Market Farming

["Dori Green" <dorigreen00 AT hotmail.com>]

I grow a lot of stuff, but not everything (not yet).

So I go to the grocery store.

And I write down the produce prices in my handy-dandy notebook.

Sometimes I charge a little bit less at my market stand, but usually not.  
After all, mine is chemical-free and two weeks fresher.

Also, I've been doing this CSA/Market hobby farm thing for about ten years 
now.  Got a good enough idea about what summer squash brings in August (when 
everybody's got too much of the stuff) to set my prices now.  Worst case:  
they'll be too high later and I can lower them, or they'll be too low and my 
customers will get a good bargain for one year (I'll raise them for next 
year's list).

Advantage of early pricing -- I can have all of my price cards printed and 
ready to go by April, before I get busy with plant/weed/harvest chores.

Dori Green
Ash Grove Community Farm
Corning, NY
http://www.ic.org/agrove

PS - in case anybody is wondering about my sudden loquaciousness -- I'm home 
sick from school today.  Happens to the very best of us.

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