The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: simone on April 16, 2013, 08:54:42 pm
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Tomorrow is our first attempt at selling from the gate, we moved into our 4.5 acre smallholding in Essex last October and have spent the winter refurbishing our house, whilst working full-time, commuting and keeping an active toddler entertained, so the house is well nearly done.
We seem to have hundreds of daffs planted by the previous owner, so tonight 18 bunches (of 20) of them along with some rhubarb are going outside along with the previous owners honesty box and sign - if they sell, I've plenty more and it will pay for some hybrids that I've ordered to go along with our 3 existing hens.
Does £2 for 4 thick stems of Rhubarb seem ok? supermarket had them for £3 today.
Fingers crossed :-)
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Good luck :fc:
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I'd be happy to pay that for rhubarb. You seem to be quite a way in front of us in yorkshire -we only have a few daffs out yet and the rhubarb not nearly ready.
Never thought of selling the daffs, what a good idea. Guess OH has a job for the weekend- sign and honesty box making ;D
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That sounds very reasonable. Don't undersell yourself though or people might wonder what is wrong with it. ::) If you lived near me I'd be round for some daffs.
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Sort of on/off topic but; nail or attach firmly in some way, your honesty box to your table. Make the lid difficult to remove or even better, lockable. Also try to attach in some way the container which has anything in it you are selling, to the table it is on. I've known thieves drive up to the gate, grab any container and everything in it, inc moneybox, throw it in the car and drive off at speed.
As for how much to charge, depends on the lifespan of the item and how much of it you have. Better to sell at a good price and get the customers back than chuck unsold stuff in the bin.
Good luck. :wave:
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Good luck with your sales :fc: . I think it very much depends on your location (we are on a bridleway). Eggs sell very well in good weather (walkers), rhubarb would be great but we would never get buyers for daffs. You just have to find out what works in your area. Never had a problem with our honesty box - but no passing cars to see it ;) . Some b***d nicked my lucky horsehoe from the field gate though :o
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:fc: crossed it works out well...
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Hope all goes well tomorrow simone. :fc: . I would pay £2 for the rhubarb - love the stuff! There is a sweet old couple in the next village to us and they sell at the gate with an honesty box. Do a roaring trade by all accounts as there is a small caravan/camping park close to them and I think the campers buy up all the free range eggs for breakfast!
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Good luck :hshoe: - but don't be too disappointed if you don't sell on the first, or even the first few, days. Be prepared to make your rhubarb into jam if it hasn't sold. It seems to take people a while to start buying. We have sold rhubarb in the past, and could pick fresh for bulk buyers if necessary, BUT rhubarb is a bit of a 'love it hate it' thing. If you do end up not selling it all and have to make jam, you can sell that too.
We make sure there is a reasonable amount of change, but we empty the cash box several times a day, whenever we pass it - no money = no temptation ;D
There is something very satisfying about selling at your gate, and equally satisfying for people buying your produce too.
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Thanks folks, honesty box is nailed down, thanks to previous owners, its sad to think you can't be trusting.
Jam - eek, jam is fine, but im not that keen on rhubarb for the smell of it whilst making said jam.
I will let you know how it goes and if it raises enough to buy few hybrid chickens in a few days.
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I make rhubarb relish with cucumbers when the rhubarb comes early June. Have to buy the cucumbers but the relish goes well. Could do with a gate. :innocent:
As the others say Best of luck with your new enterprise. :fc:
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Good luck with it! How exciting! I have loads of spare plants I wanted to start selling at the gate but I'm a bit too afraid no one will buy any and i'll look silly! I'm sure you'll get some takers :excited:
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Hope weather is kind to you there .... be lucky to keep the gate here this morn, wind so strong, and rain sideways. Best wishes.
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Good luck today!
Helen
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We were given a jar of rhubarb and vanilla jam - it was delicious. Nice chnage from rhubarb and ginger (which I also love)
Hope all goes well :thumbsup:
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As long as trading standards don't interfere with the jam side of things , or you end up fitting a pro kitchen and having your house re-plumbed just to keep them happy. :thinking:
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Good for you, let us know how this goes!
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Best of luck with your sales from the gate, if you live in the right spot, it really can work. I've got my first ' temporary events licence' to sell my cider 'over the gate' coming up on the 5th and the 6th of May. Having the right weather for these events is so vital. Will it be :raining: or :sunshine: ? Fingers crossed folks. :fc:
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I started putting eggs out with an honesty box last month. I didn't really expect to get any sales as there is no passing traffic but thought it was worth a try.
2 days later our first ever lamb was born dead and thats the day that the first £1 was put in the honesty box. Actually I thought OH had taken the eggs and put the £1 in there to cheer me up but he hadn't.
So far I have taken £18 in egg sales so I can't complain.It will certainly pay for some more chicken feed.
I hope you do as well.
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There's a house way up in the hills about 7 miles from here, hardly any passing traffic as there are only a handful of properties further out than it.
But we all go up there to buy our eggs ;D ;D (in our case when our own hens aren't laying and/or we can't find them ::)) Yummy eggs, and a lovely quiet countryside drive to go get them. :)
It's all on the honesty box system; they charge £2 for 6. They often sell out. (So their regulars know when to go to be sure of not having to return empty-handed! ;))
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I put my eggs in a box on my doorstep and just ask buyers to put the money through the letter box. :chook: :chook: Had a couple of times when eggs have gone and no money but its always been put through either the next day or later that day. Its usually mums on their way to collect kids from school as they pass my door.
