Opinion required

[saddad]

When we have our June Open Day (first Sunday) we nearly always have loads of unsold tomatoes (plants) ... no surprise this year as it was so wet we had very few customers...

If we were to have an earlier "sale" of specifically heritage tomatoes and associated "greenhouse" plants eg Aubergines/peppers/chilli/melons etcetera
When would be the best time in May?
I think we miss out because people with greenhouses have planted them up by the start of June...
If we put it in through the NGS would the £3 entry fee put people off...  they could still tour the site... or should we "go it alone"

:-\

As part of a seed audit today I counted 45 varieties of tomato... mostly heritage... and I've been trying to cut down.  :-[

[saddad]

[small]

I'd favour an early date, I like to know what I've got. This year was my first visit to LLAA and Next year I shall leave more room in my greenhouse.....
The NGS fee wouldn't put me off, but neither would I not come if it  wasn't official, if you see what I mean.
Are you selling anything at the September Open day?
You are having one, aren't you?

[manicscousers]

ours is the first bank holiday in may..don't do it then, we wouldn't be able to come  :o
the money wouldn't put us off but you know that  ;D

[saddad]

Yes Small.... but it depends on what we have.. CFBeans and Damsons are looking likely..   ;D

[Sholls]

Well, I live far too far away to visit :( but what about the second Saturday or Sunday in May? The early May Bank Holiday weekend is generally quite a busy one for most people, so the following weekend might be a better bet.

Out of interest have you considered selling your surplus on eBay or via your lottie web site? Personally, I'd be more inclined to buy plants from a not-for-profit rather than line the pockets of a commercial organisation (whether that be a private individual or a DIY/garden centre chain). Also, if you're offering heritage varieties there is a good chance that anyone searching for info on the variety will come across your site/listing.  8)

[saddad]

Nice Idea sholls, but I think I'd like to avoid the "mail-order" scenario...  :-\

[grannyjanny]

It wouldn't put us off if we had to pay an entry fee & OH would be delighted not to have the propagator going ;D ;D ;D. Would you take advance orders or would it be pot luck?

[plot51A]

Agree with grannyjanny - would be very happy to put in an advance order, am trying to cut down on propagator use and this year ordered my toms online from Simpsons - would much prefer to get them from you  :D Any chance???? If I knew for sure I was going to get them would be happy to stick with your June date and your  NGS event - all my toms are grown outdoors, no greenhouse or polytunnel.

[Sinbad7]

But saddad you could do the mail order thing on the rainy days  ;D

£3 entrance fee sounds fine if I was on my own but if I had to pay for a couple more people I wouldn't be so keen.

[saddad]

Under 16's get in Free... so we expect adults to be able to pay for themselves... we don't keep it it goes to the NGS and on to charities like Macmillan...

I can certainly do pre-orders... we made more on pre and post sales this year as the June day was such a washout...
Most of my melons and watermelons didn't sell  :'( I ended up composting most of them...

[1066]

I guess it depends on who your market is, who comes to your sales and who buys and what sells best?
By the sounds of it, and having looked at some of your pics/posts, the quality is certainly high and prices very reasonable so I'm sure that anyone who knows their onions (no pun intended!) would be interested in buying your plants.

Maybe you could extend your advertising - links to other websites, local press coverage??? But then you probably do all that anyway!

I also think the idea of a smaller sale earlier on in the year, selling more specific stuff i.e. tender plants or greenhouse plants or heritage varieties is a good idea, if I lived in the area and I knew there was a good plant sale I'd definietly come along  :)

[saddad]

Thanks for that 1066... we have a committee meeting at the end of the month and the NGS forms have to be in by the 4th of Sept... so I need as much opinion as possible to support my arguments..  :-\

[1066]

Good luck with the meeting  :)

[Hyacinth]

Too far away for me to attend, but I deffo support your idea of an earlier date as, as you've written, come June most peeps will have already got their ops up and running,  leaving scope for maybe only one or two impulse buys?

£3 entrance fee? Might be steep if you want to attract browsers to your Day. I've been reading Betty's takings at her Summer Fayre and the £255 total of voluntary donations seems v. good. I also like the idea of two/three specified causes which the money will benefit.

[saddad]

Thanks for the Input Hyacinth...  :)

[Squash64]

Ours was on May 16th this year (as you know  ;)) and quite a lot of people came, despite the rain.

All our 'greenhouse' plants sold well but we could have done with a lot more squash and runner beans.

We don't charge admission because I don't think our locals would pay to come in!

[manicscousers]

we would definitely put in a pre order, made a big difference this year  :)

[shirlton]

Under 16's get in Free... Will you be doing a reduced rate for OAP's. ;D  Speaking of Bettyy's open day. Ower Tone put a quid in 2 donation buckets. I think if you are supporting a good cause then folks will donate more willingly if they know where the money is going. P.S. I want some of your damsons cos my new tree has only 9 fruit on it :(

[saddad]

I keep trying to charge OAP's more... as they have more time to enjoy it..
A the moment you can have a bucketful of Damsons... (No they aren't ripe yet so don't panic!)  :)

[Deb P]

There might be some greengages too.....I can't keep up with the tree on my plot! ;D

Could we do the earlier open day with just donations (like Betty's one ) to the NGS? ??? That way we could get the publicity but not put people off with the standard admission charge?