Market Farming

[Lucy Goodman-Owsley <goodows AT excite.com>]

Here it is about 4 months before the start of market season and I am already
looking at my first farmer's market fiasco of the year. 4 years ago i helped
to start a market in Oxford Ohio. They had a saturday market that is well
established but they have a rule that the market is only open to growers
within the school district (a district I attended k thru 12 and paid taxes
to for a decade after) I moved out of the district to start the farm so I
was shut out of that market or so I thought until I saw a sign 4 years ago
on the day I had quit my job at the show barn (couldn't farm and train other
peoples horses) for a new farmer's market on a tuesday. Showed up the next
week and have been doing it ever since. 

This year the park where we set up is undergoing rennovations and will be
closed down until August (at least-this city is not known for its
punctuality on such projects) and the city that is supposed to be in charge
of this market has done nothing about us. On Monday I have set up a meeting
with the head of the Visitor and tourism bureau (the office in charge) and I
have gotten a few vendors to agree to show up and I asked the tourism woman
to contact the rest since this is all long distance for me, etc. (plus this
sort of thing is her job). In the past these official people have tried to
pawn off the manager job on one of us original growers (there are 4 of us).
Not gonna let 'em do it this year-we all have more than enough to do growing
and selling.

I feel really bad that this market will have to move for a part of the
season. This could do irrepreble damage to what has never been a strong
market.   we can move to a spot in front of a fast food place. The owner is
very pro FM and helped to start this market but we have been there before
and it didn't work well-face it if you are going to Wendy's you probably
aren't going to pick up some organic carrots or chard on the way out. Of
course now we have a devoted following which wasn't there the first year and
the fastfood place is right across the street from our old set up.

God, I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come.... Ah maybe I am
being too negative or perhaps just a realist.

Thanks for letting me spew my anxieties

Lucy Goodman-Owsley
Boulder Belt CSA
New Paris, OH
Website: http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/boulderbeltcsa
Organic Farming and Gardening Forum:
http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/mbs.cgi/mb135705
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