When the sun beats down on a late June morning and you are feeling as fresh as a head of leaf lettuce that has been left in the sun for six hours, you need to have a few tricks up your sleeve to pull off a successful market. Nothing kills sales quicker than a wilted farmer. You know what happens when you don’t take the time to refresh your display, when your front table looks picked over or played out, so take the time to refresh yourself and make a marketable impression on your customers. In the dog days of summer there are “three shirt” markets, while on opening day it may be a triple layer polyester fleece day, but how you prepare yourself and manage your energy will make a significant difference in the way you feel at the end of the day and in the amount of cash in your pocket.

In the summer, your canopy itself makes a huge difference, both to your comfort level and the preservation of your fresh-picked produce. Dark blue or green canopies soak up solar energy and convert it to radiant heat, significantly reducing the shade cooling effect you are looking for. Any canopy more than a few years old will let through more UV rays than a newer canopy, and if you find yourself coming back from the market with sunburn or a deeper shade of tan, it is time to replace the cover! Thoughtful orientation of your tent to the course of the sun maximizes your shade. Careful use of side curtains or a tilting market umbrella to block the horizontal rays of the sun will add hours of solar protection to your display. Just as you may have a spray bottle or tank sprayer to moisten your wares, it is essential to keep yourself hydrated with clean, cool water, even on a cold market day. Adequate nutrition and a caffeinated beverage in the middle of your market should carry you through with enough energy to break down and pack up in style.

A rubber fatigue mat is a boon at any of your markets that are set up on asphalt or concrete. It keeps a spring in your step after long hours on your feet and the air cells in the mat provide real insulation from the baking heat or numbing cold so often found on those surfaces. Your choice of a seat makes a clear difference in your energy level at the market. A high stool set up by your cash box keeps your face at customer level, gives you a panoramic view of your booth, and takes much less physical effort to leave and move around than heaving yourself up from a folding chair or an overturned bucket. The tailgate of your truck will work in the same way, as long as it keeps your face front and center, fully engaged with your customers. Your initial booth set up should be planned with re-stocking in mind. If the space under your displays is set up with well-organized back stock, it will take far fewer steps to keep your display looking juicy. The less time you spend bent over with your butt in the air and your head under the table, the more time you will have to interact positively with your customers and make those sales.

Simply taking the time to step out of your booth and take a wider look at your market as a whole provides a welcome break from the demands of the cash box. Focusing on the bigger picture, even for a few moments, will refresh your outlook and raise your spirits. On a slow day, meet and greet the other vendors in your market. Show some support and trade your wares openly with your fellow vendors to demonstrate that your market exemplifies a new and improved economic model. Enthusiasm is contagious. You and your fellow vendors create the emotional tone at the market, and a welcoming atmosphere draws customers to your site. Farmers may love to complain, but no one really wants to hear your woes. Even in the worst of seasons it is better to showcase your resilience and character, than to complain. “Yes, it has been a tough year for tomatoes, but the onions have totally loved all that rain!” Your customers are parting with their hard-earned cash, and they need more than a sack of produce (no matter how gorgeous) to inspire them to return. Reward yourself for your good attitude with a special piece of fruit, a cup of fair trade coffee or a gooey sticky bun. The smile on your face is one of the easiest ways to spruce up your display.

Breaking down is never an easy end to a long day, but forethought and planning will take the edge off this essential task. Selling out completely makes the job much easier, but most optimistic market growers will have brought at least a little more than is likely to be sold on any given day. If you worked your display well during the market, your final set may fit on one front table. Most markets, even with strict breakdown rules, will not object to clearing away empty display tables, bins or baskets. Good organization for your market signs, clips and sign supports helps you to pack them away quickly and efficiently. Resist the temptation to discount your prices in the final half hour of the market. Better to bag up all of the remaining broccoli in half pound bags with a fixed price on them than to encourage late bargain hunters to begin haggling with you as you try to pack up. Pre-weighing and pricing avoids that potential drag on your emotions and energy, and may allow you to put away your scale, meaning one less thing to lug into the truck after the closing hour. Even though you hold your prices firm to the end of the market, you may also wish to give some of your produce away for free. Food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens will often gladly accept fresh food that is not going to make it to your next market. Have a few broken down wax cartons or heavy plastic bags on hand for the final minutes of the market, create a rotation of farmers to make the deliveries, or contact the charities directly to see if they will arrange a weekly pickup, and that makes a few less pounds to load back into the truck.

Adopting any one of these techniques will probably not prevent you from feeling like a glazed jelly doughnut at the end of the day, but taken all together they can provide positive relief from market fatigue. Market preparedness will vary from farm to farm, but simple measures like having plenty of change on hand and rounding down to the nearest quarter dollar can help reduce stress and speed your customers through checkout. Good equipment that is well maintained and organized for your sales day makes the job all that much easier. Connecting with your fellow vendors builds community and fosters the special atmosphere that makes your farmers market so attractive to customers. Clearing the decks and packing up as you sell out reduces the size of the final push when you are ready to pack it in, and may even leave you with enough energy to cultivate a row, cook dinner, play with the kids or enjoy the beautiful setting sun at the end of a long day.

Dan Pratt is the owner of Astarte Farm in Hadley, Massachusetts, and a frequent contributor to Growing for Market. He can be reached at dporganic@aol.com