SARAH GARDNER: Jill Craver is a woman with one farm -- and five kids.
JILL CRAVER: Chloe is 16, Dylan is 11, Grady is 9, Ava is 7 and Cooper is 4.
GARDNER:Together, they raise a variety of vegetables, from asparagus to pumpkins, and several small animals on their farm, Craver's Little Red Barn, located outside Taylor Ridge, Illinois.
The veggies they grow are sold throughout the summer at the Freight House Farmers' Market in Davenport, where Jill has a stall. And, each week, right alongside her will be one of her kids, helping out.
Even though they are among the youngest vendors there, they have their routine down.
CRAVER: They obviously help me load up the truck on Friday — the main parts, we don't do our vegetables until the last minute. But when we get there, then we unload our market down to the tent, the tables. They know how to set up the stand, they know how to price the prices, when the customers get there, they usually take my tables -- there's only two tables, but it's still nice to have one half is me, one half is them -- and they have their own money, and then they'll say, "Hi, how can I help you?"
GARDNER: The Craver kids take turns each week helping out at the farmers' market. Although they are kept busy all day long helping customers at their booth, they also get something from the experience that is very valuable in a big family: time spent alone with Mom.
CRAVER: I usually tend to bring them one at a time. There's a couple reasons for that. One, the more there is, there can kind of be sibling rivalry, which happens I think in every family. But two, it's one of my times where it's a one-on-one basis. We also have one-on-one at home, too, where it's who's going to help me do chores this week and feed the sheep, who's going to do this, but this way it's for sure just me and that child.
GARDNER: The Cravers also have a small roadside farm stand that is entirely managed by the kids. Together, they keep it stocked with vegetables and they collect the money, which they save toward family vacations and other big purchases.
Jill says the work that they do at the farmers' market and the farm stand is a great opportunity for her kids to practice real-world math skills.
And there are other benefits.
CRAVER: They love interacting with the people. I think they really like seeing the fact that that we're not the only ones doing it, because when they go to school, we do live in a farming community, but I think we're the only family that goes to the farmers' market and sells. And so I think it's kind of neat for them, they see other people out there, I think they also think it's unique that people really appreciate you at Freight House. Our customers are so nice to us. I've never had an unkind word in seven years.
GARDNER: That's amazing.
CRAVER: That is amazing! My daughter works at an ice cream store now and she says, "Sometimes the customers are mean to me," and I was like, "And when you worked at the farmers' market, where they ever?"
And she said, "Not once."
