Gonna try my hand at Farmer's Marketing. Advice and pics please!

After a brief search on permies for "farmer's market" I've found lots of mentions, in contexts like "I found it at the farmer's market", but no consolidated how to. So, I'll post here, in hopes of forming one.

I've signed up for my local farmer's market, just gotta pay my dues and I'm in. Yesterday was the first day of the season. I went and hung out the whole time, watching and learning. It seemed really small. They tell me it's never huge, but does get a little bigger as more produce comes into season. It's a local only market. You made, you grew it, or you don't sell it. It seems that some of the things I'd like to sell have additional requirements: nursery license, egg license, no tax due letter, maybe more. But I don't have anything (yet) to sell that requires those. I've put together a list of things I think I could bring in now, that I can sell without further paperwork:

"garlic Scallions"

Sunchokes

Rhubarb

Bamboo Culms

Bamboo Leaves

Comfrey Leaves

Garlic Chives

Mint/ Herbs

"Foraged Greens":

    • Lamb's Quarters
    • Dandelion Leaves
    • Plantain

Questions:

Several of these items will keep for a long time in the ground, but not very long once harvested. I have a lot, but the amount is finite. How do I decide how much to pull out and take with me each market day? (Keeping in mind, most folks will find them unfamiliar, and I may have to build up demand for them.)

Some of these items want you dead. If you eat too much sunchoke without defusing it first, you're a time bomb. I think rhubarb has the same active ingredient as Barkeeper's Friend. Obviously I want to make some effort to educate the customer. How much responsibility do I have here?

I also welcome insights into how to set up, what to bring, how to price. (This market doesn't dictate prices.) Pictures would be great. I'll be entitled to a 10' by 10' space. Gonna start a list of what to bring, but it's not ready yet, and this post is getting long enough.

I did find a thread from someone claiming to supply the same info. He's offering a free ebook.

I'm having some focus issues right now, such that I'm not doing any reading that takes more than a few minutes, but hopefully it will be helpful to someone else, or to me later.

Okay, I don't know how to farmer's market yet, but I do like to tinker with computer stuff. I made a market calendar.

It's probably only of interest if you're in my area. (Southwest Missouri) Sellers have to be from Lawrence county, or any adjacent county.

Your list of items sounds like items I have never seen at a farmer's market so I feel you might to well.

When I go to the farmer's market I always look for blemished fruit rather than the perfect tomatoes.

My reasoning is that the perfect tomatoes were bought at the local produce warehouse and not homegrown.

I learned this while in college from a friend who bought at the local produce warehouse.

I also like finding booths that offer samples as it is a great icebreaker technique.

I also like finding jar of homemade goodies.

You probably have seen these though these threads might be of interest for others wanting to get into the farmer's market business:

https://permies.com/wiki/151626/pep-community/Create-Recurring-Farmer-Market-Flea

https://permies.com/t/63045/build-foot-traffic-small-town

https://permies.com/t/123521/Farmer-market-free-market-managing

https://permies.com/t/32042/talk-farmer-market-sales-statistics

https://permies.com/t/6534/Sharing-farmer-market-booth

keep them upright in a flat pan of water. you could even briefly transport submerged in water so you know when you get there that they’re as watered as possible at the start. and keep the display out the sun.

T Melville wrote:

How can I keep greens from wilting, or prolong the time before they wilt?

Submerging in water is called 'crisping' and it should be done with room temperature water, contrary to what you might want to do which is use cold water. You can crisp produce for just a few minutes (3-10) and it will make a big difference. Crisping as close to market time as possible or practical would be best. Misting or spritzing should be done with cold water as it will warm immediately upon contact, and raise the humidity directly around the produce, prolonging time before wilt. Having a spray bottle in a cooler works great to mist produce with every so often.

