Market Farming

[Richard Moyer <ramoyer AT gmail.com>]

On 1/8/11, market-farming-request AT lists.ibiblio.org
<market-farming-request AT lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: Market-farming Digest, Vol 96, Issue 8 (sora AT coldreams.com)
>    2. Farm web sites (Samish Heirlooms Farm)
>    3. potato bags (Liz Pike)
>    4. Re: Ineffective market saga...suggestions? (long) (Todd Lister)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 12:30:25 -0800
> From: sora AT coldreams.com
> To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Market-farming Digest, Vol 96, Issue 8
> Message-ID:
>       <ae4dc99b602f4523bc806838a1557641.squirrel AT mail.coldreams.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>
>>
>>   I know we talked about this last year but I can't find the thread.
>>
>>
>>   What do you all use to build and host your websites?
>>
>> Check out Localharvest.org for a very simple, easy to use, free answer....
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 13:03:25 -0800
> From: Samish Heirlooms Farm <info AT samishheirloomsfarm.com>
> To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [Market-farming] Farm web sites
> Message-ID:
>       <7C7A607A-4220-433B-98DE-08F8F08D1C3C AT samishheirloomsfarm.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I have been using Small Farm Central this past year and am very happy with
> it.  I have found it easy, intuitive and cheaper than others that have used.
>  If you are familiar with html you should find it easy.  They have a lot of
> nice templates to start from, a CSA add on that looks pretty good and web
> store if you sell over the internet.
>
> Bradley Smith
> Samish Heirlooms Farm
> Prairie, WA
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 10:01:13 -0500
> From: "Liz Pike" <marketfarmshoptalk AT gmail.com>
> To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: [Market-farming] potato bags
> Message-ID: <001e01cbaf44$e505ca70$af115f50$@com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hey everyone,
>
>
>
> I'm sure out of the loop on a lot of things, but I just learned about these,
> easy-to-make fabric bags for microwave cooking of potatoes, sweet potatoes,
> corn, and warming breads and tortillas.  I thought this would be a great
> thing for market farmers to add to their "product" line if there's someone
> in the family who sews, or if you have enough time before this next season
> to knock some out (or trade with a customer who does sew).  There's a lot of
> info about them if you google "microwave potato bags".  I found this pattern
> from the company who makes the 100% cotton batting to make them with:
> http://www.warmcompany.com/WarmTaterPattern.pdf  (In fact everything used to
> make the bag needs to be 100% cotton, including the thread, which to some
> seems obvious, but to others not so much.)  You'll have more success finding
> it locally from quilt stores, and of course it's available from various
> online sources.
>
>
>
> They make hands-down the best, fluffiest baked potatoes!  I always shunned
> micro-baked potatoes, but not anymore!
>
>
>
> Liz
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 19:29:10 -0500
> From: Todd Lister <toddlister1 AT gmail.com>
> To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Ineffective market saga...suggestions?
>       (long)
> Message-ID:
>       <AANLkTimve2CLivXmpwyJzngEmnWSPOvmmxy1Y0ynPnJy AT mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Start a new market, NOW!
> Surely there are a number of vendors who would leap. These people need a
> real market. Start new relationships. Declare yourself loudly! Define your
> mission and stuff your message to the community w/it. Reach out. You'll
> probably be embraced by some of those same orgs. Govs, educational
> intitutions and the public are really moving on the local food thing.
> Good luck.
> Todd
>
> On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 4:55 PM, Leslie Moyer <unschooler AT lrec.org> wrote:
>
>> This is very long....apologies in advance.  It has been all I can do to
>> not
>> complain about the market I attend.  I've written about 10 emails and
>> deleted them prior to sending.  Mostly because I think I know the answers
>> to
>> my problems, but I'm not ready to do anything about solving them yet. But
>> here goes....maybe you all have suggestions I can't see from sitting so
>> closely to the problem.
>>
>> We have a TERRIBLE board at the market I attended last season.  I moved
>> here 2 years ago and prior to that I wasn't a vendor, but I was the
>> secretary of the board of a large farmers market (about 70 vendors--all
>> grown/produced within the state, no resellers--mostly food, very few
>> crafters) in a nearby town (about an hour away). I served as the mid-week
>> market manager for that market for one season and was on the board for 2
>> additional years (3 years total), where I was very active and put out a
>> nice
>> customer newsletter for 3 years.  (As secretary, I did a monthly vendor
>> newsletter as well.)  The market wasn't without its problems, but it
>> functioned very smoothly and effectively and I learned a lot.  That market
>> is now up to probably near 100 vendors.  I've also been involved with a
>> statewide local food initiative (Buy Fresh Buy Local) and, due to that,
>> I've
>> worked with a lot of other market managers, vendors/farmers, and market
>> board members across my state, including the peo
>>  ple who started THIS market.
