Ending On a High Note

We did our final market of the season this week and ended on a high note. In fact, the previous week was our best market ever, and this final week we topped it. Pretty amazing stuff, and all in the face of stiff competition from our neighbor, who for the record is a nice guy but is still our competitor, so we can't feel too enamored with the guy. Plus, he's a big business with a restaurant and notoriety.

Anyway, we weren't sure what to expect going into the final market. The previous week was good, but the week before was a bit anemic. Plus, the weather is so unpredictable. Speaking of weather, we've had this unusual warm front that put temperatures in the 70s, which is unheard of in October. Come market day, it was supposed to be warm with a chance of rain.

The day started out gray and gloomy, and we had rain the day before and that evening, so I wasn't too optimistic, but by the time I was getting ready, the weather had cleared. It was gray but amazingly warm, and sure enough, the day was busy. Students are in class full time, so we had plenty of foot traffic, and with the warm temperatures and no rain, people were ready to party. The business was steady throughout the day, and I could sense how we were doing by how many tomatoes and cucumber we were using. By the end, we had fun out, and we brought along extra numbers just in case.

When R told us we had broken all previous records, we were pretty stoked. Actually, stoked on a number of levels: it was the end of the day, it didn't rain, we did well, and the market was over. Back to our normal lives, whatever that means.

Reflecting on the market, it was nice to be done, but there are many positives. We made some decent money, though it was hard work. It's an interesting and in many ways rewarding experience, particularly because we do it together as a family. Plus, it's nice doing something and receiving validation from a loyal customer base. Finally, it's always good to challenge yourself and overcome difficulties by adapting and learning better ways to do things, and that is surely something we do a lot of.

The big question is, will we do it next year? It's probably too early to say. For now, I've got a ton of stuff that needs to be cleaned and stored for the winter.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Epic Fireworks for the pic.