At the Farmers Market

This weekend I tried my hand at the Farmer's Market.  Though there are several to choose from in the area, I wanted to go for the big one in Kalispell, about 25 miles from where we live.
We didn't really have any idea how to best prepare for this, so there was a lot of "winging" it as we were getting all the fruit ready and deciding how I would run my stand.  We picked all the cherries fresh on Friday evening, hand washed all the fruit and then weighed/packaged them so things were ready for the market.

I would certainly call the day a success.  I sold out of fruit (cherries and raspberries) within the first 2 hours of the market and peddled several bottles of honey in the last 1 1/2 hrs.  I only came home with a few big jars of honey and one wilted bunch of kale.... not too shabby.

I did come with a lot more fruit & honey that is pictured here.  I kept things on ice in a cooler at the back of the booth.  It was fun to talk to people and be able to say that yes, I picked, washed and packaged it all by hand.

I think I could have easily sold another 100 pounds of cherries and another case of 1 lb jars of honey.  I'll know for next time..... there will certainly be a next time as we are facing tons of cherries in the next few weeks here.

While I was at the market, the rest of the clan was manning the yard sale.  It turned out to be a pretty good success as well.  I sent the boys with all they needed for a lemonade stand and they cleaned house!  They took my advice and kept their price low, just 10 cents per cup; but their cuteness factor kicked in and after sales, tips and donations, they walked away with $20 to add to their Walt Disney World savings fund.