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| The weather forecast was good until the night before, rain that was supposed to clear out over night was suddenly going to continue. I went to bed, wondering what I should do if I couldn't sell my goodies at the market. I decided that the senior center would be a good place to donate to...OK, I can sleep now.
I woke up to the sound of rain, poured a cup of coffee and sat down at this computer to check the radar. There's hope! The front was moving away. Time to get ready. I waited to set up until the last minute...it is now just misting out. There were only about half of the folks there that were there the week before. I checked with the market manager and got assigned a place right in the middle of the market on the sidewalk. Not enough vendors showed up to even need a second row. The sky is getting lighter, the mist quit and I'm happy. Here's my setup... the dark green box on the left of the pic is covering a fire pit that was started a few weeks ago. It caused a big uproar and work is suspended for now. Townspeople did not like the fact that it was going to block the view (it was to be 20 ft high).
Looking up the street from my booth area...
Looking down the street the other way...
The booth next to me was all wild mushrooms...all edible.
I took a couple of close ups for mushroom lovers...
I walked up the street and took a few more pics
Look at what I found... the European Celery that I started a thread about a few days ago. I didn't realize that that vendor did both markets.
Bought it and here it is at home...
The view from behind my booth...
Sorry this is so long. I haven't even told you that I did really well, sold all the breads (Apple Pie Bread and Banana Bread) and almost all the Peanut Butter Bars and Caramel Rice Krispie Treats. I had about half a tray of the Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls to bring home (had two trays) and those went with Kim to work this morning. Jam's even sold better. No market this coming week because of Applefest. I'll put a link below for anyone that would like to check it out.
Nancy |
Here is a link that might be useful: Charlevoix Apple Fest
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by blueiris24 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 5, 12 at 18:22
| What wonderful pictures! And what great booths you have at your market! Wow if we had produce and baked goods like that at ours I'd be there regularly! Those mushrooms look amazing. Glad it was a good day for you in spite of the weather. Do you feel like you make enough money for it to be worth it? |
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| The mushrooms! Oh my! Everything looks so lush and wonderful. I'd love some close ups of your baked goods. Why would anyone need a fire pit to be 20 feet tall? I don't understand. A pit goes the other direction, doesn't it? I wonder if you could plant the bottoms of the celery and grow some new shoots. Eileen |
Here is a link that might be useful: Regrowing celery from the base.
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| Wow, great report! You could do the PR work for the FM. I love the fall leaves in the background. Makes me want to do a road trip. |
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| Nancy, are you still without your canopy? I hope you didn't get wet, but I'm glad you did so well. Cathy, start north, the colors are beautiful right now. Annie |
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- Posted by westsider40 (My Page) on Sat, Oct 6, 12 at 0:51
| Thanks for the report, Nancy. I have never, never, ever seen mushrooms like that-I must not get out much. Those carrots, celery, everything, looks great. I'm glad the weather cooperated again with you. Stay warm. |
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- Posted by nancylouise (My Page) on Sat, Oct 6, 12 at 7:13
| Another great report. OMG, those mushrooms! I could do serious damage with those. Mixed creme of mushroom soup comes to mind. Thanks for checking in Nancy. Glad you are still doing well despite the weather! NancyLouise |
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| I live in a cave on Mars. Maybe that strange spaceship thing that's been crawling around here taking pictures recently has some of those marvelous mushrooms on board? I've sure never seen anything like them up close and personal! Wow! Great pictures. Glad you're still doing so well. /tricia |
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| Great photos Nancy. Love the wild mushrooms. I didn't realize that the celery was called European celery. I bought some of the same at our Farmer's Market last Sunday and from a vendor with the same name - Providence Farm. ~Ann |
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| Blueiris...profit? LOL...I'm not keeping track of every expense but I do set my prices on cost of the ingredients and time spent actually making things. The biggest payback for me is that I am doing something I enjoy and getting out among people. I could treat it more as a job and do more but need to build up gradually. I just started handing out a little flyer about doing special orders.... Eileen, it is a ground level pit but they need to get the smoke up and a way from downtown. Annie, I fixed the canopy and then it broke again...it was just a cheap one for my first year. There are only two more markets outside then we move inside for winter and spring. I won't need a canopy until June. Plenty of time to see if I'll even want to continue. If I do, I'll buy a good one for next year. Ann, guess it's a good name for a farm... I love the celery. I used some in a fritata last night and it tasted really good. Glad to hear that the pictures are appreciated and that you like the mushrooms. Thanks. Nancy |
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| Dang, I was hoping you'd be able to put that back together, I knew it had gotten broken. Ah well, only two more? Then you'll be at the library? Annie |
