Goodbye Farmer’s Market!

Wow, what a crazy past 6 months it has been.

 

Source

Because I have been so busy, I haven’t really updated you guys on how the business has been going. Everything has been wonderful and Scott and I are really happy with the turn out we had vendoring at the farmer’s market this season. I don’t really care to keep posting about it on the blog just because I only have a handful of local readers and it’s just not a topic I want to keep bringing up, I guess. Perhaps there will be a blog about our business in the near future? Who knows. But as always, I would love to answer any questions or comments you may have via E-mail or comment.

Huge THANK YOU to every reader out there whether you are a local market customer, friend, healthy living blogger, or just a random reader- You all have helped us so much.

Until next season  f a r m e r ‘ s   m a r k e t

Market Recap Monday week 13

Hey guys!

I loved hearing what everyone adds to their tofu scramble in my last post, so interesting! I am dying to make some scramb again so I can add a lot more ingredients!

Sunday’s market went well. We kept it pretty simple due to expenses, bills, ect. We wanted to try new hummus recipes but we had a very busy week (think funerals, company from out-of-town, and other jobs). I cannot wait to share new hummus ideas!

Date TRUFFLES are back! These are made from dates, peanuts, and almonds. One vendor said they taste like the Mary Jane candies.

New raspberry jalapeno jelly…

New nut butter sign!

Veggie grape leaves again, my favorite. Maybe because I get to eat all of the “ugly” ones? 😉

Then, it started raining! Dark clouds rolled in and showed no mercy. It poured for about 15 minutes, then it was done.

Have you ever made your own homemade stuffed grape leaves?

Market Recap Monday (week 11)

After two weeks of being MIA from our original market, we were so happy to return!

The market stayed open an hour later to collaborate with the art fair that was going on this weekend as well. We were very excited about meeting new people from the art fair traffic. We saw lots of new faces as well as a few different news crews. Apparently one journalist has been trying to contact us for over a month now. I could tell he was very excited to write a story on our business! People really like our story. I think a lot of the locals are attracted to us because we are just average people trying to make a living doing what we love. We don’t have a lot of money but we put all of what we have along with our hearts into everything we do hoping to turn it into something big one day. It seems like each week we are getting at least 10 requests to open a restaurant. Sure this would be a dream come true, help us build up to that point! Seriously. 😉

Anyway, I wanted to show you the massive amount of produce I got FOR FREE.

A super generous vendor said his produce was “getting old” and he needed to get rid of it. So, I’m sure you can only imagine what I walked away with!

(that white veggie is apparently some sort of summer squash it looked so cute, I had to get it!)

Tons and tons or carrots, zucchini, melon, beets, onions, yellow squash, green peppers, cucumber, and other peppers.

I roasted as much as I could fit in my oven…

By the way, I thought that I didn’t like beets. But I now I love them roasted! With just a little basil and thyme.

I juiced some…

& I chopped a lot of them for a huge salad…

I also juiced about 20 cucumbers and poured them into ice-cube trays. I thought this would be a good idea for green smoothies. The juicer is just too much of a pain to wash!

What is your favorite summer veggie?

Market Recap Monday week 9

Photo’s from the market:

More produce than last week!

Clear skies! It was HOT. 96 degrees I think, I was sweating!

I took some of your advice and made bigger signs for some of the desserts. This was the sign for my granola! When people wonder why our granola id $8 a pound now they know about all of the great ingredients in that pound of granola!

Because my mother is part of the art council, she get to help kids make different crafts at the market!

Art booth…

 

Spin art hummus

Roasted garlic hummus

…more samples.

That’s about it on the photos for this week.

What do you add to your granola?

Market Recap Monday {week 8}

So, it’s Monday again.

Usually the thought of Mondays sadden me but, now that I have been posting Market Recap Mondays (MRM) I can live with the thought of another Monday after a long yet eventful weekend.

Let’s get started!:

First came the rain. Literally right around 9AM (market starts at 10)! Do we set up? Do we wait in the car? Maybe it will blow over?

