Post Farmer's Market Review

Whenever we want to try and express that something in our family that isn't really working or that it is a little too easy or not challenging enough, we'll say, "it's for babies".  Well, farmer's markets are for babies.  That might sound odd to say, but we figured that having been at two farmer's markets this week, unless something changes, we are making less than minimum wage at these things.  When you include ALL expenses, including what it would have cost to have my children watched (fortunately I had some older kids to watch them yesterday), gas to get there (most of them are far away), time watering, time planting, seed costs, dirt, etc......it just isn't going to pay long term.  We'll have to definitely go the restaurant route or another way to sell these little microgreens.  We've got lots of ideas.

The thing about farmer's markets is that it isn't just about the selling; it is about relationships.  THAT was super successful and very fun.  In one week we educated a whole host of people who had never even seen microgreens before.  As long as I could get them to stop at the table, they usually bought one, just because I engaged them and talked with them for a few minutes.  It is definitely about communication and being friendly.

Our kids also made us lose money on the initial investment.  For them, farmer's markets are like a fairground.  They would take money out of the "kitty" and go around buying all the berries and cookies that were for sale at other's tables!  They got bored super fast!  They couldn't understand why we kept saying "no"!  It was still very fun and I loved having them around.  They just didn't understand the whole concept on day 1.  That'll come. 

To top it off, at the first farmer's market, which we were told was unusually slow for some reason, we were packing up to go at the end of the morning and when we turned the key to start the car, it wouldn't start.  Hilariously, all our profits went to buying a new battery to replace the dead one.  We ended up fully being in the hole - no money made that day.  But a great experience!  I love making relationships in the community.  I love being known around town.  I enjoy interacting with other people.   In fact, within the first hour of being there I had two spiritual conversations with others around me about church and faith and managed to invite them to church!  So, I know God will use this somehow in our lives and town.  We just keep committing it to the Lord each time.

The verse that drives us is the the "little by little" one in Proverbs -

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Proverbs 13:11

I could paraphrase it and say, "whoever gathers (or sells)  microgreen by microgreen will increase it"....each little square will sell seems so insignificant, but it is little square by little square....

And, because we aren't busy enough we also are planting another acre of grapes.  We ordered them last summer not knowing we would be doing this other venture this summer!  We got a friendly reminder call this week, "Uh, you know you have 1300 grape plants waiting for pick up?"  Oh yeah.  Forgot about that.  So a couple days ago my husband prepped the ground, the remaining acre and a half, and this week or next, we'll see them planted.  When we told the kids they looked at us and one of them said, "We're doing what?!?"  Yeah, sorry about that. Surprise!

So, it is not a quiet summer that is for sure.  It is not a summer I can compare my life to anyone else's either.  When I do that, I can get discontent and so can the kids when we hear the words, "They're away" or "that family is on vacation" or "they'll be back after their trip"......they look at me with a big question mark, but I remind them and I remind myself that we are all unique.  We are all living unique lives.  They have unique parents and we live on a unique property.  Farmers just don't live like the rest of the world and I know we're farmers now, but maybe my kids don't!  Our time of rest will be when the rest of the world goes back to work.  So I talk about that with them and amazingly there are so many verses in Scripture about harvest, working the land, working diligently in the summer and the payoff at harvest.  So I have lots of verses to back me up!  That helps.

Today is a day off from the markets, maybe one more tomorrow.  Trusting the Lord for His blessing....