January 2020 - 27

FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
that are easy to establish and grow.
They also may not know small plots
- or a patio or deck for container
gardening - can work well for homegrown
herbs and vegetables.
Cooler weather is when herbs like
mustard and parsley, and vegetables
like leaf lettuce and all of the collard
greens, grow the best. " There are so
many kinds of greens, " Margaret said.
" You can get lots of return growth from
leaf lettuce. An elderly person could
have salad and greens twice a day from
a small plot. "
North Carolina's hot summers are
good for basil and all kinds of chiles
and peppers. Tomatoes are more of a
challenge. They must be started early
since it's preferable to give customers
large transplants.
" I try to grow what people are asking
for, " Margaret said. " One wants a golden
tomato so you've got to have a Sungold.
One wants some large ones but they
usually don't make it through the heat
well. Cherry tomatoes do better in our
heat and keep producing through our
summers. People may want a special
tomato and ask for it. I try to listen to
experienced tomato growers. "
" I believe tomatoes are one of
the more difficult fruits to grow, "
Margaret said. " Everyone loves a good
home-grown tomato, but it takes
knowing how to do it. A lot of people
Basil is the most popular herb sold at Shelton Herb Farm near Leland, North
Carolina. Customers start asking for transplants in February and have to be taught
basil is a warm season crop that likes hot weather.
realize the quality and the taste is
different - that it's worth growing
produce for themselves. "
Having production in high tunnels,
low tunnels in garden rows, as well as
growing hardy, cool-season plantings
in open rows, keeps Shelton Herb Farm
open year-round.
Herbs for fresh cutting are grown yearround
to supply local restaurants and other
customers. Parsley, dill and cilantro grow
well in the winter as well as an abundance
of greens including mustards, kales, bok
choy, cabbage, lettuce and collards.
Spring is when sales at the farm really
go into high gear with people buying
transplants - and they keep buying bigger
ones as the season progresses.
Farmers' markets are an important
market in the summer and a way to
raise people's interest and expand the
customer base.
Shelton Herb Farm is at the
Riverfront Farmers' Market in
Wilmington, the Shallotte Farmers'
Market in Shallotte and the Southport
Summer Market in Southport.
They're also at the Wilmington
Farmers' Market at the Tidal Creek Co-op
in Wilmington which is open year-round.
Shelton Herb Farm offers classes,
workshops, tours and demonstrations
year-round and works cooperatively with
the North Carolina Extension Service
Peppers grow well in North Carolina's
hot summers as well as basil and all
kinds of chiles, said Margaret Shelton of
Shelton Herb Farm near Leland, North
Carolina.
and industry partners. " I think education
helps everybody understand maybe it's
not so hard to do - when to plant it,
when to harvest, " Margaret said.
" We have this long, wonderful, growing
season in southeastern North Carolina
with occasional cold snaps, " she said.
" Seasons do change. How do you time
what you plant through the season? It gets
into, 'What do you want to grow? " VGN
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January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2020
