Oregon City's Farmer's Market.

On Saturday May 15th Dawn and I went to the Oregon City's Farmer's Market to see if we could find the herbs that go into the Migraine masks that help her when she has a Migraine.  We found a few and while we were there I decided to ask if there were booth spaces available and how much it was to get one.  The gentleman there said to call the manager Jackie on Monday.  So I did just that.  The first call I made Monday morning was to Jackie.  Jackie answered the phone with her beautiful British accent, and she asked what kind of product I had to sell, I told her that I had strawberry plants, Day Lilies, Bleeding hearts and Hardy Geraniums and that my Grandson has about 40 Chestnut trees.  So Jackie says, What do you mean your Grandson has Chestnut trees?  So I explained that Zack had gone to SE Portland with his other Grandmother back in October of 2006 and found chestnuts on the ground and brought them home and planted them in a hole under my two big Cherry trees in the back yard.  He came in and so proudly told me how he had planted them.  I explained that they would need a better spot with lots of sunshine if they were going to grow.  So Zack and I went out aback and gathered up the chestnuts and I gave him some pots with soil and showed him how to plant them.  Early next spring we watched as all 50 chestnuts sprouted.  We of course had to put them in larger pots.  Now they are 3 years old and are 3-4 feet tall.  Jackie said to me, "I have about 8 or 9 plant vendors and really don't need any more, how ever; I would love for your Grandson to bring his Chestnut trees."  She was so nice and wanted to encourage him that she said she would take 10% of his sales at the end of the day.  Since I didn't know what type they were I decided to look again on the internet to see if I could identify them.  We found out that they are Horse-chestnuts and are not edible.  Bummer, but Jackie introduced us to a lady at the Farmers market that has some of the edible kind and Zack talked to her about getting some chestnuts from her to start a few edible chestnut trees. 


So Saturday May 22, Zack and I spent the day at the Oregon City's Farmer's Market with his trees.  At first Zack was a little shy but I suggested that he stand out front of the Canopy and with a smile say Good Morning to everyone who passes by and if they return the Good Morning he could then ask "Can I tell you about my trees?"  The first couple of people, who passed that he said Good morning to, just passed on by.  So Zack's Dad said that statistics shows that for every 100 people 5 will return the Good morning so don’t give up.  So, he again said Good Morning and this time it was returned.  He made a sale, $10.00.  He was so excited that he just kept saying Good Morning and if they returned the Good morning he asked "Can I tell you about my trees."  This brought more people over just to listen to his story.  They listened and asked him how big they would get, and if they were edible.  He knew all the answers and they thought he was so cute that he sold 3 trees in the first 1 1/2 hours we were there.  One lady asked what he was going to do with the money he earned from the sale and he said "Put it in the bank." with the most bummed voice.  She said you don't sound very happy about that.  So he said I really want to buy a DS with it, but Grandma thinks I should put it in the bank.  So she said, well I don't have a place to put a big beautiful tree like this, but what if I give you $5.00 so you can get that DS you want.  He was so excited.  He made sure to say Thank you very much!  

The weather was cold and windy but the rain held off till about 1:30 pm.  So when it was time to tell Jackie how much he sold, he walked over and said "I sold 4 trees for $10.00 each and got a $5.00 tip."  She said "Don't tell me about the tip, so you made $40.00 and that means 10% would be?"  Zack said $4.00.  So he took $4.00 to her.  Jackie asked if he would like to come back another day and Zack of course said yes.  Then as we were loading the rest of the trees back onto the trailer, Jackie came over and said I would like to buy one of these beautiful trees you have and gave him a $10.00 bill, and said she would send her husband to pick it out.  So Zack ended up with $51.00 for his day at the Farmer's Market.  Everyone that listened to Zack's story about his trees was impressed that he knew how tall they would get and how wide of spread they could have.  He knew that they have large clusters of flowers and that they are not edible.  They asked him all kinds of questions and he answered them with out looking at me for the answers.  He loves his trees and anything else that he plants and Jackie was excited to see a 9 year old with his passion for plants and trees.  I had so much fun watching people ask Zack questions about his trees and see their reaction to him knowing the answers and complimenting him on being such a great salesman.  Even the gentleman that we shared an awning with enjoyed watching the reaction of people as Zack told his story.

Now I get to scrapbook this for Zack, so that he can share it for years to come.  I am so proud of Zack.  

Thanks for letting me share my day with you, and I will make sure that I post his Scrapbook pages here when I get them done.

Happy Scrapin',

Janice