Thank God the sprinkles passed through quite peacefully, that would have been a disaster!

Moving on:

New! Roasted Butternut Squash HUMMUS! I thought the chef boyfriend was kidding when he texted, “I have a butternut squash here that we need to use. Sqummus?” I joke that this is part of our fall collection but I am dead serious. This turned out really nice.

Another thing the chef boyfriend wanted to make this week was our own vegetarian stuffed grape leaves.

I thought this would be incredibly time-consuming and not worth the effort.

Wrong again. Best grape leaves I have EVER had, no joke.  

I think I need to start listening to him more, what do you think?

Whoops. Did I drink all of this? Probably, it was hot! Unlike my dessert, definitely not so hot this week. The only people who bought desserts were my friends that came to visit. At first everyone LOVED my granola, so I made a new flavor this week (chocolate!) and nobody bought any. 😦 Except my best friend. Thanks heath! 🙂

Clear skies?

Market goers.

Not a lot of photos this week, what is up with that!? More next week, promise! I really wish I had a good photo of the grape leaves, I want to share them with all of you! They were so good.

But what do you think I should do about my desserts? My boyfriend tells me to make non vegan desserts because they will attract more people but he knows I am completely against that! That’s just stupid. Not only do my vegan desserts taste awesome, I am not the only vendor selling baked goods! Vegan and gluten-free desserts is what makes us unique and different from the other bakers (think 60+ vendors). Not to mention I use mainly natural sweeteners and organic flours.

Should I make bigger signs?

Should I stop making desserts?

Should I be more aggressive with my baking?

I think I like the last choice. Next week I want to do scones, muffins, and maybe sweet breads but these will only last a few days. Will it be worth it? I guess I’ll have to try it and find out.

Farmers Market recap 6

Hi friends!

Wow, what a crazy week! After nearly 6 days of being extremely sick, I think I’m starting to feel better! It was so weird, I felt like everyday was a new illness because it was all so random! First the flu, then a cold, then what felt like strep throat or tonsilitis, then back to the flu… it was insane. Not mention my loss of appetite, that’s always a strange one for me. I ❤ food.

Recap

Raw nut butters for sale! Only sold 2 mini. 😦

Granola

Samples

Look at all of the cans!

No, you’re a jerk. This is Scott’s jerk marinade. Oh my goodness, IT’S HOT! I actually tried it though and it was good.

Banjo band playing behind our stand. Nice music but having to scream the ingredients to our customers was not joyful.

 

The Jar Head Salsa guys are our good friends. Scott helps them with marketing and I eat the salsa.

This booth belongs to another good friend of ours. She is super talented and friendly!

I didn’t realize this at the time I took this picture but I totally know this family!

Our first attempt at making mustard. It was a hit! Although this is what broke my Vitamix (more on that later).

I love how I never have to buy soap again, I simply trade for it.

Lots of plants!

beautiful day at the market 🙂

Taking Risks

I don’t like being a negative nancy on my blog (or in real life) but things just aren’t going “great”. I’m definitely not saying things are going bad, but honestly, Scott and I are starting to worry. I guess I really wouldn’t say “worry” but more “over thinking” if you will. We spend all of our money on food to prepare for the market, it’s actually extremely risky business because we never know what to expect! But people love us. & I know in my heart that God is always good. People like what we’re doing, they love seeing our new recipes we come up with and they love getting the chance to try new food. But we’re not really making money at the Market. What do we tell customers, “hey, buy our stuff so we can pay rent and not be homeless”. That will really make them want to come back. There is no doubt in our minds that we will continue to grow each week but, can we really keep up with buying new blenders and fancy jars to make the products the customer’s want to see? We really don’t know what to do! Except pray. Pray that we will get a few catering jobs just to help us grow a little more. Give thanks that we are extremely blessed to be living in such a great country in which we are able to do things like this. Be thankful for how much we have grown. And always stay hopeful because God is always good.

& With that said, we may have a new business opportunity coming up. Fingers crossed that they call back today.

