2011 God's Country Market Farmers Meeting

There's nothing I enjoy more than a house full of people.  I love listening to and seeing all the kids running around screaming, playing, and having a good time.  I love good food, good drink and really good conversation.  If I use those elements to judge how well a night went, then last night's first get together of the God's Country Market Farmers (this is my impromptu name for the group) was a great success!

We threw around great ideas and received great advice.  I think one of the great pieces of advice given by Joe Bailey was that we must be aware that the the weekly Farmer's Market acts as a showcase for the participating farmer.  We won't necessarily make a lot of money there, but it acts as a stepping stone for other ventures - one example being the the weekly shares (CSAs).

Jim Reed talked about plans for a permanent farm stand in which all the farmers could participate and that would give the community a chance to buy fresh, naturally grown products - meats, vegetables, jellies, even growing supplies, and more - locally.  Even the big box stores like Walmart are waking up to the "buy local, buy natural" movement.  Now, I don't know what their version of "local" may be, but listen to their commercials - interesting....

One of the best part of the night was listening to people's plans for this growing year.  Most everyone has a certain plant that catches their interest.  Knowing where their concentration lies means I can grow less of that myself and focus on other things.  It eases the burden of having to grow everything.

I'm fired up now.  I can't wait to get going with this year's garden.  I have spring fever and know that this year I will have the perfect garden!  (ha ha)


P.S.  Please be sure to check out my updated blog list.  I've added three new sites who are local Potter County growers.