I am skeptical of the general public's willingness to purchase lambs quarters, dandelion, and other "weeds" for prices that would make it worth bringing to market. If you feel like either they are educated or can be educated as to the benefits, it might work for you. My opinion is colored by being surrounded by modern ag and conservative meat and potatoes country, so I may be more pessimistic than most about this topic. I have found in my experience it is best to just eat it yourself and not bother talking to anyone about it unless they ask or seem genuinely interested.

Juliet Blankespoor, a long time ago, used to sell things like Lambs quarters are her local farmers market....and initially had a difficult time UNTIL she made a wild green pesto and made that for sale AND had the recipe cards so that if people wanted to buy the wild greens to make it themselves. *That is her story she tells in her school.

When I chat about the wild foods we forage here - I get all sorts of crazy looks until I talk about the flavor and the increased nutrition in wild foods. We will never eat cultivated Spinach but we will gorge ourselves on Lambs quarters. Foods that need special processing, however, will deter most folks.

Our local market is a producers only market - similar but allows for home made items even if the ingredients aren't local (think breads, jams/jellies etc)....in that I could make floral honeys, such our Redbud honey or Sorrel honey and sell those, even though we don't produce our own honey.

Garlic scapes do decently in our market here but you could also make a garlic scape salt. Rhubarb usually sells out quickly here too.

You can also then market Comfrey leaves as a great garden fertilizer (perhaps even selling the concentrate in jars/bottles)...show the photos of the process and folks may buy them too.

For "weeds" we just have to show people how to prepare them, eat them, use them etc.  

I have seen a vendor or two at most of the markets in my area with a "wild" or "foraged" name on their table. They will be selling similar things to what you listed as well as maybe mushrooms. They display small quantities (I see most vendors cover all but a single bunch of their greens with wet burlap to keep them from wilting too much, but also see them in the shallow hotel pans with water as I believe Greg Mosser mentioned). These are they kinds of stands where I buy nettles and purslane at gallingly high prices.
I would make a few recipes, printed and cut up, to hand out for those unfamiliar with the items you are offering (or make a sample pesto or salsa verde or chimmichurri etc to sample and then offer that recipe on a slip of paper).

I have never seen any disclaimers with any vegetables, cultivated or wild, at a market, including sunchokes and rhubarb (which is a hot ticket in my area- sells like crazy). Our markets haven't opened yet, but if I see a stand that has done a nice job of presenting this kind of thing, I will try to get some photos to post.

Protection from the weather - a shade tent (plus something to help it not blow away if it gets windy) is the usual thing.

A second person so you can go to the bathroom and eat (even if they just stop by once an hour to spell you off).  Sometimes the event will have a person to help with this, but it's less common these days.  I know a lot of people who do festivals and markets in adult diapers because they don't have a second person - not fun.  

Money - it used to be a float of a hundred and fifty dollars in coins was standard for an event.  Not sure what it is now with the electronic payments.  But I think fewer people carry coins now, so if you are dealing with cash, expect to make change.  And somewhere to keep the money ON YOUR PERSON.  Money (they call them fanny belts here) belts are your friends as they also help you stand out as a seller because these belts are so unfashionable right now, only a seller would wear one.

Something to make your booth stand out.  I usually bring a spinning wheel, plop it out front (in the path a bit) and sit and spin in downtime.  It draws more people in, but I'm selling fibre.  Other options include a sandwich board with a joke or a picture.  Something that people can remember so they can say "hey, have you seen the booth where the guy wears the giant mushroom hat?  I want to get some more of ..."

If it's an unusual food, samples (IF THE VENUE ALLOWS).  Or simply recipes for free.  Buy this, get a recipe.  It's delicious.  

Make packup as easy as possible.  When our family did a lot of shows and markets, we had these wooden boxes that quickly became shelves.  They were built to fit perfectly in the back of the car so that nothing moved around and got damaged.  Then the big stuff (aka, the stuff you set up first like tables and take down last like tables) fit on top.  These days I use old luggage, but it's not easy to lift a steamer trunk into the car with anything heavier than wool in it.  And even then, it takes two people.

