What are the most popular fruit varieties that are in high demand at your local farmers’ market?? (Please include location. I am looking at growing fruit for a farmers’ market in middle Tenn. zone 7a). Thanks!!
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Strawberries and tomatoes. Zone 6a Finger Lakes. Cherries do well too. I’ve seen some unusual stuff like pineberries, honeyberries do decently but hard to make a generalization off the limited sample size.
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This is a good question! Lets see how many people just say tomatoes, apples and pears!
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Hi there;
It’s my best-selling jam but I doubt that people are interested by this fruit in it’s fresh state: ground cherries.
Marc
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In the places where I have lived, it seems that tomatoes are the hit. When I lived in Richmond, the “Hanover Tomatoes” were all that. I dont know that there was anything special about them, but somehow they earned a claim to fame.
I see lots of fresh baked bread, too. A homesteading farm not too far from us grinds his own flour, and bakes bread twice a month. Folks stop by or place an order on line. They know that on the weekend closest to the 1st and 15th, fresh bread is on the table.
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It’s good to know jam/jelly is a popular seller. In growing elderberries, my wife might like to make some elderberry jelly for sale.
THanks!
My wife loves to bake bread so she might like to bake some loaves when I do a farmers’ market next summer.
@wfwalton, my idea about my fruit trees was always a farmers market. I was thinking something like @thecityman did, like bagging them. I can never compete with the larger farms, but maybe I can take a different approach and tell the history of the fruit, mention its characteristics, and show a pic. I think it makes a great gift for someone. One of the things I really like about this site is learning the background about different fruits. I enjoy reading Lee Calhoun’s Southern Apples. Perhaps my ideas are more of a labor of love than a business, but that speaks to me.
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I am thinking outside of farmers markets.
I am just starting a small (half acre) orchard with very non-standard fruit for this area. Asian Persimmon and Pawpaw. Both are starting out with the wild native root stock but will be grafted later. I am thinking of trying to convince the local catering groups to try something new and different recipes. I would also open it up to pick your own for the neighbors (in a subdivision).
A different twist than farmers markets but it sounds really good. I have read often about folks with greenhouses providing fresh vegetables for restaurants when other gardens are out of season. Having a unique garden niche would provide something that no one else could.
I wish you the best and be sure and post pics as you go along.
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Best wishes. Asian persimmons are popular on the west coast. For my taste, they taste like a cross between an apple and a tomato.
I would love to try a Pawpaw. Pawpaws supposedly have a great, tropical taste like custard mangoes, but are supposedly slow to bear and the fruit does not keep long (short storage life).
Best wishes!
Our local farmer’s market has one “vendor” seasonally selling beans, potatoes, corn, etc… Sometimes there will be someone there with apples or other fruit. Occasionally someone with bread or jams/jellies. It opens at 12PM one day per week, for a few hours. Town of ~3000 or so.
Just up the road is a store with tons of fruit and vegetables. Many they source from big commercial suppliers, but also a fair amount from local growers. They’re open 6 days a week. I’ve mentioned to the owner that I’m growing a lot of apple varieties, although nowhere near “production” levels just yet… He expressed interest. Maybe in a year or 3 I might have enough to sell to him.
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This is just from observation, I don’t know growers that sell at our farmers market personally, so my impression may be off somewhat. It’s zone 6-7 here, intermountain west, major metropolitan area and the largest market in the area, open on Saturdays for a few hours. Tomatoes are always popular, especially varieties you won’t get in stores. Peaches (and apricots) are always a big item, especially since stuff at stores is well, we all know. Not really ripe. Cherries, too, but I suspect less so than peaches since you can get decent ones at grocers. Other than that, apples do well in the fall - there is a farm selling their apples year round more or less and their stand always seems to get business. Berries - more so raspberries and blackberries than strawberries. There’s a tart cherry orchard - I understand there are many but most sell directly to industry - that sells at the market: syrup, dried cherries, and buckets of frozen fresh pitted cherries (with or without sugar added). And darn, so many times if I got there a little later, he was out of the fresh/frozen stuff, so it must be selling!
There’s a guy that only sells garlic when the season comes - eating garlic and seed garlic. That’s not fruit, sorry, got carried away.
From the processed stuff there’s a company that made a name for themselves in jams over the last 10 years or so. Started at the market, now they also stock at select local grocers. A bit pricy, but great quality and well worth it - they do interesting combinations that I cave in to buy because either a) can’t buy that type of berry anyway or b) maybe could buy the fruit and make it myself but it’s just too tempting to try what they came up with. I tried their pear and lavender jam this year, wonderful! I think some of the farms growing fruit started dabbling in preserves on the side a bit, too.
There are also several small businesses selling savory type of sauces: hot sauces, BBQ sauces, canned salsas. Again, not fruit, although some are made with some fruit. But I think it highlights how the market has grown and also how it seems there are more and more kinds of things people sell - and buy.
That sounds like a good idea - I know there are a few market vendors here that also sell to local restaurants. There’s a lady who sells tomato starts in the spring, and I know she sells her fruit and produce to the restaurants. I think it started with heirloom tomatoes as a selling point and now they source other produce from her too. And it’s not a farm - it’s an urban backyard. In your case if you have fruit that local folks may not be initially familiar with, getting them interested by having it served by catering sounds like a great idea!