A Successful Market Day ~ Part 5

Saturday...the greatly anticipated opening day for Farmer's Market finally arrived!

We began the day early with a chilly 29 degrees...using flashlights to see inside boxes at dark o'clock to determine which soaps to display and which boxes held the pies. The van was loaded with stuff to unpack and a tent and signs to get in place!

Vendors began to arrive to set up their wares at the Wharf Parking Lot. Here's a shot taken looking down the main sidewalk as flowers and vegetables are brought out to display:

Hannah and Sarah worked on their booth to get it just right. Here they are just before market opened for customers:

The girls will experiment with a different table arrangement next week. This L-shaped display was necessary because end-to-end tables went just over the alloted parking space line. Oops! There were honey vendors in the parking spots on both sides of them--some close quarters.

Here's an upclose photo of Hannah's soap display:

And an upclose photo of Sarah's baked goods display which included pies, fudge, lemon blueberry muffins, butterscotch bars, and cheesecake wedges in the fridge:

Here's Sarah with bags of homemade marshmallows, gummy squares, cashew brittle, and puppy chow she made. Her free samples drew a crowd around her booth throughout the morning!

Here's a view from behind Sarah's booth as she keeps track of all the paperwork. She took custom orders to bring to market next week, too:

One of the fresh flower vendors sold out long before the end of market. Her display was beautiful, and her flowers attracted lots of customers:

She gave folks wandering by her booth a free tulip while supplies lasted:

Fresh veggies were everywhere!

My favorite: Beets!

There were several honey vendors. Jonathan was very interested in checking out those displays since his 30,000 bees arrive for pickup at the bee store this afternoon. The beehives he and a friend made are in place on our property awaiting their occupants. Post coming soon on his adventures as a beekeeper!

Some musicians set up at the end of the parking lot and played for a portion of the morning:

And there's Granny...she bought Sarah's last coconut pie and also some Gardener's Therapy Balm from Hannah. What a sweet and encouraging Granny! Well, that was a sampling of Saturday's Farmer's Market...one week down and 32 more weeks to go! Oh, my, I'm wondering if my kitchen will survive this venture!

~Deb

Comments

[Dorothy]

Yay!!! Sounds like Hannah and Sarah had a successful first day at market! All their hard work paid off! How sweet of Granny to make her purchases, too. :-) I am going to HAVE to come up one Saturday and enjoy shopping at the market & encouraging them myself. Hope you all get a little rest this week.

[Tammy]

Looks exciting .I guess it is a good thing that the market is only once a week.Take the week to recuperate which really isn't true because the baking starts all over again.

Beautiful displays.

[Susan]

Everything looks so interesting! I know those 32 weeks ahead look a little daunting right now, but I do wish Sarah and Hannah much success with their businesses!

[Chris]

I love how the booth was set up even if you did have to squeeze in a bit. :) Each display was so well done and I LOVED the cloths/quilts that helped to decorate the tables. :) I thought about you all Saturday, wondering how things went. I didn't really realize that you would be doing this every Saturday for 32 weeks! WOW that is ALOT of work!! Hummm...maybe a Newport News visitor will have to make a trip to the market sometime in the next 32 weeks!!! :)

[Connie]

It looks fab, wish I could have been there!!!

[Michelle, a heart at home]

The booth turned out beautifully. I would have a hard time passing up the little bags of goodies and the pretty wrapped soap bars. :-)
We also have a fresh market in our city. I've yet to go, but it's quite popular and our neighbor has done very well selling fresh fish there.
Here the market runs from October to May.
It's a long commitment, but I'm sure that it will be worth it.

[Michelle, a heart at home]

I was just looking at the pictures again and read the part about Jonathan and the bees (I must have missed it the first time I read through). I'll be excited to hear about how this venture goes. Since we live in the city I can't have them here. But if I ever get to a more rural setting, I would love to have some. :-)

[victoria]

Your booth looked so nice. I'm glad you had a great first day. Hope the whole summer goes well.

Victoria

[Rose]

Oh wow, it's rusticy but professional looking at the same time. Good job Hannah and Sarah, so glad it all went well.

[Carrie]

So pretty! I loved the tulips too! Must be my Dutch blood. :o)

[Stephanie in MI]

I am glad it was such a success! Sounds like your kitchen is going to get a real workout! That looks like a good time. I can't believe there's already rhubarb for sale! I am a total sucker for tulips!

[A Facebook User]

Oh, that looks so much fun!!! I think Santa Fe has a pretty large farmers market. I haven't been to it yet, but I'm looking forward to it once we move. :)

[Linda Murphy]

I was praying for you on your first Saturday. Glad to see it worked out so well! :) I wish I could have been there.

The Hungry Hills Honey guy, judging by the van and where he is parked, it looks like the same guy we bought honey from in 2007. That was absolutely the best honey we have ever had, we can't find honey like that here on the West Coast. If it's the same guy, he has his bees on the edge of a forest with no farms (read, "no pesticides, herbicides, etc") around. He lives so remotely that he even has problems with bears getting into his hives. Before we left in 2007, we bought 10-15 gallons of honey to bring home with us, I forget now how many 5 gallons jugs, but I do remember getting a lot of attention as Joe carried it through the farmers market to our van.

Enjoy the rest of your 31 weeks! You'll make some great friends and have a lot of good memories by the time the season is over.

[JulieK]

This looks like a LOT of fun! :) Good luck to you all!!