How to get it
Farmers markets, and the two we plan to stand at
Two markets a week, somewhere in the stretch between Omaha and Des Moines. Which two is a decision we would rather make with your help.
We plan to sell at farmers markets. Two a week is the shape we have in mind, most likely one weeknight and one Saturday, which is about what a farm this size can hold up alongside everything else.
Which two markets is genuinely still open, and it is a bigger decision than it looks. A market is a standing commitment for a whole season, so it is worth choosing carefully rather than signing up for whichever one has space.
The markets we are looking at run from the Omaha side across to Des Moines, which is the stretch this farm sits in the middle of. We will name the two here once they are settled, because putting a market on a page is a promise to be standing there every week.
What we intend to bring to a market table
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Vegetables in real quantity
Salad greens, roots, brassicas and tomatoes, in enough volume that somebody can plan a week of meals around what is on the table rather than picking up a garnish. A thin table is worse than no table at all.
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Flowers alongside the food
One of the advantages of a farm with a floral side is that a market table can carry both. Bunches cut that week sitting next to the vegetables is a good stall, and it introduces the two halves of this business at once.
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Seasonal runs, announced ahead
Wreaths and garland in the late fall, and whatever else has a short window. The people on the list will know what is coming to a market before the market does, which is much of the point of keeping a list at all.
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The people who grew it
You get to ask the person who raised it how it was raised. That is most of the value of a farmers market and it is the part that cannot be replicated by any other channel, so we intend to be standing there ourselves.
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Honest answers about the week
Some weeks a market garden has plenty and some weeks it has greens and not much else. We would rather tell you that straight and point you at what is genuinely good this week than talk up whatever is left on the table.
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A way to find the farm
For most people a market stall is the first meeting. It is where somebody decides whether they want to know more, get on the list, or make the drive out for a batch of chicken later in the season.
How we plan to choose the two
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1
Work out where our people already are
Between the Omaha side and the Des Moines side there are more markets within reach than a farm this size could ever stand at. The right two are the ones where the households who want this kind of food are already shopping.
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2
Match them to a week that is survivable
A weeknight market and a Saturday market is roughly the load a farm can carry while still doing everything else. Two markets done properly beats four done in a hurry, and market days eat far more than the hours they occupy.
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3
Grow the beds to fill a table
Standing at a market with a thin table is worse than not going. The planting has to be sized to fill two stalls a week for a whole season before either one is worth the drive and the stall fee.
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4
Commit, then say so publicly
Once the two are chosen we will name them here and tell the list, and then we intend to be there every week the market runs. Turning up reliably is most of what builds a following at a market.
Why markets matter more than the sales suggest
Alex is clear eyed about markets. They are very labor intensive, and the hours are much longer than the ones you stand at the table for. What you get in exchange is being in front of people, with built in traffic, which is worth a great deal to a farm nobody has heard of yet.
The sales themselves are almost the smaller half. A market is where somebody tastes something, asks a question, and decides whether they like the people behind the table. Alex learned that running a coffee cart, where the drink was the product and the reason people came back was something else entirely.
The other reason is that markets teach you quickly. A season of standing in front of customers every week tells you what people around here actually want, in a way no amount of planning does. That feeds straight back into what goes in the ground the following spring.
So markets are how a new farm gets known, gets corrected, and finds the households who will later take a share or drive out for a batch of chicken. That is why two of them sit in the plan for the first real year.
Questions people ask
Which markets will you be at?
Still being decided. We are looking along the stretch between Omaha and Des Moines, which is the corridor this farm sits in the middle of. Once two are chosen they will be listed here and sent to the list with their days and season.
Why only two markets?
Because two done properly beats four done badly. Market days consume far more time than the hours at the table, and a farm still raising birds and running a floral side has a hard ceiling on how many it can carry well.
What would you bring?
Vegetables in real quantity, flowers cut that week, and seasonal runs like wreaths and garland in the late fall. What is on the table any given week depends entirely on what is genuinely ready.
Can I ask you to come to my market?
Please do. Knowing where the people who want this food already shop is exactly what we need to choose well, and a market suggested by somebody who actually goes to it is worth far more than one picked off a list.
Could I order ahead and collect at a market?
That is the kind of arrangement we would like to make work, because it saves you a trip out to the farm and saves us guessing at quantities. It is on the list of things to sort out once the markets themselves are settled.
How will I know when you start?
Through the list. Markets get announced there first, with the days and the season, well before the first Saturday. It is also where you will hear about anything with a short window, like a fall wreath run.
Elsewhere on the farm
Where should we be standing?
If there is a market you already shop at, telling us is genuinely useful. It is one of the cheapest decisions to get right and the most expensive to get wrong.
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