Hi Kristi, This is our first official year at the farmer's markets... we go to two... small towns. We have grown everything using organic methods, no chemicals, etc. Our tomatoes are the first on the market. We are selling our Sweet Baby Girl Cherry Tomatoes for $3.00/pint which we weigh out (for ourselves to be consistent... not officially) to be approximately 1# each. We will hold that price for "Matt's Wild's" & Grape Tomatoes. We use the grocery as a gauge & go a bit higher. Our standard size tomatoes are selling for $3.00/quart box which is approximately 1# as well. We usually harvest the day/evening before market & wash only if necessary because of mud or dirt. Our tomatoes are staked & fairly clean. We use green strawberry quart size boxes & when they sell we put them in a baggie with a twist tie & keep our boxes. We've been leaving them in the house covered with a towel to keep fruit flies from 'nibbling' during the night. It seems that I read somewhere that refrigeration is not recommended for tomatoes. As far as other vendors selling for less, our policy is to do our research, set our price & stick with it. We let people know when they are looking at our table that everything is freshly picked, locally grown by us (not bought in from somewhere else) & that we don't use chemicals. We've found that most people appreciate knowing those things & are willing to pay a fair price for our products. We struggled alot at the beginning of the season, but when we consider how much work we put in to grow, weed, harvest, clean, package, etc & then look at the grocery prices knowing most of the produce has travelled many miles, been treated with chemicals or gassed, we realize we are offering a terrific product at a very fair price! May you be blessed & encouraged in all you do! Sally ;o)

Wow this thread was from 05! I wonder how many have changes their prices drastically. I increased my prices last year a bit over my first year and then a bit more this year. If you have something no one wants it doesn't matter how low the price is. If you have something a lot want you can get a lot for it. I try to keep my prices to the dollar rather than mess with a lot of quarters and we don't sell by weight at my market. I will vary the size of a bunch or bag or whatever sometimes as need may be rather than change the price but I did already raise the price for 2011 on flower bouquets and plants. Rhubarb- 7 fat or 9 thin $3 scallions- 5/spring onions4/ baby garlic5/ bunch of scapes5 $1 herb bunch $1 (these don't sell but are free for me to grow for the most part- basil sells and I will probably do bigger bunches for more money later) flower bouquet $3 radish - about 7 I believe $1 bag of spinach or baby lettuce $3 unwashed baby bok choy $2? turnip bunch usually 4-5 for $1 but sometimes $2 carrots 7 for $2 generally broccoli quart $3 cabbage $3 usually but varies on size large cauliflower maybe $5 large leek/onion/garlic bulb $1 each (great money makers) beets/kohlrabi/small ruties $2 for about 3 beans $2 quart in season but they don't sell at all ever potatoes $2 quart can't raise price on these since they don't sell well edamame $2 pint sells surprisingly well peppers sold best at $3 quart for sweet and pint for hot cherry tom pint $2.50 doesn't sell well heirloom tomatoes sell for about 3/$2 in season or $2 a pint early season, or 75c. I can't sell the pounder size. zucs and cucs are hardly worth it for me squash .75/pound weighed and marked ahead same with melons So the container pricing worked much better for tomatoes, peppers, zucs, cucs, eggplant but it takes more time and room on the table than putting them in a big cute basket.

A day or so after my husband mowed the lawn he pointed out a bare spot in the middle of the back yard. He said it wasn't there when he mowed. So I decided to take a closer look. I poked around with a twig and was frightened by movement and what appeared to me to be the head of a small snake. On closer look I thought it was a rodent and immediately wanted it out of there. Poking some more, I counted 3. So I put on gloves, removed them and the nesting material under a tree in an unsold lot adjacent to our unfenced backyard. I then went on the internet to see what I could find out. Baby bunnies...don't remove the nest....yada, yada. Now I panicked thinking Mom would abandon them. One did not appear very alert...almost comatose. Frightened or in danger? Periodically I looked out to see if Mom was there and she showed up over the nest. Back to the internet for more research.T wo days now and I only saw her that once. The babies were about 3-4 inches long, ears back, eyes closed and plump bellies. At 6:30a yesterday I checked to see if they were there and breathing and arranged some twigs over the nest so I could see if the nest was disturbed later as proof Mom returned. Late that afternoon/early evening it became a gully washer with thunder and lightning and I feared their nest would be flooded. The best I could do was put a folding canvas camp chair over the nest. An hour or more later I looked out and it was blown over. Dashed out and flipped it over so it formed more of a tent over the nest and then worried I was too late. 4:00a this morning I went out with a flashlight and changed the chair a bit to make it maybe a little easier for Mom. I was shocked to see the babies (only 2) huddled on top of the nest completely exposed. I fear the comatose one didn't make it. Now I'm checking every few minutes to see if Mom is there with them. It's not raining right now but threatening. I don't know if they are out of the nest because it's flooded or the sibling died and Mom got them out. It's 74 outside and I worry I'd they are warm enough. It's thundering and lightening again, but not raining. They looked healthy, but not quite as frisky as they were the day I moved them briefly. What's the danger to them now? They look much bigger than they were when I first found them. I recall seeing the Mom sitting in the lawn a day or two before my husband pointed out the bare spot. I'm guessing they are maybe 5-7 days old now. Seems she put them in the worst possible location, right in clear sight. Could she be ready to move their nest elsewhere? Maybe I shouldn't worry about them as this is probably very common in nature. It's just the first time I've witnessed it!

way back when i farmed for a living we saw an ad in the catalog that we ordered our baby chicks. we ordered a dozen straight run araucana chicks. and paid 50Cents each plus shipping. which we thought was expensive. But once they started laying pastel colored eggs in green and blue and pink and tan. we were real happy with them and we sold the extra fresh farm eggs. everybody wanted the easter eggs! I set up a incubater in the celler and hatched out lots of eggs and also traded eggs with a friend who also had the chickens too. to have a bigger gene pool of chicks. a few years later i was taking 12 dozen eggs to work each week and always had requests for more, i got a promotion at work and gave up farming to move to another town to work. in the ads in the sunday paper this week i saw an add selling baby auracana chicks for $3.00 each.