Cosmo Spring Garden 2022

[Cosmo spring garden]

I wanted to go to the farmers market this year to sell my produce. I know that my product is great quality and it would have been a great way to meet people.
I even had a business partner. She bought a house that needed a total remodel and I knew she was going to be stretched thin. So we decided to put the market garden on hold. I could have done it alone, but I was scared. Even as an adult I get nervous trying new things.
I was bummed because this has been my dream since we moved here six years ago.
So I decided to go ahead and set up a farmstand yesterday. I don't know but I had a strong feeling I needed to do this when I woke up in the morning.
So instead of over thinking and talking myself out of it, I did it. Kids helped me make the sign and we set it up.
Nothing sold the first day. My son waved to every car that went by. We have a honor system so we didnt sit there but for like 15 minutes.
He was bummed out last night. I told him "it's OK bud, it was really fun working together tho! And tomorrow will be different".

It was. We made $25! There was money in the jar when we came home from helping clean the school.

My son was so excited! And that made me excited!

I hope he will always get this excited when we do something together.

I have a new business partner

 

[baymule]

Your garden is amazing! Wow! It’s gorgeous and the vegetable stand is a great idea! I love honor stands, hope you have continued success with yours! Sounds like you have an awesome business partner.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

Your garden is amazing! Wow! It’s gorgeous and the vegetable stand is a great idea! I love honor stands, hope you have continued success with yours! Sounds like you have an awesome business partner.

Thank you! I've wanted to do this for awhile and finally did it. This year I'll learn what people buy and don't buy so next year I can change it accordingly.
My business partner I super cute

 

[digitS']

I was a market gardener for quite some time. (DW [& DD usually] did the marketing, however )

A farm stand would be different than a farmers' market. I had no experience with those. Cherry tomatoes were popular and people would even walk around and eat them while checking out the other booths. Salad greens were a money maker but I'm not sure how well they would work for people just stopping along the roadway and going on from there.

Greens of any sort require extra attention to keep them from wilting. Some very popular farmers' market operate for all of 2 hours. Then they close and everybody goes home . That schedule would be completely unacceptable to any vendors but the farmers. They are often traveling a distance and they want everything to be fresh not suffering from being outdoors.

Think about specializing in something that grows well for you and sets your offerings apart from what is available in the produce aisle at the soopermarket. Advertise with a BIG sign ! Wishing You the Best of Luck !

Steve

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

I was a market gardener for quite some time. (DW [& DD usually] did the marketing, however )

A farm stand would be different than a farmers' market. I had no experience with those. Cherry tomatoes were popular and people would even walk around and eat them while checking out the other booths. Salad greens were a money maker but I'm not sure how well they would work for people just stopping along the roadway and going on from there.

Greens of any sort require extra attention to keep them from wilting. Some very popular farmers' market operate for all of 2 hours. Then they close and everybody goes home . That schedule would be completely unacceptable to any vendors but the farmers. They are often traveling a distance and they want everything to be fresh not suffering from being outdoors.

Think about specializing in something that grows well for you and sets your offerings apart from what is available in the produce aisle at the soopermarket. Advertise with a BIG sign ! Wishing You the Best of Luck !

Steve

Thank you so much for all that great advice and ideas!
I thought about doing head lettuce but only in early spring and fall but not sure if that would work well in the farm stand. We plan to build something more permanent and shady in the future.

 

[baymule]

An ice chest with what’s inside on a sign taped on top?

 

[ducks4you]

There's a guy who runs his own Wednesday only market 1/4 mile north of DH's office. He hires Amish help, has signs that tell you that sweet corn, for instance, was harvested in Kentucky, and sells lots of fresh vegetables and some fruit. He does all of the marketing, and gives away bags made for wet swimsuits for you to use as a grocery bag.
He has a sign that warns you not to handle produce and put it down bc he doesn't want damaged goods.
THIS YEAR, his 3-5 inch greenhouse tomatoes were $4/each.
Really made DH appreciate my tomato growing bc he equates that price to what we will soon be harvesting.
I complemented his produce recently and asked Him to pick my 12 sweet corn purchase (after seeing that yet aNOTHER bozo thought to check out a corn by peeling back the leaves ,) and he picked/charged me for a "baker's dozen."
I'm sure that he pays a vendor fee to the business whose parking lot he is using, and that is figured into the cost.
There are seasonal sweet corn stands locally, and I'm pretty sure that they are selling on their Own property.
I bought a Very nice watermelon there that was still fresh after a week. Grocery store watermelons start the wilt the day you bring them home, which tells me that they have spent time on a truck visiting other parts of the country.

 

[digitS']

I have seen "farmers' markets" start in the most unlikely locations and with the most "unusual" set of vendors.

First, it is a farmers' market. It is not farmers that are being put up for sale. It isn't a place organized for farmers to shop. AND, it cannot be just farm products being sold by re-sellers. That does not set it apart from what is being sold on every street in the produce aisles of a grocery store.

Filling booths with flea market vendors is not To Me an appetizing combination with a food market. Crafters and Bakers, I like. Not all farmers share my thinking, however . Whatever the case, those vendors should not dominate the market. The limitations and desires of the food producers and their customers have to take precedent or it ain't a farmers' market!

Roadside farm stands and produce markets (indoors or out) are different. Of course, a farm market in front of a produce grower's home is very, very similar to one that has multiple growers selling. Produce resellers are just that - Resellers.

Let me say this about produce resellers in the stalls of a public market. They may be ENTIRELY organized by a produce company. You know, the trucks that show up at the backdoor of every supermarket in town. The vendor may be an employee (or not). The produce offered, straight from the produce company's warehouse, may return to that building at the close of the day if unsold. The produce growers are always in competition with the retail supermarkets. But, having the resellers as neighbors in a public market may put them directly in competition with the produce wholesalers. Wait just A Cotton Picking Minute! It is already Tuff Enuf to invest money and spend months growing with hours processing and then travel for the growers to bring your offerings there. Most commercial produce farms have no desire to do anything other than sell to the wholesalers themselves. What have you accomplished regarding consumer choice, diverse offerings, and little guy opportunities? Nothing.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

aside from the gardening and sales, you can also encourage the partner to learn about savings and investing. if he starts as a real young person by middle age or later years he might be well enough along to being able to do what he wants for a living, etc.

something simple like showing how 10% of what a person earns in a lifetime and putting that aside as a way to generate income itself in time. it's basic math, but it's very important basic math...

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

Cowboy candy .
I have few friends that buy this from me so I can several extra jars to sell. I also give away some as gifts. It's a great way to use up extra jalapinos.