Flower grower shares display tips for farmers’ markets
By Beth Meneghini Small business owner turned flower farmer Joe Caputi has mastered the art of combining business with beauty and putting it all on display at farmers’ markets. “We’re of course serious about making money, but what we do, really, is sell an experience, a sense of nostalgia that stirs up good memories,” he […]
Turn unsold tomatoes into new products
All too frequently during our peak tomato production months, we return home from market with more tomatoes than we can eat or even give away. Our choice for handling this abundance depends on how much time we have and, often, the type of tomato we have. There are several preparations that lend themselves well to […]
Beans are still a crowd pleaser
Green beans, snap beans, stringless beans, whatever you call them, green beans are a staple of many market farms, and eagerly awaited by farmers’ market customers. Phaseolus vulgaris comes in many different forms, most of which we have grown at some point, and they all have similar cultural requirements. Beans were domesticated at least 7,000 […]
Organic and alternative eco labels
Two years ago this month, the federal organic standards took effect, requiring third-party certification for any farmer who wanted to label products “organic.” The far-reaching effects of the law are still unknown, even with the passage of two years. Hard-and-fast data on organic certification numbers are not available nationwide, and at this point only piecemeal […]
Our summer vacation: A Maine flower farm
On Mount Desert Island, Maine, Matt knows everybody. Or at least everybody knows Matt. Farmer Matt. We couldn’t go anywhere on the island without meeting someone who knew Matt. We know Matt Gerald from the flower grower’s conferences, and we look forward to seeing him there every year, but to those of us in Texas, […]
Winter Crops, Part 2: Planting through marketing
In the August issue of GFM I covered the beginnings of winter cropping. Now I’ll finish with this large part of our farm’s operations by covering soil management, planting, and harvesting; saving cold-hardy seed; greenhouse management; human comfort and safety; and sales. Soil management and plantingProper soil management for successful winter cropping revolves around two […]
Think you want to do weddings? Here's a reality check
The wedding flower business evolved over several years from small affairs, which I could do myself, to larger ones for which I had to hire additional designers. For a flower grower who is not a florist, the wedding flower business can be daunting. It is certainly stressful but most of the time rewarding. Merely selling […]
Farming in a vacationer's paradise
After 24 years of teaching high school, Louise Bennett was ready for a change, and she imagined that a small flower business would be the ideal second career. “I thought growing flowers and selling them on the side of the road would be so romantic,” she recalls. “Of course, it was so much work and […]
Keep bouquets upright at windy markets
At the farmers’ market where I sell cut flowers, I offer bouquets already arranged in inexpensive clear glass vases. I begin the season with a supply of three different sizes of vases to accommodate a variety of flower stem lengths and different size bunches. A sign on my market table announces that I welcome recyclable […]
Eat Your Colors! Use disease-fighting properties of produce in your marketing
“Eat your Colors” is a phrase used by the 5-A-Day produce marketing program that promotes the consumption of fruits and vegetables for their health benefits. This is a deeply interesting topic to me as a physician, consumer and an organic vegetable and fruit grower. As a family physician, I regularly see people struggling with real-life […]