Ep. 449 - Supercenters, Spooktacular Sanctuary Open House, and More!

As we head into October, we move into one market each week, while exploring new sales opportunities at Meijer Inc., an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwest.  

Join Rob as he discusses the transition of the market seasons and how that applies to what he's thinking in terms of production and moving forward.  He'll also be discussing new market opportunities this winter along with a Halloween celebration at the neighbors place (Whispering Acres Animal Sanctuary and Farm) and more!

• Tomorrow:
  • Freesteading, Content Creation & The Online Store

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Have a Question or any feedback for Rob?

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Discussion Links:
Richardson Farms

Winter Farmers Market | Boyert's Greenhouse & Farm

Meijer - Cleveland, OH (NEW Store) - Hours & Weekly Ad

What's happening at East 105th and Cedar? - WEWS
Nov 20, 2021 — Meijer, new apartments planned for Innovation Square/Opportunity Corridor ... right on the corner of Cedar Avenue and East 105th Street.

Whispering Acres Farm Animal Sanctuary | Medina
We are opening up the sanctuary for a Spooktacular event.  

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York Meadow Farm: Lacto-Fermented Foods
Rich in probiotics, our fermented foods are also paleo and keto friendly. Eat a proper human diet.

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

If we stand together, we'll never fall. We can make a difference.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Well, hi there and welcome back to another episode of the All Around Growth Podcast. My name is Rob Kaiser and I am your host. Today is Monday, October 24th, 2022. This is episode number 449 of a show where you join me with my family on our small farm and homestead as we grow all around, as we talk about the five W's and how as we grow the various family businesses and all of the things that are going on here at York Meadow Farm. And today, since it's a Monday, we're going to talk about the weekend market recap. And you know, now that we are into oh gosh, we're not just into October, guys. It's October 24th. We're moving into November. All right. So we're at a point in time where we are in one farmer's market each week, and we are actively exploring new sales opportunities at Meyer. Okay, and for those of you who don't know what Meyer is, Meyer is an American super center chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwest, big time grocery stores. And we've been approached by Meyer. And uh I as a matter of fact, this morning just filled out and submitted the request to be a vendor in the system. So we'll see what happens with that moving forward. And we are going to talk a little bit about that today. But before we do, I would like to mention the sponsor of today's show. The sponsor is York Meadow Farm. And no matter where you are here in the United States, from Maine to Washington, from right here in Ohio down to Alabama, we are shipping product to you. And if you are interested in fermented foods, lactofermented foods, and natural bath and body products delivered to your door, then hey, we're your Huckleberry. Alright, so check out the show notes, yorkmeadowfarm.com, and remember to input the discount code all around growth to get 25% off of your order as a way for us to say thank you for your support. Also, I do want to give a quick shout out to Instacart. Um, and if you're not actively using Instacart, I would just recommend doing so. Here's a prime example of why Instacart is of benefit to me. Alright? For those of you who don't know, I have epilepsy. I actually had another seizure last week. And there are times when I shouldn't be driving. That was one of those times. Um and I need to approach this with caution. And really, if you've got any kind of condition where you are compromised and not able to get around as easily as you might otherwise be able to, Instacart is a great service, and they seem to be increasing the number of stores that deliver to you. So check it out. And if you're not already using Instacart, please consider clicking the link in the show notes as a way to support me and also add some convenience to your life. Now, as far as today's show, what we're going to talk about, in addition to the new market opportunities with Meyer, we're going to talk about the transition of the market seasons. We're going to talk about production moving forward and how you know what we're doing and how we're doing that. We're also going to talk about new market opportunities in addition to Meyer. We're going to talk about an upcoming winter market at Boyertz that we hope to be a part of. And also the current market that we are actively a part of at Richardson Farms, and the fact that we are hoping to participate in whatever they're doing this winter as well. We're also going to talk about our neighbors over at Whispering Acres Farm Sanctuary, Animal Sanctuary, and the little event that they're hosting this weekend and the opportunity that we have to connect with our neighbors. And then we'll also talk a little bit about what we're going to get into tomorrow, which involves the exploration of freesteading, the freested community that a lot of people are talking about. And then we'll also talk about content creation and the online store. So got