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My week off work, the ground is covered with snow, we had maybe 30 minutes of sunlight today. A good day to plan for spring. Farmers Markets have become so popular here that it is hard to stand out or even to become a vendor as the managers try to limit competition. I was thinking about the things I intend to grow and then got an idea of "going purple." In addition to standard fare, add a different color twist to my produce. A few Googles later, I found several things to sell:
Purple Sweet Potatoes
Purple Beans
Purple Snap Peas
Purple Eggplants
Purple Cucumbers
Purple Bell Peppers
Purple Carrots
Purple Lettuce (Merlot)

I would like to find a purple tomato but the Cherokee Purple I grew (besides not being the least bit productive) was more a dark red/black tom.

Might also try some other colors of produce if it will halp me get into a couple of well-established markets!

Mike
 
clever marketing plan mike, them gardening would differentiate your products from others, hopefully you won't have to educate the consumer - you never know if someone would be turned off by an unfamiliar colour!

i notice on a previous post that you had included the purple sweet potato, i was glad to see that - for no other reason than its not the orange variety - I was going to reply to your growing list but the wife took over our main computer for her work purposes and i couldn't wrestle the kids away from their laptop.
 
BC,

One advantage is that I am a natural salesperson, not that I can sell Eskimos freezers in winter or anything similar but because I know the produce and really get into it. Yeah, there are always those few people who refuse to buy anything except things they have ate all their life, but I intend to "market" my goods - especially at one FM if I am accepted. Have recipes (for a purple sweet potato pie with pecan crust, for instance!), samples - a crispy garden salad with carrots, lettuce, chard, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes - all kept in a cooler, nutritional info. Later in the season The one market averages about 300 people per week and they tend to have pockets that money burns a hole in. They were paying $3/lb for tomatoes in July, $13 for a dozen eggs that were from free range, organically-fed chickens. My plan is to not use anything but organic ferts on the plants. I won't be able to claim they are organically-grown, only that they were grown using organic practices (stupid, idiotic, Ohio laws!).

The TV stations are talking about the Blizzard of '10, we are talking about stuff that needs 80 degree temps or higher to grow!

Mike
 
sounds like a cool idea. Hopefully the FM will go for it.

Good Luck~
 
Ciao Michael-

Happy New Year. I can help you with the purple tomatoes part. There are other purple vegetables that you didn't mention:

Purple Tomatillos
Purple (regular non-sweet) Potatoes
Purple Corn
Purple Shelling/Soup Peas
Purple Cauliflower
Purple Radishes
Purple Kohlrabi
Purple Kale
Purple Pac Choi
 
check out New World Seeds and Tubers, they have a few varieties of what they call "blue" tomatoes, which are actually a deep purple colour, I picked up a few of these to try out this year.

There is also the purple top turnips and purple onions.

If I were there Mike, I would be buying all the purple varieties, I always buy the "neat" things, which is how I found out how delicious Green Zebra tomatoes are, same with the Black Prince, tasty maters.
 
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