Tag Archives: Farmers Markets

Growing For Market part 7

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This entry is part 7 of 10 in the series Growing for Market

The Lewisia pictured above is available in a series called Sunset. I get mine from  Skagit Gardens, choose the grower/broker tab, they come in a 72 cell flat.Talk to your favorite broker.

Back to the market.One thing that I find myself doing is trying to make my stall bright and appealing. I want it to stick out. I like to put my taller patio containers that are blooming on the ground out at the end of my tables. People can see the pot at ground level. That’s where it’s going to be when they get it home. I put the most colorful ones where the customer almost trips over it. If you bunch a few of them together folks will admire the grouping. If you have one here and one there I think that’s distracting and it looks like you have fewer pots. I hang my baskets from the canopy on the two sides and the back,right behind your head. If I have trailing Begonia baskets I will put them on the front corners of my tables. They are best seen from above but can still be seen spilling over the edge of the table. If I have something that smells (good) I will put it close to the front of the table and close enough to me so that I can rub it once in a while. This causes the customer to want to rub it and get the scent. If you can get them rubbing and smelling your plants it’s almost a guaranty  of a sale.

When you have some oddball stuff show it off.Almost  everyone likes to think they are different/eclectic  and like to try the unusual new cool and unusual stuff. If I have 5 really unique plants I will put them in the middle  of my main table,you will have to decide which is going to be your main table, I will put one of each up close to the front of the table closest to the customer, with the rest in the background. If you can get the customer interested in any one of them then they are going to be willing to hear your pitch on the other ones sitting next to the one they asked about. This is your chance to shine. Tell them all the good stuff about each plant, tell them how it looks in a planter or where it would look good in their garden. Give them as much information as they can take. Once you start to see their eyes glaze over from information overload stop. Don’t say anything else about that particular plant.The next move is up to them. If they picked up your vibe/aura on the plant they will buy one. I almost always am able to make them feel the same passion for that plant that I do. When they have a shared passion it’s really easy for them to buy it.  I always do this in an honest way. Nothing will lose you a true customer faster than you’re not mentioning that the plant will burn up if put in the sun.

Honesty is a huge part of your reputation at market. If other vendors think you are dishonest it will get back to your customers. If the other vendors see that you have a true passion for what you do and what you are selling, that will get back to the customers too. So tell the customer the bad as well as the good about a plant. If there is a downside to say a basket, let them know. If you don’t you can be sure that as soon as they get that basket home something will start going wrong with it. If they know it doesn’t like to stay soaking wet let them know.

I am a fair weather farmer/marketer. I really don’t like setting up in the rain. If it’s  sprinkling I will go. If it’s raining and looks like it’s not going to quit I will stay home.That’s part of my reputation for better or worse. But when I am there at market I am all about making the best of the day. I come with enough product to sell and I only bring what I see as my best stuff. If it’s in short supply like say Bacopa and mine is a little lanky I will take some and offer them at a slightly reduced price and show or tell the customer how to cut it back and make it bushier. At the end of the day you want to be honest to a fault when it comes to reporting your income to the market manager. That market pays it’s rent advertising and sometimes insurance to cover the whole market out of what you declare and what you pay them. No one is going to be watching over your shoulder but can you live with yourself knowing you are ripping off the people that make this market available so you can make money and enjoy your passion. If you can please stay away from my markets.

Still looking for questions to answer. I don’t know how long I will be able to keep up this one sided conversation. Happy planting.

 

Growing For Market part 6

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This entry is part 6 of 10 in the series Growing for Market

We’ll take a break from plants for a couple of days. Lets talk about the actual physical act of selling at the farmers market. Get to know the market manager. Introduce yourself, tell him or her what you would like to sell. Some markets restrict their vendors to plants and produce. Some markets let you sell home made stuff if it is plant related. Most allow a mix of plants, veggies, baskets and food made at the market,as well as things like baked goods, planter boxes and bird houses.

at the market

At The Market

Once you have met the manager come back and visit every weekend. This allows you to do your research and touch base with the manager each time you visit. It helps to know the manager and what he or she sells. And the more they know about the easier it will be for them to place you in the market. They usually don’t want to put 4 basket sellers next to each other.

I like being at the end of a row. Even if it’s the wrong end. I do one smaller market where I am at the Good end, closest to the traffic flow. This works out great for me and the manager says it makes the market look better if someone with lots of color is on the end. At the other market I do I am at the wrong end. There is parking at both ends but folks seem to favor parking at the other end as there are a lot more spaces. I have found that regular market customers will at least look at every stall. If they parked at the other end from my stall I have enough color out front to at least attract their eye. The folks that enter from my end always get a nod and a smile or a Howdy. I make eye contact with each one. They will either stop and shop or as they head back to their car they will pass by again and remember your hello, which will usually get them to stop in..If you can’t get an end stall at least let the manager know you are looking forward to moving toward the end as he has openings.

Stick it out.  Your first day may be gang busters. It may also suck. Don’t give up. It takes customers time to get used to seeing you, and seeing you in the same location. Just keep bringing your best stuff and keep your product looking good, watered and clean. Try also to have something that no-one else has. I have at least a dozen customers that will buy a Lewisia almost every time they come to market. This plant has different color flowers at slightly different times so it’s easy to get folks collecting the whole series.(please note,the author just figured out how to create a link with the subject word,click on the above blue Lewisia, woohoo).

If you are there every week folks will get used to seeing you and will be more comfortable with coming into your stall. Speaking of which, can they get into your stall? If someone else is standing in the way  talking to a friend or neighbor  the other possible customer will just walk on by so as not to inconvenience the talker. You either have to have a wide enough center aisle to fit two customers or you have to practice your traffic directing skills. One of the hardest things to do is to politely ask one customer to take their family reunion out into the main thruway. It’s not impossible but you have to consider exactly what you are going to say to that person. If someone blocks my entrance and I see another customer walking toward my stall I will excuse myself as I glide gently past the talkers while saying something to the approaching customer and inviting them in to see something special. This will give the talker a hint. I don’t think they are trying to be rude but who doesn’t like to stop and talk to a friend. Keep that in mind.

