The First Farmers' Market
Attending farmers markets has always been one of the key milestone points for me on my journey to become a market gardener. Having an honesty stand is perfect for small quantities, but when you need to make a living and actually harvest and sell in bulk, there’s nothing quite like going to a market full of like-minded consumers wanting to buy yummy, local, natural food.
2021 was my market garden test year. With that in mind, though I set up the farm gate stand to sell some extra produce, I hadn’t counted on doing any farmers markets until 2022. However, going up to my flower field as the nights draw in and risk of frost creeps closer, it was rather disheartening to think all these beautiful blooms would just get zapped by the cold. So in a bid to get some selling, I reached out to my local farmers market - Halesworth Produce Market held at Rifle Hall - and as it was, they had a slot for a vegetable and flower stall!
Once committed, it was all go. I had one week to go. I wasn’t stressed at all about the harvesting but because I hadn’t envisaged attending farmers markets until 2022, I had absolutely none of the set up. No table cloths, signs or vases. No table, no payment system for taking card, no banners! Thank god for internet shopping!
The week swung by quickly. Saad harvested all the polytunnel tomatoes. I grabbed ugly cucumbers, bunches of chard, lettuce heads and a few beets. And then the day before, I set about making as many posies and bunches as my flowers would allow. It wasn’t actually as many as I thought - 12 posies and 12 bunches in the end. But still, priced at £2 and £5 respectively, it was a value of £84. All in all, we headed to the market with £142 worth of produce; not bad considering the week before I hadn’t even known I’d be attending!
Overall, the market was brilliant, and an excellent test market. I sold £71 worth; exactly half of what we’d taken. And more importantly, I sold something of everything, proving that people will buy my produce - even the £1 punnets of crab apples I’d literally shaken off the tree as the sun was setting the evening before! The only thing that limited our sales was footfall as it was extremely quiet.
I’m thoroughly glad I attended, not only because I got some experience and made some money, but because of the community spirit. Halesworth is a lovely and lively market town and the produce on offer was fantastic. Along with our vegetables and flowers, there were homemade pickles and jams, cakes, a bread stand, several varieties of meat all from local farms and even quality gin from just down the road! I think with a little marketing and some social media, the market could prove to be very popular. And in the spirit of community, I’m definitely going to put some effort into it. It’s only 2 minutes away so very local and easy to get to. I love all the produce available and it only seems right to try and bring in a new wave of customers. So, if you’re local - come to the market! It’s the 2nd Sat of each month - or just follow my FB page as I’ll let you know when it’s on.
All in all, a fantastic day of learning, earning and chatting.