Farmers' Market in Winter

It's the Middle of December, there is about 6 inches of snow on the ground and tomorrow we have a farmers' market (outside)

back in July the Oxford Uptown farmers' Market council, of which I was a member at the time, decided a winter market would be a really good idea. We would get to market our produce once a month November thru April. It would mean income for us farmers who tend to get financially strapped around February when the seed and other input orders go out but little to no money is coming in.

It was hot and humid on the evening we made this decision. But it ain't no more. Now it is cooold and snowy. And the idea of a farmers' market in a parking lot is not sounding so great to me any longer.

Granted we do have quite a bit of produce to sell at this market and getting some cash is always a good thing but selling fresh produce when it is below freezing creates a few problems. The big one is how do you put produce out on tables to display it in a beautiful fashion without destroying your stock? The answer is you don't put the stuff out on tables, keep it all in coolers which will be used to keep things warm, not cooler (so the name of the vessels become oxymoronic). The other problem is staying warm. We will have to stand in pretty much one spot for a couple of hours in temps that probably will not get above 28˚F. I plan on wearing a hat, layers and really warm boots and I should be fine.

I am thinking the turnout will be light but people will probably be buying in bulk since we will not be back for at least another month and likely it will be more like 3 months before we venture out to sell again. Why? well weather is one big reason and the other is we will not have a lot to sell come the middle of January. Perhaps taters and garlic and a few onions but probably not much else (especially if we do well tomorrow).

Am I crazy or what?