As a freshmen in highschool I started my own business growing and selling heirloom tomato plants started from seed. This year it has grown enormously to include heirloom basil, lettuce, onions, flowers, squash, and cucumbers in addition to 17 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I will be selling on May 5, 12, and 19 and am trying to design a professional and catchy looking booth. Does anyone have any ideas? What draws you in to a booth at a market? moderator's note: removed website link, see point 1.1 of usage rules
Big sign, white background, colorful lettering "Heirlooms!" Then an uncluttered booth--don't put out everything you have, just a basket or two of each, and keep the baskets replenished (baskets are a good idea, too and they don't have to match). Recipe cards if you can manage it. Have 3"x5" cards to give with the plants/produce you sell. Paper bags for your customers who don't bring their own bags/baskets. You can even charge a nickel for them. Smile! No matter how beautiful and attractive the booth, no greeting and no smile will drive customers away in droves.
Include a PICTURE of the mature fruit..People seem to only care if it is red or not for me. A picture is the eye catcher for the customer. Do you have them labeled with preprinted tags or a hand printed tag? a preprinted labeled tag with the picture always sells the first for me, no matter where I am selling. If you keep doing this ( I am not sure how the business works in your state, you may need a vendors license to purchase wholesale) I would encourage you to contact a supplier for tags from a company such as john henry or master tag. These make it so much easier to label them and the customer has clear understanding of the product after they get home. Especially if they are chose a variety they aren't familiar with.
And please,, know your product. If someone asks a question what they do not want to hear is "I don`t know" ! Remember some of your customers may have no knowledge of heirloom varieties or how the differ from hybrids.