>>
>> I just started selling vegetables last year, but just dabbled (1/2
>> acre)....our farming plan is primarily an orchard and we've been readying
>> the ground for that these past 2 years (spent the first year deciding
>> precisely where to put it and this past year cover cropping, deer fencing,
>> etc.). Our first 200 trees are arriving in March & by 2013 we'll have
>> about
>> 7 or 8 acres in orchard trees. I'm also selling plants this year--herbs,
>> vegetable transplants, edible shrubs, etc.  And the move, in general, was
>> sort of complicated. That is all to say I've been busy and I still have a
>> lot to do.
>>
>> The board here consisted this year of 5 people, but one quit very early in
>> the season and was not replaced as far as I know.  The president and VP
>> started the market.  The president is an elderly woman and, due to some
>> health problems this spring, the VP was in charge of most things.  They're
>> both control freaks and, though several people (myself included) have
>> volunteered to do many things (particularly PR things), they have refused
>> all help and made life miserable for those who tried to help in any way.
>> They had a PR person who quit in frustration when the Pres and VP would
>> not
>> allow her to ask vendors if they wanted the newspaper to interview them
>> for
>> personal stories throughout the year.  Actually, first they fired her,
>> then
>> passively allowed her back on the board, then she quit again in
>> frustration.
>>
>> The VP was instrumental in getting the market started 4 years ago when she
>> was employed with a local governmental organization who helped to launch
>> the
>> market financially. At some point during the formation, she was fired from
>> her job.  I don't know any of the details....I only know that the result
>> is
>> that the market has a VERY POOR relationship with SEVERAL local
>> organizations and governmental agencies that we NEED desperately to have a
>> good relationship with.  It's a small town--we can't afford to make
>> enemies.
>>  They have a poor or non-existent relationship with every single
>> governmental, business, and educational entity (a university in our small
>> town is a very important asset) that exists in our area with the POSSIBLE
>> exception of the Extension Service....I say "possible" because, given
>> enough
>> time, poor communication will sabotage that one, too, if it hasn't
>> already.
>>
>> The board does NOT tell the members when or where the board meetings are,
>> they do NOT give us meeting minutes to tell us what went on in the
>> meetings,
>> and on the single occasion this summer when they did tell us about a
>> meeting, they changed it and held it earlier in the day without telling
>> anyone (even though most vendors were present--it was held during the
>> market
>> hours--and some could have attended, myself included).  As a 501(c)3,
>> these
>> meetings are supposed to be open not only to the vendor members, but to
>> the
>> public, I believe, right?
>>
>> The other two members of the board are ineffectual, at best.  They
>> basically have no voice, but don't seem to care to do anything differently
>> from the Pres and VP, either.
>>
>> The main problem with their ineffectiveness has been the COMPLETE lack of
>> publicity for the market (and, hence, poor customer attendance).  Their
>> signs are small and faded, they do virtually NO advertising and the little
>> bit they do is completely ineffectual.  They have many sources of free PR
>> and goodwill via networking with existing community organizations (who
>> WANT
>> to work with us!) that they are not taking advantage of, and, in fact, are
>> working counter to.  However, despite that, a small group of 3 of us
>> vendors
>> were able to pretty much coerce them into changing locations for the
>> coming
>> year that will HELP make them more visible.  However, it will also make it
>> harder for existing customers to find the market unless they do a good job
>> of PR in the early spring (they won't).  [Previous location was TERRIBLE,
>> by
>> the way!!!!]  They already frittered away the fall opportunities to inform
>> customers of the change.  I offered to help with that, but was brushed
>> off.
>>
>> They have no paid market manager. Because of this, they have a rule that
>> the board members have to attend EVERY market--they rely on the board
>> members to run the market....poorly.  It is never clear who is in charge
>> and
>> it often seems like a free-for-all. Rules are not enforced equally or at
>> all.
