Little Bitty City Pretty

In my area, our Farmers markets open up around the first of June and lasts until the end of September. Although we still have few months, now is the perfect time to start perfecting new recipes, planning your menu, and making your market booth setup spectacular.

Something to Consider

One of the things I would recommend doing to help decide what your menu would be, is to ask around or search the internet to see what others are selling and how well it’s sells in your area. I know in my area there are not a lot of savory options. Event organizers have warned sellers of the over saturation of sweet food venders. While I would absolutely recommend having sweet treats in your line up, I would strongly recommend having savory foods as well.

Packaging

Know what packaging you need and buy a batch to test out to make sure your foods will fit well, stay fresh, and the packaging is good quality. The last thing you need to have all your foods ready to go but your packaging isn’t the right size or poor quality. I’ve learned that just because it has “good reviews” that doesn’t mean the packaging product is any good, unfortunately.

Safety Transport Your Food

Let’s think of how we are going to transport our goodies to the markets safely. You want to make sure your cupcakes and loaf breads will stay perfectly beautiful. Bins or boxes from Walmart or The Home Depot could work well. It all just depends on what you’re making and how much you can put into one containers. For instance, a lot of cookies can be placed in one box because you don’t have to worry about them getting smushed during the drive, but cakes need more protection and aren’t as easily stackable. Again, make sure the packages and transport containers you buy are tested before the big day.

Your Market Booth

One thing I noticed right away when visiting our areas farmers market is that no booth stood out to me. It was just plain 10×10 canopy pop up’s with plain white folding tables and people sitting around in their folding chairs. Everyone was nice and the experience was alright, but nothing stood out.

I would recommend thinking about how you want your booth to look, what’s the vibe, and how can you make an impression on market goers. Stand out! Have a little signage, use color, build or buy displays for your goods. Make it eye catching! Have fun with it. Keep it neat with storing boxes and other unused items under a table with a nice tablecloth.

Farmers Market Sign Up

Now is also a great time to get signed up for your local Farmers Market. You’re able to sign up and prepay for your spot! Remember that you aren’t supplied with a canopy, chairs, table, nothing.. so make sure you have everything ready to go beforehand. Good luck and happy baking!