The Birmingham Farmer's Mkt is not what it once was. I remember when it moved from First Ave. and 11th St. North to Finley Ave. I believe it was while BIG Jim Folsom was guv'nuh. Some of you may remember that Big Jim paved roads all over the state so farmers could get their produce to the markets. A little gravel and some tar and you had a farm-to-market road. For the opening, they had huge search-lights sending beams of light into the Birmingham sky which could be seen for miles. The skies looked like those newsreel pictures of the London Blitz. Opening night they had Eddie Arnold to entertain. He sang his famous "Cattle Call". In those days "truck farmers" from Shelby, Jefferson, Blount, Walker, Cullman and other counties would fill the sheds with their vegetables and the outside area was filled to overflowing with those who couldn't get under the shed. Farmers offered bites of peaches, apples, watermelon, canteloupe, honey, peppers and other fresh items for you to taste. The farmers knew what they were selling because they grew it. Now the concrete dock-tables are claimed by year-round vendors who set-up and stay in place winter or summer. Ask one of the vendors if he has any "field corn" and he will tell you it was all grown in a field. They don't know Hickory King from Silver Queen. It seems most farmers bring their produce to the market and sell it to the vendors. Then the farmers don't have to stand around to sell their goods. They put the money in their pocket and go back to the farm. It has lost that farm-to-market atmosphere. And heaven forbid they would sell flowers at the 1950s era Farmer's Mkt. That would have been heresy.

You will do best selling trees with figs ripening on them and bring along younger trees for the bargain shoppers. A 3-4 ft. tree with figs on it is worth $25-50 to most people, an air layer in a gallon pot about $10-20. Farmers market sales tend to be really strong in July and August and then slow down a little in September and October is tough. Do not expect to sell anything if it is raining and the market is outside (stay home); bring extras on really nice days. The hardest and most frustrating part for you will probably be dealing with serial plant killers who will want guarantees and magical recipes for success, don't volunteer any advice unless customers ask and keep it simple. Planting, watering, mulching, winter protection. No need to worry about patents, unless you plan to sell your variety as Violetta Bayerfeige: the only patented fig variety. You can pick up some other varieties cheap on ebay right now from some good sources and try Encanto too. If you plan on doing this longterm you will need to add varieties to get repeat cutomers. Good luck.

I think the Song Haven Farm has a reasonable selection of produce, and not too high a price. (See link.) These folks only provide 15 weeks of produce (mid-July- mid-October), and they limit their selection somewhat, but they do provide enough that you could be happy cooking and eating produce for 4 months. I think their listing would be a good start for planning a CSA offering. Note that they only offer 25 shares, but their offerings also probably do not exhaust them as much as some of the larger CSAs with more variety of offerings. A CSA is no good if you are exhausted by the experience, and quit soon after starting. I had several conversations with the owner of another CSA in their area, and she also limited her shares, but had a longer time period of offerings because she had a greenhouse (mostly solar) to produce the food earlier. I believe she had something like 75 shares, each around $1200, and each requiring a couple half days of work during the year. She lived simply but comfortably on the income produced. I think she did not want to increase her farm size because it would have been too much work for her, and she did not want to hire full time help. She did have several unpaid summer interns who lived on the farm to learn techniques, and of course, work hard! There used to be meat shares available on some nearby farms for something like $40/week. Renais Here is a link that might be useful: Song Haven farm

Hey, Hey, Hey the Springfield Farmers Market will be opening Saturday April 11th. Lee Here is a link that might be useful: Springfield Farmers Market