Farmers Markets - Beef, Flowers and Fellowship

As I write this blog which in case you didn’t notice, is the first one I have written since the winter. Work on the farm leaves little time to sit down and put your thoughts on paper if it doesn’t involve record keeping or planning! I wanted to take the time to write this blog as a thanks for everyone that has supported our farm at the market this season!

    We first went to the market half way through the season in July of 2017. I will admit I put off going to the market because I was afraid that no one would want to buy my flowers or as I had been told the “market” in China Grove won’t support flowers. That first market I sold four small bouquets and I was so excited. I am embarrassed to say that the first market I didn’t even have sleeves to put the flowers in and handed them to customers in red solo cups with water. I would advance to plastic sleeves and then finally to the environmentally friendly sleeves I use today. A lot of things have changed in the past two and half years, including that we now even have a trailer. I might add the reason we even have a trailer is because during that first year, people would say “flowers, is that all you do on your farm”? After many times explaining what else we grew and produced I convinced my brother we should start selling our meat, hence where “beef and blooms” came from. While our marketing appearance has changed, there is one thing that hasn’t and that is the commitment that my brother and I have for quality products. I know you are familiar with that saying that a person is only as good as their word, well in our case our farm is only as good as the products we produce. The products we present to the public is not only the face of our farm but the heart and soul of our farm! We take pride in everything we do, and I hope it shows.

     When we first started at the market, I was worried about trying to sell my flowers as I am not a “salesman”. I am not sure my “salesmanship” has improved, but my ability to tell our story and create relationships has. I was never prepared for the friendships I would make with other farmers and the baker at the market and all our customers! There are those customers who come to check on me every week, most tell me if they will not be there the next week, while those who forget to tell me, get, from me when they return “I missed you last week”. The support from our community for our products has been overwhelming and my brother and I are so blessed because of it. I have said before that my brother was born to farm and it just took me a little longer to get there. Farming is my brother’s full-time job, while I work full time off the farm and farm when I get home! When I added cut flowers to our farm in 2016 it was in part because I wanted something of my own on the farm, as well as I wanted to diversify what our farm did. When we started selling our meat in 2018 it was also a diversification of our farm products. Neither of these diversifications would have been possible without the support of our community at the farmers market. So, what I am about to say I may have said some of before, and if you have heard it before please, indulge me, because I foresee saying it every year. It begins with Thank you. Thank you for allowing our products to be at your dinner table, at your special events and given to your loved ones! Thank you for allowing my flowers to brighten your kitchen and someone’s life as you often share you are buying them as a gift for someone! Thank you for trusting us to be your family’s farmer and to provide you with beef and blooms!

     Our farm has been in our family for over a hundred years and we most definitely hope it will continue to be for over a hundred more. As we had our last market at the mill for the season last Friday, I am already brain storming for what we can do next year! We hope to see everyone back at the market next year! I will end my blog by saying thank you for supporting our farm and allowing us to continue in the footsteps of generations of farmers in our family before us! Here’s to beef, flowers and fellowship all at the Market at the Mill in China Grove!