Neighborhood Farm Stand

During the months before our oldest daughter turned two, my husband worked at a mobile produce stand that brought fresh food to underserved areas of our valley. We visited him at the farmstands and also frequented the local farmers’ markets. Our daughter was inspired and decided that she wanted to have a farmstand of her own.

She talked about it a lot that summer, saying, “People will come!” as we brought flyers around our neighborhood. That first summer we had one farmstand and she sold tomatoes, peppers, basil, and fresh cut flower bouquets — which she made herself! Our younger daughter was born 2 weeks prior  to the farmstand, so she participated but only minimally! In the summer of 2020, when she turned three, she had five farm stands. She sold tomatoes, flower bouquets, basil, acorn squash, butternut squash, melon, and peppers. Flowers and tomatoes were the most popular. Especially during Covid times, the farm stands were a nice way to see people while maintaining social distancing. With so few social events, this was a highlight for both girls. I loved watching our oldest daughter  light up to talk about her own farmstand — she was so proud. 

The farm stand has been a way to

• Encourage her to pursue her interests and do something fun together
• Bring people in the neighborhood together
• Provide food to people other than ourselves
• Bring back something related to the history of our home. The original owner had a regular produce stand from his large homestead

This year she has invited her younger sister to be part of the farmstand. We’re not sure how the partnership will evolve or if the two-year-old will be as interested, but we expect that she’ll want to do whatever her big sister is doing! I made a mud kitchen/bouquet making bench/farmstand bench for their birthday and the girls began playing “farmstand” right away.

This year the first farm stand will mostly feature flower bouquets and then, as we get more produce, they’ll have tomatoes, basil, melons, squash, peppers, and apples. It will start on Monday, August 16, 2021 and will continue on Mondays from 4-6. 

Do you have memories of doing lemonade stands (or selling other things) when you were little?