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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Market prices?

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  • From: Willie McKemie <mf AT austinfarm.org>
  • To: farmersue AT myfairpoint.net, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Market prices?
  • Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:15:55 -0500

On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 12:09:26PM -0400, Sue Wells wrote:
> I really have a hard time pricing summer squash. I tried $.75 each for them.
> If they are small, people complain that is too much for them. I also have a
> very hard time dealing with that figure, just because my brain doesn't work
> as fast with that amount, so I go back to $.50 each. I can't figure out if

At the first of the squash season, I sold mine for $.75 each. Right
now, I'm selling four type of squash for $.75 each, 3 for $2, 5 for $3,
7 for $4. Mix or match. They range from (probably) 1/4 lb yellow to
several pound overgrown Tatume, zucchini, and Magda. The smaller ones
tend not to sell, but I have grocery stores that shy away from large
ones. If I really wanted to sell small yellow squash, I would put it
in 1-2 lb baskets for $2-$4.

I like to sell squash, eggplant and similar stuff per each. Tomatoes
and peaches I sell in baskets. I'm happy to get about $2 per pound for
non-organic, non-heirloom tomatoes.

> Last year, I started out selling my green beans at $5/lb, then went down to
> $4. I won't go cheaper, as they are too much work for selling cheaper. My
> shelling beans I sell for $5, unshelled. Shelled they will be more. Tomatoes
> will be $4 -$5 pound. Mine are heirloom. I have never known what to charge
> for hot peppers, so I sell my jalapenos for $.10 each and most of the rest
> of hot peppers at $.25 each, except for my poblanos, they are $.50 each.

Jalapenos generally go for $1 or less per pound in grocery stores. I
sell pints (around 3/4 lb) for $1.50. This year, I will have Habaneros
which are considerably smaller than jalapenos; I expect to get $3 per
pint and/or maybe $.25 each.

Blackberries and small tomatoes, I also sell in pints.

As a general rule, I shoot for about 7 times the harvest and packing
cost. Though in many cases I settle for as little as 3 times.
Anything that returns less than 3 times harvest/packing cost, I stop
growing. Growing costs are almost trivial. I ask myself:
1) How much did it cost me the harvest, package, and sell that item?
2) How much did I get paid for it?
3) Should I drop it next season? Or grow more? Or less?

--
Willie, ONWARD! Through the fog!
http://counter.li.org Linux registered user #228836 since 1995
Debian3.1/GNU/Linux system uptime 550 days 5 hours 43 minutes




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