Have a look at how grocery stores keep their produce fresh and EXPERIMENT BEFORE the event with different techniques.  Some things get put on a bed of crushed ice, others get misted every 20 min.  

Knife, scissors, duct tape, bandaids, string, a multi-tool, gloves, notepad and pen and a pencil... make a little red tool kit with the essentials you need, and room to add to it as your experience grows.  

For outdoor markets (we have an interesting mix, here, of indoor & outdoor ones) some sort of shade is huge, not only for your goods, but for you. Staying well hydrated can be a deciding factor in your health, which can be the deciding factor in your ability to stay upbeat and sell well (even if it just makes you more tired & grumpy, not actually ill), too.

Something that never occurred to me, until yesterday, while I was helping a couple friends out, in their joined booths, is that in many places - especially town festivals, and the like, where they close off a street or two, for the event - you'll end up literally in the middle of the street. One of these lovely ladies yesterday, brought along a large-but-lightweight room rug (maybe 8'x10'?) to put under the space. It got insanely hot, yesterday, and our booths were some of those in the middle of the street. But, that rug, combined with the shade, made for a very noticeable difference in our comfort & in product safety. Wherever product was in the sun - it melted or softened.  Not good for things like lotion bars, soaps, and candies, and more than it would have been for the wilting of produce & plants, whether cut or potted.

While I'm not normally a proponant of anything plastic, if space is an issue, they do make inflatable chilling tubs, for parties, that fit on a narrow table top. Blow it up, fill it with ice, and away you go. Take-down is easy, with a drain plug(just place it strategically, during setup), dry it with a towel, deflate, roll it up, and away you go.

I sold about twenty sunchokes and forty to forty-five young garlics. Made $12. Sold no lamb's quarters and no mint. Nobody that I had to explain sunchokes to bought any. They were all bought by the people who went "Ooh, sunchokes! I've been looking for those, but nobody has them!"

Your spread looks good for your first time. I've marketed my own veg/fruit/products at farmers' markets as well as have been a market manager for a few other larger farms.

Market day is a slog and goes really well if you're prepared for it to be a hella long day and you're well organized and willing to talk to a lot of people without making money. Especially for crops that aren't in a general rotation at a grocery store. Folks just aren't used to having the diversity of foods that exist outside of a grocery produce department. Recipe cards and samples have always worked really well for me. Sacrifice a bag of mint for people to fondle, smell, taste.

Gardening books and cookbooks from your own collection available for customers to glance at to get ideas and confidence (make sure you mark your books and communicate that they're from your personal library and are not for sale, because they will grow legs otherwise).

The more willing you are to socialize over the foods and about the foods, the better your sales will be. Also, talk to other farmers about their best marketing practices. But beware, not all farmers are neighborly and will be willing to have collaborative competition over the indoctrinated capitalist kill-or-be-killed mentality. It depends on your area. I've seen a real mixed bag in attitudes at all the markets I've been to.

Insofar as keeping your greens from wilting, as others said, keep them out of the sun. I've found keeping a spray bottle with cool water to spritz them and keeping most of the greens in a cooler and only stocking a few at a time is helpful. Be sure anything that you purposely keep a low stock visible that folks know you have more. You wouldn't believe how many people will pass up buying your kale when they only see 3 bunches out because they thinking they're being nice to the "next people who might want it." Let them know you have enough to go around and they wouldn't deprive the next customer if they wanted kale too.

Also, not sealing up your plastic bags will help the longevity of your greens. Those ziplocs are like little greenhouses and can heat up and cook your greens in minutes, even when they're not in the sun. Allow some air to flow.

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts. I may be able to offer other insights if you're interested or have questions. Feel free to hit me up.

The first half or so of the market was overcast and rainy. That helped my greens a lot, I think. The market's owner was next to me, and invited me under her shade tent to get out of the rain. When the sun came out, I was shaded.