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Well rhubarb is popular - 3 out of the 4 bunches went, sold 2 bunches of daffs, so not so popular as I'd hoped - will be trying again over the next few days though, so thanks for the encouragement folks.
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Simone , the trouble with daffs is : most people have them in their gardens or grass verges, so to sell them you have to have them before anyone else does . grow them in a pollytunnel to bloom in January before the glut. :fc:
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Eggs for sale makes me think of my mother. Her hens have laid well through the winter. All of a sudden there were less eggs on a Sunday. She told me "Maybe the hens are having a day og rest" Now the hens live in a paddock across a public footpath 400 yards from the farm house. Just to be sure my mother started putting a paddlock on the henhouse door on a Sunday. Sure enough, the hens started laying again :innocent:
Next time I spoke to my mother and she told me. " Well, I am thinking things one should't think on a Sunday ....AND...I am keeping a paddlock on the door." I mean, the cheek of it, pinching eggs from an old lady in broad daylight in a fairly busy village. :rant:
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renee, that's shocking! :o I guess each thief just thought, "Oh, they won't miss one, just for me for my breakfast..." ::) I'd have been inclined to electrify the henhouse door, never mind padlock it :rant:
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Oh, my mother has a marvellous sense of humour. What vexed her most was that it was happening on a Sunday.
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Hah, yes doing it on a Sunday takes the biscuit :-)
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..........all of a sudden there were less eggs on a Sunday. She told me "Maybe the hens are having a day og rest" ...................just to be sure my mother started putting a paddlock on the henhouse door on a Sunday. Sure enough, the hens started laying again...........
I've got one of those Infra-Red Trail Cameras for use down in the fields. Get one and set it up in some bushes close to the henhouse. You'd be amazed at what you see. You would certainly see exactly who is trying the hen house door!
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Leave a letter in the nestbox addressed to " The egg thief , We know who you are because we now have you on camera, If you come to the house and pay then we won't call the cops." :thumbsup:
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Then they'd probably nick the trail cam. ;D
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Good luck with the selling!
We had money taken from our honesty box a few times last year :rant: But after putting a sign up explaining that our daughter owns ducks and sells the eggs for her pocket money, and asking how they sleep at night knowing that they were stealing from a 7 year old we had a £10 note put in the box.
A thief with a conscience ??? ???
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Possibly PPD or maybe just someone with a heart who read the sign and wanted to restore your daughters faith in humankind :) Would like to think the thief had a rethink and paid up though...
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Well its been a few days, 7 bunches of rhubarb and 8 bunches of daffs gone - so should have been £30 in the honesty box, but it's actually £23.10 - hhmm - well thats nearly enough for two POL hybrids @ £14 each.
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We had friends who kept hens and a cockerel on a bit of land behind their house. Several people complained about the cockerel (it was in the middle of a housing estate) then one Sunday, the friend went to let the hens out. Usually the cockerel was first out but he didn't come out. All the hens did and still no cockerel. He was missing despite the fact that the door was bolted on the outside.
Our friend was very upset and was outside sniffing the air to see whcih of the neighbours was having roast chicken for their Sunday dinner. :roflanim:
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:roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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Then they'd probably nick the trail cam. ;D
They have camouflage, if they spotted it, maybe they'd take a closer look, but technology nowadays is pretty good - some trail cameras have internet connection. You can set them up to take a photo when triggered, and view via mobile phone. Or just watch via mobile phone no matter where you are. You can actually just sit and watch what goes on from the computer, take a snapshot, and catch them in the act. Either way, hard evidence as even if they nick the camera you've already got the photo of them on the property doing it.
Great gadget. Love mine.
:thumbsup:
PS: Sorry to read you are down nearly £7 in just a few days simone. Dishonesy box more like, thieving beggar's.
PPS: Amusing idea to put a sign up in the henhouse tizaala (or small cctv sign on selling table?), that might make them think twice.
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Not bad for the first day. I guess some people just aren't honest.
I have a trail camera, which is currently out trying to catch someone tampering with the keepers traps!
Helen
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If you want to prosecute (agree - unlikely for £7 - but just for future reference) - the CCTV footage can only be used in evidence if there are signs clearly indicating that they are in use.
Even without prosecuting, it makes good You Tube footage....this one got over 33,000 views!! and interest from national press and TV
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DpWpzIsvdmg
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Well i've now made enough for two POL hens :-) I've ordered four though so fingers crossed business picks up - luckily i found another large patch of rhubarb.
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Just bought our place in October, We have just started selling eggs at the gate at £1.50 for 6, we have brown, blue, white, opal, large and small eggs so think they are worth it. we are on a main road in a tourist area with our own layby by the gate, we have a tiny holiday park with 8 log cabins, 2 days now made £4.50 plan is to grow the sales then add more products we have 6 1/2 acres all flat good soil, we have planted apple, pear, cherry, sloe, blueberry. We thought maybe beans as if they don't sell we could freeze them. Any other suggestions ? plus what do you do with excess eggs ?
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Hi Simone,
I'm in Essex too! I'm between Harlow and Epping. On the Hens, I've had ex battery hens, which have all been brilliant layers....Maybe you might consider them? The ones I get at £2 each and its so nice to see them recovering and free ranging. I'm having to get some more after not securing the henhouse properly and losing 4 to the fox... I only have 9 hens in total so its a big life. I had them a year and they layed all winter and were much easier to handle than my normal hens because if you walk to them they are nervous and sit down... Anyway, just a thought. I also got 5 ducks from a lady who posted on here after the old man she looked after died... .they are fabulous layers and such good fun. I flog their eggs at work.