Organic Farmers MarketOrganic Foods, Green Products, Books & Farming Information

Selling at the Farmers’ Market — Part 2

As stated in the previous article, it is important when selling at the farmers’ market to have a product that will sell.  While this may seem obvious, oftentimes people go to a lot of effort to produce something that really is not needed.  Intentions are good, but timing may be off.  For example, the first bloom of spring may bring out a slew of strawberry and rhubarb sellers.  Fresh strawberries are so plentiful at the market that the sellers find themselves bringing quarts of them home.  Is this a problem?  Well, it could be, or it might be an opportunity.  Those strawberries will be a welcome addition later in the year in the form of strawberry jam.  Add some of that rhubarb and you have two different jams for sale.  Add a line of low sugar jams for diabetic tastes and you have a small business in the making. 

This is one example of value-added products.  Another way of looking at these is to think of them as work-added products.  It certainly does take more effort to produce a jar of jam as opposed to a quart of strawberries.  It also takes some time and skill.  If you have both on hand, you will be rewarded with a higher price for your jam than the original berries.  In additon, your time and effort also provide you with jam that can be sold throughout the farmers’ market season since it  keeps better than a quart of fresh strawberries.  Once your jam and jelly skills are realized, the sky is the limit for stable products, from sweet jams to savory and even hot jellies.  One we recently made and enjoyed was jalapeno jam — tasty and addicting on crackers with or without cream cheese! 

When looking into home canning an excellent and inexpensive starting point is the Ball brand Home Canning Guide or Blue Book.  This is a thin paperback book sold in most stores that carry canning supplies.  It is full of up to date information on preserving all kinds of produce.  Please be aware that when producing value-added products at home there may be some guidelines from the local health department.  Some products cannot be sold unless bottled in a commercial kitchen environment.  It is best to check with your health or agriculture department.  A good source of information can be your county ag extension office.

Other value-added products do not require any kind of kitchen inspection or license.  For example, if you have fiber producing animals the obvious sale item is their fiber.  In the raw state sheeps wool sells for less than $ 5.00 per pound and requires quite a bit of work to become a warm wool hat.  Few farmers’ market buyers have the time, let alone the inclination to buy a pound of sheeps wool. 

So the shepherd needs to add some time and work to his product.  Cleaning and spinning the wool into yarn is the first step.  This can be an enjoyable, but time consuming process.  Perhaps at the right market handspun wool will appeal to potential buyers.  I have found, however, that no matter how much wool you spin, there comes a time when the knitter will need more than you have.  More than likely it is the wool that you have no more of as the sheep died unexpectedly, was sold, turned grey in her old age, etc.  Here’s where even more time and effort are needed to, hopefully, turn a dollar on that wool in the end. 

Knitting up a hat from your homespun yarn can be a nice way to spend a few evenings’ time.  That is if you are not spending your time on the computer occupying your hands with typing!  There are some nice knitting books out there, one that comes to mind is “Homespun, Handknit”, which gives easy to complex patterns for hats, mittens, gloves and even Christmas stockings and slippers.  I tend to specialize in hats because they do not require a matched mate.  Here again, the lack of that last little bit of yarn is less of a problem in a hat, just add a contrasting stripe or something.  You don’t need a whole extra half of a mitten in exactly the same color and size.  Elizabeth Zimmerman’s books are entertaining as well as educational on the subject of knitting.  “Knitting without Tears” is very helpful.

Now you are prepared with your value-added wool products to take to the farmers’ market.  (Watch out, some places want only edible items, not crafty stuff!)  Arm yourself with a hand mirror of some kind and be prepared to allow folks to try on the hats and feel the mittens.  I know someone who knits beautiful slippers and then felts them for cozy warm feet.  Even just half a dozen childrens hats displayed well can help pay for the gas to the market.  They certainly don’t take up much room or deteriorate over time.

Beware, knitting is another one of those time consuming, but addicting activities.  In fact, there may even be a spinning or knitting guild near you.  Break the news to your husband gently that this has grown into a social time for you.

You may find that you will need all different sizes and colors to fill your wool booth.  You may need to take orders.  Knitting may be your sideline on long car trips and during tv watching time.  Perhaps instead of just one day at farmers’ market selling tomatoes and cukes you now go to craft shows with your handspun, handknit products.  You may have just started a small business and since you are in charge, let it grow at whatever rate is comfortable for you and that the market will bear!  Good luck with your enterprise.

About the Author

Farmer’s Market 3 – 24W x 16H – Peel and Stick Wall Decal by Wallmonkeys $33.99 WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won’t damage your paint or l…

Food Lovers’ Guide to San Francisco: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings (Food Lovers’ Series) $8.49 The ultimate guide to the San Francisco and the East Bay’s food scene provides the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate local culinary offerings. Written for residents and visitors alike to find producers and purveyors of tasty local specialties, as well as a rich array of other, indispensable food-related information including: food festivals and culinary events; specialt…

15 Places to Street Perform/Busk in Seattle, WA $2.99 A veteran street performer (aka busker) for the past 30+ years gives advice on street performing venues in the Seattle area. From street festivals to ferries, bus tunnels to public property, learn the ins and outs of street performing in the Seattle area from someone who has experience in the field. Fifteen different street performing opportunities are described in detail, including site-specific …