a lot to talk about today. There's a little bit of a snapshot on what you can expect tomorrow. So let's get into it, guys, shall we? We're going to talk about the transition of the market seasons. Now, as you know, we've been doing these Monday market recaps for quite some time now, for the past few weeks. And this has just become a stable of the show. You know, we've got the farmers markets on the weekends, we talk about them on Monday. Now, this past Saturday, we did not have a farmer's market. Yep, it was the first Saturday where we we all slept in and just kind of felt weird about the day. It's a mixed bag of emotions when uh market season comes to a close. You know, you you you're you're kind of grateful for a break, but at the same time you understand that there's a lot of income that's not going to be there for a while. So, what do we do? All right, currently we're grateful for the opportunity for our friends over at Richardson Farms. I'll link to them in the show notes. Check them out, follow them on social media, show them some love and support because they show us love and support. And we re Here's a fun little story. Um, we set up dad and I yesterday at the market, um, a little outdoor market, and they do hay rides out to the pumpkin patch and all this stuff. And um earlier this week I took over a few cases um to refill their coolers, and Stephanie posted something on social media. I I didn't see it, but uh she put a picture up there of the products that we brought, and somebody came in and cleared them out of all the kimchi. I brought four jars of kimchi, that was all I had available, and um somebody drove up there and wiped them out of kimchi, one customer. So, you know, we've got to get on it. We've got some, well, we've also got some some interesting orders incoming from out of state that will be picked up by some friends out in the Oberlin area, friends of friends that are becoming our friends. We're gonna offload a couple of cases to um well, to friends. And you know, we are definitely looking forward to a winter market at Boyert's as well. We had a winter market last week at Richardson's, and what was nice is that it sounds like the Boyerts market at Boyert's Farm and Greenhouse. I'll link to this in the show notes, took place on alternating weekends, and then Richardson's filled the spot on the opposite weekends. So if we are able to get into that market, we will be able to have a solid weekly market and move some product during the slow times in the winter. Now, normally in the past, we have slowed production at this time, but that's not what we are going to be doing. We are not going to be doing anything with regard to production, and quite frankly, what I'm interested in doing is maintaining the level of production that we were at, which is running at least three, if not four deep on each product, meaning that we've got four five-gallon containers actively fermenting of each of our six product lines, including some kimchi. So that means that we've got oh seven, eight hundred pounds or more actively rotating all the time. And as we explore new market opportunities like Meyer, I'm hopeful that that will result in consistent movement of product, resulting in just simple delivery of cases to stores. That would be ideal. So we'll see what happens with that. Um, like I said, I just finished filling out the vendor information uh from the Meyer supplier, um, the online request form. And uh that store is slated to open in a few months. And if you're curious about what store I'm talking about, I've linked to a couple of articles in um the show notes where you can learn about what's happening over there at East 105th and Cedar Avenue, and basically one of the busiest intersections by the Cleveland Clinic is preparing for a large mixed-use development, bringing almost 200 new apartment units and a new grocery store right in the middle of one of the region's food deserts. So I'm hopeful that because of this location and the plans for the surrounding area, there's gonna be a 40,000 square foot Meyer grocery store on the ground floor with 190 apartments above it. There's gonna be a parking garage with 105 dedicated parking spots for the grocery store itself. This is gonna be right by the Cleveland Clinic, and I presume a lot of these apartments are going to be housing for people working in and around the Cleveland Clinic and uh that area. So it looks like it's slated to open early 2023, and if that works out, then that gives us enough time to you know continue scaling up without breaking our backs, and also figure out new ways to optimize production, new ways to increase productivity, and new ways to do what we're doing. A prime example of you know optimizing productivity is the way in which we were making batches of beetkraut, for example. Um we, or kimchi, kimchi is another example. For example, we were making smaller batches of kimchi, buying just individual heads of nappa cabbage. If we scaled up and then bought nappa cabbage by the case, or if we're buying beets in quantities of 25 pounds, you know, it and then making you know volume, it it just becomes easier and it becomes easier to procure some of the produce when you're buying it in volume like that. So, you know, it's not really having the demand while we continue to create the product is going to be helpful because, well, first and first of all, food takes time to