Keauhou Farmers' Market
Now that we have three weeks of the Farmers' Market under our belts, I feel qualified to tell you all about it.To start, our farm is just going to one farmers' market - the Keauhou Farmers' Market - pronounced "kay-ah-hoe." A good way to remember is that it sorta rhymes with "way to go."
We started with only one market per week just so that we could get used to it and know how much to plant, when to plant etc. before diving into a second or third market. Also, a farm needs a permit from the county health department to sell, and we need a separate permit for EACH market and that takes time.
At our stand, we have plans and hopes to sell lots of different veggies. However, right now, we haven't had any "real" vegetables grow big enough yet to go to market. That's okay though - we are doing great selling micro-greens, shoots, wheatgrass and herbs.
Our first week we sold radish, broccoli and alfalfa micro-greens. We also sold a wide variety of herbs, wheatgrass shots and wheatgrass flats.
Due to a market policy and miscommunications, at the Keauhou Market, we will not be able to sell shots of our wheatgrass anymore. Although not ideal, it's okay because we can still sell our wheatgrass by the flat and we can sell our shots at the other markets we plan to go to.
Our second week, we still sold herbs, micro-greens, and wheatgrass flats and we did pretty well, even without the shots! We are slowly but surely building a customer base of people who love to juice and either can't or don't want to grow their own wheatgrass. They buy and entire flat from us and then store it on their counter. Then they can cut some off each day for juicing.
When we transitioned to selling flats at the Keauhou market, we decided it would be nice to have a shelf to display the flats on in front of our stand. Amira built the stand in the workshop and then painted it white.
Doesn't it look nice in front of our booth?
Another thing we changed after the first week of our booth was the way we sold herbs. The first week, I harvested all of the herbs the night before the market and tied them in little bundles with twine. I stored them in the fridge overnight and in the morning they still looked great.
However, throughout the day, they wilted and started to look pretty pathetic. So the next week I switched to storing the herbs in little ball jar "vases."
This made a pretty display, and kept the herbs from wilting. Also, I was able to sell the herbs by the stem - 3 for $1 - to which customers have really responded well. It is so annoying when you only need a tiny bit of an herb for a recipe and you have to buy (and waste) a large amount.
Overall, we are really enjoying the farmers' market and I think we are doing a great job! We have sold out or nearly sold out every week. We are also adding new products each week like pea shoots, sunflower shoots and new micro-green mixes. And I have been giving out recipes and FAQs about the veggies and micro-greens that we sell.
Another thing that I think contributes to our mild success at the market is that we really take pride in having a nice looking booth and wearing our Sunshower Farms swag (aka tshirts) which I think helps our booth stand out.
And also, how awesomely cute is the banner that Ashley made!?
If you live on the Big Island, come stop by and see us on Saturday!