"Northside Farmers Market/Poland Farm Market"

[irishbobcat]

So what is the topic? Should all vendors move out of the northside and move to Poland?

And if so, will there be enough demand so ALL the vendors can have success in Poland?

[Towntalk]

Now you're talking about one of my serious weaknesses ... Fried Peppers in Olive Oil. I just can't seem to get enough of them.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Let's stay on topic here:
1.  Yes, the rural farmers have come into the urban area because the urban agriculturist can't produce.
2.  We are not talking about someone's backyard garden which only produce enough for the neighbors and relatives.
3.  Point, the shrimp operation was only on two acres, there are thousands of empty acres in Youngstown for urban farming for all kinds of crops, but a fraction is farmed.  And, fracking is underground, not on the surface, you know this or maybe not.
Anyway, one of the Amish farmers at the Poland Farm Market, is going to start producing Hot Peppers in oil, she was not familiar with the ethnic way of pickling peppers in oil and how much of a demand they are here in the Mahoning Valley.

[irishbobcat]

So why do some people have to put down urban agriculture being done in the city now by nonprofits?It's the same basic concept.
I guess if your motive is to simply get rich by having all folks attend the Poland market then you have to bad mouth urban agriculture. Since when can we have too many city lot gardens?

[Towntalk]

Dennis, no one is putting down the family garden as such, my own family had a Victory Garden as did most of our neighbors, and they would meet at one of the homes to plan the gardens so that as the crops came in, they could share produce, and because they were sharing the bounty they wouldn't think of charging for it ... it was the good neighbor thing to do.

[irishbobcat]

"Real" rural farmers do sell produce at the northside market.....

How can any garden be considered "insignificant" no matter how small and no matter how few people it provides produce to?

What problem is there with city lots being turned into gardens? Are you upset because this land is not being used for shrimp farming or because the land isn't being used for fracking?

Doesn't every little garden helps someone? Man, somebody should have told my parents and grandparents during WWII that their
backyard "Victory Gardens" were pure bunk and BS and just another myth perpetuated by the evil liberal President, FDR.....

[Towntalk]

The amateur "farmer" hasn't the faintest idea about the work that goes into a successful farm. It's hard back breaking work from the day the first bit of soil is turned over until the last of the crops have been harvested and the fields are prepped for the next year, and it's expensive. The seeds, starter plants, and fertilizers don't come cheap, and even the most experienced farmer will tell you that there are so many factors to be considered that there is no certain guarantees of success.

As to the groups referred to in previous posts ... how many of them have actually worked on a real farm? How many actually went out into the fields to plant and weed hundreds of plants on a daily basis?

Consider this ... the larger area farms in the valley rely on traveling migrant farm workers to work their fields because most American will not do the back breaking work.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Let's dig into it deeper, as the outgoing OSU extension officer educated me last year, YNDC, Grow Youngstown and Jubillee Garden's approach of cultivating insignificant City lots are not going to make an impact nor provide the necessary produce for the inner City.  Large scale farms are required no matter how you slice it. Rather than leave it to the educated professional farmers, the Nonprofits have been using the "Urban Agriculture" parade to justify their existence and subsidized jobs, with no clue on true success nor production.  They perpetuated the myth by using the farmers market concept to further their subsidy with media attention.  Notice how the Youngstown eastside-successful farmers market has always been ignored by these nonprofits.  They are not interested in free enterprise.
My post here is to again blow the whistle on these fake entities and how the free market with true farmers will ultimately and shortly negate all their dependent projects.  The largest industry in Ohio is farming and has always been, don't you thing we should leave it to the Amish and rural farmers to lead the way instead of the actors in Youngstown who have brainwashed the locals into believing that they know anything about farming?

[Towntalk]

You're absolutely right on supply v. demand.

As part of my church work in 1963-64 I worked at a Benedictine Monastery/Farm in Atwater and one year our crops were coming up early and in spite of the fact that we were surrounded by other farms we managed to get many of our crops to market early and made good money, but as the season went on, our crops had to compete with the other farms and because the other farm were larger than ours, our later crops weren't worth as much.

We ended giving a large percentage to the Catholic Hospital in Canton at a net loss.

[irishbobcat]

All I am saying is that vendors can and will make a choice on where to set up their goods
for sale....

I just find it amusing that because some vendors are finding more success in Poland that all vendors should pack up from the north side and head to Poland.

My question is if all vendors did move to Poland, would they all be successful? Or would there be too many vendors
and not enough patrons? Anyone heard of the concept supply and demand?

While it might be more glitzy to set up shop in Poland Village, would there be enough patrons buying to see that all vendors
would become successful?

Yes, Poland needs a farmers market....and so does the north side area around Wick Park.

[Towntalk]

Dennis, there are some community gardens on the North Side, and in fact there is one behind my on Ohio Avenue that takes up two city lots, and the farmers' market would be an ideal place for them to sell their crops which I'm sure they will provided this drought hasn't made their hard work in vain.

On the other hand there are also those small commercial farms that sell some of their crops at area farmers' markets including the one at the Unitarian Church, and it would be these that would decide where they would go.

I'm sure that the North Side Farmers' Market will not go out of business because of a farmers' market in Poland.

[irishbobcat]

What is logical from an economical point of view?

Are not local farmers markets set up to provide produce to the "locals" in the area?

Why should residents on the north side of Youngstown who probably are more likely to not have their
own personal transportation find a way to get all the way over to Poland?

Is the extra "cost" of travel for north side residents economical for them? Will more direct public transportation be made available for
folks to venture down to Poland?

Is not the downtown market set up to make local produce available to people who may work or be visiting the
downtown area on Tuesday?

This is not a knock on the Poland market. The south suburbs could use a weekend market. They are providing a service to those "local" residents.

People associated with the Poland Market should be happy with their success. But they shouldn't be hell bent on seeing that the north side market go under.

[Towntalk]

Certainly ... that's only logical from an economic point of view.

Aside from the amature "farmers" who garden in their back yards, the small farms that surround the valley depend in some measure on the farmers market, and can not afford to waste precious time at markets that draw small crowds. These farmers are no in the business of "feel good charity". That will not pay the taxes on their land or all the other expenses that come with farming. If that means choosing the Poland Farmers Market over the North Side Farmers Market, so be it.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Both markets are on Saturdays.
Looks like some vendors are finding more success at the Poland Farm Market.  Should the vendors completely move to Poland where they have found more success?