Our farm tour last Wednesday went very well in a number of ways. We had a decent crowd, we showcased our certified organic produce and we were able to put in a couple of plugs for our farmers' markets in Carpio and Minot.

There were about a dozen interested people who came out from a good part of North Dakota. Some research, some grow and some are just interested in switching over to organic. Whatever the reason, Ilene and I kept them interested the entire afternoon.

We started out with a tour of the garden, which took the better part of an hour. We tried to explain the products as we went through the field. Obviously, some things were more interesting than others so they took longer to explain, like the peanuts and celery.

When we finished, we went to the local cafe to have a snack. The snacks were actually products from our own garden. We included carrots, tomatoes and celery. It was the first attempt at the public trying our celery. They liked it so now we can market this product at the markets.

Because of a strong wind, we didn't set up our canopy. Instead, Ilene explained our display while in the cafe and passed around photographs from last year's grape and garlic festival to demonstrate what sells.

We concluded with the market. And after some of the people helped us get the products ready for market, they purchased produce on the way out, especially garlic.

As it turned out, we had one of the best markets we've ever had in Carpio.

Thus, the entire day was a success and some TV coverage didn't hurt either. We were really pleased with how everything turned out from FARmMS organizing the tour to brisk sales at the market.

Thanks everyone for coming out and we can't wait to do this again.