I met my group downtown at 5 PM at the farmers market in Derby Square. My first reaction was that it was very similar to the market in my town! There were many different farms that where there selling their products. I thought the setup of the market was fun and I loved the fact that when we went there were dancers there! As soon as the song thriller came on all these zombies jumped up and started dancing, it was so cool!At the farmers market we met with Chris from Grants Family Farm, his Aunt was also there helping him out at the market!
What are your most popular flowers/ vegetable to sell?
Their most popular flowers to sell are Zinnias. Their most popular vegetables are lettuce and arugula.
What is your most popular product to sell?
Eggs are always a big hit and actually when we were there they had sold out of eggs.
In a typical week how many hours on average do you spend tending to the farm lands?
Over the summer he told us that he spends on average 80 hours waking up at 4:30 AM, now that's dedication! Over the winter since there is less to do he sleeps into about 6:30 AM and spends less time tending to the farm.
Being at the Salem farmers market, how does it play a role in developing a sense of place?
Working on a farm and selling their produce at the Salem farmers market is a tradition for him and his family. His grandfather started it and there was a break and then it re started. When his grandmother found out they were starting it up again she was so happy!
Why did the name change from Grant’s Plants to Grant’s Family Farms?
The name changed because they used to plant for garden centers and they changed the name when they started more traditional farming to sell at farmers markets.
What would it mean to be certified by a third party?
It would cost a lot to be certified by a government third party.
When did you decide you wanted to work on a farm, and sell your products at farmers markets?
It was an easy choice since he grew up with it. He had an office job for a few months but he was not enjoying his job and so that was when he knew he wanted to work on the farm and sell at farmers markets. However he did tell us how retail is tough and its hard to stand up for four hours and smile and communicate with everyone.
What is the community like in Salem at the farmers market?
He discussed how he loved seeing his regular customers children growing up. He also stated how the whole month of October is crazy at the farmers market.
What is the craziest thing you have encountered since starting up your farm?
When I asked him whats the craziest thing since he has started he said besides it being in Salem I get weird questions. For example when something has run out, "can you check out back" or "are the chickens happy, do they have names".
Yes it did make an impact on their vegetable crops but they still had enough to sell at the farmers markets.
Are you in any other farmers markets?
The answer is yes Grants Family Farm participates in three farmers markets, Salem, Swampscott, and Marblehead.
Does any non- family members work there?
When we asked him he said no its all family run and he is the only full time employee the rest of the family is part time.
When did the farm begin?
It began in the 70's when it was bought, for a time it there was a break before Chris and his brother re started it in 2006.How affordable is your products?
Their eggs are roughly the same price as store eggs, where as the vegetables are a bit more expensive.
I loved going to the farmers market it was a great experience and it was fun to get a fresh insight into another part of Salem! I loved waling around with all my friends and seeing the different vendors there. I also really enjoyed watching the zombie dancers. It was also a great experience to get to talk to some of the locals and met their dogs!! Going to the farmers market helped me to develop my sense of place because it gave me a chance to meet with locals and discover another great aspect of Salem!
No comments:
Post a Comment