The Gloomy Side of Genius

I have developed an abhorrence to the word 'idea'. It has been three weeks now since we started selling at the Farmer's Market and by all accounts this year has been the worst for business. For example, two years ago, on the Saturday before Mother's Day, we sold almost $1400 dollars worth. This year, on the Saturday before Mother's Day, we only sold about $800. This past Saturday, we only sold $400.

Here we are, every Saturday, forever.

People are always complimenting us on how beautiful our stuff is and how creative we are, then they take pictures, write things down, walk away, bring back their friends and say 'wow, that really is a great idea. Let's head to the nursery, they are much cheaper.' They are wrong. And they will come crawling back to us when they realize that our stuff is too cheap. Too cheap for it to be worthwhile for us to continue doing this.

People come to the Farmer's Market to but a $5.00 loaf of bread or a $1.00 bag of lettuce. They do not come to buy a $25-70 potted flower arrangement. This has always been the case, but those that know we are there, appreciate what we do and recognize just how good of a value our stuff is, usually make up for it. We have seen our regulars again this year, just as we expected, but our reliance on the rest of the Farmer's Market visitors to fill in has, so far, failed. In addition to just being a 'great idea,' we are hoping that people are also a little scared to spend the money on our stuff when it has been so cold. This is understandable.

While this has been frustrating and has led to two very boring markets, we have decided to take it as a sign that this will really be our last year. It is time to take a break. Hopefully next Saturday, or the next one, or the next one, or the next one, the weather will be on our side so and we will sell out quickly so that we do not have to do this well into the summer, or worse, take these flower pots home with us. But, given the way that it has gone so far, this will probably not be the case.

On a more positive note, our own stuff that we had to move to the greenhouse in Idaho Falls is filling out quite nicely. My yard is starting to look less depressing and I think it is begging for me to plant some more stuff. I have killed all of the weeds and put down some weed preventer. We will see how well that works. I will most likely plant all of my perennials tomorrow. I think that blog will be more upbeat. Sorry for the tone in this one.