Garden Hour Fun

 Enjoying our harvest!

 Harvest Art

Picture silliness!

September Sales Date!

This September the MarketKids joined the vendor lineup for our annual Garlic Fest decked out in the MarketKids t-shirts they screen-printed! It was a beautiful day, and the kids had impressive displays...it's not wonder they seem to sell out every market! :) Here are some pictures from the day!

As we near the end of August, a hint of Fall is in the air, and harvest season is underway! Here's a look at what we've harvested from the Hunger Relief Garden so far...

Soon to harvest: tons of butternut squash, potatoes, watermelon, basil, sweet potatoes, green beans, jalapenos, and MORE! Stay tuned for pictures of our bounty!!!

First MarketKids Vendor Day!

On July 12th the MarketKids set up their booths at the Blacksburg Farmers Market for the first MarketKids Vendor Day of the season. The kids had creative displays for their booth, and were selling a wide array of products from their home gardens: cut flower bouquets, dried herb sashays, fresh herbs, zucchini, chard, kale, apples, honey, cucumbers, berries, and potted plants. The kids had a steady stream of customers, and they all were beaming with pride by the end of the day!

Developments in the MarketKids Hunger Relief Garden

It's just starting to be harvest time in the MarketKids Hunger Relief Garden! With sprawling cucumber, squash, and sweet potato vines, plump green tomatoes, bushing potatoes, budding sunflowers and nasturtiums, along with beans, peppers, cabbage, and basil we're in for quite the yield! This past week we had our first harvest, picking 17 cucumbers and a big bag of basil. After harvesting we used a couple of the cucumbers to learn about lacto-fermentation in a pickle-making workshop! The rest of the cucumbers, and all of the basil were donated to Share the Spare this past Saturday at the Farmers Market. I look forward to the future fruits of our labors!

MarketKids makes it into the media! Check out our feature article HERE: http://www.roanoke.com/life/columns_and_blogs/columns/fridge_magnet/fridge-magnet-marketkids-helps-grow-an-interest-in-gardening/article_a5b8c75a-f65d-11e3-a646-0017a43b2370.html

MarketKids gathered for a third workshop this past Saturday, June 7th in preparation for next month, the first MarketKids vendor day! During this workshop the kids were led on a tour of the Farmers Market by long-time market vendor Ron Holdren. Ron took them to different vendor stalls to highlight good marketing skills, customer interaction, signage, samples, deals and more! The kids were encouraged to ask questions and use this experience as a way to help them be successful in their MarketKids business venture. At the end of the tour we gave the kids $10 in Farmers Market tokens to shop for seedlings and supplies that will help them have produce and value-added goods ready for the market next month.