Courtesy of Wally S., Wally’s Urban Market Garden, Saskatoon, SK
Hey everyone, merry Xmas.
This week we are pushing hard to get things together for a $1000 – $1500 marketing weekend this Sat/Sun. Gail will be coming on strong with her bird feeder craft items, which will probably account for about 20% of sales, or even more.
Produce items will be as follows: All items are $3.00 or 2/$5.00
1/2 lb. bags orange baby carrots – 50 units
1/2 lb. bags mid size orange carrots – 50 units
1/2 lb. bags rainbow carrots -100 units
.10 lb. bags pea greens – 50 units
.10 lb. bags micro mix – 50 units
.07 lb. bags micro greens – 25 units
1 lb. bags fingerling potatoes – 50 units
1 lb. bags purple Peruvian potatoes – 50 units
1 lb. bags onions – 50 units
1 lb. squash/pumpkin slices – 50 units
1 lb. bags beets – 25 units
Also whole squash pumpkin/squash at $1.50 per lb.
And Gail’s bird feeder items. Photos of one of her bird feeder wreaths and her making her pine cone feeder are below. The point is to offer a range of items at various price points from $5 to $35.
This should support sales of $1,000 – $1,500, over the course of two marketing days. Work load is moderate in terms of preparation. Should have plenty of time to catch some boxing matches on TV. Much of the work was done yesterday and Monday, such as washing carrots and potatoes, in preparation for this weekend. Greens will be cut Thursday and and Friday, with a lot of the bagging done over those two days too.
I’d encourage everyone, especially those who are CSA-based, to get beyond the typical “three season” thinking and push for income by selling throughout the winter at an indoor market. Expanding repertoires to storage crops and micro greens, and diversifying into a craft product line are two good ways to do that. Farming can be a year round occupation, even here in zone 3 Saskatoon.
Find out how to implement a 4 season plan in SPIN guide # 16. 
