NEWARK. Del.— Like any
good business person, Chris
Breeding, 14, gets a little cagey
when hch talks about exactly how
much profit he’s making on his
vegetable garden and stand. But it
is enough to put a third back into
the farm, a third toward family va
cations, and another third to split
between Chris and his 11-year-old
brother Steve.
As a member of Statclinc 4-H
club in Scaford, Chris began a ve
getable gardenign project in 1989.
Since then, it has grown from a
100 by 200 feel plot in 1989 to 2.5
acres planted this year. He’s had
to enlist the help of his brother and
his mother, Sue, and father, Ron.
His garden was so prolific,
Chris decided to set up a roadside
stand Little Boys’ Produce Wa
gon on Route 20 west of Scaford.
His biggest sellers arc tomatoes,
com, watermelons, and canta
loupe. But he growns 10 addition
al kinds of vegetables.
Joy Sparks, University of Dela
ware state 4-H program coordina
tor, said it’s not unusual for kids to
turn their 4-H projects into profit
making enterprises.
4-H’er Parlays Project Into Profits
‘To listen to these kids talk
about their profits and how they’re
going to invest them, you’d think
they’d been in business for years,”
she said. “And they arc happy to
share what they’ve learned with
others.”
Chris said he had the benefit of
learning the ropes of an agricultur
al business from his grandfather.
But Chris will extend this know
ledge to others later this month.
Health Care Reform Debate
ALBANY, N.Y. The stale’s
leading .farm and rural advocacy
group is urging members of the
New York congressional delega
tion to move the health care re
form debate away from more
government and toward making
the individual more responsible.
According to New York Farm
Bureau President Charles E.
Willc, “Making the individual the
consumer instead of insurance
companies will curb the exploding
cost of health care.”
Willc said the hallmark of Farm
Bureau’s legislative position on
health care reform is to create a
He’ll be giving a demonstration
The What, When, Where and
Why of Vegetable Gardening
at the Delaware Slate Fair as part
of the Slate 4-H Demonstration
competition.
“Gardening and working at the
produce wagon means pulling in
long hours,” Chris said. “My typi
cal day begins aroudn 6:30 a.m.
and ends around 9:30 p.m. It’s se
ven days a week for about eight
mechanism where the individual
takes charge of their own health
care.
“Wc believe lhat Congress
should create medical savings ac
counts for individual Americans.
The establishment of medical sav
ings accounts would allow indivi
duals to set aside money in antici
pation of future health care costs.”
He said, “If the individual pays
for his or her own medical bills,
the medical costs will come down.
They would directly buy their own
catastrophic health insurance and
directly pay their health care pro
vider for everyday medical costs.”
Family,
COLLEGE PARK, Md.
Three generations of the Markline-
Wallimycr family of Madonna,
Harford County, were named “4-H
Family of the Year” during the
Maryland 4-H Recognition Prog
ram recently at the state fair
grounds in Timonium.
The Waltimycrs include John
and Marta Waltimyer and son 8.J.,
12 and daughter Kara, IS, in addi
tion to grandparents Dorothy and
Ben Marklinc.
Also recently recognized was
Dr. Richard R. Angus, who retired
a year ago after more than 35 years
of service to 4-H programs in both
Minnesota and Maryland as a
cooperative extension service pro
fessional. Angus continues to
work part-time at the Maryland
4-H Center as a volunteer. He is
current O’Chief of the Maryland
4-H All Stars organization and is
national president of Epsilon Sig
ma Phi, the honorary fraternity for
professional extension workers.
0t
lll^
Three generations of the Markllne-Waltlmyer family of Madonna, Harford County,
show off their plaque after being named 4-H Family of the Year during the Maryland
4-H recognition program. Seated, left to right, B.J. Waltimyer, 12; his grandmother,
Dorothy Markline; and his grandfather, Ben Markline. Standing are B.J.’s parents,
John and Marta Waltimyer. Not present was B.J.’s sister, Kara, 15.
weeks.”
The brothers share most of the
load by each working an hour on
and an hour off at the stand. That
way they can each have a break.
“Gardening is a lot of hard
work, but it is fun,” he said. “It has
taught me so many things.”
Chris says he’s learned to plan
ahead, to take liem to prepare the
soil, and to keep on top of water
ing and weeds throughout the sea-
Needs
Willc said lhal Farm Bureau
would like lo sec farms and other
small businesses get the same lax
benefits already afforded lo the
big corporations a 100 percent
tax reduction for those who self
finance their health insurance. He
noted that farmers would also like
lo see health care policy lhal pro
motes personal wellness, fitness,
and preventive care.
To help those who cannot meet
their own medical costs, Wille in
dicated that Farm Bureau supports
direct financial assistance to pay
for their health care needs. As a
Agent Honored By 4-H
S f
\
V ,
'm
"'“'it
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 23, 19&4-CS
son. He’s also learned that quality
and customer service will build re
peat business.
“1 found out that quality is im
portant so I pick the vegetables
fresh each day. If I have any left, I
give people extra. 1 want them to
come back.”
His advice to other youthful en
trepreneurs? Don’t give up. It’s
hard at first, but you can overcome
any difficulties.
Shift
Toward Reality
means of making health care oper
ate more cfificicntly,' the farm
community supports a number of
positions, including the following:
development of legislation that
will lead to a periodic review of
regulations impacting the delivery
of health care; privately funded
optional health care delivery sys
tems, such as health maintenance
organizations; properly compen
sating providers for treating Medi
care and Medicaid patients; and
efforts to improve the availability
and delivery of health care in rural
areas.
his acceptance speech after
being inducted Into the Mary
land 4-H Hall of Fame.
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