Making $ at Farmer's Markets

[Zenbirder]

We are planning to purposefully grow for the Farmer's Market this year, as opposed to just taking whatever we had on occasion that was extras. Our greenhouse was totally rebuilt this summer, and so we know we can have cherry tomatoes by the opening of market in May, something I have never seen done around here. So we have both greenhouse and garden space.
My questions for those of you who grow and sell ON A SMALL SCALE are:

What are your most profitable crops?

What are the easiest work load crops that still make decent money?

What trends do you see in customer requests?

What is not worth growing?

I am trying to plan now so I can get my seed order in and get plants started. We know a lot of the ins & outs of our local market, we worked it for many years raising and selling native plants. That business was very profitable, but became more than we wanted to handle so we sold it to a younger couple. I see now that people are trending to local foods and becoming wary of the imported fresh foods. We know this will be a shakedown year, but we appreciate any advice we can get.

 

[ams3651]

I would like to know too. I am thinking tomatoes, sweet corn, maybe a couple hot peppers, eggs of course, green and red pepper, watermelon (large traditional and small) and pumpkins. It will take at least another year to get my apple trees back into production as well. I will have to stick to maybe 5 things that will sell the best.

 

[Bebop]

When I grew for Earth Day Las Cruces, I had several types of mint, strawberry plants (the runners made new plants!), jade plants, rosemary, basil, and aloe vera. I was also selling reusuable shopping bags.
I sold most of the plants for $1 and I only spent about $10-20 for all of the plants, and made $50 in one day with a lot of them leftover.
Mints grow very well anywhere and can be divided easily. With Jade plants, just cut off a branch and pot it up and roots should grow in while they're being cared for by the new owners. I bought an aloe vera plant at a nursery that had several new ones growing on it for only $2!
Strangely enough, houseplants and herbs sell the best at smaller markets, especially when they are grown in attractive pots.
I used nursery stockpots from the nursery, I got prices between 2 cents - $1 for each one, but the aloe vera didn't really sell too well in the stockpots.
I sold all of the small strawberry plants, the rosemary, some of the orange mint, chocolate mint, all of the pineapple mint and apple mint, and all of the basil plants, as well as a couple bags.
Veggie wise, tomato, pepper, strawberry, and watermelon plants are really popular in the southwest.
Tomatoes, peppers, and watermelons all have similar care guidelines, but they do need lots of water and fertilizer/compost to keep them growing, and blossom end rot affects both tomatoes and peppers if they don't get enough calcium and magnesium.
I would grow those and greens. Greens are super easy.
Sometimes heirlooms are not worth growing, just because it doesn't fit most people's ideal of a "normal" veggie, but if you can, give samples of both a supermarket one and an heirloom! They'll taste the difference!
>^.^<

Forgot to add! Asian veggies! Ichiban eggplant, bokchoy, green beans, and New Zealand Spinach (not an Asian veggie, but can stand drought!) Those would really sell well in the SW, you'd be surprised how many Asian lived in the SW, including when I was living in El Paso (I'm Filipino!)!

 

[beavis]

I seriously researched doing the same thing awhile ago and have bought a lot of good books on the subject.

(Ill post them here)

I would go down to your local Farmer's market and see what people are selling. For example, it doesn't make sense to grow and sell string beans if everyone else is providing that.

Try and find a niche. And this make take a bit of research and trial and error to do it right.

Make sure whatever you sell is:

1)top quality, no noticeable bruises,blemishes, etc
2)Clean and your display area is clean
3)Presented/displayed in a way to appeal to buyers.

Fresh grown herbs are a good choice. I planted French Tarragon to sell because it is a great culinary herb, but a bit difficult to cultivate. Note: this is not the type of tarragon that is sown from seed, but propagated.

Mix in some fresh cut flowers, but be aware that most farmers markets I have seen are dominated by flower sellers (At least that seems to be the case in San Diego).

Try gourmet vegetables like baby squash, squash flowers.

DO grow and sell heirloom tomatoes in many shapes and colors, these always sell.

You can also mix in products made from your plants like herbal vinegars, soaps, etc. This is a good way to extend the harvest in the months when things slow down.

Be aware that certain vegetables will peak and these will be provided by all sellers (think corn,tomatoes). Is there a way you can produce these crops earlier or later when they are not so readily available?

OK books.......

The New Farmers Market by Corum, Rosenzweig and Gibson

Backyard Market Gardening by Lee and Foreman

Growing and selling fresh-cut herbs by Shores

Rebirth of the family farm by Gregson*****

This last book is very, very good on the subject, it is like $12.

