Tent Talk

Oct 28 2024 320 ep. 38 mins 34

Tent Talk Podcast artwork

Tent Talk is a podcast for farmers' market managers, farmers, food makers, and anyone who counts on farmers’ markets as a source of income. Please join us as we interview farmers’ market experts, talk about ways to improve local food communities, and provide you with tips on building a successful farmers’ market business. Tent Talk is produced by Farmers Market Pros.

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Ep 317: Fee Here Now: Collecting Market Rent

Oct 28 2024 55 mins

Bookkeeping is yet another of the many hats that farmers market managers wear. There are so many formulas for setting space rent at markets and, especially post-Covid, a whole variety of ways to manage calculating and actually collecting those fees. Do you use a market management program with built in invoicing? Are you adding up percentages of sales and handling cash at the market

Ep 316: Jessica Mullen: Learn, Teach, and Grow

Oct 21 2024 47 mins

How do you learn and grow in your farmers market career? We met Jessica Mullen of South Carolina's Travelers Rest Farmers Market when she traveled to San Diego for InTents, the national Farmers Market conference. In this episode of Tent Talk, Jessica shares what she finds valuable about InTents and other conferences and networking with other market professionals. She's all about le

Ep 315: Conference Look Ahead

Oct 14 2024 25 mins

What's new and exciting, and what's comforting and familiar about InTents, the multinational Farmers Market Conference? Join us for a quick look ahead to what's in store in March 2025. What's NEW: 2025 Theme: Speak Up for Farmers Markets! Brand new venue with rooms and meeting spaces under one roof Central location with shops and restaurants and the beach nearby Break out track

Ep 314: Peter Henry: Easing Farmers' Labor Pains

Oct 07 2024 58 mins

While working for a cheese maker at New York City farmers markets, Peter Henry started thinking about ways producers could expand their reach and increase efficiencies. Now, Ten by Ten Logistics serves more than a dozen farmers at markets throughout New York. Peter continues to explore and refine systems of transporting goods to market, managing inventory and using staff based clos

Ep 313: Ask The Pros!

Sep 30 2024 39 mins

It's another Ask the Pros episode this week, with a mix of topics based on listener questions. We always find that discussing one person's question helps others that are pondering some variation of the same thing. If we don't necessarily have THE answer, we have ideas and experience and those might inspire your handy solution. There's nothing quite like the hive mind. This week we'

Ep 312: 4th Quarter Team Work

Sep 23 2024 26 mins

The fourth quarter rolls around every year, but somehow we often forget what to do to prepare for it. Listen in as we chat about moving past the September slump. We're looking forward and making plans to make the upcoming season more productive and less stressful. How are you getting ahead of things? Reminding farmers and vendors that this cycle happens every year Planning ahead

Ep 311: Every Week or Once a Year: Patricia and Brett Keller on Event Management Skills

Sep 16 2024 40 mins

Managing a farmers market is just like managing a craft fair or fall festival, right? Yes. And no. There are similarities and there are big differences between coordinating vendors on a weekly basis and once a year. When experienced annual event managers Patricia and Brett Keller took over a local farmers market after the sudden departure of its founding manager, they learned a few

Ep 310: Transforming Communities: The Power and Potential of Farmers Markets with Catt Fields-White

Sep 09 2024 46 mins

This week we're sharing something a little bit different: a podcast episode where Catt Fields White is the featured guest. Enjoy this conversation from the Fresh Take podcast about the importance of supporting local farmers, small businesses and of course farmers' markets. If Catt doesn't convince you over the next 45 minutes that farmers markets will save the planet, you might wan

Ep 309: Giving Away The Farm: Market Discounts And Donations

Sep 02 2024 41 mins

Market participants are a generous bunch, so how do you make sure your farmers and vendors don't give away the farm, so to speak? Freebies and discounts that are shared with market managers, staff and fellow vendors are fun. Still, some guidelines are important. Gifts from the market to your community's worthy causes are the same. Keeping your heart and your business mind aligned i

Ep 308: Ashley Colpaart: Prepping Partnership: Farmers Markets and Shared Kitchens

Aug 26 2024 41 mins

When The Food Corridor offered a Shared Kitchen-101 workshop at the 2023 InTents Conference, it was a sell out. It's no wonder. In a survey of food businesses operating out of shared kitchens, farmers markets were the most commonly used sales channels, with over 50% responding that they sell at one or more farmers markets. A shortage of kitchens ultimately means a shortage of food