Happy Fall Harvest! - new items at Farmers' Market
Lars
6 years ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Farmer's Market
Comments (13)I have a suggestion for the cilantro. It goes to seed so quickly that it's hard to keep a good supply going. One of our marketers plants it in deep tubs (about 6" deep)with holes drilled in the bottom. Then he sells directly out of the tubs - just sets a pair of garden scissors beside it - and people can cut just the amount they want. The tubs are replanted immediately after the market so there is a continuing supply. His sign says "None fresher!" and that's the truth. When I was selling, my biggest sellers for cut herbs were parsley, basil and dill. That seems to be what most people in this area are familiar with. I couldn't find summer savory this year, and since mine didn't do well, I would have paid more than normal for it. So far as plants go, just about all of them sell reasonably well....See Morewhat good unique crops to sell at farmers markets?
Comments (41)Nothing NEW, but from the last couple of years experience at a small-town market, 30+ vendors, that gets a customer mix of local farmers/ex-farmers, "townies" and cottagers from the city, here are some of basic twists that have worked well for me: * fresh carrots w/ tops right through the season: not baby but picked quite young 5"-6". These go at way higher prices for a 1lb bunch, competing with quarter-bushel baskets of regular big mature topped carrots all around me, and they sell out. * fresh basil: sells well at a good price, and is great for the smell, which everyone notices walking by * heirloom tomatoes: Ours is not a trendy high-end market, there's a good mix of people as noted above, and heirlooms (as in big, "oddly" colored and shaped, sometimes "ugly", always tasty) still attract attention, and definitely get repeat customers from taste (and I guess the novelty helps). A basic like Brandywine is fine, and I had a several varieties last year with different looks and tastes (Green Zebra was a distinctive favorite), which helped even more. Curious people try one or two and keep coming back for more(!), and they were going for $1.50-2.00 a pop (12-16oz) - I just made up the price, since no one else had 'em at the market. *snap peas (edible pod): I was amazed by how many people didn't know these even existed! I'd go, "You can eat the pod" and hand 'em one and they'd automatically start shelling it. "No, you can eat the whole thing!" Wow! Child-like amazement :) They're also great to maximize the pea growing and picking effort because you can use 'em young as a snow pea, or mature, which gives more overall useful harvest time. You can maybe premium price 'em, but they're also good just for the word-of-mouth. *mesclun: I'm not sure what my various customers each think they're buying, the idea of mesclun has kinda trickled down to a real mainstream thing from a trendy idea. I sell a couple of mixes, one that's only lettuce (around nine lettuces), which I'll explain to anyone who wants to know, and of the various regular customers who buy a bag (1lb) a week, I don't think any of them really cared about the exact ingredients, they just like colorful, baby leaf salad mix, for their own individual reasons. At $5 a bag, a heavy seller. *spinach: This is probably more specific to our market, where there are several quite big local family farm growers that all concentrate on the basic carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas, etc, (easier handling/storage), but not on the fresh greens. So this depends a lot on the other vendors, but here, mounds of spinach is a good thing to have (and other greens, like lettuces, chard, etc, are quick and easy and add to the selection). *radish that's out of the typical early season is quick and easy to grow, and attracts a surprising number of people when no-one else has 'em. *miscellaneous specialty stuff: I plant small quantities of tons of things and bring some in. They're all good for novelty and attracting attention, but (for me in this specific situation...), none most alone don't do much for the bottom line. Stuff like: Eight Ball zucchini (lots of comments), Lemon cukes (comments and some regulars), white icicle type radish, rainbow chard (like, Bright Lights), purple snap beans (comments, but people mainly like the green and the yellow...), and so on, I even sold a few daikon radishes... All fun to grow and present but no magic. Half the fun seems to be trying new things without getting buried in a lot of odd and unusual ;) stuff... The general strategy of growing out of season really does work. This is practical if you're small. Having the earliest stuff is great, and just having it when no-one else does to me is just as much of an advantage. Superfreshness is also great, and probably most easily done when you're small. I mean, extreme freshness: stuff cut/picked the afternoon/evening before, salad greens the morning of... People really notice that: "hey, I forgot your mesclun in the fridge for TEN DAYS and it was still fine..." Also, if you grow natural, even if not certified organic, all kinds of people you mightn't expect to respond to that... Hope that's useful stuff in their! (I've got lots to learn, but passing on the little I have noticed already is always FUN!!)...See MoreCSA vs Farmers Markets
Comments (18)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...See Morefarmers market?
Comments (61)When I started out with the farmers market business, our extension office was a waste of time. They were interested in 4Hers and home gardeners. They had NOTHING in regards to working a farmers market as a business. Our market has a few 'hobby gardeners', unfortunately they don't know how much it cost to produce their produce and underprice those of us trying to make a profit....See Morecarol_in_california
6 years agoIslay Corbel
6 years agodcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
6 years agoMarilyn Sue McClintock
6 years agowritersblock (9b/10a)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agocarolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
6 years agoLars
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoLars
6 years ago
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