Market Farming

[Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>]

Rose,

I would suggest analyzing your situation before a hit and miss marketing 
plan. Ask
yourself some questions and the answers will lead you to the most likely 
options:

Am I near a population center? Good for direct marketing through growers' 
markets, CSAs,
on-farm sales.

Am I on a main road that commuters use (moderate to high traffic)? Good for 
roadside
stand, but not on high speed limit areas- too dangerous and inconvenient.

Am I too far from a population center to attract customers to the farm? You 
may need to
go to the customer.

What do I grow? High dollar items like fresh herbs, cut flowers and gourmet 
vegetables
command a high enough price to sell wholesale. Potatoes and turnip greens 
don't- unless
you grow fingerlings and colored potatoes or add baby greens to a salad mix.

How much of what do I grow? To wholesale, you need a lot of a few items, to 
retail you
need just enough of a wide variety to meet demand (let's see somebody achieve 
that!) or
you need to sell at a varied growers' market or have an agreement with other 
growers to
sell theirs at your stand...

There are a lot of options out there- probably just as many as there are 
innovative
growers. Maybe you could answer some of these questions for us so we could 
get a bit more
specific. I would be glad to help but hesitate to offer any specific advice 
without
knowing more about your situation. What works for one grower in one area 
doesn't
necessarily work for all.

Alex McGregor
Walden Farm
Walden Ridge, TN

Rose & Fred Lieberman wrote:

> Well, out of all the farmers markets supposedly available to us, it has
> dwindled down to one.  Clearly not enuf.
> Who does business WITHOUT farmers markets?  And how do you do it?
> Roadside stand at your own place?  A stand at the side of the road?
> I'm definitely going to need some ideas here.