In less than a week we will be setting up at our first farmers market … EVER!!! On Saturday, May 1st the Living History Farms in Urbandale, IA will be hosting their Farmer’s Market preview inside the visitors center and Crooked Gap Farm will be there selling our heritage Hereford pork. If you aren’t familiar with the Living History Farms it is a living history museum that features farms from different periods in Iowa’s history. Because of that this market isn’t like every other market in the Des Moines area and it will feature demonstrations and hands on activities for every one attending … along with live music from time to time I hear! I think this market is a perfect fit for our farm values and my love of history.
Needless to say I’m pretty excited about this new chapter on the farm. But, at the same time I’m a bit apprehensive because this will be another first for me (I should be getting used to “firsts” on the farm). So far I have secured the correct permits and insurance along with locating a source for dry ice in town to keep everything frozen. I’m working on some business cards and information sheets to hand out at the market along with a few other displays (newspaper articles featuring the farm) and we have our canopy tent ready for when the outdoor markets begin in a couple weeks.
What am I not thinking of though? I know I’m missing lots of different stuff here because I’ve never done this before! So, I’m calling on the expertise of all you farmer’s market vendors and consumers. What kind of things should we have when we set up and what kinds of things do you look for as a consumer?
Lots of change; bags to put purchased items in; a folding chair to sit if you get a minute; calculator; pen and paper. It’s been a while since I did a farmer’s market. Good luck.
Enjoyed reading through your blog…good luck at the Farmer’s Market! Hope you can stop by sometime for a visit….. 🙂
Make sure to keep everything cold and handle it carefully so your customers get the quality stuff they came for. Since you’re probably doing meat this is a “duh,” but I got some peaches from a farmers’ market and the dude had them all sitting out in the bright sun and pretty much threw them into the bag. They decayed past edibility within 1.5 days.
So moral of the story: people will start buying from you if you have a cool background to how the food was raised, but they’ll run away quick if you don’t handle it professionally and they end up buying crap as a result.