How The Taste Of Tomatoes Went Bad . . .

[hoodat]

If ou grow tomatos for canning as tomato sauce or spagetti sauce the best in almost every taste test turns out to be San Marzano, an Italian heirloom. I havent tried growing them yet but I intend to plant some next season. If you ever tried to buy them they are very expensive in Farmers Markets.

 

[vfem]

I am one very poor woman, no way around it. I was balancing my costs and savings counting my tomatoes, cukes, garlic and greenbeans today. Told hubby to find a cool night this week and start tilling the garden for the next round of corn. I'm canning whatever I can in hopes we can afford to make it through one more winter. We've been cutting it too close and I can barely stretch another dollar these days. As luck would have it...

I've been up to the farmers market recently and I almost died looking at the prices on some of that BEAUTIFUL produce. Tons of heirlooms were everywhere, and easily $1.99 a lb still in peak season. One of the local farms I was telling about my huge palm sized roma tomatoes rolling in by the 100's. He told me to bring him any extra I have and he'll pay me $1 a lb as he's getting the $1.99 a lb at the farmers market and he's selling out of his quicker then he can bring in another batch.

I have lemon boy, and some heirloom slicer I don't know the name of... he wants me to bring a few of those up if I have extra too!

All this because he brings up tons of the basic celebrity vine ripened tomatoes like you see at the grocery store and he's sells those at half volume of the heirlooms. People look for them now more, they'll pay more and they ask specifically for names of these heirlooms so they can talk about them or even save the seed for themselves.

Its wonderful to hear that people are getting wise to it. Maybe people are finally going by there taste buds and not falling for what their eyes see.

 

[digitS']

. . . He told me to bring him any extra I have and he'll pay me $1 a lb as he's getting the $1.99 a lb at the farmers market and he's selling out of his quicker then he can bring in another batch. . .

Oh, that guy would get in trouble at some (growers' own) farmers' markets . . .

If you can grow them V, maybe you can be the one behind the table getting twice the price as wholesale. And, specializing is possible but it depends on the market. If 500 customers come thru a little market and 10% buy tomatoes, 3 or 4 growers with tomatoes may not make a lot of $.

If 1,000 customers come thru . . . tomato sales might support a grower just on their own.

I was looking at a garden the other day and could hardly see beyond the garlic! I'm afraid someone noticed the high price per pound of garlic and may be thinking of showing up at a market to sell it . . . Let's see, if 500 customers come thru and 2% buy a little garlic . . .

Me? I'd love to grow -e v e r y t h i n g- for just me! And then, grow onions for others. Just the kind of guy I am . With all their variety (!) and the ease of saving seed - tomatoes are LOTS of fun .

Steve

 

[Jared77]

If you can grow them V, maybe you can be the one behind the table getting twice the price as wholesale. And, specializing is possible but it depends on the market. If 500 customers come thru a little market and 10% buy tomatoes, 3 or 4 growers with tomatoes may not make a lot of $.

If 1,000 customers come thru . . . tomato sales might support a grower just on their own

Thing is how many tomatoes do you have to sell to break even? To cover gas, the table fees, plus your time at the market? What do you do with the extras you don't sell? Its one thing if you've already got a table and want to expand its quite another if you are having to set up a table and start new. I'm not saying don't do it, but for me you've got a ready market (the guy who wants her extras) Id go ahead and let him have them unless you've got a ton of extras then it might be worth your while to set up a table.

Thats just my thoughts....best of luck for you V.

 

[jackb]

I always liked this quote:

"The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it. We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as 'progress', doesn't spread."
Andy Rooney

 

[digitS']

Yay, Andy Rooney! (Altho', I'd add that it's the food industry who pumps big $'s into even our land-grant universities and then denies the public any actual good . . .)

I get what Jared said and it is a good thing to point out that it takes real planning. With growing things, it takes about 12 months of planning (with orchardists, even longer).

Some have growing skills, some have planning skills, some have marketing skills . . .

At a farmers' market you can sometimes see the entire spectrum. The person with a good selection and an appealing display, week after week after week. Then there's someone who brings $100 worth of marketable produce and complains to management that he isn't taking $500 home. Personally, I have well-fed compost.

There are lots of ways to lose $ as a grower. A person can plan/plan/plan and never scratch a mark in the soil. Marketing never seemed to be too much of a mystery to me - just trying to keep Flim & Flam out of the sound & fury of it.

Steve