Gardening is a great hobby for lots of reasons like exercise and good food. Lots of good food. More than we can eat. That’s where farmers market preparations come in.
Many people don’t garden for one reason or another. Some neighborhoods won’t allow food gardening. Many people live in apartments and haven’t heard of container gardening. Others have small children who destroy seedlings.
These people are potential customers for fresh vegetables.
What’s Growing?
Farmers market preparations begin with seed selections. Some vegetables sell much better and for better prices than others.
I like spinach so I grow spinach. It wouldn’t sell well at the market. The same goes for turnips, beets, kohlrabi, Jerusalem artichokes and others.
Tomatoes are a big hit with customers. They are a favorite with market gardeners too. So the supply outruns the demand for much of the summer.
Rule of Thumb
If you won’t eat it, don’t grow it. Some, maybe a lot of the produce taken to market goes home again.
That leaves the grower trying to use it up in some fashion. I freeze a lot of produce, especially peppers and tomatoes, to use over the winter. This last winter I enjoyed pureed summer squash as soup stock.
Competition
The worst competition comes from people who give produce away to their neighbors. It’s not a bad thing as the produce is used, usually.
However, it does mean fewer people coming to the market buying the produce being offered. Since the seller pays for their booth and spends time and labor to produce their crops, this hurts. Some of these sellers stop bothering to participate.
Getting Ready
My pepper and tomato seedlings are up. Onions are growing in my containers. Snow peas are several inches tall and trying to beat the race to summer temperatures.
This year I will attend a vendor’s meeting for the first time. I’m hoping to be a more serious seller this year.
However, my farmers market preparations are like my garden, subject to time and weather considerations.