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Entrepreneurship:  I did it!!!!!  |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 3:10:13 PM
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I took the plunge today and became a vendor at our local farmer's market.
I didn't think I had much to offer, as the only thing I had in the garden was lettuce, but went ahead anyway....took 25 or so heads of leaf lettuce (I lost count while packing it into the cooler, and I sure wasn't going to take it out to recount)
At the last minute I grabbed all the tomato plants I didn't find a spot in my garden for, in their little pots, and took them along.. They really sold well considering the last frost date was 1 month ago. People liked that they weren't common varieties, and several people asked for yellow tomatoes or chocolate-colored tomatoes (mental note for next year...)
I also packaged up some soap I had made earlier this year (Melt-and-pour, but I added my own ingredients) with labels with my "farm" name on them at the last moment (literally, I was printing the labels on my computer at 7:30 this morning...)
I made $65 in 3 hours... not bad for a few hours of work (As long as I don't count all the labor planting/weeding the lettuce LOL)
EVERYTHING sold! Except I had 2 bars of soap and 3 heads of lettuce left when the market was over.
The lady next to me sold 50 loaves of organic whole-wheat bread at $3.00 each and she sold out in two hours. She was talking about buying a second oven, as she was baking for 12 hours yesterday....
It was a lot of fun - except that the guy who hired me for my first professional job 27 years ago showed up first thing, and did a double-take when he saw me (I quickly said "everyone needs a hobby!" and then 15 minutes later, my current main client came by! Oh well at least they know I'm not out doing drugs or alcohol on my weekend off....
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 3:25:02 PM
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Don't you love the unexpected.
Our market starts out slow for the first three weeks. Last week was week four and I had some new breads along with my whole wheat. I made 68 plus I got a custom sewing order! YAY! Babs sells with me and I think she made a grip too. She sells homemade bath stuff, soy candles, homemade laundry and dishsoap, etc. She did really well....
I love market...It's that extra littl ebit on money that comes in handy...I can't wait till our veggies are ready!
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 3:38:40 PM
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| Cool! Congrats! I've thought about doing aprons to have at the local farmers market. And I never even thought about breads... |
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 4:02:56 PM
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People go ga ga for bread...esp when you tout that it is hand made...hand kneaded, etc. no bread machine. We are also going to be selling bread that was solar baked. Rob is working on the ovens this afternoon.
BTW....congrats!!
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose |
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celebrate2727
True Blue Farmgirl
989 Posts
Beth
MJF
Farmgirl
989 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 4:14:47 PM
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Hideeho miz brenda- i got back from market about 3 today and didn't have the best day but just knowing I am there for me and not a boss is great. Some days are great while others are quiet. Today I read some of a John Grisham book and then did a little sewing. SO I didn't just sit there. We are having passing severe thunderstorms so I thinkit kept the people away. Its pouring right now.
I always keep a notebook with me to write down the things people ask for. Because by next year I will forget.
I am lucky this year as I have the 2 best ladies at the booth next to mine. I am going to make them farmgirls yet!
Good Luck!
blessings
beth
Dreaming of Friday Night Lights
http://bethsblissnblossomfarm.blogspot.com
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 4:21:56 PM
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Beth, which market do you sell at?
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 5:48:47 PM
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Well I feel that even if I'm not going to be able to quit my day job because of the farmer's market, maybe I can at least justify the $80 I spent on bamboo poles to make a trellis for the tomatoes, and the $30 for the roll of weed barrier fabric, and so on... Someday maybe I will be able to justify a greenhouse, and who knows, an automatic watering system (as long as I'm dreaming...) My husband can quit making fun of me for buying expensive seeds by mail order...
I do have a question, though, it is obviously too expensive to buy gardening supplies (pots, starter, etc.) through the regular consumer outlets like Burpee, etc. I found A.M Leonard mail order for "horticulturists", are there other places to buy greenhouse/planting supplies that are wholesale priced, that will accept small orders?
Our farmer's market doesn't accept anything other than produce, plants, and food (jams/jellies or baked goods) they don't want it to be a craft show. Too bad because I would embroider/knit my heart out - and thought about making little drawstring bags for my soaps, and so on. It all takes time, though, and goodness knows I have little enough of that. Great dreams but not enough time to execute.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
Edited by - brightmeadow on Jun 17 2006 5:52:04 PM |
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knittingmomma
True Blue Farmgirl
106 Posts
Tonya
Vermont
106 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 5:55:35 PM
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This is so encouraging! We have our first farmers' markets coming up this week - one in one town on Wednesday and another on Friday. This is hopefully going to be a large part of our family's income. We will be bringing our produce, handcrafted goods and baked goods, including organic whole wheat bread.