Questions of the Day: Tell me about a time that you took a risk.

DOs & DON’Ts of the Market

What I’ve learned in my month of being a FM vendor

Do take customer advice and make gluten-free desserts.

Don’t over do it, some people are afraid of flour-less baking.

Don’t ever make mini muffins again, they are a pain to make and most people walk up and eat them because they think they are samples.

Do pre-wrap all desserts so they KNOW they aren’t just samples.

Do let people try tofu mousse samples before you tell them it’s made with tofu.

Don’t let the kids try it, they usually prefer milk chocolate.

Do make more granola.

Don’t forget to make one to sample.

Do make ingredient cards!

Do make the perfect amount of brownies, 7 was just enough.

Don’t make signs that say, “made with Spirulina” it’s gets annoying to explain it after the 100th time.

Don’t get offended when people think the prices are too high, you know the time and money spent on the food.

Do tell them that speciality foods cost a little more, but are totally worth it.

Don’t be afraid to make “too much”  hummus, running out of food is no fun.

Do put out as many samples as you can because once they try it, they are HOOKED!

Oh, and

Do eat the leftovers for lunch.

Have a great week! ❤

Farmers’ Market RECAP week 3

Hey guys!

We had another AWESOME week at the FM.

I have lots of photo’s to share…

Date ball sign! Which flavor sounds best to you? Last week I sold A LOT of these and this week it was just ok. I might not make more this week, I don’t know yet. I feel like people don’t really appreciate them. I sell them for $1.50 each (for a 1.8 ounce ball… that’s more than a Larabar!) which is actually cheap in my opinion considering the cost of dates and nuts.

First time doing muffins so I only made 6, and sold out quick! (ok, so I ate 3…). Next week I think I’m going to do gluten-free muffins and some mini muffins!

Close up of date balls being melted in the heat. Some people had a problem with me labeling these sugar-free because there is a touch of agave in the ingredients. I told them it’s like eating an apple or a date. If you consider that sugar, I don’t. One man said, “if it’s sweet, it has sugar in it…” Which I completely disagree.

Sample dish! Which one would you try first: regular hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, regular olive tapenade, peppanade (more peppers, less olives) or Loubie Bezit (a middle eastern dish with tomatoes, whole cloves of garlic, and italian green beans).

Lots of shoppers!

Awesome vendor who traded 4 plants for hummus (see below)

Dogs EVERYWHERE! I couldn’t pet ALL OF THEM. I think it is really cool that our FM allows dogs!

Scott holding down the table…

Yummy iced green tea

More…

& more

The plants I mentioned above.

Traded for this baby too! Nice snack.

Yours truly looking extra cheesy…

GRANOLA! Do you like our stickers?!?!?!

This week we were invited to so many different FMs, local events, and other benefits to vendor at. Needless to say, Scott and I are pretty excited.

I had a lot of fun taking pictures! I hope you enjoyed them. 🙂

What are your thoughts on agave? Do you think it is a sugar or would you label it sugar-free?

The only reason I label it sugar-free is because I have seen ingredients that have listed agave but the food was labeled sugar-free.

Farmer’s Market week 1

Judging by the comments on my last post, I think we all need to take a vacation together!

Seriously, let’s do it one day. I think that will be lots of fun!

As some of you know, yesterday was…

The Big Day!

It was my first day as a vender for our local Farmer’s Market!

I was really thankful that the weather so beautiful unlike last week! When we got there I felt really out-of-place, not going to lie! All around me were venders with lots of tables, big tents, big signs, and everything they needed. I was a little intimidated. First, we were placed at a lot right next to the BBQ’d pork. Nice, a pig being roasted right next to the vegan stand. Real cool. Then we found out that we were actually in the wrong spot! We were right across from that spot, good thing! Now we were next to a hot dog stand (I can live with that) and a salsa company.  We starting setting up around 8am because the market opens at 10am. The table we brought was really small so my mom ended up driving home and getting a bigger table, thanks mom! She helped us set up cause she does Art Fairs all the time so this helped A LOT! We immediately made friends with a lot of the venders, they were so nice! The bf, Scott, will literally talk to anybody so he comes in handy because I tend to be a little shy. The other venders were giving us advice and tips for what to bring next week. The first thing we noticed right away was that we needed BIG signs. Nobody is interested in small sings that they actually have to read.

