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I think it's important to start really small.
I did and I have so few regrets about that.
My starting costs for this business was $400 a year in the spring.
My first green house was our back porch wrapped in plastic.
And I just feel like I really learned the ropes slowly that way.
I also was able to discover what my successes were and my failures.
Build on my successes and figure maybe what went wrong with the failures,
whether I wanted to bother fixing those failures with certain species or just ditch it and move on.
I really encourage people to go work on a farm to gain experience.
See all the different aspects it takes for farming.
This is partly why our farm has been so successful in its first year.
We came with experience even thought his is our first season for Sundry Farm.
If a farmer was to get into the winter growing, my advice would be to
research it very heavily for a year or two and
really get a more-or-less a business plan or business vision of what you want to do,
where you want to sell the product and where your market is first of all.
And then secondly what your cost might be infrastructure wise.
Have in mind what you would like to grow for the season before signing up for market.
Come to market, see what's selling. Talk to customers if you have a chance.
Learn what they're interested in. Talk to other vendors.
Then determine what product you would like to bring.
Be patient. I think there's a perception when you come through the market
and you see all these people and all this money exchanging hands
that you're going to set up and you're going to have a great first day.
Well, customers have their patterns and go to certain vendors,
so it takes time to develop a customer base.
For me, because I'm in a luxury market selling flowers
and our flowers they're generally the most expensive in a market I need to know
that there is a certain level of income there to support us being there.
If you can pull customers to your table with an item or two that you know that they are really wanting,
then they generally will see something else that they're interested in buying.
A lot of people like to buy beans and potatoes at the same time
so you're going to put those items together.
We will grow things just as an attraction.
So many of the customers are looking for the spring onions, it's not a high profit product but
yet when you have a nice pile of beautiful spring onions on your table
a lot of people will come over just for those onions and then they will see the lettuce that's next it
and they will go "I'll take some of that lettuce too."
Customers really don't buy the last 20%. It is hard to sell the last of anything.
So I'll bring more than I expect to sell.
Just to keep it looking very lush.
More advice. Go to conferences.
There's s many great farming conferences all over this state, all over this country, and
it's incredible what you will learn at a conference particularly when you're on the learning curve.
Your head will swim. Talk to other growers.
That's what a conference is really about.
You can have all these seminars, they're very helpful.
But talking to other growers is where you really get your moneys worth out of a conference.
Think of us as a team.
Ultimately, yes it is our responsibility to enforce the rules and ensure that the market runs smoothly.
But we're doing it for the benefit of all the vendors and customers.
We want to work in the most positive way possible.
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