during the first interview:
Would you like some farm fresh locally grown produce?
What volume d o you use each week?
swiss chard radishes cucumbers
spinach scallions tomatoes
leaf lettuce cherry tomatoes
cos lettuce eggplant beans D o you use any unusual vegetables?
bok choy Japanese turnips
Chinese cabbage sugar snap peas Is there anything special I could grow for you?
What is the best day and time for delivery?
Would you like my fresh harvest for the weekend trade?
Would you be willing to help me get started?
An easy way to ask the final question is to make the answer easy.
For example, "How many bunches of parsley will you need every week?" "What's the best delivery day for you?" Or simply, "Would you be willing t o try this idea to help me get started?"
If the owner seems reluctant, find out why and then see if you can't reason him out of his objections. If he says, "We don't know how well special lettuce will be accepted," then answer, "Let's try just a little at first and keep most of it t o the more common varieties." His question: "What if your crop is a failure, or you get sick and can't supply us?" Your answer: "I'm planting quite a variety of different crops at different times, so if one particular crop fails it won't have much effect. If I get sick, my wife (son-in-law, whoever) will be helping me and can take over. And since we're only supplying 20 percent of your fresh vegetable needs, no great catastrophe can occur."
A display of your vegetables often will convince the restaurant chef.
If he still wants t o think about it, your chances don't look too good. Don't be discouraged, but go on t o your second choice right away. Even if the first restaurant says, "We'll try it and see," I'd go on to the second one and sign it u p so you have two. Only when the first restaurant is very enthusiastic would I rely on one place for all my business. You might go t o the second or third and at least talk to it about your ideas; get reactions and say, "When I'm ready t o harvest, could I come back to talk to you again?" If that restaurant is at all interested, you'll get a but you haven't committed yourself in case something else comes along.
If you close the sale, write the plan out on paper so he fully understands it and can keep a record in his files. S o many misunder- standings are over "I didn't think you meant that," or "I thought you said you were going to d o this." Since you both said a lot during your first meeting, put the agreement in writing and leave room at the bottom for two signatures. Have it typed, keeping it as simple aspossible. Don't try to be a lawyer, and for heaven's sake
Dear Restaurant Owner:
This letter may serve as our agreement for the purchase of fresh vegetables.
I . agrees to grow and harvest choice select tables for sale to Restaurant name for the growing season of 19-.
2. All vegetables will be sorted, culled, washed, and cleaned of waste material, and delivered within a few hours of harvesting.
An itemized list showing quantities and current farm stand prices will accompany each delivery. Cash payment will be made upon completion of delivery.
4. Delivery will be made twice a week on and at approximately o'clock a.m.
5. Gardener's name will try t o grow those varieties particularly requested, and each delivery shall consist of whatever is currently ready for harvest without regard to exact quantities.
6. All food shall be grown by strictly organic methods, using no chemical fertilizer, no chemical insecticides. (Include only if it applies.)
7. Gardener's name agrees t o act as an independent contractor/
supplier and neither party will hold the other liable for any of his operation or business.
Gardener's Date
Restaurant owner's Uate
The restaurant owner might ask you to add t o that agreement this paragraph:
Either party can terminate the agreement with ten days' written notice if produce, prices, or conditions are unsatisfactory.
lawyer would add all kinds of things like, "This agreement is binding to both parties and will be assumed by any new owner, heirs, etc.," but it all boils down to two parties'desire to get together.
If one wants out, no written agreement is going to keep him in.
You'd have t o hire a lawyer to enforce any agreement, and who needs that?
Why have a n agreement at all, you might ask. Only to make sure that both parties know the general conditions of the agreement and are sincere enough to sign their names to it.
What if the owner won't sign, but is willing t o go ahead on a verbal say-so? Well, you'll have t o decide whether he is trustworthy, honest, and sincere in wanting to try this plan. Many people won't sign their names to anything because the very idea makes them suspicious. Don't try t o change people's personalities. Just accept them and proceed with enthusiasm and hope.
The Timing
D o you start planting and then go out to sign up restaurants, or d o you try to get your customers first? It all depends on the season in which you read this book and decide to start your own cash garden.
If it's winter, I'd plan the garden, order the seeds, search the restau- rants for the best three, and in early spring go see one (without a basket of vegetables). In the meantime, I'd plant a full crop because I'd be sure to find at least one good customer.
If I read the book in the spring, I'd d o all of the above, but very quickly! If it's summer when I decide, I'd pick a harvest basket from my present garden and sign up a place or two for the fall and next spring. If it's fall, unless you plant ahead, you're not going t o have enough in your present garden t o make it worthwhile for you to deliver to the owner. In fact, you may kill the whole deal if he decides it's too much bother for such a small amount and says no for next year. S o it's better to take a basket in and sign him up for next