Market Farming

["pfarms" <pfarms AT alltel.net>]

Re: Disappointing customers early in the season.

We have developed a booklet about our market that has a list of members,
what they specialize in, receipes, and a seasonal calendar of when to expect
seasonal fruits and vegetables.  We are under the local Extension Service
office and the calendar is the one they use for the local area.  So most
customers don't come in on Memorial Day loking for local corn or okra.  We
also exclude jobbers and processed foods and all vegetables and fruit must
be produced on the farms of the members (within 5 miles of our county line),
subject to inspection if there are questions. It helps that a lot of our
customers grew up when this area was more rural and although they now live
in the city, they remember what good food tastes like.

Advertizing

Advertizing-the local extension office sends out notices to the local paper
which prints the schedule and what fods are available in their calendar of
meetings, etc for the upcoming week.  We have also had a
reporter/photographer go out to one of the farms for pics and an article.
If you haven't, you need to also contact your local WIC program and see if
you can participate in their Farmer's Marker program.  Each person who
receives WIC coupons, gets these in $2 denominations and they are in
addition to other allotments they receive and are only good at a local
Farmers Market.

There is also a Senior Program but itis only being tested and we were unable
to get into this program this year.

Rich
Purrfleece Farms
pfarms AT alltel.net