Newark Valley Farmers Market Opening Day this SUNDAY!

It has been awhile since I have updated you all on the Newark Valley Farmers Market. A lot has been going on that is extremely exciting for this small community.

We now have a total of 9 vendors:






                                                      Anura Liquid Soap- All natural handcrafted
  Liquid Soaps

Berkshire Hills Honey- Honey

Boer Bakery/Downward Slope Farm- Goat meat, baked goods, hot food (crepes, waffles and more).

Cross Creek Farm- Turkey, Chicken, Rabbit, dried herbs, herb bunches, herbal teas, fruit, eggs, fruit butters, bedding  plants and more...

Mcrey Farm- Grassfed beef, pork and lamb. Free range eggs.

Providence Farm- Heirloom produce, seed paper

West Creek Farm Family-Produce, fiber products, goat milk soaps and lotions. 

Woodland Cottage- Hand sewn items and bar soaps.

Stray Haven- Pet adoptions.






We also have applied and received the Fresh Connects Grant for the market. Part of the requirements for the grant were that we had to partner with a food pantry in our community as well as some local groups and organizations to work with. This was to help the community through the farmers market which in return helps the farmers and vendors by having exposure and awareness brought to the market and their own business. This also will bring people to the village and help to bring awareness to the other businesses right here in town that some may not have known about. Bringing people to a center locale to meet and get together brings the community closer together all around.

We were very excited to receive the grant. We partnered with the food pantries of Berkshire, Richford and Newark Vally to try to give some sort of donation every week of local fresh produce and goods. Being that we are a low income community and with the devastation that last years flood did to many in our area from Richford to Owego the food pantries were working hard to help support those in need. The community came together at that point to help each other. So it is only natural that our local farms can do some to support our local food pantries as well. Food pantries CAN use more than just shelf stable goods. They would love to hand out fresh produce and fresh goods to those who can't afford to buy them from the store.

We also partnered with Northern Tioga Neighbors Network which is a not-for- profit out of Richford that has volunteers that assist eldery, inbound and handicapped residents of Berkshire and Richford to doctors appointments, shopping and things of that nature. We spoke with them in regards to trying to start a program of them bringing residents to the market. With partnering with them we requested that part of our grant money be put towards gas money to help get them to the market. With gas prices as high as they are it is hard for people to sacrifice that money and Northern Tioga Neighbors Network has funding for this type of thing but not a lot. So we figured that if we could get some money for them that would assist the volunteers which would then assist more of the local community in getting to the market. They may or may not have enough volunteers, but they will try their best to make sure someone is available. Also if you would volunteer they would love more volunteers.

We also asked local groups and organizations to come in and do fund raising events for their organizations. We want to assist in bringing awareness to these groups as well.

Things are coming up so quick. We have been planning and organizing this for quite awhile now and it seems strange that it is so close. We are very excited and hope that you all are too.

We interviewed yesterday on the Village Green with YNN news about the market and the community.

You can view the video here: http://binghamton.ynn.com/content/top_stories/584119/newark-valley-farmers-market/
The market will also feature live music from local musicians throughout the season. They will be playing in the pavilion and we will have some chairs set up on the lawn for you to sit relax and enjoy. Maybe get some food from Boer Bakery or a coffee or smoothie from Cardinal Cafe and sit and enjoy the music and time with friends!


This will be a destination and meeting place as well as a market. We hope you come and see us and enjoy what we have created as an event for this town!

Stinging Nettle Stings!

Last year when we began our herbal tea journey I was researching a lot of herbs and I was reading a lot about Stinging Nettle. I really had no clue what the plant looked like or what it did. I asked my father-in-law to show me one and the one he showed me didn't sting. So he said that that wasn't nettle. He said we would take a walk through the woods and he would show me. Well we never took that walk.

This year we decided to grow stinging nettle in pots to sell for people that don't have woods and forest areas around them. I have had quite a few people that live in the cities excited that we are growing it. To most country people it is an invasive weed that they just can't get rid of and no one wants to go near.

 We have been having this conversation about how he doesn't want to touch it even if we did find it and he is not working with it to make teas. He thinks I am crazy. I kept telling him it couldn't have been that bad!

Today I was transplanting the plants from our 50 count trays into their individual pots and I got stung! I was lucky that no one but Julianna was in the greenhouse with me. I knew that if Eric Sr was in there with me he would have laughed hysterically.

Either way I recommend you be careful when working with Stinging Nettle. It doesn't sting that bad but it's enough to get your attention. I will be wearing gloves when I am preparing it into teas and things.

Now for a little information on Stinging Nettle:

Do NOT use stinging nettle if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Do NOT give to children under 2 years of age.

Stinging nettle has many needle like hairs on its leaves that inject histamine and other chemicals into you.

Nettle is used in treating arthritis and rheumatism. Other uses are: expectorant, asthma, cancer, cough, diabetes, eczema, fluid retention, gout, heart failure, high blood pressure, muscle spasms, nasal allergies, nosebleed, promote hair growth, reduce blood loss, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections, uterine bleeding and wounds.