The Table

Sorry for the phone photo, I did not bring my camera because I there were a lot other things to worry about than quality photos so deal with this one kay? 🙂

As people began to fill the market, I was really stressing out that nobody stopped at our stand. Scott told me to calm down because apparently it was only 9:56am. I guess it’s okay for people to walk around the market early? That’s cool with me!

The Customers

Once a few people stopped by our stand it got really crazy! I was trying to wait on people one at a time but everybody had so many questions! One of our first customers spent $14.50 on some tapenade and my date bars. He was really excited to try them!

The Samples

As the day went on we got a lot of “Oh, this hummus is SO GOOD I’ll be right back to buy some…” people who never did come back. 😦 Also, a lot of people said that they diffidently will be back next week. This makes me really excited. As soon as we put out samples of the olive tapenade we sold out, it was crazy! This is the main reason why most people are coming back next week. (after the market closed Scott and I found a great deal on olives at our local GFS and spent $100 on more olives so they better be prepared!) We learned that samples are a really good choice. Okay, so I learned that samples are a really good choice. Scott tried to tell me but I didn’t believe him. Next week I am going to sample out my date bars for sure! Although, I sampled out my granola and everybody LOVED it bought only one person bought some. I’m selling it really cheap too! Hmm.

I was really happy to see that a lot of people came to visit us! It also helped that we both recognized a lot of people we knew, it was fun! I love how supportive everyone was being. Even some of the venders told us that our stand is going to be a hit.

As much as I love being outdoors, towards the end of the day, I was really hot and tired! I was so sweaty and gross I just wanted to go home, shower, and take a nap!

Overall

I thought the day went really well. Yeah, we didn’t make as much money as we thought we would but it was our first week. We are going to be in the hole for a while and that’s okay. I saw the excitement of people’s faces when they learned about our products and I know they will be back. Now we have a better idea of what people really want to buy. I am SO ready for next Sunday, bring it on!

Big Plans

A post that is NOT about the Royal Wedding:

Hi everyone!

Oh my, I have started so many posts for today but I think I’m just going to start fresh. I’ve been pretty stressed this week with exams and other things. One thing for sure is that my body was craving exercise!

The Week’s Workouts:

• Monday- Zumba
• Tuesday- Abs and cardio
• Wednesday- Cardio and Zumba
• Thurday- Two new classes! Strength training and a step class! After this I did more cardio.
• Friday- Cardio and lots of stretching! So sore.

I usually don’t go to the gym everyday but it really felt good. I’m done with my classes until next Wednesday so I actually have a little  bit of spare time. I feel like I’m getting back in my groove again and I’m loving it!

So I was going to wait until it was official but I just can’t wait any longer to share this news!

Starting May 15th, the boyfriend and I are going to have our own stand at our local Farmer’s Market! We haven’t turned in our app yet (still need to think of a name for the business…) but the manager loves our ideas! We will be selling vegan baked goods such as desserts, granola, and date bars (made by your truly) and then we will have other items such as different flavored hummus, spice mixes, salts (the bf is obsessed with salts), homemade nut butters, and other semi healthy vegan foods. I’m really looking forward to starting this business but it is quite stressful! Not to mention costly. This is a huge step for us and we are so thankful for this opportunity. I have hope that good things are going to come our way.

I also want to plan on having monthly giveaways of the products we make for my bloggins. I think that will be fun! Mainly because if it wasn’t for all of you, I wouldn’t be who I am today for so many reasons.

Big thanks!

What are your plans for the weekend?

On Sunday I am hoping to go to a huge Farmer’s Market in Detroit, MI. Basically to find a good deal on dates.