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| Starting Nov 1 we are in the library. I won't even need to take my own tables, they provide them. |
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| Wizmom, I love the idea of a Farmer's Market at the libary, (first 'r' purposely ommited), but during the winter, is there any fresh produce available, or is it just homemade goodies? If that's the case, maybe it should be called: Farmer's Bakesale? But, then again, maybe your climate has fresh veggies in January? |
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| lbpod, Nancy lives even further north in Michigan than I do, so there are not fresh vegetables in abundance. However, root vegetables store well and could conceivably be sold well into the winter. In addition, cold tolerant crops such as greens and lettuce are often grown in hoop houses or greenhouses. In addition, there is grass fed beef, pastured pork, organic chickens and turkeys, eggs, artisan cheeses made from local milk, etc. There are also dried beans, freshly ground grains, honey and maple syrup, fresh and dried herbs. However, the vast majority is most likely going to be homemade goodies. Things like Nancy's jams and jellies, made from locally grown fruit, are still farmer's items and so they get sold at our farmer's markets. If I can get a cookie and a cup of coffee while I'm stopping by to pick up a dozen eggs and a jar of honey, well, that's a double bonus! Annie |
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| I love these reports too Nancy. I wish I was there right now to eat some of those caramel apple rolls. Yum. Sherry |
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| Thanks Annie, I forgot about all of that other stuff, since our Farmer's Market doesn't have much of that. But it's all wishful thinking, because there is no room at our libary, cause they went ahead and filled it up with books, sigh. But, with all the vacant factories around you would think they could have a market in one of those, during the winter. |
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- Posted by teresa_nc7 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 8, 12 at 11:05
| Great report, Nancy! Sounds like you think like me when it comes to extra expenses like the canopy..."I won't need a canopy until June." Your baked goods sound fantastic as usual. I would love to find some of that European Celery down here - I think the celery leaves are the best part. Teresa |
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| Our library was just built a few years ago. They built it with the community room for events and the FM is perfect use. Annie, right on! We have most of those things. Teresa, you and I have always thought much along the same lines.... Nancy |
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| Oh, Nancy, I just thought, maybe one of your fish mongers could be there, at least taking orders, since you're right on The Lake? (sigh) I suppose that's wishful thinking but it would sure be nice, you could do your grocery shopping before you ever went home and without going to the store! I've eaten your baked goods and they're better than any I've had at the most upscale of restaurants and fancy bakeries, so I'm sure you will continue to do well. Some people might even like it inside better, not having to worry about weather. lbpod, my library is small and full of books too, but most comunities have civic centers, conference rooms in their city hall, township buildings, etc. I only wish I could convince my small county that a year round farmer's market is a good idea. We have two summer markets in the county and they do a booming business in the summer, it would be nice to find all the vendors in one place in the winter too. We have two permanent farm markets but they close for the winter. One is having "pick your own chestnuts" right now, but that'll end the first week of November, then it will close. I can go pick up local honey, maple syrup, organic locally made cheese, whatever, but it would sure be nice to do it all in one spot, under a roof, in a heated space, and with one of Nancy's cinnamon rolls and a cup of coffee! Annie |
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| I'm sure I can pick up things for a nice dinner. The mushroom people will be there and they always have a couple of different mushroom soups, their Lobster Mushroom Bisque is really good. The organic meat people have beef, pork and chicken. Then there's the turkey farm people, I've already ordered my T-Day turkey and she has many items made of turkey. I bought a whole chicken and stuffed it just a couple of weeks ago and I'm making chicken and noodles for tonight using their thighs and my European Celery, organic carrots, onions and garlic. Flash freezing and controlled storage is pretty common around here. Most of the main vendors have all signed up for the winter market. I think it going to become a social thing for people to shop at it, even in the winter. There not much going on in the wintertime here. It is also centrally located to the downtown stores, county building and hospital. There is even a big parking lot. Nancy |
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| OOPS, I forgot to comment on the European Celery. I have never seen it before, but it looks like something I would chop up and freeze and use during our long, hard winters, in zoup and other such winter dishes. I'm going to research this and see if I can get some seed and grow it in my garden next year. I've never seen it in my local farmer's market, so I'll have to DIY. The more celery leaves in a chicken zoup, the better, (up to a point, of course). |
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| It sounds wonderful, Nancy, I wish I werecloser. I think Michigan gets more beautiful the further North you go! Annie |
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