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market-farming - [Market-farming] Re: $41k flowers, herbs, berries

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  • From: rjweeks70 AT comcast.net
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Re: $41k flowers, herbs, berries
  • Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 16:53:53 +0000

I'd like to throw in our experiences here. 2003 was our first year of
growing and selling at farmer's markets. Our little farm on 1/2 acre in
Sonoma County, CA, grossed about $9000 for the year. That includes sales of
organic fruit, vegetables, flowers, flower bulbs, veggie and herb starts,
fresh herbs, dried herbs and farm-made preserves using organic
fruit/vegetables.

This really didn't cover the whole year of 2003, since our first markets
didn't start until the end of May. I was laid off from an IT job in Dec
2002, and in March 2003 decided that due to the poor job market in our area,
we would need to "make our own path" and try something different.

Fortunately my wife and I have been avid organic gardeners so we are somewhat
experienced in growing, but this year has still had a steep learning curve.
We had to learn how to propagate on a larger scale, how to manage our time so
that everything gets planted/picked/packed/sold at the right time, and how to
market things.

As other folks have said, the biggest challenge has been determining WHAT
people will buy. We started out the year thinking that we would be a small
plant nursery, but as the months went by we realized that 1) there are way
too many nurseries already in our area and 2) people don't buy plants at
farmer's markets except for a few weeks in the spring.

We live in a part of California that has pockets of affluence intermixed with
lots of agriculture and a few cities. What we have found over the last year
is that the farmer's markets near the affluent communities are our best
markets, and the biggest sellers have been organic vegetables and cut
flowers. Our preserves also sell very well especially in areas like Sonoma
where there are lots of tourists.

Something to consider here is that while preserves are labor-intensive to
make, you can take for example 4 cups of strawberries that might bring you
$10 at the farmer's market, and make a batch of 9 jars of strawberry jam, and
sell them for $4-5 each (depending on your market), and double or triple your
profit from those berries.

We have big plans for 2004. We'll be at 5 farmers' markets with a lot more
cut flowers and a smaller selection of vegetables that were our biggest
sellers last year. Our goal is to get where we can make about $750 a week,
which will let us pay our bills from the farming sales.

I would also mention that while other farmers have had success with direct
sales to restaurants, we have found that the amount of orders from local
"white tablecloth" restaurants is too small to bother with. The problem with
restaurant sales is that they expect to pay wholesale prices like what they
get from a distributor, even if the restaurant wants to feature local
produce. The prices that these places pay for wholesale produce are not
compatible with a small organic operation where we can charge a premium for
our produce because it's unique and organic.

Roger Weeks
Weeks Gardens - Sebastopol, CA
http://www.weeksgardens.com

> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 17:53:38 -0600
> From: "adriana" <gutierrez-lagatta AT charter.net>
> Subject: [Market-farming] $41k flowers, herbs, berries
> To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>

> It's not a matter nof what you can grow unless you have a very short growing
> season. It's all about what you can SELL. What are the big markets in your
> area?
> - Retail farmer's markets
> - Wholesale farmer's markets
> - Direct marketing to restaurants
> - Direct marketing to consumers
> - Marketing to wholesalers
>
> > Can one make $41K net a year selling flowers, herbs and berries??? My
> instincts tell me $41K would be a difficult goal to reach.
>
> If you had 6,000-9,000 sq ft of greenhouses and good marketing venues and 2
> people working it, you could net that much.
>
> Adriana




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