Your display is very important to haw well your produce sells - we had a vendor a few years back that had some of the best specialty potatoes at one of the markets we attend that was a total failure in marketing. He set cardboard boxes on the ground, chainsmoked all morning and dressed like he had just come from digging the spuds. His produce was very nice and reasonably priced but people took one look at his "booth" and shyed away. Was a shame as when you got to know him he was a great guy. Over the years we have tried several different things - some work better than others. We started using small baskets for our display but they were not very efficient on using table space (tall and round meant people were constantly digging through to see the bottom and damaging the produce). We now use wooden crates that I build in the offseason but several vendors use pop flats or plastic trays which also work well. We also try to keep products in a logical order on the tables - new potatoes go next to the green beans, all the summer squashes next to each other, ect. It's on old marketing trick you see in grocery stores and works well. Signage is also important. We tried the old style sandwich board out front with prices but for soome reason people never looked at it. Now we use regular paper and MS Word to make signs on slips about 3" tall with the name of the item and the price. Those get laminated (one of the best investments we made was a simple hand crank laminator from Staples) then taped to the table right in front of the item. The signs are re-usable and as prices change we simply make a new tag filling the old one in the market box for future work. Your still going to get people asking what your prices are but it has helped cut a lot of that problem back. Boulderbelt sugested getting ice chests to use - could not agree more. Try watching garage sales as they are a great place to find decient used coolers at a good price. We like the 48 quart size best. They hold enough to get the job done but are not too heavy to manage. He also sugested an EZ-Up canopy. Again right on the money. We have both 10X10 and 12X12's - the 12's are nice but not as durable as the 10's. We always (ALWAYS) always use tiedowns on the corners no matter how calm the weather is. The tent goes up then the tiedown goes on immediatly (concrete block and bungies) on all the legs. The Richland Market we attend is in a rather open area and has proven to be a canopy killer. I bet there were a dozen canopies blown loose there last year including on of ours when the stall next ot us broke loose and caught the corner of ours. You'll have a blast doing this and all the little things will come to you after a bit. Tom

As long as it left some layers of leaves behind then there will be some nodes left. New leader branches will grow from these nodes and growth will resume. Your plant may be bushier as a result, but most would agree that this is not a bad thing. Still a good excuse to pick up a new plant, try to find something you've never grown or eaten before :)

Only if these shoppers sample. LOL With beans 1.99 a pound, these guys are getting a deal.

I made pork-tenderloin medallions with a dijon sauce last nite for dinner. Delicious. Here is the recipe. Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Cream 1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 2" slices flour seasoned with salt and pepper 2 tbsp butter, divided 2 tsp canola or olive oil 2 green onions, thinly sliced--white and green parts separated 1/3 cup white wine or dry vermouth 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp Dijon mustard Preheat oven to low, about 170 degrees, to keep meat warm. Lightly pound medallions to 1" thick. Melt 1 tbsp butter and 2 tsp oil over medium-high heat. Dredge pork in seasoned flour. Add slices all at once to pan and brown 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and hold in the oven while finishing the sauce. The pork will finish cooking in the oven if it's a little underdone. Add the remaining 1 tbsp butter to pan. Add white parts of onion; saute 1 minute. Add vermouth, simmer until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tbsp. Add cream, simmer 2-3 minutes until thickened. If sauce ends up too thick, add a little water or milk. Stir in Dijon and add salt and pepper to taste. Top with green onions.