Dear Farmers Market Vendors

[Keger]

OK your turn this time.

1 It is 102 in the shade lately and no rain in a month. You have ice chests full of "fresh" sweet corn and baskets of tomatoes. So how did this happen?

2 Why do you tell people everything is grown on your farm and it's all organic?

3 Funnier yet, how did you grow the kale?

It is a shame. It's a good market we have, but I am going to have to go into Houston or back out to Richmond where there are some ethics.

I don't understand the short sightedness. Am I missing something here?

[Worth1]

Are these questions people are asking you as though you are not telling the truth?

Please explain the part about where people have ethics.

Ok I get it now, it is what you are asking vendors.


Worth

[biscgolf]

i was briefly in the mortgage business when i hurt my back and couldn't do farm work. it was the most miserable couple of years of my life but it was a living. the mortgage business is every bit as crooked as anyone would have you believe.

the farmer's market business is way more crooked than that. the ethical mis-steps are just occurring over tens of dollars rather than over thousands.

is the market in question a producer only market? if so how is it managed?

i am on the executive board for our county's 3 markets and farm inspections both prior to vendor acceptance and over producer only violations is one of the main things we do.

[joseph]

Originally Posted by Keger

1 It is 102 in the shade lately and no rain in a month. You have ice chests full of "fresh" sweet corn and baskets of tomatoes. So how did this happen?

It's been 3 months since it rained here. My farm is irrigated. The tomatoes that I am harvesting today were pollinated two months ago when temperatures were cooler. I grow varieties that thrive in the heat. I buy ice at the gas station.

People say to me: "Corn picked this morning?" Heck no it wasn't picked this morning!!! I have to leave for the farmer's market about 1/2 hour after the sun rises. It took 6 hours of labor to pick the sweet corn, and 6 hours to pick the beans, and 3 hours to pick the rest of the vegetables.

Originally Posted by Keger

2 Why do you tell people everything is grown on your farm and it's all organic?

Because I grow everything that I take to the farmer's market. But I never ever say that my produce is organic. That is a political word that has nothing to do with farming. The corn ear-worms and earwigs should be sufficient evidence that I don't poison my farm.

Originally Posted by Keger

3 Funnier yet, how did you grow the kale?

In an air conditioned greenhouse. You should come visit the farm. Watch the hydroponics system at work. The conveyor belt that moves the crop from one end of the greenhouse to the other is an engineering marvel. We cover our fields and greenhouses with shade-cloth or whitewash to moderate temperatures.

Worst boo boo I ever made at the farmer's market (other than bundling nightshade vines with the mint) was using recycled rubber bands. The next week people were asking me, "Why did your onions say 'Product of Mexico'?".

There are plenty of shenanigans around here with vegetables, but they usually happen at the "farm stands" and not at our producer only market.

[Keger]

I could be wrong, but I think it may be a little warmer and more humid at night than it is in N Utah.

We have water here as well, and use a lot of it in the summer, especially when it doesn't rain.

I know farmers that have greenhouses here, but none that can afford to AC them in the summers down here. They do grow some cukes and a few tomatoes in the winter in them.

The one guy I know that tried organic gassed his plots with vinegar so bad I don't think he can plant them yet. But hey all that vinegar comes from organic corn right?

FWIW, I grow everything myself and tell anyone who asks straight up what my practices are. Roundup, Sevin, Daconil, and Miraclegro with some triple 13 at times. All recommended by the folks at Texas A&M, who have a great track record with this stuff through the years.

[Keger]

Originally Posted by biscgolf

i was briefly in the mortgage business when i hurt my back and couldn't do farm work. it was the most miserable couple of years of my life but it was a living. the mortgage business is every bit as crooked as anyone would have you believe.

the farmer's market business is way more crooked than that. the ethical mis-steps are just occurring over tens of dollars rather than over thousands.

is the market in question a producer only market? if so how is it managed?

i am on the executive board for our county's 3 markets and farm inspections both prior to vendor acceptance and over producer only violations is one of the main things we do.

This one is not producer only, they simply have a habit of letting everybody wing it, and it has become near impossible for me to keep my yap shut. (Imagine..)

The two I mentioned are ok, one is produce only, but reselling is allowed, and the other you must have a sign with your farming methods, I just put up conventional.

Simple that way.

[Keger]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Are these questions people are asking you as though you are not telling the truth?

Please explain the part about where people have ethics.

Ok I get it now, it is what you are asking vendors.


Worth

Actually it is what some vendors are doing. I don't get it, but I'm not smart.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Keger

Actually it is what some vendors are doing. I don't get it, but I'm not smart.

That stinks.

Its like I could go to a wholesaler and buy in bulk then set up at the farmers market and make a profit with obscure meanings of words.

Worth

[AKmark]

Your reading comprehension is spot on, I don't think you missed anything Your operation sounds like it is refined and well thought out, I would like to hear more, or see a video of it, pics, etc.

[Cole_Robbie]

Two years ago, after a cold and wet spring, one daily vendor at my market was selling a truck load of sweet corn in late may. It was obvious that the vendor did not grow that corn, and our market is producer-only.

I asked my 82 y/o grandpa about it. His reply was, "we all knew they didn't grow that corn. But it was good for the market because it attracted customers. None of the members were even close to having their own corn to sell, so they didn't feel like the rule-breaking was taking any business away from anyone."

I thought that was a good lesson on the subjective nature of rules.

[joseph]

Originally Posted by AKmark

Your reading comprehension is spot on, I don't think you missed anything Your operation sounds like it is refined and well thought out, I would like to hear more, or see a video of it, pics, etc.

My operation consists of fields, a seed starting shelf in the basement, and a collection of localized genomes. The fields usually contains more weeds than vegetables, and I have a bit of an ego, so I don't post as many photos as I would like.

I visit a lot of farms. Even in Texas, the price of air conditioning a hydroponic greenhouse is small compared to the income that can be derived from growing local out-of-season vegetables. Evaporative cooling can provide around 15 F reduction in peak daytime temperatures even with the high relative humidity in Richmond. Sometimes I can achieve with genetics what my fellow farmers can achieve with technology, but usually technology wins. I have lower operating expenses though. I can only harvest lettuce in May and June. My neighbor with a hydroponic air-conditioned and heated greenhouse can produce better lettuce all year round.

Here is a time lapse photo of one of my fields from the 2010 growing season.

[FILMNET]

nice Joseph.

[Keger]

Hey Joseph!

Could you send some of that snow down here right about now?

Now that's something we could really sell now.

[Keger]

Originally Posted by Worth1

That stinks.

Its like I could go to a wholesaler and buy in bulk then set up at the farmers market and make a profit with obscure meanings of words.

Worth

That's the deal, so, time to do another market I think.

[Wi-sunflower]

My market is "producer only" also. And for the most part it's pretty legit.

Last year after the horrible weather we had, it seems more growers have gone with High Tunnels or cold frames to get around the weather a bit. And it has helped some growers this year as we've had a different type of awful year.

But there is 1 group of "farmers" that ALWAYS push the rules and for the most part nothing is done to them. Part of the problem is that the "inspectors" are the ones that got that group into the market in the first place years ago as an outreach thing. So even tho it's often rather obvious that some of the items they have are NOT "local" or "in season" or are from PYO farms, they are still here.

And YES that does bug those of us that are fighting the weather and lack of decent labor to grow it ourselves.

Carol