Farmers Market

[slugmar]

I'm putting in couple different gardens this year ones 65ftx100ft foot another's is 3ftx200ft and the last is 10ftx20ft. I plan on going to the farmers market here in Northern California. I was wondering if any of you attend your local farmers market and how do you decided on your prices to sale your produce at ?

if you sale by the lb, What type of scale do you use ?

thanks for any answer's I'll have more question's soon this is my first big garden.

 

[digitS']

Yep, I take our surplus produce to the market!

If you weigh your produce it is probable that your scale MUST to be certified by the gov'ment. They won't do that unless it is a fairly expensive model - won't matter if it's accurate or not if it's not the right type. It's best for us to just "bunch" produce and sell it that way. You can even sell peas and beans by the basket. Your customers will be comfortable with that.

Market prices are determined BEST by doing the math on what it was worth to grow it AND what it will take to keep you coming back.

Most people don't do that and some would price themselves right out of the market if they did.

Just snoop around before showing up and see what others are charging for similar products. Try not to be too obvious about it but their signs should be easy to read so it isn't tuff.

Talk a little to friendly vendors. They aren't interested in you undercutting their prices but may have some polite advice. Some folks are trying to make a living at the market. And, don't "dump" stuff that you really don't care about making $$ on. The local shelter or even your compost pile can benefit.

The market may even have rules about undercutting and selling below market standards. I don't like that idea but I once grew lots of head lettuce. Tricky in my neck of the woods to grow lettuce because it is so arid here. So I proudly have all these lovely heads of bright green lettuce. Down the way, a guy decided to give his away to every customer who bought something else . . . He probably didn't lose a dime because the loss attracted sales for everything else.

I wasted $$, time, garden space, work, etc. getting that lettuce there on that day.

Steve

 

[pjkobulnicky]

I toyed with the idea of doing a small market garden because I consider myself a great gardener ... until I read some books and pamphlets on market gardening.They pointed out that in the list of issues, growing was simple, marketing was tough.

Sell cheap at first, sell good products and build a customer base. Then adjust to meet costs and make a decent profit. Capitalization of any business means having enough money at first to sustain losses until you build a base.

Paul

 

[S0rcy]

The pricing problem is one of the reasons I decided to grow niche novelty produce this year and see the interest in it, then gradually add in the rest of my "commons" I've been growing for years. I will probably always make the bulk of my money doing delivery to older people who have the money to pay for delivery and can't or dont want to spend all their time driving. Even selling to restaraunts here is hard! My novelty products may sell to a few, we'll see.

I agree with Steve's suggestion. It's the way I notice the farmers around here do it at the market. They chatter with each other and prices dont go but a few cents either way. Even in the marketing class I had there was NO formula for pricing! There was a formula for value, but none for pricing at a market.

My exception to this rule is when I sell grain or pseudo grains. Quinoa I could (If I managed to GET an acre right now) price easily below the stuff that comes from bolivia and sell it to the co-op store here. Amaranth I have never had a problem pricing easily and getting repeat requests for as well as dried herbs. These I do take value into account as well as what is importing and for what and input costs. I have never seen anyone with a grain product at our local farmers market, but I'm not convinced the interest in it would even be enough to pay for the stall.

I never EVER pass on my fuel cost to the customer. My fuel costs are taken care of through my job and trade-offs (fill the tank x2 for use of my truck) My customers have always appreciated that but it drives my tax man INSANE!

---
I forgot to note that I am taking another Ag economics class now and this next week we are getting into some tricky decisionmaking involving pricing. If I do learn any "tricks" I can pass them along.

 

[digitS']

I have a feeling that Paul and SOrcy have a lot more business sense than I do . . .

. . . growing was simple, marketing was tough. . . .

I don't know, Paul. I used to be involved with a very open market - anyone could show up and sell. Some vendors would come once and never have enough produce to come a 2nd time.

It takes special skill to be a consistently productive gardener. Having what seems like a "ton" of veggies or flowers for a few random days is one thing. Having the ability to have a sustained yield out of a garden, is something else.

Of course, there are some without the business sense to know what they've got. They will show up with produce worth $50 tops. They'll sell 80% of it. (Hey, can you really expect to sell every leaf of spinach? ) Then they will complain that they didn't make a couple hundred $$ to pay for their trouble. I can't believe how many times I've seen that happen. At the end of the day, they don't understand how fifty dollars of produce doesn't equal hundreds of dollars in their pocket.

Real key techniques are to offer good quality (#1) and either plenty (#2a) or plenty of choices(#2b). People like to shop so they will select a special bouquet with just the "right" combination of varieties or colors off a table with multiple choices. Or, they will want to take advantage of the bounty in a MOUNTAIN of crisp, snap beans that they can hardly see over. And, once they've had a favorable experience - they'll come back. If you are there again with another table of "goodies" - they'll step right up and buy again. You're their gardener, they're your customer .

Steve

 

[Beekissed]

Why even take them to a farmer's market? Why not a roadside stand? I have seen just about every variation of a roadside stand and they all seem pretty successful. Also, no competitors there!

I am doing my first roadside stand business this year, just on Fridays and Saturdays, but plan to have it open all week except Sundays by next year. When I can't be there, I will just have the honor system in place. As the stand is directly beside my house, I don't think I'll have much of a problem. There are 4 roads into my local town and I am on a very busy one.

You can check out average pricing for your veggies by doing a Google for them for your area or state. If your veggies are organically grown, you can always get just a little more for them!

 

[silkiechicken]

Sounds like fun. Too bad if I set out a road sign here I'd probably get robbed and vandalized.

 

[mooman]

What are some good ways to "bunch" produce? I will be attending a saturday market this year. Main crops will be peppers (bell and hot), tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, and cantaloupe (fingers crossed). I imagine I can sell toms cucs and bell peppers seperately, but the green beans and hot peppers will have to be bunched somehow. I don't want to use any plastic containers if possible. I've seen the woven baskets for things like strawberries, but I need to keep costs at a minimum. Any advise or web sites to order this kind of thing from.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

We put them in small brown bags and bunch them that way. We make each bag about a pound or so.