Those farm market gardeners can be a wealth of information and a great contact to have.
That.Wifezilla said:That's because you live in Bizzaro World aka California
You can try to dicker with the grower most won't bother. The farmer market price may be higher than supermarket prices because of the quality. Other than root vegs and hard fruit (apples) DON'T kEEP FOR WEEKS. If really looking for bargins, go late, the good stuff will be gone by then, but a grower will usually drastically cut prices rather than cart it home. There used to be a C&W song that said that all the girls looked better at closing time....moneysavingmomma said:
Farmfresh said:Ask them about their farm practice. A lot of the growers at our farm market never use chemicals or sprays, but they still have not done all of the "hoop jumping" so they can not SAY organic on their signs. What that means for me is organic quality with poor farmer prices.
If possible ask to sample!! All corn is NOT created equal and a nibble of a raw ear can decide which farmer deserves your money. All you have to do is ask. Most proud producers are glad to have you taste if you are ready to buy. Look for fresh looking husks and yes even worms! If the ear worms are still alive on the cob the corn is fresh and probably not been sprayed (at least recently). Of course too many worms is bad as well. Strip down a couple of random ears to check.This would get you in trouble in our farm markets where the rule is that "you strip it you bought it" minor pull back at the tassle end to judge the size is usually allowed but it is best to ask first. BTW those ear worms will still be alive and eating a week after the corn is picked so don't use them to judge age. A rule I use is that if it is warm (the corn) search elsewhere. most early morning market produce is picked the night before and stashed in refrig or coolers over night. If the corn is warm it will be starchy not sweet. ~gd
Speaking of corn ... no matter what else you do on market day get that corn shucked and blanched in hot water! As soon as it hits the boiling water the sugar stops turning to starch. Peas are the same way. It will hold in the fridge or freezer after the blanching and can even be easily reheated for supper.
Watch for gluts on the market. If you arrive on market day and simply EVERYONE has a huge pile of green beans for sale you bet green beans will be the bargain of the day.
Shop early AND shop late. If you know you are after fresh tomatoes and it is still early in the season - come early while you can get the pick of the best produce. If you come at the last hour or half hour of market you will often be able to make some good BULK deal purchases. Many times those farmers just don't want to haul their leftovers home and they will give you a great price to just take it all.
Work your work schedule around market day. You are time and money a head if you can get the canner fired up right away and sock away those great summer bargains for a wintery day. Remember some things, like fruit and tomatoes, can just be popped into the freezer straight from market for preserving on a better day. The skins slip right off of a frozen tomato when you run them under some cool water later!
Never be so cheap or drive such a hard bargain that you lose a friend.
)
I will happily pay for my "test ears" if need be. Far better to pay for a couple of random ears than to buy a large quantity of some nasty starchy corn.~gd said:
(Besides that I feed THEM to my chickens!) Farmfresh said:I will happily pay for my "test ears" if need be. Far better to pay for a couple of random ears than to buy a large quantity of some nasty starchy corn. I can't disagree with that. I used to live in western NY where Birdseye had their corn packing plant. they used to time things to the 1/4 hour they had agents on the farm to tell farmers when to pick and would assign a 1/4 hour unloading window, you miss your window you don't unload and you better know some stock man that would buy as feed (they kept a list)~gd said:
While those worms can live a week they are still a good indicator of freshness. Look for healthy active brightly colored worms.
You must not have the corn choice that we have here. Our sweet corn farmers bring it in by the trailer full or truck load. I don't think many people have coolers that big or want to take the extra labor to pick, pack, chill and repack the trucks. Most just drive out into the field and harvest directly into the truck.Most of our full scale sweet corn farmers don't even bother with farmer markets their time is too busy at picking time. In NC they didn't have a history of farmer's markets and 'resellers' as mentioned above were a problem. The dept of Ag & markets stepped in and required
county of origin be posted at such markets. That is county (like Texas Co. MO, sorry that is the only MO county I can think of at the moment!
The old tobacco farms were small because the crop was very labor intensive and the Ag departmen encouraged 'truck' farming when tobacco market agreements were droped by the feds, They also encouraged wineries even though graps don't do well in our climate, the people were buying grape juice from MO by the trailer truck load (your juice is very sweet) and mixing it with tart NC juice so they changed the label rules on NC wine too.