I'm hoping to have a recipe or two, some info about the things I'm selling, links to youtube videos that might be helpful, contact info, etc, prepared for next market day. I'll probably print some kind of hand-out, but I plan to have QR codes available for each link/ article/ page/ video. I'm trying to think how to keep it from being overwhelming. Maybe a large QR on the table or a sign, going to a webpage with links to the rest. And each recipe and item description on the hand-out having a smaller QR.

I'll probably just throw something together first, knowing it will suck. Some of my best work comes from such a start, followed by "Okay why does it suck? Alright, let's fix that, then ask again."

T Melville wrote:I'm hoping to have a recipe or two, some info about the things I'm selling, links to youtube videos that might be helpful, contact info, etc, prepared for next market day. I'll probably print some kind of hand-out, but I plan to have QR codes available for each link/ article/ page/ video. I'm trying to think how to keep it from being overwhelming. Maybe a large QR on the table or a sign, going to a webpage with links to the rest. And each recipe and item description on the hand-out having a smaller QR.

I'll probably just throw something together first, knowing it will suck. Some of my best work comes from such a start, followed by "Okay why does it suck? Alright, let's fix that, then ask again."

Got the webpage together. (The first draft.) I'll try to get the hand-out started tomorrow.

when I was doing the farmer market thing an older guy who was quite good at it told me you have to have vegetables, fruits, flowers and dancing girls to do real well.
I did ok with herbs. giant bunches of basil would sell out every week. I would pack fresh herbs in ice chests and offer giant bunches rubber banded together. I brought other herbs, and what didn't sell out I dried and bottled. all the common vegetables are a good thing to start with, peas, beans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, turnips, radishes, long stem flowers do real well such as miniture sunflowers.

you might want to do away with the plastic bags and use rubber bands. so customers can touch and smell what you have.
what you are offering are not common items and many potential customers might not know what to do with them so you might offer some recipes using the items you are offering.

the QR code thing might be nice but its not as instant as having stacks of printed recipes, and info sheets on the table ready to be looked at.

Working on signage/ recipe(s)

More work on my signs, recipes, etc. (Pics below) Since Market day, I finally found a way I like to use the mint! I took one package, (about 28g, or 1oz) rolled the leaves and sliced as finely as I could. (I think it may be called chiffonade?) Then I threw that in a mixing bowl with all the liquid ingredients for a chocolate cake and beat them together. I hoped that would distribute the flavor more evenly. Then I added the cake mix and mixed again. Baked as instructed. We all liked it, but a few family members thought it was plenty of mint, and shouldn't be increased. I thought it could've used another package. It came out with the chocolate as the primary note, with the mint as a background note. That was fine, but not quite what I had in mind.

So, I've improved my set-up to include a shade tent. It has a long cord attached at each corner. I always tie the back two legs to the truck. So far, that's always been enough. Until July first. The owner of the market lent me two 40 pound concrete weights for the other legs. Great until the end of market. I gave back the weights, but kept my tent up. (The vendor next to me, an Amish lady, was under it, waiting for her ride. It had started raining.) I was starting to load up, and had to go tend something at the front of the truck. The tent finally caught enough wind to try to take off. Being tied to the bumper, it didn't get far, but landed upside down on the bed rail. Folded some of the struts backward. Another vendor helped me fold it right. It doesn't seem to be broken, but that's bound to have shortened it's life. I'm so close to breaking even at market, I didn't want to spend any money, but this had to get fixed.

I started scrounging around. After our remodel, my ex-wife had the contractors throw unused bag(s) of concrete into the cellar under an outbuilding. I was able to reach one of them. The bag was damaged, so I poured it into a cat litter bucket with the lid on. I weighed it today. It was almost a full bag. Seventy-seven point six pounds. I found a short piece of old log chain in the garage, and some big bolts. I cut the chain in half, and centered a big bolt through the bottom link of each chain.















