Farmer's Market?

jmzako · Post by **jmzako** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:46 pm

Has anyone out there had any experience selling cactus and succulents at a farmer's market? Are there any words of advise in regards to making it a success? Any downfalls? What sells, what doesn't?

Post by **daiv** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 3:29 am

I have no cactus selling experience at all. I think you'll find the ones that sell best are the ones with straw-flowers and googly eyes glued on.

Or at least that seems to work at the Big garden centers.

*Barracuda_52* · Post by ***Barracuda_52*** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 5:10 am

I think cacti and succulents would sell ok at a farmers market, people are always looking for something diffrent than fruits and veggies, people sell flowers and plants all the time at ours up here. Alot of farmers markets have roses and ground cover plants, other flowers and even some succulents.

dustin0352 · Post by **dustin0352** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 5:37 am

lol Daiv, but you do have a point. The straw flowers and google eyes will sell them, but the real question is........ Could you live with your self knowing you sold it to someone who will kill it. If you are going to sell at the farmers market keep the genus a simple, easy to take care of one. Gotta remember the average Joe just wants purty flowers in his mulched flower bed.

iann · Post by **iann** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 9:34 am

My experience has been that a Delosperma 6 months from seed and with a few flowers will fetch a better price and more buyers than a 10 year old Ariocarpus. Try Opuntias, anything big and recognisable.

mendel · Post by **mendel** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 1:32 pm

I plan on selling cold hardy cacti and succulents at the farmers markets in Denver and Colorado springs starting next year. Every indication is that they will sell well. Keepuing the price down is important IMO, I think cacti could be classified as an 'impulse' buy item (in my experiance at least).

jmzako · Post by **jmzako** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:28 pm

In my water district they have started water restrictions due to drought. They have been preaching this for a year now and in this last year residents of the community are making drastic changes to their landscapes. Xeriscaping is the big thing now. I see the impulse buys that are scattered around the big box outlets and it makes me roll my eyes also but there are quite a few serious people out there right now due to the fines being paid for going over water limits.
I'm happy to see this change going on. My So. Cal. neighborhood is beginning to look alot like areas of Phoenix and Scottsdale Az. whose landscapes I envy.

Silenus · Post by **Silenus** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 5:54 pm

Christmas cactus, Lithops and other oddities sell. Things like Opuntia will up North, but in my experience columnar cacti like Cereus species do sell well if the spines aren't long. People in general don't like to be poked by their purchase.