>>
>> One last pet peeve....their market guidelines have a list of objectives
>> for
>> the market and not ONE single one of them is about providing a market for
>> the vendors to sell their product.  They list things like, "educating the
>> public about good nutrition," and "increase the availability of nutritious
>> foods for low income, disadvantaged populations specifically Women,
>> Infants,
>> and Children Supplemental Food Program recipients, Food Stamp recipients,
>> and Elders", and "enhance the positive image of [our town] and the
>> community
>> as a whole."  It would be one thing if this was an accidental oversight,
>> but
>> this is exactly how the market behaves and sort of what I was getting at
>> when I sort of grumbled over the 501(c)3 status issue.
>>
>> Okay--so....terrible board in every sense of the word.  What can be done
>> about it? My choices seem to be:
>>
>> 1. Run for a seat on the board -- IF they even follow their own bylaws and
>> actually open a seat for election and not just re-appoint themselves.   I
>> believe one of their terms expires this year--maybe 2 of them.  But at
>> least
>> one of them had a term that expired last year and they re-elected her for
>> another 3-year term.  I could run for a seat on the board, but it would
>> mean
>> serving on the board with at least 2 of them and I would find it so
>> frustrating as to be unworkable, I'm afraid.  The last person who tried to
>> make change from within lasted about 3 months...and that was about 2 1/2
>> months longer than I could have, I think.  And I have two other big
>> problems
>> with this solution: I can't commit to attending every market, as the
>> bylaws
>> or guidelines currently require, and certainly can't commit to managing
>> the
>> market as is currently required of the board AND we still have so much
>> farm
>> work to do and I should really spend my energy there--where I am certain
>> it
>> will be more pro
>>  ductive.
>>
>> 2. Stage a coup.  Run for a seat on the board and/or campaign for a
>> complete turnover of the board by calling all market members for whom I
>> have
>> contact information (about half of them?) and letting them know how I
>> think
>> things could be run better--what I could and would do and recruit people
>> to
>> run for the other board seats. Work through the bylaws to remove other
>> board
>> members if we can (re: non-compliance of bylaws).  The problem with this
>> is
>> that I'd have to follow through. ;-)  :-)  See problems with #1.
>>
>> 3. Bide my time and do nothing....  This board can't last forever. They're
>> burning themselves out trying to do it all (but not succeeding and earning
>> lots of criticism along the way). It may take several years, but
>> eventually
>> there will be all new board members that I could work with. My orchard
>> trees
>> won't be producing significant fruit for a few years--I have some time
>> that
>> I could wait until I need to get serious about working to solve some of
>> these problems.   BUT....if I do this, what will happen to the market in
>> the
>> meantime?  The only thing I think this market is doing right is that it is
>> a
>> producer-only market. The one person that I know that MAY be willing to
>> step
>> up when they fall thinks differently from me on these issues and would be
>> in
>> favor, I think, of allowing resellers.  (Who looks like the control freak
>> now? <g>)
>>
>> 4. Give up on this market and drive the hour+ into the bigger market.   I
>> don't have enough produce to sell at the large market yet and my plants
>> won't be anything unique in order to get me into that market just yet.
>> That
>> market is full and they aren't allowing new vendors at the moment.  When
>> we
>> have fruit ready to sell, I think we WILL be able to get in because they
>> really NEED fruit there and they will make room for us (we have been
>> told).
>>  In the meantime, I'll have a few years where I'd like to get the bugs
>> worked out in this smaller market, though...  The problem with this
>> solution
>> is that I moved out here to live out HERE.  I want this to be my home now
>> and I don't want to spend every weekend driving the hour+ into town at
>> 4am.
>>
>> 5. Skip the market theatrics altogether and shift to a total U-Pick
>> operation.  We're gearing up for this to be a part of our business
>> anyway....especially as we grow older.  But perhaps it makes sense to
>> start
>> this way from the beginning.  I think since we have Buy Fresh Buy Local
>> here, which does a good job of publicizing U-Picks, that we could get the
>> publicity we need for customers. The problem with this solution is that
>> I'm
>> such a "fixer" and I believe so strongly in the need for a good market
>> here
>> in my community--for selfish reasons as well as for virtuous reasons.
>>
>> If you've read this far, thanks!   Any guidance or other thoughts on the
>> choices I've presented?  Any other suggestions?  Thoughts about how to
>> approach this?
>>
>> --Leslie
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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> End of Market-farming Digest, Vol 96, Issue 9
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