Unusual goodies for FM

[GrannieB]

I'm going to try to make farmers market again next year at least once a week so I was thinking about offering some unusual items....like Tigger melons to grab the eye,asian melon Golden Sweet and Mexican Sour Gherkins cukes to offer as taste samples(and of course to sell),Roselle and black-leaf amaranthus in pots for the "oh-ah!" factor. I live in a small town so we don't want to go to far over the top.I don't offer anything too labor intensive like peas and beans because I don't like picking them and not enough room to grow enough for "pick-ur-own".

What have you offered in the "off-beat" at farmers market?

[Pharmerphil]

I caused quite a commotion one year in the ohs and Ahhh's catagory with bloody butcher meal corn, then a couple years I took large spray like heads of russian statice...That is a pretty plant

[scakya]

You are right about not overdoing in most markets, but I have a major one that delight in to no end introducing bright, colorful and extra yummy unusual varieties. The Santa Fe Farmer's Market about an hour away from my farm. With more than a couple hundred venders and sevaral thousand by the hour customers, it is well worth growing that which is different and delicious.

It's a matter of knowing your market though. A couple of other markets worth my time doing couldn't get by with much unusual, even yummy stuff. Looks will draw folks in, but unless they are willing to taste, sales will be so so. What I did learn to do was give samples to the WIC moms as they would tell their mom's and other relatives who would show up and buy.

This year will be doing 4 Farmer's Markets and two will be the type can be adventerous at. They are also what I call payday markets as will sell out a fully packed truck (C-10) in less than a hour. Not bragging, that is how it is!

Those two markets I will sell everything from garden huckleberries to marina di chiogga to thai red roselle with a fair amount of standard market varieties tossed in for good measure. Everything will be heirloom with the exception of cover crop sunflowers which will not be sold at any market-they are for farm use.

Sorry about the length of this, just one of my favorite things to do, finding wonderful veggies and fruits to add to my lineup for farmer's markets. Glad Baker Creek does offer so many wonderful items for those of us who like raising and selling the unusual.

scakya

[GrannieB]

Well,after doing some more reading,I decided to delete the Tigger melon as it likes dry conditions and in this part of Arkansas,during the warm season,you can pretty much swim thru the humidity. BUT...the asian melon Golden Sweet is still on the list. Deleted the Wonderberry to as more research done on this one says green berries are poisionus and I have a grandduaghter that has not learned yet to ask before she pops things in her mouth when she follows me out to the garden.Read some good press on tomato Cherokee Purple.

With all the work scheduled for 2006, decided to wait on building horse pucky beds. When we move the horses and donkey back into the big pasture,I'm goning to have the hub's disc all that nice manure into an area to grow some melons.Might as well get some use out of that area other than just an extra pasture.

[scakya]

Hi Grannie,
The wonderberries can't blame you on. I have grown them and the kids thought they were OK, but my sons are old enough not to eat the green ones. I stick with the garden hucklberries these days as would rather work with something a bit bigger than the wonderberrys.
We're also growing Tigger melon this year in both my garden and son CJ's 20' x 20' garden plot. The kid has good taste. He also picked out some varieties that surprised me, but he was told he could just pick from the things I had on my list to order and he stuck with that.
The few things I'm still looking for are probably the same for other gardeners. Annual berry producing plants that provide a very yummy and with some size fruit. I have ordered and have started some of Jere's tropical seeds, so will just have to see what happens there, but those aren't exactly what I have in mind.
Guess if you can't dream, being a gardener would be a tough row to hoe.

scakya