Small-Scale Farm Operations & Farmstand Management

For anybody thinking about growing to sell. Post-harvest handling, pricing, and a real farmstand shift.

Booking now
Each session3 hr a session
How oftenOnce a week
Cohort8–12 per cohort
SeasonYear-round · a new cohort starts each month

What you leave with

A live Sunday farmstand you ran, with the takings reconciled at the end of it

Practical skills for micro-farmers, homesteaders and market gardeners: planning, harvesting, packing, pricing and selling direct through an on-site farmstand.

The rotation closes on a live Sunday farmstand with real customers and real money, which is where everything before it either holds up or does not.

What makes this one worth it

  • Post-Harvest Handling, Washing & Hydro-Cooling
  • Bunched Greens, Weighing & Eco-Packaging
  • Farmstand Merchandising, Pricing & Visual Displays
  • Live Sunday Farmstand Operations & Community Social

What is included

  • All 4 sessions of the 4-week cohort — 12 hours of instruction
  • A place held for you for the whole run, in a cohort of 8–12
  • Every piece of equipment listed below, provided on the day
  • Your instructor, and their attention in a group this size

What to bring

  • Water, and something to eat if you want it
  • Nothing else — the kit is provided

How it runs

Once a week · 3 hr a session

Frequency
1x / week — Sunday, 3 hours
Session length
3 hr
Each month
4 sessions, about 12 hours
Cohort size
8 – 12 participants
Where
Farm packing shed, field wash stations, and rustic farmstand
Level
Beginner (homestead or farm curious)
Commitment
Monthly — stay as long as it is worth it

What you cover, in rotation

The group works through these in order and then begins again on fresh ground. Join at whatever stage it is on — nothing here assumes you were there for the last one, and nothing runs out — or drop in for a single session if that is all you can manage.

  1. Stage 1Post-Harvest Handling, Washing & Hydro-Cooling
    • Post-harvest degradation and why field heat has to come off immediately.
    • Bubbler wash tanks, greens spinners and root vegetable spray tables.
    • Post-harvest sanitisation and food safety standards.
  2. Stage 2Bunched Greens, Weighing & Eco-Packaging
    • Standardising commercial bunch sizes for kale, chard, carrots and radishes.
    • Compostable and kraft paper packaging that preserves freshness.
    • Digital scale calibration and tare weight management.
  3. Stage 3Farmstand Merchandising, Pricing & Visual Displays
    • Creating abundant, colourful produce displays.
    • Direct-to-consumer pricing, cost-of-production maths and markup margins.
    • Chalkboard signage, QR code payments and honour-box systems.
  4. Stage 4Live Sunday Farmstand Operations & Community Social
    • Running a live Sunday morning farmstand for neighbourhood visitors.
    • Customer engagement, recipe storytelling and handling transactions.
    • Inventory reconciliation, composting unsold greens, and a cohort celebration.

4 sessions in the cycle, then it begins again on new ground.

Who leads it, and what is provided

Led by Commercial market gardener / farmstand manager.

Post-harvest training, merchandising coaching, and market supervision.

On the table when you arrive

  • Greens washers and spin dryers
  • Produce scales
  • Wooden display crates
  • Chalkboard signs

When it runs

August 2026

M
T
W
T
F
S
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Runs Not running

Monday 10 August

  • 10amup to 12 guests

Usually runs Mondays.

This is the operator’s schedule, not live seat availability. We check the date with them and come back to you — nothing is booked or paid for here.

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