Farmer's Market Success?

So last nights Farmer's Market in Orrville was not, I assume, as busy as a Farmer's Market could be, but it was a good experience.

On my way there, I stopped to grab an iced coffee and some fast food. At the first drive-thru window where I needed to pay, the young kid at the window proceeded to comment on how man apples I had in my car...as if I hadn't noticed! Then, at the second window, the younger dark haired kid exclaimed, "Whoaaa [imagine this is young, male teen "far out dude" voice!] That is a lot of apples you have in there....ya get a good deal or something at a market or orchard or something?" I thanked him for my order and explained that I WAS the orchard and I was trying to sell them as I pulled away from the window!

I was a little hesitant when I pulled up to see that the only other people with booths set up were Amish. How can I compete with the Amish at a Farmer's Market!! No worries, more local farmers showed up shortly, none of which had apples to sell!

My mom brought beautiful flower bouquets she picked from her gardens as well as fresh basil, thyme, dill and chives. It was a nice touch to help draw attention to our booth.

I found that most of the "older people" who stopped by the booth knew of the apple, a Transparent, and most others had never heard of it and were actually surprised to see someone already selling apples! It was exciting to have some walk up and be excited at the apples at proceed to purchase 2 dozen for sauce making!

Mom had to stroll the lane of vendors to check out everyone's goodies...as well as see who was undercutting her on the price of the herbs ;)

And of course, anytime one of us does something new, it is never not a family party! The only one missing was my brother. My relatives visiting from California were anxious, I am sure, to go home and tell people they vacationed in Orrville, OH!

On a positive note, the apples that sold brought in approx. $20; certainly not a paycheck, but the experience was what mattered! I was lucky enough to have the hubs stay home to look after the dogs and make sure the horses got brought in and fed...and thankfully, he cleaned their stalls too! Now if I can only teach him to do the laundry......