I haven’t posted anything here in over two months, and there’s a good reason for that! Since the last Saturday in April, I’ve been running a booth at our local farmer’s market. And I actually started planning for it three months earlier. I posted about the planting process back in February. The market opened on April 27th, and it feels like it’s been non-stop ever since even though the market is only on Saturdays from 8am to noon.

We love going to farmer’s markets every summer but noticed a lack of vendors who sold herbs. We love growing herbs, but always purchased them from local nurseries. Our love of fresh herbs is what sparked the idea to start our own booth at the market this year. So, herbs have been our focus. As you can see from the photo, we also ventured into flowers and vegetable plants.

It’s been quite the learning experience and has definitely put my years in sales and service (and my business degree) to the test! There was a point early on where I was afraid we didn’t have enough plants, and then weeks later I feared we had too many! Today, we’ve reached a happy medium because we wanted to be running low on plants by July due to the excessive heat.

So what are we going to sell the rest of the season (the market runs through the first Saturday in November)? Yep, we planned for that too! We sell dried herbs and tea blends as well. And we are venturing into baked goods that utilize our herbs, along with herbal vinegars and oils. Here’s a picture that shows our dried herb and tea table that we’ve already had at the market next to the plants.

The plants won’t go completely away for long though. I’ve already planted fall flowers for September and October. We’re selling sunflowers and pumpkin plants now. It’s fun to see what sells week to week, and even more exciting when you don’t have a lot left to pack up at the end of each day.

It’s been a lot of hard work – early mornings to pack up the car, temperatures close to 100 degrees, rain – but we’re already planning to do it again next year. We’ve been keeping track of our expenses and our sales, and we even track our profit margins. I’ve even been selling plants on Facebook Marketplace just to move extra inventory and make some money through the week. Who would have thought crunching all of these numbers and doing all of this extra work to run a side hustle would excite me? But it actually does.

It’s not just the sales and the money. Connecting with people at the market has been a fun experience. We’ve met so many nice people and even have a clan of repeat customers that come to see us each week and hang out. I love sharing my passion for gardening with others and teaching them how to care for plants and how to use their herbs.

Gardening is a passion that’s in my blood and I think that sharing that passion with others comes from my father. I even pay homage to my dad by putting a picture of him on the table each Saturday. It’s nice when people ask about it and I get to share his story. He would have loved to have been at the market with us. I hate that I waited so late in life to really embrace this passion, but better late than never, right?

Two weeks ago I told a friend that doing this even brings me as much joy as doing stand up comedy or writing did, and I’ve been thinking about that statement quite a bit. I gave up comedy in 2019 and have no intention of returning to the stage. And right now, I’m thinking the same about writing. When I’m passionate about something, I really give it my all. As an author, I’ve always had trouble connecting with my audience. You don’t always get that instant gratification or feedback because you aren’t always present; you rarely know who your readers are. By growing plants and sharing them with others, I feel like I’m making a difference. I feel present in that world. And right now, that’s a nice place to be.