December 3, 2015

Good morning, It has been several years now that I have been selling veggie bags. They have been very well received. It was a concept that Deb came up with on one of her trips related to work. She and her co-workers thought up the idea because there really was no Alpine outlet for fresh in season veggies.

The idea was that I would select the veggies to put in the bags. The number of veggies in the bag was determined by whether it was a $10 bag or a $20. Depending on the season a $20 bag would be a sampling of most of what I had growing in the garden at that time.

These bags have worked out quite well for the more adventurous types that like surprises. The contents remain the same until the changing of the season. At this time there would be a gradual change in the veggies within the bag for that upcoming season.

I must say it is the regular bag orders that help me plan my yearly garden. Knowing a base line of sales helps me immensely.

I have been doing these sales for several years now. Over the course of time I have had customers that have purchased regularly week in and week out, then stop ordering all together.

I would never hear any complaints or other comments. I frequently would wonder why. I would eventually come to the conclusion that life changes and so do folks desires.

As noted above bag sales plays a heavy role in my yearly garden planning and thus it is in my best interest to retain as many of these folks as I can.

Deb and I pass thoughts around and one of the thoughts we have come up with is that the individual veggie quantities are small and that maybe fewer varieties but more quantities of those fewer veggies would be desirable.

When I used to list all the veggies I had for sale, only a few different veggies would be selected for purchase. The vast majority of the veggies I grew would go unselected. I like a wide variety of veggies. There are more veggies that I like than what I don't like. The bag sales helped with this use of veggie varieties. It is also by having many different crops, that the chances of a total crop failure is reduced.

Bag sales are a critical part of my garden planning process. Retention of these sales customers is vital. I am a firm believer that nothing is stagnate. The ability to adapt to any change is always very important.

My questions are: are the bags just fine or would you like to see less variety and more of individual items.

I would very much appreciate any feedback on this subject. All suggestions will be considered. It is my intent to improve on this concept.

What an amazing rain we had last week. We ended up with 3.15 inches, It was interesting that the rain started before the freeze and then rained for the duration of the freeze. And was absolutely surprised to see some tomatoes that went through the whole event bare naked. Upon our return from market they looked perfect. The ice had protected them.

I finally got to spray aphids in the spinach one more time and they should be good for the winter. It has been difficult to do the timing because it has either been freezing or blowing like a mad man. Soon I will start harvesting sun chokes. Need to check the broccoli but I think they are still out a month or so.

What with all the rain and morning freezes it is a muddy mess in the garden. I hope to get back in soon to finish prepping for spring.