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  • From: jay sleichter <jaysleichter AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] pre-weighing/boxing and bagging (was Market scale)
  • Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:35:40 -0700 (PDT)

I am in the same boat as Bill.  I have always let my customers select their tomatoes.  They can pick them up and mix and match the different varieties I grow.  I tried to charge different prices for them and all I did was give myself a head-ache!    I usually settle on charging a little more than everyone else.  When selling, I am usually a one man outfit. I know it takes more time, but I just give customers a big bowl with a bag in it and tell them to fill it up and bring it to me when they are ready to pay.  I have become known for having the best tasting tomatoes at the market. Word is spreading, business is picking up. Too bad, I don't have more!  Almost everyone else only sells quart baskets of tomatoes.  I hear all the time, "they make you buy a whole basket,I only want one or two"  I guess it is my niche marketing. 

I do put some of the smaller tomatoes in a pint basket and charge 1.50.  They are usually .75-.85 of a pound which is really about $2.00 a pound. That is what I am charging for the rest of my tomatoes.

Jay


--- On Fri, 8/28/09, BillOhio <billohio AT gmail.com> wrote:

From: BillOhio <billohio AT gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] pre-weighing/boxing and bagging (was Market scale)
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Friday, August 28, 2009, 3:09 PM

We generally buck the trend and set out our containers of tomatoes, hand the customer a container, and invite them to fill it up until they start falling off. Some folks like all-ripe, some like all-green, some of each; heirlooms, hybrids, etc., and our customers appreciate the chance to pick out what they want. I limit what's available at a time to choose from somewhat, and our long-time customers know to treat them gently. Saves me time, makes them happy, and I bump the price a bit to make up for any losses, which are frankly rare. Just one of those things a small vendor, maybe, can get away with, though we've taken 12 bushels to market at times and sold all but the culls.

http://picasaweb.google.com/BillOhio/GardenPics#5178033693807133378

Our late tomatoes are just coming on now, in time to replace most folks whose plants have succumbed. September/October can be fun months if you're the only one with tomatoes to sell.

Bill Huhman
central Ohio

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:44 AM, Garth & Kim Travis <gartht AT txcyber.com> wrote:
Greetings,

We pre-bag our cherry tomatoes, but I do the full size tomatoes at the
market.  I drive a Ford Ranger, so I do have definite limitations on
space.  Fortunately, my customers know better than to squeeze an
Heirloom tomato, they can see how ripe they are, and rarely touch.  But
right now, tomatoes are such a rarity at the market, there is no time
for that, anyway.  They are just grabbing what is there and I sell out
of tomatoes fast.  I am a zone lower than the rest of the vendors, so I
have the almost the only tomatoes at the market.  [zones 8/9]  With the
outrageous heat we had this summer, I am had a very hard time keeping
mine going, pickings have been thin.

My scale is a legal for tender scale, but not certified.  We either sell
by the piece or by the basket/bag.  I find I can sell tomatoes that are
less than perfect, by just increasing the weight on the baskets.  My
customers are happy with this, as some want really ripe tomatoes for
that day and don't mind cutting out a few bad spots.  I try to make
every basket have the same amount of usable tomato, a challenge with
stuff like Cherokee  Purple that splits so bad.  If I was using a scale,
I would have far more headaches.

Bright Blessings,
Kim

Owsley lucy wrote:
> We do that too, weight and bag/box everything before we get to market.
> I find boxing tomatoes saves a lot of tomatoes from the fate of
> customers squeezing them to see if they are ripe/ready which can lose
> you up to 5-5 of you maters at a busy market.
>
> We do bring an old fashioned hanging scale that is not electronic (but
> sealed by the two counties where we sell so is very legal for
> commercial use) to weigh a few items like eggplant, onions and
> zucchinis as well as weighing boxes as we need to refill.
>
>> We only use our scale for set
>> up, we don't sell across it, that is too slow.  We weigh out our
>> tomatoes into plastic baskets, before market starts and when we get
>> breaks.  Then we sell by the basket.  We have an 8' prep table that we
>> cover with filled baskeThis is much faster when you have customers
>> lined up.
>> Bright Blessings,
>> Kim
>>
>
>
>
> Lucy Goodman
> Boulder Belt Eco-Farm
> Eaton, OH
> http://boulderbelt.blogspot.com
>
>
>
>
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>
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