Sell Your Produce at the Farmers Market
A guide from backyard garden or farm to the market
Imagine this scenario: you have a garden, or maybe just a backyard fruit tree or two, and at the moment you have more produce than you can eat or give away. What can you do? Pile your extra produce into your car, appear with it at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market, and sell it to eager buyers for cash. True, you may not get rich this way, but you will end up with some extra money and you may have a good time in the bargain. Our customers are hungry for what you have: high quality, homegrown, fresh produce. Don’t let your hard work go to waste; share the fruits of your labor with eaters who will appreciate it. You might even find that you enjoy spending time at the market, taking in the air while you chat up the customers and your fellow vendors. “Just how does this work?” you may be asking. Ah, you’re in luck. I’m going to tell you.
1. Figure out what you’ve got to sell. It can be practically any fresh fruit, vegetable, or herb, but it needs to be absolutely fresh. Wilted or tired stuff won’t sell.
2. Call or email the market manager to announce your intention to come sell. This step enables me to make sure we have enough table space for you. Attendance at the market is based on a first come, first serve basis.
3. Pick it, clean it, bundle or bunch it, and keep it fresh until the next market. We have market on Saturday mornings (8 am till noon). Keep your units (bunches, bags, etc.) to a consumer-friendly size and give some thought to the most attractive way to display them. Give buyers every chance to see how beautiful your produce is; bring some baskets or tubs to put the vegetables in that will show them off to their best advantage.
4. Label and price your produce clearly. You can put labels on bags (“flat leaf parsley, $1”) or bring a sign that lists everything. If you can specify the variety, so much the better. Patrons of farmers’ markets want to know that kind of thing. Also bring pictures of your garden if you have any handy; they are a good sales tool. Paste them on a piece of paper and put them in a plastic sheet protector that you can tape to the front edge of the table, or get an acrylic sign holder from an office supply store.
5. Collect some basic change, at least enough to get the day started. A separate envelope, fanny pack, or wallet is useful for this. Mainly you need some ones, maybe a couple of fives, maybe some quarters, depending on your prices. You will be collecting your own money and making your own change, but if you need more change it’s generally easy to get it from other vendors. You’ll need a pen too, and maybe some tape to stick your signs up with. Also bring some plastic shopping bags for your customers to carry their purchases in.
6. Pack your produce up to put in the car, giving some thought to how to keep it fresh for the duration of the market. Ice chests are good for this purpose.
7. Head to the market site, 3000 Richmond, aiming to arrive at least half an hour before the market opens. So be there by 7:30 am on Saturday morning. The market manager (me again) will direct you to the area of the market known as the “Gardener’s Corner.” You may need to help set up the tables, put on the tablecloths, put up the banner or the tent, or in some other way help set up. You will, in cooperation with the other gardeners who have showed up to sell, agree on an equitable division of table space.
8. Ask the market manager for a gardener’s inventory sheet. (You can download one ahead of time; this will save you time when you get to the market.) Fill it out with your name and list what you have brought to sell and the prices. You will record your sales on this sheet and turn it in at the end of the market. If you are unsure about what prices to charge for things, you can wait until you get to the market and see what others are charging. Also, your fellow gardeners may have useful advice.
9. Set up your produce on your portion of the table, taking care to see that your display is attractive and shows off your produce to its best advantage. Make sure that your signs are clearly visible, with name “ baby carrots” and price “$2/bunch”. Set your inventory sheet and pen on the table behind your display so that you can record your sales as you make them.
10. When the market opens, stand with your produce and talk to passers-by about what you have. If someone slows down or takes a second look, take that as an invitation to start a conversation. “I grew those carrots myself!” Tell people about how you like to cook them, or how your grandmother cooked them, or what varieties are your favorite. Tell them about your garden, what else is coming on, what problems you ran into and how you solved them. Take pride in your produce and enjoy the conversations. Make suggestions. “My carrots are so sweet they can just be steamed and served plain, but they would go great with some of the mint that my neighbor here grew himself, chopped and sprinkled on top, with a little butter.” People come to a farmers’ market for the personal interactions as much as anything; stay on your feet and talk to them! Maybe you’ll find someone who wants to learn gardening and you can talk them into volunteering at a community garden. Maybe you’ll send them home with the carrots that will turn their kid into a fiend for carrots. However it goes, you’re sure to have a good time.
11. Ask your neighbor to mind your stuff for a few minutes so you can walk around and enjoy the rest of the market. Check out the other vendors and see what they’ve brought, how they’ve priced it, and how they display it.
12. Even if you’ve sold everything you brought, stick around until the end of market so you can help with the tear-down. Everything that we put out for the market (tents, tables, signs, banners, etc. etc.) has to be packed up and put away. Next time, bring more stuff to sell! Turn in your inventory sheet to the market manager (we need it for our records), stick your money in your pocket (it’s all yours to keep or use as you please) and head home with a satisfied smile.
