5 Things I Learned this Year

[Keger]

As I mentioned before, this was my first REAL year of growing for market, and it was a lot of fun actually. It's done now, maybe a small production in the fall but I am expanding and already loading up for winter seed starting and production for next spring.

Along the way 5 things really, really struck me and stuck with me.

1 Be on time! Be on time with your seed starting and transplants. As soon as you can get em in the ground and stay on em.

2 Grow what grows in your neck of the woods! I mentioned before that you cant sell what you dont have. Experimenting is fun, if you dont mind losing a lot of time and product if it doesnt work out, which a lot of it wont. Use your resources and grow what works. I know next year I will expand to about an acre and a half, just for tomatoes. I also know that plot will consist of BHN 444, Top Gun, and a determinate cherry variety. Not because I am extatic about them, but they flourish here and produce like crazy. Again, when selling you have to have product. I also only want determinates for managability.

3 Be religious with your pest control and fungus control. Write out a plan and stick to it. Again, use what works in your area. Remember, by the time you see the problem its too late.

4 Cull your produce! Only sell what you would want to buy. I donate the other stuff to the nursing homes, fire dept., etc. You make a lot of friends that way. You get an all around good reputation. Keep your quality high!

5 Use this place a lot! Great people, mountains of knowledge, always willing to help.

The demand for local grown is through the roof. I dont know of too many things these days with the growth potential that compares. It is a lot, lot of work and vary seasonal. You have to plan ahead, you have to have back up plans and be ready for anything that can come at you.

Again I cant say enough times to use your local resources, county extenion, master gardners, other local farmers, and here, the folks at Texas A&M are great.

[Cole_Robbie]

good tips, thanks.

[clkeiper]

Keger, I wish I could give you a star or some such kudo's for your post. That is all very good advice. Sometimes it is the lessons we learned the hard way that stick with us the best, but I sure hate to learn things the hard way ( that also means expensive/wasteful in growing for the market) and most of your 5 lessons I already do, but I appreciate that you took the time to put it in writing.

[meadowyck]

Great guidelines for market growing, I especially like that you also include firedepartments and nursing homes...

[greentiger87]

Oh you're so close! What markets do you sell at? I can't imagine being at the whim of nature for my livelihood...you guys, and entrepreneurs in general, are so brave.

I've giving a lot of my extra produce (mostly eggplants) to a local food pantry...it makes me so happy to hear that it all disappears almost instantly! Much better than spoiling in my second refrigerator.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Point number 3!! yes, yes, yes.

[Redbaron]

Thanks for the tip!

[roper2008]

#3 for sure around here. I started spaying before any signs
of blight showed, every 2 weeks, if it wasn't raining. I did get
some leaves with blight and I just cut those off with scissors,
making sure to spay the blades with rubbing alcohol between
plants, so not to spread the blight.

[casino]

The 5 things I have learned is all good advice, glad you put it into words.
I really like point #2 Grow what grows in your neck of the woods!
With thousands of varieties to choose from that can be a bit of a challenge, but worth it.

I sell tomato plants from my backyard greenhouse and my customers love my chosen varieties. BUT before any plant is "sold" the plant must be grown in my test garden first for a year or two. The matters are tasted by many people to find that OMG taste. When I do find a keeper I save the seeds and the plants grown from my saved seeds seem to do better than many seeds purchased from a store bought source. My customers are thrilled to buy my plants because ... Joe your plants are the best ... and I like that.

So point #2 is near and dear to my heart, along with all the rest.
Joe

[MikeInOhio]

Keger,

You make some great points, especially #5. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I have unearthed searching through posts on Tville. It's a great resource.

[Keger]

Originally Posted by greentiger87

Oh you're so close! What markets do you sell at? I can't imagine being at the whim of nature for my livelihood...you guys, and entrepreneurs in general, are so brave.

I've giving a lot of my extra produce (mostly eggplants) to a local food pantry...it makes me so happy to hear that it all disappears almost instantly! Much better than spoiling in my second refrigerator.

I have been at the market in Richmond, will do Sugar Land this winter and next spring. If we have winter, that is......... Come on by!

[Keger]

Originally Posted by casino

The 5 things I have learned is all good advice, glad you put it into words.
I really like point #2 Grow what grows in your neck of the woods!
With thousands of varieties to choose from that can be a bit of a challenge, but worth it.

I sell tomato plants from my backyard greenhouse and my customers love my chosen varieties. BUT before any plant is "sold" the plant must be grown in my test garden first for a year or two. The matters are tasted by many people to find that OMG taste. When I do find a keeper I save the seeds and the plants grown from my saved seeds seem to do better than many seeds purchased from a store bought source. My customers are thrilled to buy my plants because ... Joe your plants are the best ... and I like that.

So point #2 is near and dear to my heart, along with all the rest.
Joe

Thanks, and I am glad you said that. Next spring I am going to sell plants that grow here I have done well with. All spring long all I heard was customers at the market saying how their plants didnt do well. So, I am loaded up with seeds of varieties I have done well with here. Creole specifically.

