An Experiment

October 19, 2010

Yesterday I began a new experiment I've been thinking about for a little while now. I was inspired by a lady in China Village, Nancy, who has the most beautiful garden.

In fact, this summer, my parents and I were strolling by on an afternoon walk and we were invited into the garden. I think it was the first time I stepped foot inside with the blooming plants and it was awesome.

From her lovely garden, Nancy creates beautiful, bright, rustic flower arrangements and sells them at a little stand at the top of her driveway. Each bouquet waits in a little container of water until someone stops by, drops $3 in the tin, and takes it away.

It's quite a successful endeavor, and it works on an honor system that I thought maybe only a very small town could sustain.

So yesterday morning, at 7:30am, inspired by Nancy, I tried an experiment. I wrapped up crumbly chunks of coffee cake to look like little presents, put them in a basket on a little table, and used one of my chalkboards to let people know "Today's Special."

I keep forgetting to take photos of the little "stand" before I bring it back in the house, so here is a photo of what it looks like in the front room. (I couldn't get a great shot because the small room is currently occupied by a LAWN MOWER that Michael borrowed from a neighbor and hasn't managed to return.)



Yesterday, the first day of the experiment, I sold TWO pieces of coffee cake! And today, I walked out after a few hours and I had sold THREE pieces of coffee cake!

Because we live on a street that backs up to a primary school, parents park on our street while they drop their children off, or they walk down our street to drop them. There's a pretty high amount of traffic on a dry day, so I'm hoping my little stand will become a neighborhood fixture, just like Nancy's!

Tomorrow, I'll be putting out pumpkin bread, so we'll see what my neighborhood thinks of that!