Well,well well... it sure does look like alot of you nutcase gardeners have come aboard.Folks,this could get dangerous. I asked Nick a while back if what I do is a hobby, a job or an obsession.He replied without hesitation "obsession".

Let's continue to compare notes! John and David,keep us posted on your marketing sucesses as well.We sold at the farmer's market last year,but are curtailing it somewhat,this year to devote more time to this old house. It was OK, but I did better with my crafts,so the big tomato bed went to everlastings and herbs,instead.

Heirloom veggies were popular,esp.with the older set.And we have a predominance of older folks in our community.So that was a good match.

Organic didn't matter to most,but it's still considered a new thing here.The more Nick talks to people, the more the interest developes.

See,he's the talker in the family,believe it or not.He can sell a product.I sent him in for selling.I'm too quiet.Really.I am.Really.

Tomatoes and corn seem to go the best.I had my seeds and crafts there as well, and sold some of each.We got people to try some different things,like blondie cukes and the purple pod greenbeans. They would came back begging for more.I told you Nick can sell!

Actually,we grow for flavor first and formost,so once someone tries something, it sells itself. One big time tomato eater already called and asked us to put her first on the list for our tomatoes.She loved them. She eats abt 25 tomatoes in three days. Can't hardly keep her supplied!

We will sell mostly out of the house this year,except for the squash and pumpkins and gourds.Those will go the the Farmer's Market and my local arts and crafts festival booth. Mini popcorn goes pretty good to,for crafters.

So what's your strategy where you live?

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

Answers

Howdy everybody! When we did the farm market, cut Sunflowers were a big thing, we couldn't bring enough of them, they bought them in bunches of 5 or 10 or 20. They loved the cut sunflowers.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

Hey Sharon! When we still had our commercial orchard (we sold lots of other things along with the fruit) a lot of our customers were older folks. They liked us because we had places to sit down!! Folding chairs, picnic tables, bales of straw. We also never rushed them - if they wanted to sit at the picnic table and jaw to each other all afternoon, we were okay with that. And they were fantastic sources of information - "Hey Miz Grace - you wanta take a look at this here bug and tell me what it is?!" We also ran contests - I remember a weather lore one in particular. Folks would write their name, phone number and address on one side of an index card; then put their weather lore on the other. We'd draw 5 or so names out for various prizes - sack of apples, honey, cider, etc..... and then post all the cards on a piece of cardboard so folks could read the weather lore. Lots of good natured arguments and teasing from that one. And of course, the folks had to come out and pick up their prizes; which got them back out to the farm. And, we got a ready made customer list from the names and addresses on the cards.

Samples - everyone likes something free; and besides, how you gonna know if you like the taste of something if you don't try it?! We converted many folks over to our fresh cider who thought they didn't like it - 'til they tried ours.

Be willing to mix and match. We grew 7 basic varieties of apples. If someone wanted a 5# bag with all 7 kinds, well then, that's what they got. We kept bushel baskets filled on our counter and allowed people to pick out their own produce; yeah, they left the small ones and the slightly bruised ones - they made fine applesauce and pie filling for us.

Think outside the box! One year I was down cutting down some old (tall) sweet corn stalks to take to the cows when I looked up and saw they were getting busy at the shed. I hightailed it up there - and promptly sold all my cattle feed for corn shock yard decorations. Was selling sweet corn out of the back of my station wagon one time and a lady stopped and wanted to buy my SIGN! Said it was folk art. I didn't argue - made that one in 15 minutes, figured I could make another one just as good.

I've also got more quart jars than I'll ever use because I put up a sign one time that I would swap for mason jars - folks would remember that and bring me out jars for several years. We did use a lot of them to sell our honey in; strained honey in regular, chunk honey (chunk of comb with strained honey filling up the jar) in wide mouths. I prefered 'em to honey jars 'cause they were more reuseable.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

We have a rather large weekend flea market a couple miles from us. We live in a highly recreational area, lots of lakes and camping grounds, so I just pull in to the flea market, pay my $6.00 for the day and sell whatever I have out of the back of my truck. Sold veggies, craft items, homemade candies etc. Haven't done it for a few years, but plan to again this year. Our long range goal is to have a small stand right here on the farm, although I am not sure in the long run we would like a bunch of people showing up. We tend to really like our privacy.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

Strategy? What strategy? I tend to do things by the seat of the pants because when I try to plan just about anything it never seems to work out. You know "The best laid plans of mice and men" etc.

