conversation and garden talk.

    I am really glad you enjoyed Bill’s site. There’s a lot of beauty there and it’s almost as good (or better) than touring our area of the country.
    In addition to his main site — showing the paintings —- I hope you checked out the site with the tees, sweats, etc. with his original designs —- and enjoyed that as well.

    If you have a chance — go back to either site and watch the 2 minute video (on the home page of each site) — it tells in that 2 minutes just what Bill is all about. You’ll hear Bill talking about things also.

    I sure appreciate your letting me know how much you enjoyed Bill’s site and also that you were looking forward to this post.
    Thanks Aparna!
    Theresa

  • Theresa,
    I did view the 2 minute video on Bill’s site, and the video was what prompted me to linger on the site longer.
    I did take a look now at billmartzshirts.com and enjoyed that as well.
    Thanks for sharing.

  • Sounds like a wonderful day Theresa. Glad to hear it went so well and you got to meet such interesting people. Carol

  • Theresa, it was wonderful to meet you at the KG Farmer’s Market. You did indeed help to inspire me not to give up on my efforts at a veggie garden. It nice to have hope that next year can be better – with a little effort on my part, based on wise advice from you!

    I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

    Thanks again,
    Sheila

  • Good hearing from you again Sheila! And it was nice to have met you in person at the Market.
    I’ll look forward to your progress reports next year.
    Theresa

  • Hi Theresa,

    I LOVE the hats that Bill designed! Thank you so much!! They are going to make wonderful presents this year for Christmas! If your readers have not checked out the site they need to! I so enjoyed looking at the tees, sweats, etc. with Bill’s original designs!

    Talk to you very soon!!
    MaryAlice

  • So glad you liked them MaryAlice!
    They’re different than anything else you see.
    Still have not gotten them up on the site — but I will!
    Thanks for taking time to let me know!
    Theresa

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