I will let you all know how it goes. Oh, and we are bringing all of our children:)
Warm wishes,
Tonya - Simple Living Mom of 5
Natural Earth Farm - A Village Homestead making handcrafted goods of natural fibers - http://www.naturalearthfarm.com |
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abbasgurl
True Blue Farmgirl
1262 Posts
Rhonda
USA
1262 Posts |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 9:19:13 PM
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That's so encouraging Brenda! Glad you had such a good day! I wanted to let you know that we used to buy wholesale from Burpee. We also were able to buy certain seeds in bulk (by the pound). We grew Herbs & dried flowers for our little farm gift shop, so not a big businees at all!
So Beth... your morning was not so great...at least you got to catch up on your reading & sewing!  And isn't it just fun to get out & meet folks?
Our little town just started a "European Market" last weekend. Maybe I need to get in on this? The regulations here are really strict on food items. I am wondering if produce is regulated by the health department too. We can sell handcrafted things, which is what I think I'd like to try. Thanks for the encouraging words!
Rhonda
...and I will sing at the top of my lungs, and I will dance, even if I'm the only one! |
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celebrate2727
True Blue Farmgirl
989 Posts
Beth
MJF
Farmgirl
989 Posts |
Posted - Jun 18 2006 : 07:20:32 AM
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Tasha~ I am at the Pea Pickin Flea Market in St Croix Falls WI. It is directly east of Taylors Falls on HWY 8. They have everything from old junke to crafts and farmers market stuff. Once in a while a bakery will be ther too. I had my first return customer yesterday.:o)
Are you close to me? Lindstrom is about 45 miles North of the twin cities. My daughter has a game in Grand Rapids on Tuesday. But I don't think I can get up to it. They are going the day before and staying with friends.
blessings
beth
Dreaming of Friday Night Lights
http://bethsblissnblossomfarm.blogspot.com
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Edited by - celebrate2727 on Jun 19 2006 5:19:00 PM |
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Lovin Life
True Blue Farmgirl
103 Posts
Lisa
New Hampshire
103 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2006 : 04:22:54 AM
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Wow Brenda,
I read your post and I thought I was reading about myself! That is sooo funny! I was at my first market last weekend, June 24th here in NH and brought mostly lettuce(although I didn't sell any of that :() soap that I made (the best seller) and some herbs. Did not think to bring some of my unplanted veggies, but what a great idea! Maybe I'll do that this weekend. I have some sage and pickling cukes and peppers still in their flats that might sell. I would sell bread and other baked things too, but am too nervous about being caught(no licensed kitchen.)
My sister and I were talking though about asking the town hall if we can borrow their kitchen to make a bunch of things to freeze and just take out to sell as we need them. The town hall kitchen must be licensed right?? Hey, where there's a will, there's a way :)
You did really well at your market. We only made about 15.00 in 3 hours, but the weather was beautiful, the people were great and like you all say, being there for yourself is the main enjoyment. Go Farmgirls!
Good luck this weekend Brenda. I can't wait till all the other stuff starts ripening to bring in too. I may have a few turnip this weekend...Oh yeah, the guy next to us brought a chicken in a cage it was a great draw to his table, but then he didn't have the "table appeal" and unfortunately he didn't sell anything. But the live chicken and two pigeons were very popular!
Hey, maybe I should bring my baby goat to advertise my goat's milk soap!
I'd rather live my life with a "full plate" than an empty one. Life is not a rehearsal... eat up! |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2006 : 6:57:20 PM
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Well, I missed last weekend at the market due to being on vacation at our farm..since the lettuce didn't sell as well the 2nd week I packed 16 leftover bags of lettuce in the cooler and took it with us 5 1/2 hours by car to the farm. We ate a lot of lettuce last week! Both DH and I lost 2 pounds.