If you have trouble locating these books, let me know and I might be able to provide a resource where you can get them.

 

[vfem]

I know at a little farm stand (which is now HUGE) by my mom's house I frequent for my usuals. They sell Tomatoes like crazy.... so many different kinds and they were in every basket they had available. It was their top seller.... followed by pumpkins in the fall. They're apples did ok, but they were priced like the supermarket so the costs weren't a huge savings. They were organic though so I bought them, but it didn't attract huge sales.

They have a pick your own strawberry patch in the spring which is all the carry early on... again, they are SLAMMED busy then as well.

Organic corn is another good seller... but last year the crop was extremely buggy so people we're buying as well.

I have 6 kinds of Tomato I'm doing next year, 2 kinds of peppers, corn, pole beans, eggplant, and acorn squash. So far thats it for me.... if I have a good year we're going to expand the garden and sell some veggies to our neighbors and such. I'm going organic though.... my own compost, no pesticides.... might not be worth trying to offer to others. Long as its better for my family its worth a try!

P.S. - I heard some good things about using fire ash in a garden and around chickens.... wards off mites and some bugs known to bore vining plants?! Hope thats true... going to try it!

 

[beavis]

Another avenue that you might want to explore is to develop a subscription-based farm.

You recruit customers who for a monthly fee, receive a pre-determined quantity of produce that is grown from your farm.

You can arrange for customers to stop by your farm and select/pick-up their produce. That way, you save on gas, time and energy in traveling to a farmer's market.

Also, the customers will select from whatever is in season on your farm.

Word of mouth seems to be the best way of getting loyal customers. Once word gets out of locally grown (hopefully organic) fresh fruits and vegetables, you should have more of a problem meeting demand than worrying about attracting customers.

 

[Zenbirder]

Thank-you everyone for participating in this topic. Some of my thoughts in no particular order:
We are really too small for subscription farming. I need to get top dollar for all my produce, so I can not sink to the nice price level people expect with a subscription. One of my good friends wants a subscription box-a-week and I am going to tell her no. I do not feel right charging her the prices I am able to get in market. We really have very little grown near town, and our market rules are strict that no outside county produce can be brought in. For example, we found that almost no one wants to do the work involved in green beans, so we are able to get $8 a pound when we had extras. Green bells go for 50 cents each, and tomatoes always sell out quickly. Our market is only about three miles away, so travel isn't a concern.

We are up at 6000 feet, so I have never seen a watermelon grown here, and cantaloupe isn't economical. I grow enough winter squash for us, but market would eat up too much garden space. Space is critical, so green beans, peppers and tomatoes will be staples. We do enough corn for us, but I think the worms would put most customers off.

vfem - a note on ash for gardens: it is OK if you have soil that is acidic, but avoid it if your soil is basic.

I do know a lot about our customer base. There is a good niche for heirlooms and more exotic produce, a lot of the buyers here are green minded. Most of the market producers come from a Hispanic culture and do not tend to grow anything unusual. With that in mind it wouldn't make sense to grow regular jalapenos, and summer squash doesn't even always sell out. The soap and jam makers and flower and houseplant sellers are already well established here. I think I can find customers for baked goods if the market will allow me to participate (they limit the number of bakers).

Having a greenhouse is really what will set me apart in growing for the early markets. I am pretty sure I can grow the New Zealand spinach year around in the greenhouse. that will free up garden space. I am planning to have tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers well before anyone else. These should really bring a premium in price.

Let's keep the topic going! What other thoughts do you have?

 

[vfem]

vfem - a note on ash for gardens: it is OK if you have soil that is acidic, but avoid it if your soil is basic.

Thanks for that. I know we have some acids in our soils. NC is known at the tar heel state because of our heavy pine population. That probably why I got the suggestion. So I may take a go at using it, but I'll wait until later in the season and see how well the garden starts off. If its not heavily green and I see yellowing, I'll add it then.

I think I've heard that quite a bit where I am because of our clay and stuff.

Which reminds me, RedClayFarmer is from NC... maybe they know a little more.

Either way, I'm heavily counting on my tomatoes next year. If I lose anything else I will be ok.... I just go through so many, plus they cost nearly $3 a lb lately and give so many away I can't have a garden with out those. (Or my dear Iowian husband's sweet corn! )

 

[Madfarner]

There's a small magazine called "Growing for Market" which has a wealth of information. Most of the books mentioned above are available from AcresUSA. You can shop on-line.

Madfarmer