[SEAMSFASTER]

This was my first year growing to sell at farmers markets. Here's the #1 thing I learned:

THE MARKETS ARE SATURATED.

At least in my area (Salt Lake Valley). When I expected 2 or 3 other vendors to be specializing in tomatoes, I encountered 10 or 12. I made less than 10% of what my (I thought it was conservative) business plan projected. We were all going home with most of what we brought. BIG tomatoes, medium tomatoes, teeny tomatoes, striped tomatoes, fabulous tasting tomatoes - it didn't matter. People stopped and looked and took pictures, but not tomatoes.

Several weeks saw less than $30 in sales for some 25 hours of work (picking, labeling, packaging, driving, setup, waiting, selling, waiting, cleanup, driving, processing - you know the drill). The low point was $7.75 for 4 hours of market. A beautiful display of many varieties of cherry tomatoes plus a bunch of bigger ones. Not a single tomato sold. Luckily I had ground cherries, cucumbers, celery, eggplant and many other items, or I would have been skunked several times.

Perhaps I chose the wrong markets, but I just can't take such a risk again. The number of farmers markets has exploded in the past two years. I opened my business on the belief that there was high demand for fresh-local-organic. Apparantly supply now far out-strips demand. And not being much of a pushy salesman, I'm the one being squeezed out.

Basically, all the pest management, variety selection, high-ending of produce, display tactics, reduced pricing and sweet talking don't amount to much if the potential customers grow their own tomatoes or already bought from the lady in the next booth.

I'll fall back to seedling sales and CSA's, while further exploring small grocery stores and restaurants as market outlets. These did MUCH better for me in 2012 - enough to encourage me to give the micro-farming business another try in 2013.

[clkeiper]

Seamsfaster, I, too, grow for farmers markets, 4 of them a week, I have found that FRUIT is our biggest draw. strawberries, raspberries, grapes, apples etc. Whatever we grow and is reasonable priced. I haven't found that most people actually will pay a higher price for organically produced fruit and veg, at least in my area. So, I try to keep any sprays to a minimum if I must control something, But I can't compete with the "real organic" producers due to the cost of the organic sprays. I have to buy in much smaller quantities and therefore much higher prices. We grow and sell all of what we can do ourselves. No buying and reselling of anything. I despise the "growers" who lie through their teeth that they grow everything AND it's organic, too( and we all know it isn't because they bought it here and there). THAT, I can't compete with. We, who do the markets regularly, know who does and doesn't grow their produce. Be there first of the season and attract the customers from the beginning and they come to your table first every market. AND TALK TO THEM, some people buy from you just because you spent a little bit of time visiting with them. learn their names and call them by name. That "LADY" the the next booth just may do that and it means you "lost" a sale because she was willing to just say "Hi. How are you?, glad to see you again", how was the ....you took home last week?" I always give a replacement guarantee for my melons and food that I know you just can't sample until it is actually cut, tomatoes included. That goes a long way.

[Keger]

Originally Posted by SEAMSFASTER

This was my first year growing to sell at farmers markets. Here's the #1 thing I learned:

THE MARKETS ARE SATURATED.

At least in my area (Salt Lake Valley). When I expected 2 or 3 other vendors to be specializing in tomatoes, I encountered 10 or 12. I made less than 10% of what my (I thought it was conservative) business plan projected. We were all going home with most of what we brought. BIG tomatoes, medium tomatoes, teeny tomatoes, striped tomatoes, fabulous tasting tomatoes - it didn't matter. People stopped and looked and took pictures, but not tomatoes.

Several weeks saw less than $30 in sales for some 25 hours of work (picking, labeling, packaging, driving, setup, waiting, selling, waiting, cleanup, driving, processing - you know the drill). The low point was $7.75 for 4 hours of market. A beautiful display of many varieties of cherry tomatoes plus a bunch of bigger ones. Not a single tomato sold. Luckily I had ground cherries, cucumbers, celery, eggplant and many other items, or I would have been skunked several times.

Perhaps I chose the wrong markets, but I just can't take such a risk again. The number of farmers markets has exploded in the past two years. I opened my business on the belief that there was high demand for fresh-local-organic. Apparantly supply now far out-strips demand. And not being much of a pushy salesman, I'm the one being squeezed out.

Basically, all the pest management, variety selection, high-ending of produce, display tactics, reduced pricing and sweet talking don't amount to much if the potential customers grow their own tomatoes or already bought from the lady in the next booth.

I'll fall back to seedling sales and CSA's, while further exploring small grocery stores and restaurants as market outlets. These did MUCH better for me in 2012 - enough to encourage me to give the micro-farming business another try in 2013.

I hear/feel a lot of that pain. Maybe being at a newer market close to such a huge city helps in my case, but I fought some of what you describe as well. During the height of the season it all gets very competetive, which is one reason I am hung up on varieties that produce in volume. I do do like the CSA deal. I havent done it, how does it work?