Market Farming

[IdleThymeFarm AT aol.com]

In a message dated 8/13/03 4:59:30 PM Mountain Standard Time, janetb AT ncat.org writes:

> This 
> discussion is a great way to get ideas for changing the current 
> structure if it seems to be causing problems, or to set up a new market


Well, it seems that things change yet again. I received a phone call yesterday from our market manager and was told that if I want a spot for saturday's market that I had better be prepared to spend the night on friday night. The rationale behind this is that the space has filled up and that all the out of state growers are setting up the night before. This is not possible for us for a few reasons: First we are supporting our only other local market on friday nights and second we have animals that must be cared for both in the pm and the am. Also, I sell at markets with my young children in tow (quite an asset as they are helpers, not to mention cute). So, we are exploring alternatives, possibly looking at setting up at a very busy local nursery or our local feed store (another busy place on saturdays).
It is a shame as we are the only local producer and part of our overall farm goal has been educating people about sustainable local agriculture. We will be holding several workshops here next year in conjunction with the Cooperative Extension, specifically aimed at home veggie production. The real irony is that this market is a fund-raiser for Community Action-an organization whose mission it is to help people in our community become more sustainable. This is a dilemma and we are not sure exactly what we will do this saturday. I am tempted to show up at the time I was originally told to and let them refuse me space before I take any action. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is all a new thing for Wyoming and I want to proceed positively.
Shelly Elliott
Idle Thyme Farm
www.IdleThymeFarm.com

If you would have a lovely garden, you should live a lovely life! ~ Shaker saying