Moving in the right direction at Pakenham

Todays' Pakenham Rotary Farmers' Market was a step in the right direction. I almost sold out of eggs and there were good sales of garlic and chillies (which help to pay the stall fees).
It was good enough to encourage me to stay there - but as Anne pointed out that may be a false sense of security and the next 12 months may be cr*p.
We had a few returning customers from the old venue for the market at the Pakenham Racecourse - because they had no idea where the market had gone! I don't know why the Rotary Club of Pakenham expects stall fees if they are not going to promote the market properly.
Some stallholders have already left because they have not been doing enough business - and one would think that Rotary people would understand that stallholders are trying to run a business and need to make a profit.
One of the stallholders who left was apparently told that because of the size of his stall he may have to pay two site fees - his response was "I'm not making enough to justify one site fee so I'm not paying two." So he's not! Instead today he was at a market where the stall fee was twice as much but he sold eight times more product.
As long as our sales justify the time spent going to Pakenham we will stick with it but I have heaps of work to do on the farm every day - and it has to get better.
I wasn't on the farm for the delivery of our new flock of chooks today but I'll post pictures of the new girls tomorrow.

Excellent market at Churchill Island

We had an excellent Farmers' Market at Churchill Island on Good Friday. The weather was kind to us and enough people came along to make it a busy day.
Our garlic and chillies sold well, as did the eggs and there were heaps of new customers (which is expected during the holidays).
It's a pity that the market manager is not pushing for the market (and Inverloch which he also runs) to be accredited by the Victorian Farmers Markets Association. We would certainly be more comfortable if it was recognised as a genuine farmers' market - at present there are a number of stalls which do not meet the criteria for VFMA accreditation but that could be rectified with little effort (or revenue loss for the manager).

We will be trying out a new Farmers' Market at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula which is being held on the fourth Sunday every month.
And next Saturday will probably be our last Pakenham Farmers' Market unless there is a dramatic increase in the number of customers. There has been no improvement since the change from Pakenham Racecourse to behind the Cultural Centre. It will be a pity to stop going because we have supported the market for years  but it's a decision that has to be made. There are heaps of things that need to be done on the farm which are more productive than standing around for five or six hours to sell 20 or 30 dozen eggs.

First Pakenham Rotary Farmers' Market went well

Well the first Farmers' Market run by Pakenham Rotary Club went pretty well despite a change to the venue which caused confusion for customers.
As a first effort it was encouraging and we will stick with it to see how things progress. Patronage will need to at least double for it to be considered successful.
One of the big poblems it faces (and the reason for the decline of the market when it was previously held at Pakenham Racecourse) is the sheer number of so-called farmers' markets which have been springing up everywhere.
It if it is a genuine farmers' market with only farm-based stallholders and products it is likely to attract a  loyal number of customers looking for quality food. But if it's just another market selling anything and everything there will be nothing to set it apart.
Rotary has some tight guidelines for the market which make it look promising and they appear to be making an attempt to get it rolling as a genuine farmers' market - let's hope they go for accreditation with the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association.

First Pakenham Farmers' Market at new venue

All stallholders have their fingers crossed that the Pakenham Farmers' Market will work on Saturday at it's new temporary venue - the Pakenham Football Club ground on the highway.
Apparently there was an objection from a neighbour to the proposed venue, behind the Cardinia Cultural Centre, and until that is sorted out the maket had to look for a new temporary home.
Most of the stallholders were not convinced that the Cultural Centre site was a good idea anyway and it has been a toss up to decide whether to stick with the market (which has been slowly dying at the Pakenham Racecourse for two years or so) or pull the plug and find a more productive market.
We will stick with it for a bit longer but patronage needs to improve for it to be viable. The Rotary Cub of Pakenham has taken over running the market, but there has been a distinct lack of communication between Rotary and stallholders and there appears to have been very little promotion of the new venue. The danger is that no-one will know the market is on and if there are even less customers than normal, many stallholders are unlikely to return.

New venue for Cardinia Ranges Farmers' Market

From February, the Cardinia Ranges Farmers' Market will be held outside the Pakenham Cultural Centre at the Lakeside housing devlopment, rather than the Pakenham Racecourse.
There have been some misgivings about the suitability of the venue but hopefully the move will revitalise the market which has been slowly dying for a couple of years.
It has been a good little market, with some loyal customers - but not enough of them. It's rather disappointing to spend five hours or so (plus travelling) on the second Saturday every month to end up taking a heap of produce back to the farm.
When it started, Cardinia Ranges Farmers' Market was magnificent but since then, many so-called Farmers' Markets have popped up and consumers are getting jaded.
The market in its new venue will be operated by Rotary and, as long as it is promoted well, patronage should improve. Hopefully the name will also change to the Pakenham Farmers' Market because of confusion when the Cardinia market is mentioned on the radio with no indication that it is in Pakenham. Another point of concern is that the organisers don't appear to be interested in accrediting the market with the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association.
If it turns into just another market where people sell anything they like even if they haven't grown it or made it themselves, we probably won't be involved for long.