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| jkehl Rome, GA Zone 7b January 10, 2007 | Hello everyone. I've been lurking here for several weeks, reading back through the 5 years of old posts and thought it was time to introduce myself. I've got 11 acres of land outside of Rome, Georgia and I'm planning to try growing for the markets here this summer. I do not have much experience gardening (just when I was a kid too young to remember much) and have never sold at a farmers market but I have read just about every book in the local library on gardening so I guess I have a lot of theoretical knowledge. I'm also new to this area as we moved down from Chicago this past summer (I'm really loving the winters here :)) So I have a lot of strikes against me in trying to do this, but something about growing food for my family and to sell at market really appeals to me and I'm lucky enough to have a wife who can support me while I do it full time. When I was looking for the land, I asked the real estate agent for flat, cleared land preferably on one of the rivers we have around here. Well there wasn't anything available so I bought 11 acres that had a house on it that had burned to the ground. It's mostly a wooded hill side and the soil is a combination of clay and rock... So I've spent the last 5 months clearing and building some raised beds. I have about 2 acres cleared now but I've been planting blueberries, strawberries and fruit trees on a lot of it. My original plan was to have a u-pick place but the idea of selling at farmers markets apeals to me so I'm going to try that first. I'd like to thank everyone for the tremendous knowledge I've gotten reading this forum. It's amazing how you can get a picture of how market selling goes by reading back thru all of the posts. I especially appreciate the 'market day' posts and the pictures and descriptions of how the markets go. Also I had many questions answered by questions others posed. I have lettuce growing out at the farm (which in January amazes a Chicago boy). The first time I harvested it, I picked it in the morning and left it in my truck awhile without putting it in water. Well as you might imagine it wilted and looked terrible. So thank you to whoever asked and answered the questions about how to harvest lettuce because my wife and I have been eating wonderful salads for a few weeks now since I started putting it in cold water after I pick it. Sorry for the long post and I apologize in advance if I ask stupid questions :) Below is the farm when I bought it. Jeff
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