Discuss your tips, tricks and experiences growing and selling vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants and herbs.
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May 28, 2012 | #16 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: cincinnatus, new york
Posts: 341
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i really think to alot of people except us tomatovillans a tomato is just a tomato and in the more upscale areas there is more awareness of hierlooms.. i live in a rural area and people tend to seek the smaller perfect looking red tomatoes.. stupices were a big seller for me theyre are always nice surprises i had one customer an older gentleman in a wheel chair who used to love growing tomatoes and he bought almost one of each hierloom i sold and loved speaking tomatoes and there were some customers that bought hierlooms from me for the first time out of curiosity then would become regular repeat customers every saturday i also had similar situations with my hierloom summer squashes and pole beans.. thats the fun of the market this year im growing some romas as trap crops to lure them to my table but id never give up the hierlooms as thats what i love growing and im sure they will catch on what i dont sell i donate to the food pantry at our rural services
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May 28, 2012 | #17 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MA/NH Border
Posts: 4,919
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May 30, 2012 | #18 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Posts: 2,593
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Amazing. Again, I would think your state senator could fairly easily get an exemption for fresh produce into the regulation.
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May 30, 2012 | #19 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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I think it's amazing too, using plastic knives and plates would take care of the issue of clean since you just throw them away after the first use. Use one on each tomato, how hard is that? Sometimes I think regulations to protect us are a little too harsh.
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May 31, 2012 | #20 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 2,591
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Here in Wisconsin, I'm not sure if it's a full state rule (I think it is) or just local as it seems that only Madison city health dept cares much about it. Then again Madison is extreme about pretty much everything.
Every time there is some food borne health issue they come up with some new reg that would supposedly prevent it. The problem is that virtually ALL of those food problems trace back to large corporate farms with poor practices. NONE of them were ever an issue for small family farms that pay attention to what they do. Especially those of us that sell directly to consumers. The sampling issue came up after some ecoli showed up on cantaloupe. It turned out that a large, supposedly "organic" farmer, was spreading raw pig manure on bearing fields. Heck, I'm not organic and even I know you don't spray manure on crops, you put it on empty ground, pre-plant. What a maroon !!!!! So now all of us that have 1/2 a brain suffer because of it. At least some of my other markets don't seem to care or enforce a no sampling rule. Depending on how things grow this year, I plan to give some sample boxes of my heirloom hearts to some chefs that come to the Madison market regularly. Hopefully that will help get some interesting varieties "out there". Carol |
May 31, 2012 | #21 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Brooksville, FL
Posts: 1,001
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Wow, very interesting thread.
I'll comment to the last post as my memory of the others is rather short.... Carol: If you have chefs coming and they don't heirloom tomatoes, what kind of chefs are they???? others: here in Florida I've noticed that some of the farm stands don't give out samples, but they do have vegies and tomatoes and melons that are cut to show the inside of the spoils they offer for sale. I would think that if you maybe sliced in half some of the heirlooms to show the inside that would open an opportunity for discussion which in turn might bring around sold customers on heirlooms. Just an idea, so don't shoot the messenger..... Jan |
May 31, 2012 | #22 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 2,591
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Yes we do cut the watermelons and put a "show" piece out for customers to see. We also eat the melons we cut while we are at the market. The market is long, from 6AM to 2 PM. So we have to catch a snack as we can while working. That also seems to get customers interested.
Chefs here ARE interested in heirlooms. The problem I have is that most are also buying primarily from only "certified organic" growers. I'm not organic tho use very little most years that isn't organic. Since most organic grower don't have nearly the variety i have tho, I should be able to get at least a few interested. A few already get my cherry varieties. Also new near the end of the season was a gift of a whole lot of the black knock down plastic crates. These are the very short crates that will be perfect for 1 layer deep tomatoes. That should help get them to the market in better condition. Carol |
May 31, 2012 | #23 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Richmond, TX
Posts: 327
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Did another market yesterday. Doing taste samples would be tough, even though this market wouldnt care. Can of worms. The public wants shape and color. 5% or so here have any interest in heirlooms.
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May 31, 2012 | #24 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: cincinnatus, new york
Posts: 341
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are you sure your not upstate ny keger sounds like your doing same market as i do lol
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May 31, 2012 | #25 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Richmond, TX
Posts: 327
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Right Stony? I kinda think its a good idea to give them what they want, plus its a lot easier to grow.
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May 31, 2012 | #26 | |||
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 5,346
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Being unable to cut up a fruit or vegetable and provide a sample to the public is ridiculous. As others said above, heirlooms really need to be sampled/tasted to attract attention. Otherwise, people buy what they already know -- round red baseballs. Quote:
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As I said in your other threads, it is perfectly ok if you sell the typical red round tomatoes to the general public and they are happy with it. But depending where you sell, or your market audience, there is the possibility of educating the public and getting them engaged in what you are growing and selling. And you can also sell at a higher price. I never go to a farmer's market expecting to pay $2 a pound for whatever. I am looking for high quality produce FIRST and then I decide if I can afford the price. I am actually interested in where my food comes from, how it was grown, etc. But I do realize that most people either don't know, or don't want to know.
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May 31, 2012 | #27 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Richmond, TX
Posts: 327
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feldon,
So far they want to know it was grown locally, they havent asked about organic growing. Local seems to be the big deal. Now, they are loving the small stuff, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear, etc., and some of those are heirlooms of course. The 5% that know of heirlooms love my big ones, but I dont push them. All the quality at this market is good, everyone is getting their price. I have had no pricing issues, just supply issues. |
May 31, 2012 | #28 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: cincinnatus, new york
Posts: 341
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hello feldon and keger i would never stop growing the hierllomss as thats what i truly enjoy and it takes time to educate the consumer on the higher quality of hierlloms that they arew not used to..i really had no problem selling every stupice tomato i brought to the market as it has the look of a conventional tomato and i expect to do better with my hierllooms this year i have an even wider assortment of shapes and sizes now .. there is a market 40 miles from me in ithaca new york where cornell university is located thats an exceptionally successful market that has many vendors selling hierloooms at astronomical prices as the area is progressive and there is alot of awareness about differences in quality.. i am over the mileage limit to sell there but i think its our job as vendors to educate the consumer as once they try they become repeat and one customer spreads the word to the other i dont even expect to get more money for my hierlooms as the market i participate in is very price sensitive,,, i have incorporated some of the familar tomatoes in my array this year like roma to serve as trap crops to lure the customers to my table lol// i also plan to put alot more signage on the descriptions of my hierlooms i
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May 31, 2012 | #29 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Marcos, Texas
Posts: 77
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Huh that's weird, the markets around here give out all sorts of samples. When I was a poor college student I used to go to the one in downtown Austin to make the rounds.
I can understand some sort of rule like you have to wear gloves and have the food on a clean surface and so on, but samples really do sell products. |
May 31, 2012 | #30 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Northeast Wisconsin, Zone 5a
Posts: 1,109
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Quote:
I'm equally frustrated with the idiocy regarding selling dried peppers. The imported dried peppers in the grocery store may have been dried hung in ristas in the open air in some other country, but if I want to legally sell dried peppers here I need an inspected facility to dry them, store them, etc. They have to be washed in a bleach water solution to kill any surface contaiminants before drying and have to be dried in an approved dehydrator at a temperature which will pretty much destroy their natural colors. And because of the nature of drying hot peppers I'm pretty much restricted to doing this somewhere in an unincorporated area (i.g. outside of town) as no municipality will give a business permit for it due to the possibility of objectionable odors. @%!$^ gubberment protecting us all... |
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