First Farmer's Market!

Trying to coerce people into trying my shiz.  

Thursday was the first market, and I am now an official Jaminatrix!  I could tell you that I was cool and breezy and not worried, but that would be a big, FAT lie.  I had a couple, ok SEVERAL, minor freak-outs on Wednesday.  Do I have enough stuff?  Do I have too much?  Will I even make back the booth fee ($10)?  Why don’t I have a husband to help me, or at the very least comfort me?  Why don’t I have any parents to alleviate my fears?  Why are there no grown-ups to ask!?  Yeah…I went there.  It was ever so slightly fatalistic, and entirely melodramatic, but pretty funny now that I’m not in the moment.  

Everything I had planned to sell (and much much more than I could ever have sold in one day) was made and ready to go by Tuesday.  I spent the day Wednesday tending to details like tent weights, sunscreen, and labels.  My bro and his wife did an AMAZING job making label templates that I could just fill in and print here at home—convenient and fabulously creative—and everybody at the market RAVED about them!  In addition to all the other details (you would not believe the rules and restrictions that apply, and the statements that must appear on the labels), I was trying to win the “market’s cutest table contest” that I had going on in my head.  I thank my cousin Angie for that, who started the whole thing when we went to a winery, and she busted out her picnic basket set complete with tablecloth and all the accoutrements one could need for a day of wine and cheese.   My table was pretty gorge, but it’s hard to make it beautiful when all you have are jars, and I think the booth with all the vases of wildflowers just might have edged me out.  I’m already plotting improvements for next week; think window displays a la the 1987 classic, Mannequin.  

See...pretty cute, mostly due to the table cloth, but one can only do so much with jars.  Next week, perhaps I'll add some different layers/heights, maybe a vase with some fresh fruit?  

So…a solid 22 jars sold, 2 jars exchanged for some wildflowers, a piece of red velvet cake, and a plan to pair a bratwurst sample with my relish for next week, and a possible 2 more markets I can join.  Not too shabby for my first day! 

A special thank you to everyone who stopped by to visit me, and to Lauren and Rachel for all their help!  No joke, there wouldn't have been samples without Rachel bringing the covers, and without Lauren, who constantly made sure the samples were "stocked."