Get the Most from Your Farmers Market: 10 Tips from a Market Manager

Farmers Market season is upon us with many markets already open while others, like ours, must wait until late June or July before farmers’ fields are productive.   Together, my husband and I run our local farmers market – coordinating with the town, recruiting vendors, connecting with customers and devising eccentric activities that keep the customers returning to the market even after their shopping is done.   In the three years since the market began, I’ve garnered a little wisdom and want to share a few tips with you that can enhance your farmers marketing experience.

1. Go Early, but Not Too Early

The best stuff goes fast. A farmer may only have a single flat of ripe, juicy blackberries or a couple of pounds of fresh green peas, so arrive early to make sure you get the best pick of the market’s wares.   Take care, though, not to go too early. Some markets disallow sales prior to the official hour and the sale you ask the farmer to make early may very well slow down set-up thus reducing the sales she or he can make later.

2. Or Go Late, but Not Too Late

From time to time, farmers may discount their produce toward the end of the day.   No one wants to cart a half case of unsold tomatoes or peaches back to the farm.   If your budget is of primary importance, attending late may yield the best deals. Sometimes, farmers discount their produce as much as 20% by the end of the day just to get it sold so they don’t have to take it back to the farm.   Keep in mind that some markets disallow this sort of discounting.

3. Offer to Help the Farmer

Sometimes a market is buzzing and lines of customers wrap around booths, congesting the street.   If a vendor can’t keep up with the lines, he or she is losing sales.   Consider approaching the farmer after the market and offer to help manning the booth in exchange for fresh produce.   This helps the farmer to keep the lines short and customers happy without having to pay an employee or drag interns off the farm whose time is better spent farming.

4. Volunteer at the Market

By volunteering at the market not only do you get a better understanding of the workings of a farmers market and farm-to-market relationships, but you also enjoy an opportunity to spend some time outside volunteering for a good cause. By volunteering at the market, you reduce the substantial workload faced by the market manager.   Keep in mind that market manager burn out is the leading cause of market failure.   You don’t want your market to fail, so offer to share the burden.   You may also earn some free fruit, vegetables or other food as many vendors will leave goods they don’t want to take home with market volunteers and management.

5. Bring Your Own Bags & Baskets

Most vendors don’t supply and don’t wish to supply customers with disposable bags.   Other markets, like ours, are designated zero-waste or plastic-free zones and vendors aren’t allowed to bring disposable bags for customer use. By bringing your own bags, you reduce waste at the market and in your own home. Plus there’s just something exceptionally beautiful about a basket brimming with bright green lettuce, dark red cherries, orange apricots and other lovely fruits and vegetables.

6. Bring a Cooler

Good markets offer considerably more than fruits and vegetables.   You’ll find meats, fish, milk, cheese, yogurt and ready-to-eat items that require refrigeration.   By bringing a cooler, you can keep fresh foods that need to be kept cool cold and go back to spend more time at the market - listening to music, watching the kids participate in children’s activities or lunching at one of the concessionaire’s stands.   This way your lettuce won’t go limp, your berries won’t melt and your meat won’t thaw.

7. Bring Cash & Small Bills

While bigger farmers markets usually have a credit card machine, they are cumbersome, costly and it can be hard to track them down.   Bigger vendors will usually offer credit card and debit card processing; however, this privilege comes at the farmer’s expense.   By bringing cash and – specifically – small bills, you keep money in your farmer’s pocket and you make it easier for him to make change for the masses of folks who bring nothing but $20 bills from the nearby ATM.

8. Buy by the Case

You want to keep your miles-to-the-plate low and keep eating delicious local foods year-round, so consider preserving the harvest and purchase by the case.   Buying by the case and in bulk quantities is cost-effective as most farmers will discount whole boxes of fruit and vegetables by 15-30% – you may even enjoy a further discount if you commit to buying a case or two a week for the duration of the market.

9. Buy the Ugly Stuff

This tip goes hand-in-hand with buying by the case: You can reduce your costs even further by purchasing #2 fruits and vegetables. Folks can be fickle about the food they eat and if that peach lacks just the right blush and if that apple isn’t perfectly round, they can be difficult to sell.   The flavor is the same and these fruits and vegetables are great to preserve for the winter months.   Cases of #2 produce can be discounted as much as 50%.   Take care, though, to check the produce thoroughly before making your purchase; some unscrupulous farmers have tried to pass off moldy peaches or maggot-filled sour cherries as #2 fruit.   #2 fruit means that the appearance is marred, but not the quality.

10. Know the Crop Calendar

You’d laugh if you knew how often I have to field a question on why we don’t sell bananas at our Colorado market, or why apples aren’t available in June or why cherries aren’t available in October.   If you want to eat in season, you need to respect the seasons.   Part of the pleasure of shopping at your local market is developing an appreciation of fresh, local foods at the height of their natural season.   If you’re unsure when apricots will be in season or when the snap peas will stop producing; visit the farmers market information booth. Many markets produce a market-specific crop calendar that will tell you when various fruits and vegetables available at your local farmers market will begin and end.   If your market doesn’t offer this service, your county cooperative extension office or your state’s department of agriculture will. Celebrate your market and your local farmers.   Buy fresh, buy local and buy in season.   I’ll have more farmers market tips for you throughout the summer.