Mini farmer's market.

16 years ago

I cleaned out the refrigerator just last night. I did away with some old jams/jellies, salsa, chilies, butter chunks left from recipes, the all natural almond butter no one ever liked enough to eat, old mayonnaise, a few jars of mustard with a dab left, and some other unloved condiments and wrinkled produce. And wiped the shelves! All to make room for my first farmer's market haul.

Alice and I were on our way home down the main drag and spotted the mini farmer's market set up in a strip mall parking lot. Though it was raining, we pulled in. The house was bare of produce. I think we hit almost every stand and made a small purchase. There were only about 8 vendors. They used to be there on Sunday mornings but have switched to Tuesday afternoons this season. The primary FM sets up downtown on Thursday and Sunday mornings. I rarely make it to that one as it is off my path. I'm glad to see this one though Alice is quick to point out there are no bargains! Everything is usually more expensive than the grocery store or the road stands. I have gotten bargains with "case" purchases.

We came home with peaches, strawberries, beets, snap peas, tomatoes, and carrot cupcakes.

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Comments (7)

teresa_nc7
16 years ago
Sounds like a fine haul to me!

Today I got an email from a nearby organic farm that is now starting their season. And get this....they will deliver! Free if order is over $20 and $1 extra if under $20. And they have pickup in 2 locations, one which is only a couple of miles from my office. You email or call the farm with your order and they bag it up and put your invoice on the bag.

This week they have squash, beets, baby celery, Swiss chard, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, green onions, green garlic, herbs, and herb plants. Yes, they are higher than the grocery store, but not that much, and this is organic and local - only about 7-10 miles as the crow flies. I will be away this weekend, but I let them know I planned to order next week.

Go to LocalHarvest.com and find farms near you, then you can sign up for emails on activities and new listings for local foods.
Teresa
centralcacyclist
Original Author
16 years ago
Delivery would be wonderful if I could find a farm group to do that. I stopped driving more than a year ago and this makes going out to farm stands challenging, though I have done so on my bicycle. I don't mind the ride but the narrow country roads, no shoulder, and speeding trucks make it a bit breath taking.

