It was a one day event last Saturday, but the plan was months in the works. There was so much involved that I was not able to to get any of our prep work saga down on paper. Every time I sat down to write, Ron called with some other project we needed to get down right now. This was a major learning experience. We had signed up to attend the fest, but Ron had upped the ante by deciding that not only were we going to sell our shiitake mushrooms and mushroom bolts, but would offer sauteed shiitakes samples too. This decision resulted in a lot more purchases; a hot water dispenser for hand washing, food service gloves, extra insurance, a cooking stove, pans, utensils, the list got longer every day. And he had to run his plan by the Oneida County health department to get their OK. That involved phone calls, emails and more insurance. Once he got that, the pressure was on. Then he added to it by deciding we were also going to register for the Little Fall Garlic Festival in September and again offer samples.
It is not cheap, being a vendor at any event. The list of things you have buy is long, even when you are not planning to offer food samples. After last Saturday, I am even more convinced that a tent of some sort is a necessity. There were a few vendors out at the Herb and Flower Fest that didn’t have one and I don’t see how they survived. It was hot that day and the shade was most welcome.
We already found out that it works great in the rain. We set the tent up on our back deck, trying it out for size and were able to work through it. Just picked shiitakes wait for nothing when they need to be cleaned and sorted. The week before the event brought an unwelcome realization. We had already purchased a small frig to use as storage, but it is clear that it will not be big enough.
In order to fulfill Ron’s vision I had to come up with a burlap skirt for each of our three display tables and another table cover to give it color and pop. My goal was to make something would be easily reusable. And I have to say that I succeeded. The burlap skirts I came up with can be folded up (well sort of) and stored for use. Then pulled out and tossed over each of our 3 tables. One side table was for the plants we would have for sale. This needs a bit more effort and thought. I am looking into growing unusual types of herbs. More research needed. The other would have our display shiitake bolt. The table in front would be for our signage, mushroom is quart and two quart sizes and samples. This had to be the show stopper. He spent a lot of time thinking about how he wanted things to look. He got just what he wanted from Greg Potter, who has serious skills and is definitely capable of thinking outside the box.
The CCE allowed vendors to come in the afternoon before to start set up. That was a major help as Jo and Ron got the heavy lifting done. Due to the windy conditions, we did not fully deploy the tent and Ron got the extra strapping out. Before I got there, they had already seen another tent go flying.
The list of things we learned is a good long one. I certainly learned that I need to be sure we have everything with us. If we had been at an event that was further away, leaving behind our seed money could have been a real disaster. More practice is needed for the shiitake sample process. Ron wants to get Jo involved which would leave me free to handle our customers. And we need to do something about a better money box. Using an old cigar box, while it might bring back memories of your lemonade stand, it wasn’t very secure. One misstep and it could have ended up on the ground with our cash flying all over the place.
The set up in the tent has to be tweaked to allow better movement and flow. More of our mushroom bags needed to be prepped with our stamp and CNG sticker, our business cards too. Ron needs a to have a straw. He spent the entire time fully gloved for sample cooking and could not hold his water bottle. Those of you in the know fully understand why he did not want to change gloves. They are hard enough to get on it good conditions. When your hands are damp, forget it. And we learned that having boiling hot water in our hand washer container was not a good thing. It kept the water too hot to use all day long. Neither one of us thought about adding one of our jugs of water to it. I was able to get my tea all day though. So not a totally bad thing.
The three things we really need to bring next time is more logs, more shiitakes and something for more shade. And we need practice. Lots and lots of practice.
Knowing Ron, he has plans. So look for Tiny House Farm Augusta NY to be at more events. Just not this year, expect for The Mohawk Valley Garlic & Herb Festival in September.