One Door Slammed Shut, Another Said, "Come Ovah Heeyah"

Delicious Persian Chicken & Saffron Rice

Unless you have done the Farmer's Market, Seasonal Fair, and Special Event circuit as a seller of any item, food, or craft, there is just so much that goes into planning, paperwork, payments, taking payments, serving the public, permits and licenses, the set-up, the tear-down, the clean-up, and then recovering during the aftermath. There is a LOT that goes into this.

Despite the Manchester Farmer's Market coming to an early demise halfway through the season, I had remained glued to my computer in search of other weekly events that I could participate in. I had thoroughly enjoyed my first experience with participating in a Farmer's Market. Served quite a bit of food, met some great people, and enjoyed standing on my own among others.

It's a shame that the first Farmer's Market experience had soured so much. But it was certainly not surprising, but definitely sucked for all of us vendors who were showing up.

One night around 1130pm, I'm about to throw in the towel and go to bed. I had been searching for a few hours on different websites, Chambers of Commerce, FB/IG pages, and it finally came up in my search that another Farmer's Market would have a weekly set-up! Coming up on the radar, I found the Milford Farmer's Market is in full swing! I reached out to learn more about the market and decided I would pay a visit! Sure enough, my husband was very curious as well. We drove over, parked the truck, and started walking over to the vendor area. Out of the blue, not even 25 feet from the canopy out front, a woman stared over at us and raised her hand, pointing a finger at me. I had a WICKED big smile and pointed right back at her! LOL! It was so damn hilarious to see her first reaction. She didn't even have to say a word; the woman knew who I was! We shared with her that this was a "getting to know you" trip and wanted to come down to meet the vendors and get a feel for the vibe. The Event Coordinator (the woman who quickly figured out who I was also!) had shared some details with us, and was glad to see we came down.

Just like any other farmer's market, you work one way and go around to see the other side of vendors. They had live entertainment keeping everyone company. I met with SO MANY vendors there who offered many wonderful items, including farmers with their fresh produce. I introduced myself to everyone that I would be coming in next week to offer freshly cooked, hot meals to sell and also sell my spice rub line. The feedback was AWESOME! "You mean, the vendors get to actually eat food while we work?!" - it was that moment; I had a huge BINGO. They were very excited to have me come on board. We worked our way back to the Event Coordinator's table to go over a few things: where I would be setting up, how customers come in. It was such a pleasant, inviting experience to be with someone who actually cares about their Farmer's Market's success! I see loads of advertising through social media, which is awesome! I see the vendors are featured individually, which is what a good market does! They also feature brand new businesses starting at their market as well! I'm LOVING that!

So - paperwork is done. It's time to load up the Konky-mobile!