Seeing green
Kids learn value of work through vegetable stand
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
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It can take a lot of work to earn a buck, but a cute face, polite manners, good employees, and a top-of-the line product helps rake in the cash, 9-year-old Kolton Thorson learned as he manned a vegetable station at his grandparent’s home on Courville Trail for a few days this summer.
The California native loves visiting grandparents Sandra and Gary Noland at their farm and sheep dairy in Pablo during the summer. The sheep, the dogs, and other animals are all part of the farm life that Kolton enjoys. This year, when Kolton presented the idea of running a produce stand as a summer project, grandma and grandpa were totally on board.
A vibrant red and yellow stand emerged, with signs stuck to a fence post to get folks to stop. Dill, squash, zucchini, corn, onions, broccoli and other veggies from grandma’s garden were cut, washed, and bagged. Market research was done by going to local grocery stores to make sure Kolton’s prices, listed in chalk on a blackboard, weren’t too high.
With everything in place, all that Kolton needed was customers. A week into the game, he had his sales pitch down.
“Good afternoon. How may I help you?” Kolton chirped as customers approached the stands. He waved his hands like a professional showman as he pointed to available goods, and opened the freezer to show off colder goods.
As people named off what they would like, Kolton did the math in his head about how much the total cost was. He bagged the veggies and thanked folks for their business.
“Come again!” he exclaimed each and every time as folks walked back down the drive to their cars. He marked the prices down on a clipboard after the customers left, carefully tracking his profits.
“Grandpa gave me money for change so we have to keep track,” he explained.
Much of the time, Kolton’s big smile and polite service ended up landing him a fair tip.
“Most people love to stop and see a young kid with an enterprise going,” Grandpa Gary said. “They are supportive. I was really surprised. Lemonade, it’s a dime, but most people give him at least a dollar. There are a few that just settle for a dime, but most people say the prices are too cheap.”
Kolton made $61 after his first day of business, after expenses. One of those costs was paying 5-year-old Zoe Schroeder, who helped flag down cars during down time. The duo would run to the end of the roadway and yell “10 cent lemonade” to anyone who drove by.
Zoe came back for a second day of work in a princess gown, and waved happily at customers, though she spent some of her $5-per-day pay drinking down her profit by buying lemonade. She admired the money afterward and in the next few days she proceeded to offer to pay for her mother’s groceries and opened a play store in her bedroom where visitors could buy things with foreign currency that her mom had brought back from Asia many years ago.
By the end of the two weeks, Kolton had raised $180. He had a list of things he would like to spend it on: a GoPro, a helicopter camera and more. Grandpa Gary made the argument for putting some of it away for college. While the fate of his profits was uncertain, he was happy to have earned them.
“I’ll be back next year,” he promised.
