Email
I have an email list of tomato lovers that I send out when I get a batch of tomatoes that needs to be moved between markets, you can offer a discount too when in a bind. The pressure cooker is another way to deal with the problem, it is still money in pocket per say.
Grow some varieties, with your favorites, that store better. I did shoot myself in the foot in one aspect of my market though. I grow several plants of reliable varieties that I know will produce during bad seasons and will store ok, while the rest is a selection of my favs and experimental delights. I am a fan of letting people sample tomatoes when they are new. Long story short; never sample your awesome heirlooms first, the rest of your crop will be picked over when the customer catches on to real tomato taste. On the flip side, the picked over tomatoes are the types that will store better, and do seem to move in time and will store between markets.
My main rule of thumb; never sell a decent tasting tomato, they have to be tomatoey, the best is subjective, but a bad one is easy to target. Discount them or compost them, I do the latter and move on.
Last edited by AKmark; August 12, 2013 at 02:10 PM.
|