Farmer’s market a profitable outlet

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Published: September 9, 2004

GLENDON, Alta. – What started as a bid to bring in a little extra spending money has mushroomed into a full-time job and a major income source for a northern Alberta farm woman.

Each week Sharon Johnson travels to three farmer’s markets in her area selling fresh cream, cottage cheese, eggs, chicken, lamb and beef to satisfy the growing demand for fresh farm-raised food.

For five years Johnson travelled to the Saturday market in Bonnyville, Alta., selling eggs and chicken. She expanded her produce mix and now travels to the Cold Lake farmer’s market and a second market in Bonnyville to keep up with demand for her produce.

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“It’s just been such a good response from the farmer’s markets that we’ve just continued,” said Johnson, who added that she never expected the customer response.

“It started out as something to keep me busy,” said Johnson. She now spends most of her days getting ready for the next farmer’s market.

Each morning and evening, Sharon’s husband Brian milks their five cows before going to his job as manager of the Bonnyville seed cleaning plant.

The rest of the day Sharon is busy separating and then pasteurizing cream, turning the milk into cottage cheese, collecting and washing eggs, and feeding the animals, as well as doing household chores that come along with four children.

Johnson started with 100 laying hens and is now at the 300-bird maximum she can raise before she needs to buy quota. They also have 1,000 broilers, 120 sheep, 60 turkeys, 90 beef cows and five dairy cows.

The turkeys were added this year because of customer demand. This spring the Johnsons turned a couple cows into smokies and pepperoni sausage and received an exceptional response.

“Instead of going to a 9 to 5 job, I go from 7 to 7,” she said.

One of the biggest sellers at the markets is fresh cream. Each of the precious bottles is snapped up within minutes. Many customers say they can’t resist fresh cream and dill on new potatoes.

Others buy Johnson’s homemade cottage cheese to make perogies.

Johnson was one of the main organizers of the Tuesday market in Bonnyville. The afternoon and evening market attracts families who want to grab something fresh for supper that evening.

“It’s a new market for us. If I’m going to be there and they’re going to spend their money, they might as well be spending it at my table,” said Johnson, who is always looking for new ideas to diversify.

Her daughter, Juanita, makes Jell-O in clear plastic cups as a way to draw children and their parents to their table.

“They stop long enough to see what we have.”

Johnson is learning that the urban consumer has limited room for meat in their fridge freezer. Many people buy their week’s supply of meat, eggs and vegetables at the market.

To ensure a steady supply of produce, Johnson has 11 large freezers at home in what she calls the cottage. She is hoping the small house will eventually house a walk-in freezer, a walk-in cooler, an egg grading station and an industrial kitchen to allow her to sell at more than just farmer’s markets.

“I didn’t expect it to get this big,” said Johnson.

With the American border looking like it will remain closed to Canadian cattle for several more months, attending the farmer’s markets is no longer a sideline, but her full-time job.

“This is what’s paying our grocery bills now because the farm just isn’t. The farm is a black hole that just sucks everything up.”

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