For Bill Cole, the arrival of farmers market season means business is about to pick up.
“I’ve got about a five- to seven-month window,” said Cole, owner of Vancouver-based Nature’s Wild Harvest. “That’s where I make most of my income.”
Cole’s company sells wild mushrooms and other foraged foods at the Vancouver Farmers Market, plus a handful of other Portland-area markets. He’s not the only vendor who hits multiple markets throughout the year. But business models vary, and local growers weigh a variety of factors in deciding where to set up, or whether to do so at all.
Some local farms focus more on direct sales to customers through community-supported agriculture programs, or CSAs. Some are able to land their yields on grocery store shelves. Most find some combination of ways to sell their bounty.
How local farms approach the market season can differ widely from one grower to the next, said Vancouver Farmers Market director Jordan Boldt.
“It really depends on the business model that works best for them,” Boldt said.
Cole has sold at the Vancouver market for 16 years. But Nature’s Wild Harvest tends to see better sales at the Portland markets where produce options are more plentiful and people come looking for them, he said. Many vendors don’t work the same market all year; some come and go or emphasize a particular time of year depending on what’s in season.
The Vancouver Farmers Market kicked off its 2014 season in March. Others in the county will start later this spring and summer.
Coyote Ridge Ranch plans to sell this year at the Salmon Creek Farmers Market, which is open Tuesdays and Thursdays. Valerie Alexander, owner of the La Center-based farm, said that decision has a lot to do with the market’s clientele, and its manager, Ann Foster.
“She wants to keep it a local market, and mostly as organic as possible,” Alexander said. “That’s a big plus for us.”
Coyote Ridge also relies on on-site “u-pick” offerings for its commercial sales, Alexander said. By the time many of its vegetables are ready for harvest, the summer market offers another outlet to sell them, she said. The Salmon Creek market begins in July.
“It’s great for all of us, because that’s when the main crops come in that you would sell at a market,” Alexander said.
Coyote Ridge has been selling commercially for 15 years, and growing longer than that, Alexander said. But farmers markets can be a particularly good setting for newer, less established growers looking to find customers and make connections, Boldt said. Maybe a pepper grower meets and partners up with a vendor who sells salsa and can use his product, for example. (A true story, according to Boldt.)
Clark County’s farmers markets can offer a very different collection of vendors and choices. Boldt said he’s heard the perception that the Vancouver Farmers Market has little more than arts and crafts. But of 185 vendors that will sell there this year, more than half are food or farm-related, he said.
“Vancouver supports that kind of diverse market really well,” Boldt said. The market is celebrating its 25th season this year.
Many experienced vendors know how to make the most of the market season. They also know there’s at least one factor they can’t control: the weather.
On a rainy day, “we’ll earn about half of what we would on a nice sunny day,” Cole said. “The weather plays a big part.”