As I always say:

CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE TREATING YOURSELF!

Honey Bees

Eric has been wanting our own hives for a few years now. We have been looking into it and researching a little but had not yet got a hive.

We had a great guy come and talk to Eric at market about certain hives and he was going to build one for us. Then we received a message asking if Eric would be willing to help him get a hive out of a house in Lisle.

Eric was ecstatic! So he went with him and helped (learned) from him how to extract a hive from a house. They then brought them here with a hive.

Along with the hive and bees came two 5 gallon buckets full of the comb they removed from the home. It was awesome to see. So excited to have our own honey.

I then realized that we had to somehow get the honey out of the comb. Which I had no clue how to do. So I started "googling!"

We decided to do a method where you crush the comb and put it in a strainer and let the honey drip through the strainer. Slow, long process but we do not have the equipment for the other methods.

We are doing some more research and are planning on trying to learn how to use the wax as well.

Just another adventure to add to our ever growing farm!

Peek inside the Greenhouse

Nufar Basil.

Stevia and Lavender

 Basil is one of our number 1 sellers for herbs. Dried, Bunches and plants.

We are growing 3 different varieties of Dwarf Sunflowers this year including a variety that is a deep red!

Zinnias and Marigolds

 Lots of  transplanting needing to be done! Overwhelming sometimes!

That is one of our new herbs in the front. Leaf Fennel.

 Back by popular demand-
Our Tumblin' Tom tomatoes!

Ducks!

Our Advice

Ever since we decided to start the Newark Valley Farmer's Market, we have had numerous vendors or people interested in becoming a vendor ask us for advice in becoming a successful vendor.

I am going to first start off by saying that we are no experts by any means. We have been doing this for 6 years now and have learned from our mistakes and the advice I will be writing about is all from our experience.

QUALITY
        As with any product that you are going to sell, whether it is cheap or expensive it better be good quality. If a customer comes and buys your product and it is spoiled or the plant dies because your plant was not healthy enough they are not going to be happy and are probably not going to come back to buy anything from you.
        This is one thing we pride ourselves on and have always stood behind our products in that they are the highest quality and flavor.
        For example, our herb plants and vegetable plants. A lot of times you can go to a greenhouse/nursery center and get these tomatoes that are tall and skinny but "big." You will find Basil that is tall and a lighter green. We generally will have smaller stockier plants because of the fact that we would rather sell you something that we would plant. And truth is, those plants you get that are tall and lanky, yeah they will probably produce fine but your quality of plant will not be that great. You would more likely get more produce from a strong sturdy plant than a lanky skinny one.
       Basil does not necessarily have to be tall. You really want to make your basil into more of a bush by cutting back pieces that make it bush out. Taller is not necessarily better. Taller means that your going to have to cut it down at least a 1/4 if you want to make it bushier. A bushier basil will produce more than a skinny tall basil. When it bushes out it makes 1 branch become 2. Staying stronger and healthier.

PRICE
       As a vendor you obviously always want to make sure that you are making money on your product. Believe me we have struggled with pricing and figuring out what is making us money and what is not. I am not going to give too much advice on this because we still are figuring out the best way to price and justify which is selling better. We have documented everything and that is something you have to go through and figure out where most of your time is spent and how much you are loosing. A lot of paperwork and calculations. And make sure you don't do what is not making you money. If it is not making you money whether you try to stick it out or not you don't want to loose money.
      As a customer, remember that cheaper is not always better. Also expensive is not always better either. My advice on this is to get to know your farmer/producer, try to understand their process of where how it gets to the market to you. Learn the ingredients, ask questions and test. Buy a small amount and then decide if it is something you like. You will find that right one for you.
       For example, there are many different egg vendors at Otsiningo Farmers Market. When we first started bringing eggs to the market there were already people there that were bringing them for a while before us. We weren't necessarily the cheapest either. We didn't sell very many the first few times. But that market tends to sell out of eggs quickly so it started becoming that we would be the last one with eggs. People bought it because they had no other choice. Then slowly those customers that bought because they originally had no choice started reserving eggs and buying our eggs because they had the "Best" flavor.
       So once again that being said it is not always about price and how high or low your price is.

RELATIONSHIPS
      Another major thing with us is knowing your customer. Teaching them and sharing your knowledge with them. We know almost 90% of our customers by name. We congratulate them when they have a baby, we keep our fingers crossed that they get that house that they are hoping for. When they ask for help or advice on raising chickens or growing herbs, we make sure we give them the best advice possible from what we  know and have learned. If we do not know we try to figure it out for them and let them know the next week.
     We treat them like family. A lot of our customers have followed us since we first started at the downtown Binghamton market. They saw us when we were both single and just starting out with the farm. They then followed us when we stopped going to Downtown Binghamton and moved to Otsiningo Park Farmers Market. When we got married, when we got pregnant and had Eric Jr, then Julianna. With this blog I have tried to give them an inside look into our lives and farming, sharing how we do things and where their product comes from.
      For us this is an extremely important part to our business. The more our customers feel comfortable with us and our farming practices the more likely they are going to purchase your product because they know who is behind it and where it comes from.

