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VIDEO: Unexpected C-section inspires lucrative Langley kids’ veggie stand

Five Brookswood children enjoyed such success selling vegetables, they’re doing it again Sunday.
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Nicole Manfredi’s three girls had been nagging her off and on throughout the summer to help them set up a lemonade stand in front of their Brookswood home.

Well, that never happened. But they got a variation on their wish this week – sort of.

Seven-year-old Olivia, five-year-old Paisley, and three-year-old Quinn Hildebrand partnered with some family friends to host a veggie sale. And it was so “successful” that they’re going do it again on Sunday.

Their young friends Hudson Nawrocki, six, and his younger brother Braden, four, also Brookswood residents, have a brand new, three-week-old sister named Jordyn.

The arrival of Jordyn via C-section, however, limited their mom, Linda, from doing any of the canning, saucing, drying, and baking that she does every year at harvest time.

While the boys helped their dad make some tomato sauce, Linda said expecting to preserve the abundance of other vegetables this year was out of the question.

“We’re not going to be able to eat all of it or deal with it,” she said.

So, she began casting around to friends and family, asking them to take some of the wealth of fresh veggies off her hands.

When she approached Manfredi, the suggestion for the veggie stand was instantly proposed.

Manfredi’s post on the Brookswood Community Facebook page helped bring in the customers.

The Hildebrand kids got their wish as they set up a stand outside their 200A Street home Wednesday afternoon. And in one short hour, they netted a profit of $35.

They sold tomatoes, basil, spaghetti squash, mint, jalapenos, peppers, and cucumbers all grown in the Nawrocki’s two greenhouses and numerous open planting beds in their backyard.

Linda noted that the boys are involved in growing all the veggies, from the onset of planting the seeds through to regular watering, weeding, and harvesting.

“I make them do the bulk of the work,” Linda said, noting it’s important for their family to eat organic foods and what better way than to grow it themselves.

All the children – who had never sold anything before – were ecstatic with the outcome of their sale, Manfredi interjected. She noted the kids have turned into budding entrepreneurs overnight with most of the sales made to people from the immediate neighbourhood driving by, or those who saw the Facebook post.

Braden, who was put in charge of the cash, said he’s going to use his cut to buy a turtle. He’s been saving for a while. Meanwhile, the other kids aren’t yet sure how they’ll spend their earning.

The Nawrocki family’s garden is still producing, so the group is planning to host another sale Sunday, Oct. 1, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 3938 200A Street.

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Roxanne Hooper

About the Author: Roxanne Hooper

I began in the news industry at age 15, but honestly, I knew I wanted to be a community journalist even before that.
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