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  • From: "TxBeeFarmer" <txbeefarmer AT hotpop.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Farmer's Market Problem
  • Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 14:41:07 -0600

Yep..., sounds familiar. I'm on the board of the local farmers' market and we're having the same problems. The only difference, we're in an agricultural area that grows nothing but cotton. A garden here is something in the corner of a cotton field or in the house flower bed.

Here's a few suggestions though:

Increase the number of hours and days you're open. Let's say you have two growers that grow squash, Have one come on Sat. and Tues. and the other come on Mon. and Fri.. Let's say you have four squash people, ask some to come in the mornings, and others in the afternoon. You get the idea.

Try to work it so everyone isn't growing the same things. You can only sell so much squash, even if it is spread over different days and times. Think variety. I have honey and blackberries. No competition is great!!

Open your market up to nonfarm vendors. Keep it local but give the home craft and hobby people a place to sell.

People always want the market to open real early in the season and close in Nov. or Dec.. If all you grow is fresh veggies, this won't happen. Think of early crops that are planted in the Fall for the Spring, or things that don't mature until Oct.. Think also of dried and canned, fire wood, gourds, cooking classes, farming classes, etc.... This is where the crafts will help too.

Location, location, location!!! We're off the beaten path, and it hurts us a lot.

Be consistent. Have your market open and close at the advertised times, even if business is slow - don't close early or go fishing.

Now this one will raise some eyebrows, but you're talking survival here. Get together with the growers and bring in (buy) enough to flush out your market. Local is best, but within your state will do. Be truthful. Variety is the key, but not exotic. No Himalayan Naky Berries. :) Try not to over buy unless it will keep.

We were able to bring in good crowds by offering flea market days now and then.

We're still struggling, but don't plan to give up. Hang in there.

TxBeeFarmer
Mark (West Texas - Zone 7b)


----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Meadows" <pat AT meadows.pair.com>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2006 11:30 AM
Subject: [Market-farming] Farmer's Market Problem



A few friends here and I have formed a 'Local Foods
Alliance' with the objective of encouraging and promoting
local foods: growing, marketing (and eating!) :) Two
others from our group are also on this mailing list.

One of our first aims is to revive an almost-dead Farmers
Market in town. It's been staggering along on the edge of
extinction for a while: partly, I believe, because it's
only open during a time when most people are at work. But
also partly because this is NOT a farming area (for various
reasons) and there aren't many local produce growers. In
fact, there are practically none.

OK: here's the question:

We'd like to advertise the market, and expand its hours of
operation. This would encourage people to come and shop
there. I think this would be fairly straightforward and
easy: people seem to be hungry for good local produce.
Understandably.

But then, those would-be customers are going to find that
there's almost nothing for sale. So we also need to
encourage growers, who are then going to ask 'But how do we
sell it?'

In other words, which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Has anyone dealt with this problem? Do you have any advice
for us?

Even if you haven't dealt with this problem, if you have an
opinion on the subject, we would like to hear it.

Thanks very much!

Pat
--
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism,
since it is the merger of state and corporate power."
- Benito Mussolini
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