KNOWLEDGE/ MARKETING
       I personally feel these go hand in hand. By knowledge I mean trying to make your customer understand that Corn is not available in May. Tomatoes are not available year round. We try to make sure we explain that there are seasons for different things.
       Another one for us is Paw-Paws and Kiwis we get from Cornell Orchards. They are something different something that people are not used to seeing grown in this area. So we go in depth explaining what a Paw-Paw is and what the flavor is like and how it came to be.
       With marketing we are always looking for new ways to market our product.  Facebook, website, blog, flyers, email lists and more.

PACKAGING
         I have had a few people ask me why I have changed the packaging on the herbal teas and dried herbs. We started out with our dried herbs in little ziploc bags and then have now officially put them in herb shaker containers like what you would get your herbs in in the store. We have found that people like "normal." They like to purchase something that is packaged the same as it would be in a supermarket or store.
       Our teas we had in tea bags in a little basket and now they are in 2 packs in a sealed ziploc type bag. With this we learned that it was a little too costly in the baskets and they were more willing to pay the price of the 2 packs rather than the basket full. That also is because they would like to try them rather than buying a large quantity and not liking it. 

And my final advice is:
       Remember to stick it out. Eventually something falls into place at just the right time or you will just love doing it and you may not be making millions but you will be happy living the way you are and be ok with where you are. There are rough times in any business situation and farming is no different. Sometimes it may even be tougher. There are long hours and back breaking work.


But for us, this is what we love doing and what we feel we should be doing.

CSA

This is a reminder to our CSA members that have not finished paying for their shares yet.

All money is due by April 30, 2012.

We only have 2 markets before then:
April 14, 2012
April 28, 2012

If you cannot make it to one of those markets please make sure that you send the payment in the mail. It needs to be received by April 30, 2012.

We are very excited for our CSA this year.

We ended up with 10 half shares and 2 full shares this year.

Next year we plan on offering more. So if you did not get in this year don't worry there is always next year.

June is your first pick up! It is coming fast and the chickens and rabbits look great!

Have a great day!

It's Time

It's official. There are only 3 weeks until market season starts up again! Wow!

Our first outdoor market for Otsiningo Farmers Market is on May 5th! Mark your calenders

Newark Valley Farmers Market starts May 20th.
Vestal Farmers Market for Wednesdays starts May 30th I believe. 

We have not yet set a date for opening the stand at the house but we are tentatively going to say mother's day May 13th.

This time of year is always challenging for us. Too much to do and too little time to do it. The greenhouse is full force bursting at the seams with plants. At least our heated section. We still have some stuff to plant, lots to transplant and even more to do outside.

We already have cilantro and dill growing in the field. We were lucky enough to get it in the ground during that warm spell that we had. Our Sage and Lavender that was planted in the field last year is already starting to come back. Which means we will have herb bunches early this year!

Unfourtunately I was sick all week with this horrid cold that I just could not shake. The kids ended up getting it and therefore halted my efforts in the greenhouse. So this weekend will be catch up in there.

The ducks are ready for their new home outside. Eric is building their shelter today I believe. I can't wait to see them waddling around the farm.

Our rabbit sales for Easter went well. We are so thankful to those of you that purchased your Easter bunnies from us this year. Thankfully we still have some that will be ready in time for markets.

We are getting ready to start building our kitchen. Finalizing details and plans. This is a great exciting expansion to our farm. We have lots of plans for the kitchen besides just our fruit butters and jams. I am not going to release our ideas just yet but just know there are exciting things coming this season when the kitchen is finished!

A little update on the Newark Valley Farmers Market:

              We are very excited to announce that we have a great group of vendors. For our first year we are excited.
               Our vendors are:

                          Boer Bakery- Endicott- Breads, pastries, goat meat and prepared hot food.
                          Cross Creek Farm- Berkshire- free range chicken, brown eggs, rabbit meat,
                                                           turkey, fruits, vegetables, fruit butters and jams,
                                                           bedding plants, herb plants, dried herbs and herbal teas.
                           McRey Farm- Maine- Grassfed Beef, pork and lamb
                           Providence Farm- Berkshire- Heirloom vegetables
                           Stray Haven- Waverly- Animal adoption and awareness
                           West Creek Family Farm- Newark Valley- Fiber products, vegetables,
                                                           maple syrup and goat milk soaps and lotions.
                           Woodland Cottage- Newark Valley- Handcrafted soaps and custom sewing.

Opening day "Grassanova" will be playing. They play popular and acoustic bluegrass music. Great music for opening day at the market. We will have chairs set up for you to be able to sit and enjoy the music. So even if you just want to come to listen to the band please do so.

We have been working very hard on getting this market together. Our hopes are to make this a family event, meeting place and just overall great time for everyone involved.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped us a long the way to get things organized and supported our efforts. The Village of Newark Valley has been a great sponsor and we thank you for everything.