At this point we have a bunch of perrenial seedlings, maters, herbs, and lotsa flowers for the market. Chris, my wife and main gardener, just took a new job as a software instructor and it looks like her time is gonna be severely limited because there's a steep learning curve. I recall on CS someone said they have good luck selling Dahlias so we got a couple varieties of them and I'll be planting a bunch of gourds too.

I'm just gonna have to see how it goes.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

Ok John.You are really Nick,aren't you? Been toying with me,eh?

Most couples argue about money,kids,sex. We have big blowout fights about the garden.That's 'cause I plan out everthing,and he's Father Chaos. Wouldn't trade it for the world,either.We balance each other.

Diane,I definitely understand the privacy issue. If alot of people came to the farm,I'm afraid I'd get downright testy. So far it isn't too many,and I rather enjoy chatting with them. That could change.

Polly you are a genius.Loved that folk lore contest.I'm printing off your response,and taking it to the Farmer's Market meeting.They need ideas like that. How come you don't have the orchard anymore? Sounds like you live to grow things. I recognize that syndrome, all too well.

Trendle-people here like fake flowers,still.Yeah,I know,pretty tacky.They do seem to be getting on the herb bandwagon tho,so I grow out some extra herb plants and old fashion perennials and do pretty good.Have some to run down to my friend's shop. She has handmade old timey things in it.The name is The Keeping Room. She has a webpage.She's a weaver and was a re-enactor(SP?) for Mountain Homeplace. My kinda of people.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Nah, Sharon - it's not genius, I think it's Multiple Personality Disorder! I could be Nick's sister in chaos. I love to sit and plot and plan and organize and all of my towels MUST be folded right side out and with no edges sticking out anywhere and if you want to drive me over the edge, just stick a spoon in the fork place in the silverware drawer! However, I also love to go with the flow and see what developes - I have learned to do my garden plan in pencil as I get out in the garden and suddenly what looked absolutely logical on paper doesn't seem quite right or I decide I need some whimsey and out somes the trowel and the next thing I know I'm erasing like mad and out wandering in the garden with a flashlight - "Okay, now I KNOW I planted radishes in ONE of these beds!"

We sorta let the orchard go down a little after Mama died of cancer - it was an ugly 18 mo. battle and neither Pop nor I had much heart for anything for a while. She was our CFO and loved the accounting/tax/money shuffleing stuff that made Pop and I want to go hide in a closet with charms and incantations to ward off the bankers! After a couple of years, we got back into it, but it just wasn't as much fun as it had been; plus - my respiratory reactions to the sprays we used were getting worse (and you can't grow mass marketable apples without sprays in this climate - been there, done that, cut my losses). Pop was to the point where he could no longer work a 10 hour day, commute for 2 hours and then put in 4 or 6 more hours of heavy labor on the farm. And I was working full time and going to school and raising my daughter as a single parent. We were to the point that we needed to pull out some trees and were looking at a major capital input in replacing them and neither one of us was real enthusiastic about it. We ended up holding on to our equipment for about 5 years, then sold everything to a young guy just getting started. I miss it, even the days when I'd come in bone tired or the ones where every crank in the county decided to come out on the same day. At the size we were, 2 people just couldn't do it. And you can't get good help (and neither one of us could find good help to marry!) and Jessie didn't seem to have an interest either in helping or in continueing. So we got out.

I did keep strawberries but I switched from a 2 acre U-Pick operation to a 1/2 acre and now I'm down to less than a 1/4 acre that I pick and sell to the store - the can't get good help syndrome strikes again. I'd get off work at 7:30 am and get home about a quarter after 8 and find either pissed off people who had been there since 7 waiting to pick, or worse - people out in the field picking where ever they wanted. I'd gently point out that our opening time was listed at 8:30 and they'd tell me "I don't care - I want to pick before it gets hot!" Now the guy at the store deals with the people and I just have to deal with the weeds. When I don't enjoy it anymore, I'll quit.

Before Mama died, I had a plan to turn this place into an almost year round operation (something to do year round, but seasonal money). It would have kept Pop occupied after he retired from the Union and then I could have kept it going post my retirement. I've still got lots of good ideas, but without help - they ain't gonna happen. And however acclimated Hubby is getting to the farm, he still isn't willing to put in the hours and the labor required - he'd rather rent the ground and sit on the money; where I'm like "Over my dead body someone will rent my ground!" It is really hard to make a go of it full time if you don't have someone who will help you; but it is easy to make some spare change growing stuff and selling it.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001