ferment. So a batch that theoretically, since today's October 24th, if we were to make a batch of whatever. Traditional jalapeno cilantro. Uh you know, we that's not going to be ready until almost December. We're not gonna be packing that until Thanksgiving at the earliest. Could we pack some of this stuff earlier? Uh yeah. And we've done it, but we were also learning that when we let things go at least a month, preferably 40 days or more, it becomes a little bit more ripe. The flavors begin to you know really meld. Everything really works. So I am of the mindset that I'm I want to continue, I want to maintain production. We took a little bit of a slow down, uh a slowdown last week just to take a breather at the end of market season. And uh I think this week we're going to return and get back in the groove of production and moving forward, which means we need to order more jars and um just make sure that we can do everything that we need to do in order to maintain that production. Now, that's what we've got for new market opportunities this winter. It boyart's with the winter market, new market opportunities at a grocery store. Hopefully, not just this new location in East Cleveland, but other chain locations, since we are in that system now, and it's just a matter of following through to make sure that uh to to to to see what the ordering process is like. And um, and since we've we've reached a comfort level of doing this, that that that seems to open the door, uh, if you will, for us to explore other opportunities with other stores. And now that we've established ourselves in not just a some smaller retail locations, but will hopefully be established with a larger chain, providing a some some sort of legitimacy and also a demand for product that other people have, but other stores do not. Okay. Exciting times here on the homestead. Now, I guess you could call this one additional market opportunity. We will be vendors there, but it's really more of a show of support to our friends and neighbors, not necessarily across the street, but across the street and a couple doors down. Uh they bought this cabin and property by our old friend Craig, who introduced me to my mechanic and uh sold me some shop fans and some greenhouse benches and a bunch of just a bunch of stuff as he was scaling down and getting ready to transition to his new home and his new chapter of life with his wife. Um and he was a good man and cut me a cut me a deal on a lot of stuff and then sold their place to Janine and Scott, I believe. And they run Whispering Acres Farm Sanctuary, and again, I'll link to this in the show notes, but what they are doing this weekend, uh, this upcoming weekend, is they are hosting an event where they are opening up the sanctuary for a spectacular uh Halloween event titled Goblins Goats and Ghosts. And what they will be doing is showing the nightmare before Christmas on the big screen. I guess they've got some sort of outdoor projector. And on their website, they write, the community has been great to us, and we want to give back. Bring the family for an exciting evening filled with Halloween fun. They're gonna be offering homemade apple cider and snacks will be available as well as a bounce house for the kiddos. And they write, being here in the country, trick-or-treating is not an easy thing. So bring your candy in a lawn chair and pass out candy and meet your neighbors. They're gonna offer prizes for the best costume, and like I said, they are inviting local vendors, and Kat from Whispering Acres called me a week or two ago, and um we will be setting up there as a vendor. So um, you know, if you are in the Northeast Ohio area in and around Medina, and you want to come check out Whispering Acres for an open house, come on, check out some Halloween games and fun. The admission price is a non-perishable food item, one non-perishable food item per person, so that they can stuff the bus and donate all these items to Cups Cafe. And this is definitely a worthy cause. I am a member of the uh Medina Oddfellows. We also donate to Cups Cafe, and uh it looks like Whispering Acres has reached out to Cups Cafe and they will be getting a list of what is most needed for donations. So come on out, check out all the fun for acres and acres of a good time goblins, goats, and ghosts. So hope to see you there. I look forward to meeting the neighbors there, and hopefully, the you know, a lot of the new neighbors that have uh moved in recently will be present there, and there it will just be a good time to connect with people locally, and that's a that's a great thing to do. So even if you're not local to the neighborhood, but you want to get out and have a good time, then hey, you know, this this might be a good time to uh to do that. You may not be local to the neighborhood, but you're local to northeast Ohio. And if you're listening to this show, then you're probably a supporter of well, a supporter of the show, a supporter of our farm and homestead, and you know, we are supporters of them, and everything works. So bring the kids, have a good time, watch a movie, win some prizes, eat some candy, have a bounce house, and just get out and have a great time. So I look forward to tomorrow where we're gonna talk about the freesteading community, content creation, the online store, and more. Hope you have a great day today, guys. This is Rob Kaiser, and thank you.