NORWAY — Gainful employment is not something many tweens spend much time dwelling on. Not so for Kate Dilworth of Norway, who started Gibson Garden Farm on Greenwood Road when she was 12.
“I wanted a summer job but I was too young for regular work places,” said the now 13-year-old entrepreneur. “So I thought, why don’t I just do a little honor stand, a farm stand?
The stand operates on the honor system, trusting customers to pay even if the owner isn’t there.
“I wanted my own money,” Dilworth said. “I felt bad asking my parents for $5 so I could buy chips at the school store. I wanted to be able to buy my own clothes, have my own means. But now I’m starting to put money towards college, too.”
Kate and her parents, Ted and Jenn Dilworth, had a garden every year so they decided to scale it up, and Kate could earn money selling vegetables. She and her father went to the National Resources Conservation Service to work on best practices for production gardening and applied for a grant for a high tunnel garden through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
After a couple years researching, planning and working through startup, Kate Dilworth’s vegetable business is in its first year of operation. It’s a family affair, but she calls the shots and runs the retail end.
“We have a good assortment of vegetables for sale,” she said. “Cucumbers, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, big tomatoes and an heirloom tomato that is ugly but really good for slicing. And we have Roma, which are good for canning and sauces.”
Farm stand sales vary day-to-day, anywhere from $20 or so to $120.
“We never know which is going to be a lucky day,” Dilworth said. “It’s usually better on Fridays when people are coming out and driving by, and on weekends.”
The high tunnel enclosure measures 26 by 96 feet and was delivered to the family’s home last September. They did the excavation and soil preparation with a tractor borrowed from a family member.
They built an eight-valve drip irrigation system, tapping a hydrant off their house well, installed the frame and and walls and, with assistance from the supplier, installed the outer plastic “skin.”
With the structure ready, the Dilworks spent the winter working on plans for planting and building the stand.
When COVID-19 hit in March, forcing them to shelter at home, they started plants from seed.
“During Zoom classes, I showed my science teacher what I was doing,” Kate said. “It wasn’t part of my classes, but we were waiting for kids to sign to start the class so I just asked if they wanted to see what I was doing with my high tunnel. It was like presenting to them.”
They prepped the rows so everything would grow vertically, and in May they spent about three weeks putting everything in the ground. They added an outdoor garden for peas, beans and a raspberry patch.
Dilworth has also learned how to deal with the unexpected challenges, such as a fungus from a moth infecting cucumber plants. They pulled the affected vines.
“A lot of farmers have had cucumber damage this year,” Ted Dilworth said. “We could have sprayed but we are sticking with organic practices.”
The rest of the high tunnel garden is dedicated to cherry, Roma and Geronimo tomatoes, a lunchbox variety of specialty peppers and strawberries that run the length of an outer row. The strawberries should start to yield their first fruit next spring.
“We didn’t get any this year, which made me sad because I really like strawberries,” Kate Dilworth said. “But we’ll have a lot next year which I’m super excited about.”
Dilworth spends one to two hours every morning picking vegetables and stocking the stand. She leaves produce that hasn’t sold out overnight for early-morning commuters and walkers. Evenings she irrigates. And as she and her mother plant for late summer/early fall harvesting she is already looking ahead to next year’s business.
“We’ve had a lot of requests for pickling cukes, so we’re going to add those for next year,” she said. “And we’ll be able sell strawberries and raspberries. I’d also like to get a peach tree.
“We’re also going to have to get a bigger farm stand, too. We also want to start selling at farmers markets. I’m looking at Harrison right now and maybe Portland.”
“But we’ve been selling out almost every day with our little stand,” Ted Dilworth added.
“The honor system has worked really well,” Ted Dilworth said. “We haven’t had any problems.”
Gibson Grove Farm is stocked seven days a week.
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