Food Lovers’ Guide to Napa Valley: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings (Food Lovers’ Series) $8.49 The ultimate guide to Napa Valley’s food scene provides the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate local culinary offerings. Written for residents and visitors alike to find producers and purveyors of tasty local specialties, as well as a rich array of other, indispensable food-related information including: food festivals and culinary events; specialty food shops; farmers 

The Farmer`s Cookbook (Hardcover) $36.42 More and more cooks are turning to their own gardens or to local farmers` markets to find inspiration for their meals. Eating fresh, local produce is a hot trend, but lifelong Vermonter Marie Lawrence has been cooking with produce from her gardens, buying milk from the farmers up the road, and lavishing her family and lucky friends with the fruits of her kitchen labor since she was a kid. In this book she includes recipes for everything from biscuits and breads to pies and cookies, soups and stews to ribs and roasts. Also included are instructions for making cheese, curing meats, canning and preserving, and much more. Organized by month to coordinate with a farmer`s calendar, cooks will find orange date bran muffins and old fashioned pot roast in January, hot spiced maple milk and fried cinnamon buns in March, mint mallow ice cream in July, Vermont cheddar onion bread in October, and almond baked apples with Swedish custard cream in December. Other recipes include grilled chicken with peach maple glaze, veggie tempura, raspberry chocolate chip cheesecake, and dozens of other breads, salads, drinks, and desserts that are fresh from the farmer`s kitchen.

Farmers` Markets Desserts (Hardcover) $42.04 The number of U.S. farmers` markets has grown by 20cover the past three years to nearly 5,300 nationwide. This collection of tempting desserts inspired by those markets and the farmers who share their produce there satisfies the sustainable shopper`s sweet tooth with more than 50 recipes for tarts, crisps, cupcakes, puddings, and more. Discover classics like Deep Dish Sour Cherry Pie and new interpretations like Tangerine-sicle Ice Cream. Featuring seasonality charts, `farmer journal` tips, and dazzling color photography to teach and inspire, Farmers` Market Desserts is the perfect gift for bakers, lovers of local produce, and all who share in the delights of the farmers` market.

Farmers` Markets of the Heartland (Paperback) $33.91 In this splendidly illustrated book, food writer and self-described farm groupie Janine MacLachlan embarks on a tour of seasonal markets and farmstands throughout the Midwest, sampling local flavors from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. She conducts delicious research as she meets farmers, tastes their food, and explores how their businesses thrive in the face of an industrial food supply. She tells the stories of a pair of farmers growing specialty crops on a few acres of northern Michigan for just a few months out of the year, an Ohio cattle farm that has raised heritage beef since 1820, and a Minnesota farmer who tirelessly champions the Jimmy Nardello sweet Italian frying pepper. Along the way, she savors vibrant red carrots, slurpy peaches, vast quantities of specialty cheeses, and some of the tastiest pie to cross anyone`s lips. Informed by debates about eating local, seasonal crops, organic farming, sanitation, and biodiversity, Farmers` Markets of the Heartland tantalizes with special recipes from farm-friendly chefs and dozens of luscious color photographs that will inspire you to harvest the homegrown flavors in your own neighborhood.

This Is the Farmer $27.78 Using the rhythm of a famous nursery rhyme, the author relates the happenings along the farmer's route as he walks from house to barn to milk his cow. The youngest listener can read along simply by looking at the colorful pictures. Another gem from the author/artist of the Caldecott Honor Book Have You Seen My Duckling?. Full color.

The New Farmer`s Market (Paperback) $35.87 As concerned citizens recognize that the vibrancy of urban centers goes hand-in-hand with the vitality of the surrounding rural areas, a farmers` market renaissance is beginning throughout the country. Helping to increase local market success for both farmers and customers, this book serves as a three-part guide to marketing, being a resource for farmers or market gardeners selling their produce at farmers’ markets; for city planners or market managers in starting and building a market; and for community activists and city planners trying to foster appreciation for farmland while reinvigorating economic and social vitality in urban areas. Appendices cover insurance, customer surveys, farmers’ market profitability, and benefits of farmers’ markets.

Farmer Jason Tickets $135 Buy Farmer Jason tickets. TicketNetwork.com gets you in!

Gentleman Farmer Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $70 Gentleman Farmer Cabernet 2009

THE FARMER IN THE DELL $2.69 The farmer takes his wife the child the nursery the dog cat ratbut the cheese stands alone! The classic movement song is delightfully illustrated in this book.

Ramada Olympia Wa, Olympia,WA,United States $109.65 Hotel property Ramada Olympia Wa, 2 Star, 4520 Martin Way E in Olympia, WA, United States

Pedestal,Bxbtmfl,F/Dsk,Wa $500.99 PEDESTAL,BXBTMFL,F/DSK,WA

Farmer Duck $14.38 Duck is a hardworking fowl lives on a farm owned by a very lazy man. All day long the farmer lies about in bed, eating chocolates, reading the newspaper, and occasionally yelling out the window to Duck in order to ask How goes the work? Meanwhile, poor Duck spends his days caring for the other animals, doing the laundry, and even serving meals to his good-for-nothing master. The other animals notice not only how tired duck is, but also how very lazy the farmer is, and so they decide to do something drastic. Will the hens, the cow, and the sheep be able to come to Duck's aid–and teach the farmer a lesson he'll never forget? Illustrated with watercolor paintings.