Our Story: The Farmer's Market
Summer is so close! In our little corner of Northwest Tennessee, green tomatoes are starting to weigh down the vines, lazy calves are taking sunshine-induced naps, and the only time I see my husband before 9 p.m. is when we get the occasional spring shower. I do love spring showers!
I’m not complaining. I love everything about summer! And I knew when I married my farmer that there would be seasons like this. Naturally, I prepared by finding a new outlet for my energy and creativity.
Derek and I agreed from the beginning that participating in the Farmer’s Market would be a great opportunity for us to reach our community, grow our business, and keep me entertained this summer! :)
So the goal to sell beef at the Obion County Farmer’s Market in the summer of 2017 was born. The next steps were to wade through the state regulations, pass the inspections, and create a transportation system that was more sophisticated than a cooler in my Ford Focus.
I suppose it is lucky that I have so much time on my hands.
And such a handsome… I mean, handy husband.
On rainy days, Derek set to work building me the farmer’s market stand of my dreams! It will ride beside our new chest freezer in a used-but-new-to-us enclosed trailer. I worked on making business cards, developing marketing strategies, and getting in touch with key people like the farmer’s market coordinators (who have all been so helpful!), Yoder Brothers Meat Processing, and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
And all our work is paying off!
We have our retail meat permit, a safe and capable transportation system, and a new Giffin Farms Facebook page. Most importantly we have a freezer full of delicious, grain-fed, USDA-inspected, custom-labeled steaks and ground beef. And I have a grand new adventure in front of me.
Each Saturday, beginning June 3rd, I will roll out of bed at 5:30 a.m. so that I can be set up and smiling when the Obion County Farmer’s Market opens at 7:00 a.m. And as often as I can, I'm going to set up at the Martin Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.
I hope that as the summer days roll by, I will be able to make new friends in my new community. I hope I get to buy lots of fresh vegetables from my fellow Obion County producers. I hope that I’ll get to share why my family raises and eats healthy, grain-fed beef. And I hope that the people who carry our meat home to their families will be proud to do so.
And thank goodness I won’t be stuck inside binging on Netflix during the beautiful, farming-filled days of summer. I’ll be doing a little feeding-the-world of my own! :)
Hope to see you there!
M