Margaret Phipps has advice to offer anyone who would like to start a produce or vegetable market of their own. If you’re interested it might be wise to take the advice. At 83, she's been gardening all of her life. For 50 of those she's sold her fresh produce during the summer and fall.
"It isn't something that anyone wants to get into unless they want to work. This is work. There is always something to do. We do not use weed killer. We use the hoe," Phipps said. "If you don't want to work you don't want to be in this business. From the first of March until the Last of October you just work continuously," Phipps said.
Phipps keeps busy throughout the spring, summer and early fall with her son Tom and their produce market. Located on the south side of the road at the Belle Plaine Y, the market has more than a dozen types of fruit and vegetables for sale until the last day of October.
Tom Phipps believes taste and nutrition are key at a fresh food market. All of the food for sale has been picked within the past day or two.
"I wouldn't be doing it if I had to spray like commercial growers do," said Tom Phipps. "We only spray when we see an infestation. Then it's beneficial to eradicate. Most big growers will have a seven day interval where they spray weather they need to or not."
Currently, squash, potatoes and onions are among the vegetables for sale at the Phipps' roadside stand. The hugely popular cantaloupe and watermelons won't be ready until later in July, a fact Margaret Phipps often has to explain to customers.
"People try asking for them right now, but they don't understand that it takes a lot longer here for our stuff to be ready then it does for Oklahoma and Texas which they ship in," said Margaret Phipps.
The two garden ten to twelve acres of land located at two separate farms. They employ two to three high school students a summer to help out with some of the weed pulling and picking of vegetables each summer.
Margaret Phipps spent the first part of her 50 years selling produce out of the tailgate of a truck on the side of the road. After going home every time it rains to cover the vegetables, Margaret decided she'd tell her husband to build her a stand, which she has sold the produce out of ever since.
The stand sees a blend of new customers and old. Located on 81 Highway, it sees a lot of traffic. "There's a ton of traffic on 81 anymore. Way more than there used to be," said Tom Phipps.
Like any grower, the weather can play havoc with how well a plant does each season. Tom Phipps said, "When it rains heavy it creates disease, and it just suffocates the plants. We would much rather control it ourselves because we are irrigated and can water everything."
This summer has been hard on potatoes, neither Phipps could tell if this was a result of bad weather, poor seeds or a combination of the two.
Dealing with that remains a part of the business.
"Last year it was our onions. We didn't have a good crop of onions. You never known what it's going to be."
The produce stand is open six days until 6 p.m.
Margaret Phipps said, "We are closed on Monday. But that doesn't mean we don't work. There's always so much to do out in the field."
Belle Plaine, Kan. —
