I have enough veggies to sell. When I am over at my field weeding I am going to put signs on the busy highway it is on for organic veggies. Then I will have a white board with the available veggies/herbs and prices. So I am working out the prices. They are completely organically grown all season (previous years had who knows what on the land) so the prices can be higher.
What do you think for? squash: regular, eight ball, patty pan slender young green beans radishes walla walla onions leeks basil: sweet and regular lettuce (few) napa cabbage (few) swiss chard (few) dill, chives, oregano, mint, sage and thyme also available from home.
should have soon: tomatoes: brandywine, vine on medium size, yellow cherry, goliath garlic shallots hot peppers sweet corn fingerling and blue potatoes melons
fall crops: broccoli:regular and rabe cauliflower rutabaga carrot, radish lettuce peas cabbage kale chard brussels bok choy
You have to be careful Tamara, you can't sell 'organic' unless you can prove it....and not knowing what was in the ground before you started might be a problem.
Also even the fertilizer you used has to be proven organic as well.
~~Tam~ You can bury all your troubles by digging in the dirt.
Um I don't think the kind of selling I'm doing needs to be proven in any way. No where am I saying I am "certified organic" and if anyone asks I will tell them previous years had who knows what put on. But as for this season, yes, everything is certified organic that I have used. There are no other local stands (not that I have a stand- only a few veggies too many that I can sell) that are selling organic. I really need advice on pricing. I should have stopped at the farmer's market today but it was so hot and I had ice cream in the car!
Ok. I looked on two online grocery stores (one is the one I work at) and used the organic prices as a guide, but went somewhat lower than that. I didn't get much business! Only 2 cars came in. One was a lady crazy about organics. I told her I have only grown one year and all around me are pesticide laden fields but she was so happy to find one 'farmer' in the area trying to be organic. She can't find a single local grower that tries to grow naturally. So all together I made $5 while I weeded. I am thinking of leaving a sign up with my phone number for orders since I am not planning to be there more than 3 times a week at most. I don't have a lot of produce now but don't want it to be wasted. I have several little leaf lettuce bunches that will bolt soon if no one eats them. So I sold: 3 small zucchini 1 bunch old chunky radishes 1 bunch basil 1 bunch almost bolted side shoots of broccoli 1 pint of French green beans starting out small to be sure! :wink:
So I sold: 3 small zucchini 1 bunch old chunky radishes 1 bunch basil 1 bunch almost bolted side shoots of broccoli 1 pint of French green beans starting out small to be sure! :wink:
You go girl.......!
Cricket
Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~Russel Baker
Yes as long as you make it clear they are organically grown but not certified you should be ok. I have never sold any of mine but think I will try this year. I'm going to price my tomatoes just under the local greenhouse grower. And the onions ect I will price by the grocery store prices. They are way better so should be worth as much. JMO. JD
TM, you must plant a lot. We just eat or give away what we have extra. I've heard that the man who lived here before us sold pecans. I guess we could do that butit's too much work.
Second day selling. I sold $25 and again had just 2 customers. I also made $36.50 at the county fair. I am entering the state fair and hopefully will make a few bucks to pay for gas. I am saving what I earn to buy this. It will save my back this fall and next year!
Also if anyone has advice on state fairs vs county fairs please post. Things are done differently.
Hopefully word of mouth & roadside visibilty will start to spread over time and your customer base will grow. Good service and good produce sell themselves. There is a roadside stand just a ways up the road from us that always gets a good crowd around the afternoon rush hour, they seem to slowly get more cars parked every year.
A friend of mine is a beekeeper that enters hand dipped beeswax candles every year at the MN state fair. He likes their setup, and says its not much of a hassle that's why he keeps doing it every year. He's in the Horticulture building too. Good luck!
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