Weekend Market Report Sept 17 2010

Welcome to the Weekend Market Report.

This regular feature is a joint venture between myself and Diann from The Thrifty Groove.

I share my adventures at the Farmers Market, and Diann shares her adventures at the Flea Market.
Here is Troys's report


What a week.

I went to the Wyandotte Farmers Market on Thursday. This is a market that has been going on all summer, (and actually for several years) but this was my first time there.

I was told to get there early, I needed to be all set up by 10:00, because although it didn't officially open until noon, People started coming by about 10.

I was running late, and got there at 9:30. (It usually takes me about 45 minutes to set up.) There was nobody there. maybe I was in the wrong place? I drove around town. No Farmers Market anywhere. I flagged down a police car and asked the officer. Yep, I was right the first time. I got back to the market square around 10. Still nobody. A few minutes later, the market master arrived. She told me I had to wait until the main produce anchor set up, and then I would know where to set up. OK... Waiting... waiting... at 11:30, I finally was given a location and given permission to start setting up. By 12:00, I was almost done setting up, and had made 3 sales. This was what my stand looked like all set up.



I finished setting up at 12:15, and by 1:00, I had sold out of fresh basil. Who would have guessed?

I had several new things this week:


I made some Applemint Jelly and some Lemon Verbena and Rosemary Jelly. I made a Vegi Dip mix, (just add sour cream and mayo), and I made some Bath Salts, both Lavender and Spearmint/Rosemary.



The market was supposed to go from noon to 6:00 pm. But a heavy thunderstorm came in around 3:30. As soon as we heard it was going to rain some people stared taking their stands down, but, I'm really scrambling for every dime at the markets, especially this one since I had to pay for booth space, so I stayed as long as I could, and ended up getting soaked.

Luckily Diann showed up just in time to help me break down, so although she got soaked too, it was nice having her help.

On a brighter note, I made some new friends, including two sweet little ladies who grow herbs because they like the smell.

They started talking to me about how they just cut their basil and arranged it with flowers inside because they like to smell it. They don't cook with herbs much, they just like to grow them and smell them, and they were getting ready to take out their garden. When they take it out for the winter they throw their plants away. I about gasped!

We got to talking and before I knew it they told me they would bring me back a rosemary plant. They showed up in the pouring rain, just as I was deciding to break down and go home, and look what they brought me:

Diann drove home with it in the truck with her, and you should have smelled the inside of the truck when I opened the door!
I did about the same in sales in 3 hours, at this market, as I have been doing in 6 hours at the other market though, So overall, despite the rain, all things considered, I have to consider this a successful market day!

Friday, we checked out another market, we can't go there because they already have an herb vendor, but we checked out what he had to sell... His prices were a bit higher than ours (like twice as much) and his fresh herbs had weeds in them, He had more tomatoes and peppers than he had herbs, but other than that... (No I'm not being spiteful and petty... ...am I?)

Maybe next year we can get into all the local markets if we call early enough in the year.

Saturday, It started raining just as I was setting up, and I was afraid that it would be another rainy day, but it quit shortly after I got all set up. In this picture, you can see the rain on the ground, but the dry ground under my tent. Mario, the chip and Salsa guy is just starting to set his stand up next to me.

The rain stopped right after the market opened, and although the day started off slow attendance picked up and I did really well.

I sold out of all my dried herbs except for a packet of Chives, and one of Oregano.
I only have three jars of jelly left, two 8 oz. Lemon Verbena and Rosemary, and one 4 oz. Applemint.

It was a fun productive day, but before I can go back to the market I need to make more of everything. So, today's Farmers Market was a Bull Market day.




..................................
AndHere is Diann's Report


(Diann's report goes here)

Instead of thrifting this week, Diann has been boxing and bagging things to be donated. She has been thrifting in reverse. Watch for her post on her blog later this week about donating.



Be sure and join me each Tuesday for Tuesday Trivia Tie-in, where readers are invited to share trivia and show off their treasures. Read all about it here