Right now it's just Alice and I and soon it will just be me. Alice will go away to college in September.
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PonderGuy, those 2 markets are likely to have quite different customer bases. I'm not sure if the urban core market where we sell could long exist without subsidies. The WIC & Senior FM Nutrition Programs are probably critically important. It wasn't that way the first or second year of the market's existence when these programs were not available but, honestly, I think the only thing that kept us going then was the hope that sales would get better. FM studies, and there are a few out there, have shown that something like 90% of the customers come from within 1 mile of the marketsite. Now, I realize that each market is different and there are tourist dominated markets where this wouldn't hold true but markets' tend to BELONG to neighborhoods - that seems to be what you are experiencing. Our experience here is that the suburban markets are dominated by resellers and crafters. The serious growers really tend to go downtown but they flat couldn't afford to do that if the neighbors couldn't afford to purchase their produce. It has taken the vouchers to make that happen. It is still a fairly small market but subsidized sales amount to about 30% of the market's total. Pray that we don't lose this under the current government plans to cut poverty programs. If that happens, we could just fold up our tents and head out to join the resellers in the suburbs. And, that should just about destroy the opportunity for growers to direct market in this area. Encourage, encourage, encourage the folks at your local WIC clinics and senior centers to get involved in bringing fresh fruits and veggies to their low-income clients. That is, if they are not coming down with vouchers already. If they are coming down, find ways, in cooperation with the social workers, to encourage more of them to come down. Having a 40% or 50% redemption rate will result in serious loss of potential income. Find ways to welcome these customers. They are our most vulnerable neighbors Â usually young, single moms with babies and very elderly, frail folks. Having someone somewhere in the market to greet them especially and maybe with some free recipe cards will go a long way towards making them feel more comfortable. And, the just-regular-folks really seem to appreciate what is going on. TheyÂve got to worry about these peopleÂs well-being, also. Steve
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Nancy, the peach pies look beautiful, but I'll bet they are labor intensive? Could you make a large cobbler with a top crust and maybe some struesel crumbs on top then portion out two servings in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap? Have you considered tea breads - mini loaves of lemon bread, banana bread, applesauce walnut bread, etc. could be made mid-week and would hold well in the fridge until market day. This type of bread is usually very moist and will hold longer than yeast breads. Last year my friendship starter breads sold well. The starter keeps the loaf very moist - you don't have to call the breads "friendship" or Amish Friendship as people who don't bake have probably not heard of them and might not understand the concept. And have you tried mixing up your pretzel roll dough a day or two ahead and keeping it chilled until ready to bake? Are the three large loaves the asiago bread? Does one recipe produce 3 loaves that size? I'd try making four slightly smaller loaves and price them a little less. Also, I would try making a recipe of the sugar cookies mid-week, then wrap them well with plastic wrap, put them in a zip bag or container with a lid and store them in a cool place until market day. You could make a test batch and see how they taste to you several days later. The cookies could also be frozen on the day they are made and pulled out the day before market day. Or, make the cookie dough ahead and freeze then bake the day before market day? You are getting a feel now for what sells well for you and what your customers repeatedly buy - that's good. But think about how you can begin your baking earlier in the week and try new items that can be made ahead. Do you have a flyer on the table offering to make special orders? When I did this I sold by the recipe - i.e. an entire recipe of yeast rolls or 4 loaves of my Amish bread recipe. I would offer the customer a slight discount for ordering the entire recipe and I would tell them how to freeze the breads. This way they could order ahead to be sure what they wanted was held (out of sight) for them. I have some great recipes if you want those. Teresa
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dirtgirl07
16 years ago
I keep forgeting about ours - all of the small ones are on Saturday mornings only around here. That delivery would be great. And Barnmom, I'm with you on that bicycle and speeding trucks!

Fortunately, Harry's farmers market aka Whole Foods around the corner is open all days and keeps the great produce the same as when it was a farmers market. Very good and fresh with a good selection too.

Beth
Lars
16 years ago
Kevin went to the Culver City FM this Tuesday and got a really good selection of mushrooms, along with spinach, tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, and spinach. I told him to look for olives and olive oil (which I usually find), but I guess he didn't find any. The market it just a few blocks from where he works, and so it's easy for him to walk over there on a break. I'm going to have one of the tomatoes today at lunch, and I trust that it will not be sprouted.

Lars
Gina_W
16 years ago
Since I moved, I've been going to the local FM. I didn't like it a long time ago because it had been taken over by non-farmers, but I was very pleased to see that the city has again regulated it and requires certification. It's twice a week and the prices are great. We've been eating lots of cherries every day. There is a good seller of olives and hummus flavored with things like jalapeno and cilantro. His olives are delicious - mixed lots of herbs and fresh garlic.
centralcacyclist
Original Author
16 years ago
Hey there Gina! I am going to check out the mini one close to me again this coming Tuesday. I hope there will be more vendors and that the weather will be sunny.
coconut_nj
16 years ago
I'm lucky enough to live in the garden part of the Garden State and there are still lots of farms around me. Several owned by friends who have stands, so I get most things there in season. There are the big farmers markets like Colombus and Trenton Farmers market that we go to occasionally. Colombus has some asian stands and such that have stuff our regular stands don't. Plus seafood stands and a giant flea market. Trenton Farmers market is near Christys work so she goes there sometimes at lunch time.

Theresa thanks for reminding me about Local Harvest. I hadn't checked it out this year and I was glad to see there are quite a few more local farms listed now, including a number of organic meat farms. Sad to say a few previous farms are no longer participating. Btw, it's LocalHarvet.ORG... org not .com.

Here is a link that might be useful: Local Harvest

Mini farmer's market.

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Mini farmer's market.

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