Old Bus Makes Great Fruit And Veggie Stand

2011 - Volume #35, Issue #6, Page #06

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JoAnn and Ted Dawson turned a used school bus into a mobile fruit and veggie stand that makes it easy to set up at multiple locations.
“This year we set up at a farmer’s market, an assisted living facility where the staff buys for the facility kitchen, a hotel where the staff buys for their own use, and a nearby town where business people and residents pick up food for themselves,” says Dawson. “Next year we plan to expand. We have already lined up a marina with a nearby campground we can stop at and a townhouse development we’ll stop at on the way home. That will be three stops on one trip.”
The Dawsons also operate Fair Winds Stable, a riding stable, bed and breakfast, summer camp and special events site. They offer pony, horse, and carriage rides for special events and recently added a caisson wagon for bearing a casket from funerals to gravesite.
But they say their fresh produce business is growing. They raise corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and eggplant. They also sell cantaloupe and watermelon that they buy from other local farmers. In the past, they sold from a stand at the end of their driveway.
“The mobility is a great thing,” says Dawson. “We have air conditioning, so we can keep the produce fresher in transit. When we get to a site, we just open the door and we are ready to sell. We don’t have to unload tables and set up. Everything is in portable bins, so it’s easy to load and reload.”
To attract attention, the Dawson’s painted their bus with the vegetables they sell and added a sound system. The bus sports a “Greens To Go” sign with contact information. When they pull into a site, there is no doubt who they are or why they are there.
“We have 20 different songs we play, sort of like an ice cream truck, letting people know we have arrived,” explains Dawson.
The bus was selected specifically for its air conditioning, but Dawson explains that other features also make it attractive as a vegetable stand. Everything remains shaded, plus the windows and back door can be opened at sale sites for increased ventilation.
“The bus is a great eye-catcher,” says Dawson. “People like to look in from the back and kids like jumping out of it. We are kind of feeling our way along to see what will work.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Fairwinds Farm, 41 Tailwinds Lane, North East, Md. 21901 (ph 410 658-8187; jdawson@fairwindsstables.com; www.fairwindsstables.com).

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Old Bus Makes Great Fruit And Veggie Stand FARM HOME Food JoAnn and Ted Dawson turned a used school bus into a mobile fruit and veggie stand that makes it easy to set up at multiple locations “This year we set up at a farmer’s market an assisted living facility where the staff buys for the facility kitchen a hotel where the staff buys for their own use and a nearby town where business people and residents pick up food for themselves ” says Dawson “Next year we plan to expand We have already lined up a marina with a nearby campground we can stop at and a townhouse development we’ll stop at on the way home That will be three stops on one trip ” The Dawsons also operate Fair Winds Stable a riding stable bed and breakfast summer camp and special events site They offer pony horse and carriage rides for special events and recently added a caisson wagon for bearing a casket from funerals to gravesite But they say their fresh produce business is growing They raise corn tomatoes cucumbers squash and eggplant They also sell cantaloupe and watermelon that they buy from other local farmers In the past they sold from a stand at the end of their driveway “The mobility is a great thing ” says Dawson “We have air conditioning so we can keep the produce fresher in transit When we get to a site we just open the door and we are ready to sell We don’t have to unload tables and set up Everything is in portable bins so it’s easy to load and reload ” To attract attention the Dawson’s painted their bus with the vegetables they sell and added a sound system The bus sports a “Greens To Go” sign with contact information When they pull into a site there is no doubt who they are or why they are there “We have 20 different songs we play sort of like an ice cream truck letting people know we have arrived ” explains Dawson The bus was selected specifically for its air conditioning but Dawson explains that other features also make it attractive as a vegetable stand Everything remains shaded plus the windows and back door can be opened at sale sites for increased ventilation “The bus is a great eye-catcher ” says Dawson “People like to look in from the back and kids like jumping out of it We are kind of feeling our way along to see what will work ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Fairwinds Farm 41 Tailwinds Lane North East Md 21901 ph 410 658-8187; jdawson@fairwindsstables com; www fairwindsstables com

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