Looking Back on the 2006 Farmer's Market Season

Well, 2006 was our first foray into making a living at raising pastured poultry. I am pleased with the results.

The farmer's markets in Binghamton and Vestal, NY were both successful. We developed a loyal customer base that truly appreciated the quality of our chickens and baked goods. Even better than selling out most weeks toward the end of the season, were the relationships we developed with the other vendors and with the customers. We really came to care about the customers as people, and my wife actually shed a few tears (along with a couple of customers) when saying goodbye at the end of October. It was a pleasure to interact with people who care about their food and where it comes from.

We got a chance to see a few of them again when we distributed pasture-raised turkeys for Thanksgiving. That also went very well. I hope to increase the number of turkeys next year, since demand far exceeded our supply.

We learned a lot this year and made continual improvements throughout the season in areas of production, presentation, marketing and record keeping. We will be experimenting with having customers pre-order products next year and hope to introduce a few new value-added products, also.

Looking forward to next year!

Gil