Farmer's Market Experience

Hey would you like to taste some wonderful jams and salsas?

The past three weeks, I brought my jams, salsas, and butters to market through the new Farmers Market Association in Borger, Texas.  Jams Gone Wild was created last year as an online mail order division of The Snow Buttercup Company.  At Jams Gone Wild, we grow our own ingredients for our products and also harvest from the Southwest Wilderness.  I have been test marketing the products the past two years, working on labels, logos, website, and the recipes for the jams, jellies, salsas, and butters. My family and friends encouraged me to take the business to another level... to the people!!   After encouragement from my supportive family and friends, I signed up for the farmers market as a new member.  I decided to use my backyard umbrella, table, and chairs from World Market for my booth. The jams, jellies, butters were all packaged in Kerr Jars and decorated with designer materials for the tops.  I used labels designed in an American Greeting Design Program and they are cute! I took pictures of the fruit out in the wild or right on the tree and used the photos on the labels.   I choose material to match the fruits and for the next market or bazaar, the jams, butters, and salsas will be dressed in Christmas attire:)  People seem to love the pretty jars and one customer said it reminded them of their grandmother. The extra time designing paid off.  The night before the first farmers market, I went to bed at 5 a.m. and arrived at the market at 7 a.m.  You see, I had underestimated the time it would take me to finish a few labels, cut the decorative tops, and load everything in the BMW.  After loading everything, with help from my husband, I decided I would need a pickup or SUV for the business. The bimmer was full!

The last day of the Farmer's Market for this year is Friday.  Next year, I plan to be at the Farmers Market in Amarillo on Saturdays!  I will also be harvesting wild cactus soon and other fruit, berries, and cacti which will be ready for harvest. The rest of the year, I will be selling on the website, bazaars, festivals, and making holiday gift baskets.  The farmers market experience has helped me narrow my brands and the people decided what brands I will be offering.  The most important part of marketing is knowing your market and meeting customer needs. My passion and love has been harvesting interesting and new produce directly from the wild to add to the jams, jellies, and butters. The wilderness offers produce only grown with soil, sunshine, moisture, and whatever nutrients Mother Nature decides to christen them with.  A prickly pear tuna is packed with antioxidants not present in other fruits and has unique medicinal qualities.   I believe produce from the wilderness will help solve some of our current health problems. I hope to research further medicinal uses of plants, berries, and cacti to add to the products.  Jams Gone Wild products will not only taste good, but also be a healthy addition for our customers diet.   The process has been very rewarding for me personally, especially when I witnessed a small child or grown adult taste cactus jelly for the very first time.   The looks on their faces:  Priceless!