market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Market Farming
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- From: "Dori Green" <dorigreen00 AT hotmail.com>
- To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
- Subject: Re: market-farming Market Hours
- Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 03:56:52 -0500
Just wanted to be clear that almost nothing about going to market is convenient for me as a farmer.
In order to be set up by 9 AM with really terrific fresh produce, I'm picking and washing and packing for maybe six hours each on Thursday and Friday, plus my regular animal chores and full-time job. Then it's up at 4 AM on market day and out into the mosquitoes with a headlamp to cut flowers and herbs and lettuce before the sun comes up, load the car and trailer, and head out.
Then after a full week of hoeing and weeding, I spend my "day off" entertaining the customers, on my feet, popping regular aspirin to combat the osteoarthritis in my ankels.
And then I load up (unwell by this time from sun poisoning despite my canopy), drive home, and process whatever wasn't purchased. On slow market days I don't roll back into bed until 10 pm. Or if I'm very sick from the sun, I just compost the unsold stuff and remind myself again that I should get a couple of pigs.
I do expect things to be very different this year; I've got reliable help for the first time. Who knows, market day might even be fun!
After years of my trying to get a farmers market going at the area mall (actually in the parking lot of the food bank warehouse), but with no success (everybody says wow what a great idea but nobody would sit down at a meeting to make it happen), one of the last large local farmers has leased land near the mall and put up a small building. I'm going to talk to him about renting parking lot space to other local farmers and having a market there on Saturday mornings. It seems to me that a festival atmosphere would help his business with customers returning to him during the week, but I don't know if he'll agree.
I had also contacted a local church where they have a food pantry distribution on Saturdays. Turns out that if they allow anything to happen on their property that earns a profit for anybody, the town will yank their tax-free status.
Sigh.
Dori Green
Corning, NY
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- Re: market-farming Market Hours, Dori Green, 02/13/2001
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