Most markets allow a space of 10′x10′, some allow more depth but are stuck on the width. I have found the folding plastic 6′ long tables at Home Depot are what works for me. They are only around$40 and you can get a bunch of them into a pickup or van. I arrange my ez-up  canopy (cheap but adequate) at the back of the stall away from the main walkway. I then put two tables on each side of the center walkway. That leaves me 6′ for the middle aisle. I then arrange a 4′ long table at the back of the stall at the back of that 6′ wide walkway. I Usually stand behind that 4′ table but leave just enough room to squeeze between the tables, not enough room so the customer feels it’s okay to walk back behind the table and stand with you. I am going from behind that table up to the display tables constantly to actually show the customer something. I find if the customer asks me a question about a plant if I just answer them they may or may not buy that plant. If I actually walk over and pick the plant up and answer their question as well as give them a few other of the plants good points they will almost always buy it. I just seems like the more you are into your plants and the more you impart to the customer the more excited they will get about the plant.This may sound like crap, but it’s true. The aura you give off is picked up by the customer be it positive or negative.

Okay my typing finger is getting tired. See you tomorrow. Both of you.

 

 

 

 

Growing For Market part1…. Repost

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This entry is part 1 of 10 in the series Growing for Market

This is a repost from my grow for market series. Please click on the older posts at the bottom of the pages to get back to this whole series. Thanks

Trailing Begonia

One of the best feelings for me throughout my nursery career has been a combination of joy, pride and accomplishment derived from giving or selling something that you produced from a seed to the finished product. to someone else. It’s like giving a part of yourself to the eventual customer, and if they want to pay you for it, so much the better.  These are some of the things you will feel if you start growing for market. Also tired, pissed off, cheated and lied to. But the good outweighs the bad by a long shot.

Growing for market can be something you do on a part time basis, like growing some extra tomato starts and a few zucchini seedlings. You take whatever you have that you think will sell to the market on Saturday morning then count your cash at the end of the day. Then there are folks out there that have farms that grow acres of berries or melons that count on the market for a good part of their living. I figure most people that will read this blog are going to fall into the middle of this range. I will use myself as an example. I grow some baskets some bedding plants a few veggie starts and some oddball stuff for my markets. I have a pretty good following, not because I have the best stuff at the market but I think because folks just get to like you. That’s important at any market. Your reputation becomes known to the customers and to the other vendors. I would expect my reputation is, he grows some okay stuff some good stuff and some crap. And he only comes for three months of the season.  So, some good some bad. That’s my rep and that’s what I have to work with. I created it so I will live with it.

 

 

If you think that marketing is in your future then it’s time to start your research. Have you ever been to a Farmers Market? Do you know someone who has? Have you got the time to grow for the market, or bake or cook or whatever it is you would like to sell. If you are going to grow, do you have the facility to grow in? Have you grown before? Do you like dealing with the public?

I think the best way to start is start going to some markets. Walk the aisles see what people are selling. See where the lines are. See how the stalls are set up. Get a feel for some of the successful vendors. You will know them by the lines at their stall. Watch how they interact with each customer.  Note if they have a smile on their faces. Watch how easily the transition from one customer to the next. As you get comfortable with them go up and ask them about marketing. Almost any vendor is happy to see new vendors coming into the market. There is kind of a circle in markets. The more vendors you have the more customers you will have. While that may cut into a vendors action a bit it also presents more customers to sell to. What came first the market or the customer? This is not a trick question. The more the merrier in both vendors and customers.

What should I sell? How much? At what price?  What do you do well? Do you bake a mean apple turnover? If you do you are set as baked goods seems to me to be one of those things that always creates a line up at their stall. Add some coffee and pop on ice and you are set. Are you good at woodworking, and does you market allow things that are hand made? I you are and they do then start making trellises and tomato cages. Don’t quit your day job though. I see some really nice stuff at the markets that I do that just plain doesn’t sell. The vendors are very personable but selling their goods is really tough. Keep that in mind but don’t let that burst your bubble. How about starting a few tomato plants and setting them into your wood planters. Not planted in them just sitting in them. Then know something about that type of tomato. For me it seems that the more I can tell the customer about that plant the better chance they will but it. I know common sense stuff.

I’m going to assume based on the fact that you are visiting my website or blog that you want to grow plants to sell at market. Great now what? Remember when you were scouting that market? What was selling. There really isn’t that much different that you can dream up that someone else isn’t already doing. However you may be able to present the same product in a different way. I don’t try to compete with half of the other vendors at our markets by selling 4″ tomato starts. I sell only gallon tomatoes. I don’t get the highest price at the market but I do sell all of my gallon tomatoes.

Everyone wants to know what sells. Everything, now, what can you grow? There are the easy things like marigolds  and the hard things like begonias. Start with the easy and work your way up. One of the things you will find if you decide to grow flowers is that there are tons of companies out there that grow the starts for almost anything you can think of. You can buy as little as 4 flats of 50 liners/plugs from a grower and have them shipped to your door for less than $125. These are patented plugs that are ready to shift into a 4″ pot or 3 or 4 to a 12″ basket. All you need is a place to grow them on after planting them. You may want to grow stuff from seed. Same thing have you, can you and have you got the room. I have found that growing plants from cuttings pays very well. We’ll look at some plants and plant ideas tomorrow. If you have questions feel free to put them in the comment section. I’ll get back to you soon.going to market