Starting next Saturday, April 2nd, you will find Brad or I at the Kansas Grown Farmer's Market (located at the Sedgwick Co. Extension Office on the corner of 21st and Ridge in Wichita) each week from 7am-noon. While we have enjoyed our Saturdays free for the last five months, we are looking forward to packing up the van each week and bringing our freshly picked, organically grown vegetables to all of the farmers market customers. While we prepare for the new market season, keep these tips in mind to make your trip to the market enjoyable and successful!
1. Come early for the best selection. If you want to be sure to get some of our awesome pasture raised eggs or the tastiest tomatoes or tender lettuce, come sooner rather than later.
2. Bring your own bags, cart, and cooler. While we supply plastic bags if you need them, they are not known for being very sturdy. If you have a small cart or stroller, bring it with you. After a few purchases, your arms are going to get tired. Last, during the summer months I highly recommend bringing a cooler along with you, even if you are headed straight home afterwards. If you purchase any meats or eggs, you'll want to keep them cool and/or frozen until you get home.
3. Bring cash if you can, and the smaller the bills the better! While we do have the ability to run credit cards, there is a small transaction fee. Plus, we have cash in hand for expenses immediately, verses waiting three to five days for the transactions to be deposited into our bank account. Our market also has wooden tokens available for purchase at the information desk (all credit, debit, EBT accepted there). Purchase a set amount of tokens and shop with those. Farmers are able to turn those in regularly for cash.
4. Ask questions on how the vegetables are grown. When I first started going to markets years ago, I naively thought that all the farmers grew organically. Boy was I wrong! We are certified organic for our commodity crops, but we just haven't done the paperwork on the vegetables. However, we follow all organic methods for our farm.. Turns out, we are one of only 6 or 7 growers at the market that do NOT use chemicals! If you want to know any farmer's practices before you purchase their produce, just ask. I personally love talking about our farm and I will tell you anything you want to know.
5. Ask for a sample or try a new vegetable that you haven't tried before. If you want to know how our honey drop cherry tomatoes taste compared to our red cherry tomatoes; just ask and we'll let you sample one. Never had Asian greens, winter pea greens, or patty pan squash before? Give one a try, take a recipe card home with you, and expand your vegetable palate!
For the 2016 market season we will not have a permanent booth location. Each week I will put on our Facebook page where within the market we will be on Saturday morning so you aren't having to hunt us down. Be sure to like our page so you know where we will be and what you can expect at our booth that weekend!
Until next time,
Tiff
Until next time,
Tiff
RSS Feed