I don't know much about working with concrete, but I think I got it. When they're hardened enough, I'll tie the tent to the truck (the back legs) and tie the front legs to my new weights through the chains. (Anyone know if the concrete will be strong enough for that by Saturday?)

T Melville wrote:After a brief search on permies for "farmer's market" I've found lots of mentions, in contexts like "I found it at the farmer's market", but no consolidated how to. So, I'll post here, in hopes of forming one.

I've signed up for my local farmer's market, just gotta pay my dues and I'm in. Yesterday was the first day of the season. I went and hung out the whole time, watching and learning. It seemed really small. They tell me it's never huge, but does get a little bigger as more produce comes into season. It's a local only market. You made, you grew it, or you don't sell it. It seems that some of the things I'd like to sell have additional requirements: nursery license, egg license, no tax due letter, maybe more. But I don't have anything (yet) to sell that requires those. I've put together a list of things I think I could bring in now, that I can sell without further paperwork:

"garlic Scallions"

Sunchokes

Rhubarb

Bamboo Culms

Bamboo Leaves

Comfrey Leaves

Garlic Chives

Mint/ Herbs

"Foraged Greens":

    • Lamb's Quarters
    • Dandelion Leaves
    • Plantain

Questions:

Several of these items will keep for a long time in the ground, but not very long once harvested. I have a lot, but the amount is finite. How do I decide how much to pull out and take with me each market day? (Keeping in mind, most folks will find them unfamiliar, and I may have to build up demand for them.)

Some of these items want you dead. If you eat too much sunchoke without defusing it first, you're a time bomb. I think rhubarb has the same active ingredient as Barkeeper's Friend. Obviously I want to make some effort to educate the customer. How much responsibility do I have here?

I also welcome insights into how to set up, what to bring, how to price. (This market doesn't dictate prices.) Pictures would be great. I'll be entitled to a 10' by 10' space. Gonna start a list of what to bring, but it's not ready yet, and this post is getting long enough.

This may be slightly outside of the scope of what you’re asking, but consider keeping animals, and/or a means of preserving to eliminate waste on items that don’t sell. You’ve gauged the crowd, so take what you might think would meet potential demand.. and a little extra. There is a saying.. “Stack it high, and watch it fly”.

Also.. sell honey. I used to sell honey at farmers markets and fairs in New Mexico, and I had to stop because I was making too much money! Haha..

Best of luck in your endeavors!

As for the guy lines, I have seen most vendors use one or two sandbags per corner to secure to.

Ezra Beaton wrote:As for the guy lines, I have seen most vendors use one or two sandbags per corner to secure to.

The sandbags I could buy without making my own are about 70 pounds. What I made are about 40 pounds each. The sandbags would be a great choice for as long as the bag part lasts. Maybe a few years, if I treated 'em right.

T Melville wrote:

Ezra Beaton wrote:As for the guy lines, I have seen most vendors use one or two sandbags per corner to secure to.

The sandbags I could buy without making my own are about 70 pounds. What I made are about 40 pounds each. The sandbags would be a great choice for as long as the bag part lasts. Maybe a few years, if I treated 'em right.

Another thing I have seen used which is durable, long-lasting, and convenient is old gym barbell weights. Just tie a secure knot around the middle hole and - as I was frequently told by the elders - "Bob's your uncle". I see them very cheaply in local online marketplaces.

I ended that season with a small profit. I would've done better, I think, but the garden just did really poorly. I mostly sold perennials like rhubarb, garlic and mint, foraged stuff like lamb's quarter, and at the end I sold Missouri Mix and a few baked goods made from it. (Missouri Mix is a home made baking mix designed by the University of Missouri.) I made $34.13 above cost(s).

T Melville wrote: I made $34.13 above cost(s).

Well done. You broke even! And the education you gained IMO is worth a small fortune.