We arrived back last night at 9:00 pm so I went out to the garden and started pulling/washing radishes for the market. This morning got up at 5:00 am and pulled beets and cleaned them, looked over the lettuce - the "slobolt" lettuce has bolted and now stands about 3 feet high- how funny, I couldn't figure out how to pick/pack it to take it and was also afraid it might be bitter and didn't want to lose customers over bitter lettuce. I had some buttercruch that was just about ready, only about 10 heads, it was really delicate and the heads were small - I sold it 2 heads for $1 which just about made me cry as so much love and work went into it. I also picked two quarts of peas and took them. So I had beets, radishes, peas, and lettuce packed in ice water in the coolers, Not a lot of inventory but enough to maintain a "presence" so that people get used to seeing me there.
Well, I got to the farmer's market and looked around - things didn't look quite right - there were a lot of "flea market" type vendors already set up. Someone said "No farmer's market today, its the Bellville street fair." At first I was going to just go home, but decided to see if I could get set up anyway. I located the organizers and found out that I was not the only farmer's market person that did not get the message that there was no market today! Someone else had already had a major discussion with him over where to set up, etc. It turned out there was a $20 fee for the street fair spots, but they waived it for me and allowed me to set up on the edge of the square. Instead of running from 9 to 12 as the farmer's market does, it ran from 9 to 5.
The farmer's market rules do not allow crafts or outside-manufactured products - but since the street fair was allowing Nascar toys and cheap tool vendors, I thought perhaps I could sell some of my Watkins products. Luckily I had a few items in the car, I sold out of vanilla by 11:30. So I called my husband and asked him to bring me some more stock! (Cell phones are wonderful, they are probably a necessity for me by now). I gave out a lot of free samples and business cards, so hopefully I will get some calls resulting from the publicity. I sold most of my vegetables by noon, except for the radishes. Anyone have a radish recipe? I have about 40 radishes left over!
He brought me 3 big boxes of stuff. Business slowed down a lot in the afternoon - a lot of lookers but no buyers, and of all the stuff he brought me I only sold one more bottle of vanilla.
All in all I did about as well as I did the first day of the farmer's market, but I stayed until 4:00 so I had a few more hours invested. If I had had to pay the fee it probably would not have been worth while, even with the increased traffic. I had packed my spinning wheel in the car so I managed to get a bobbin half-filled during the lull in the afternoon. I also made a new friend, the other "farmer" was next to me, she helped me set up my new canopy for the first time (I found out the second week if you don't get there early you get a spot in the sun, the canopy is important, not only for customers, and my own comfort, but to keep the lettuce from wilting.. I'm having fun, but sure not making any money yet! The canopy cost more than I made in week 2. )
I bought a flat of gernaniums from my fellow farmer. Since we just put in a new patio, the contractors did it while we were on vacation, when we arrived home last night we realized how badly it needs landscaping. I'll be hauling dirt from my compost heap to the new flower beds tomorrow....
After three weeks, I can say that if making money was my primary goal I would NOT be doing the farmer's market, or at least I would be doing one in a much bigger town with a lot more traffic. I'm not sure how the economics of that would work out, though, with the high price of fuel and the small size of my garden! And some places require you to have insurance, I haven't checked into that yet. So far, it gives me a chance to get out and meet my neighbors, which I rarely get at work, and also I just love the recognition I get when someone walks up and says "Your lettuce is JUST BEAUTIFUL!" makes my day! So for now I am going to continue...
Lisa, I hear what you are saying about the commercial kitchen. I signed up to sell "baked goods" but I'm a little leery of being on the wrong side of the law, too, even though I see that others are baking at home and selling with ingredient labels. Maybe I am just too skittish, but I have met a few people who would as soon hire a lawyer as work for a living in my travels, and they were just a little too anxious to take advantage of legal loopholes and other people. I don't plan to sell baked goods or jellies, etc. until I have done some more checking.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
Edited by - brightmeadow on Jul 08 2006 7:08:02 PM |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2006 : 7:05:33 PM
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P.S.
My daughter stopped by with her husband. She is a new assistant manager for a big chain grocery store. She told me my "merchandising" was poor, as I have everything just sitting on the table and people can't see what I have to offer.
I don't want to put too much time and effort into display of my Watkins products as I don't normally sell them at fairs/markets, but I probably do need to put more thought into the display of my vegetables. Does anyone have some really good ideas for display? (The rules say only one table per vendor, I'm not sure how they would react to my bringing in folding shelves, so everything should probably be on the tabletop...)
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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Entrepreneurship: I did it!!!!! |
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I did it!!!!!
