The Company's Garden Farmers' Market Proposal

The Company’s Garden Farmers’ Market Proposal by Shelley Mileham “The Good Company Farmers Market” September 2015 Mission Statement “The Farmer’s Market which is in the Company’s Garden is to reflect the cultural past, highlighting the heritage of this special location and reminding us, the citizens of Cape Town where we arrived from.” Without this garden that provided fresh fruit and vegetables for the passing ships on the spice route, South Africa as we know her today would not be. It is unbelievable that the very veggie patch that initiated the establishment of our society still stands today. As the ships sailed back to Europe from the East, they introduced slaves who settled down here. These slaves brought with them their flavours, spices and traditional foods which were slowly integrated into the establishing society. To this day, we are enjoying this culinary intervention which has very much been engrained into our local Cape flavour. It makes sense to have a Farmers’ Market in the Company’s Garden to raise awareness of our cultural roots and to celebrate our diversity; after all, we are all South African. Those early pioneers initiated other explorers to come and settle and hence we have influences of the Dutch, Germans, Portuguese, English and the French to name but a few. I am so excited at the opportunity to be involved in this Farmers’ Market, literally to rein act the same concept as nearly four centuries ago. It is wonderful to think that the very soil and space that we tread on today here in the Company’s Garden holds such great significance. The Farmer’s Market primary focus is on selling fresh produce and products. The fruit and vegetables are to be the “anchor” of the market. Other fresh produce like breads, cheeses, eggs, olives and honey go hand in hand with such beautiful organic produce. I would then like to place significance on the local Cape foods which have their origins way back when this Company’s Garden was being cultivated. Culinary delights like bobotie, samoosas, bredies, koeksisters and melktert, only to name but a few. We are very privileged that recently a vegetable garden was established within the Company’s Garden on an original layout of the former veggie patch. It is an absolute delight to walk through the vegetable garden having all your senses stimulated. It is such a great educational for everybody who takes interest in it. This is a great accompaniment to the Farmers’ Market which we would like to establish and vice versa. I understand that the Company’s Garden holds great cultural significance and would be honoured in helping to celebrate and educate the people who pass through. This heritage site which is of such importance deserves to be internationally acknowledged and definitely recognised as one of the “Top Ten Public Gardens!” I want to have a hand in gaining that recognition. Vision To activate the beautiful and historical Company’s Gardens by providing a much needed inner city urban market which offers a variety of local, organic and wholesome foods which caters to the surrounding communities and allows one to meet and greet the farmers, food producers, craft makers and even your neighbours. To provide Cape Town produced local art and craft of good quality workmanship which would appeal to your locals as well as the tourists hence creating a lovely tourist attraction which absolutely reflects the uniqueness of the Cape. We are passionate about hospitality and people and would like to create an environment where people “feel at home” whilst delving into the different culinary delights whilst families, friends and their children can gather creating a lovely social community vibe! Who is responsible for the market? The market organisers are responsible for choosing the food products and craft which are to be retailed at the market. It would be to our advantage to offer a broad spectrum of good quality products and local Cape craft to attract customers to the area. Collectively we are all responsible for the market, each stall holder will be responsible for their own stall whilst adhering to the strict guidelines/criteria set out by the market organisers. They would also be adhering to the health and safety regulations regarding the food preparation and sale thereof. The market organisers would be responsible for the overall setup, smooth running, breaking down and ultimately customer satisfaction of the market. What do we want to do? We want to begin with offering farmers produce of an organic nature, artisanal food products and a local Cape art n crafts market every Saturday from 9am until 3pm.We would like to provide a variety of stalls every market day, offering stallholders the opportunity to retail their products and come into contact with the customers to chat about their products and enlighten the public about eating wholesome nourishing food. We would like to offer a variety of street foods...some which are semi prepared and need the cooking process completed, whilst others are assembled and heated. Bottled products like jams, honeys and olives for example, refreshments like fresh coffee, tea, iced rooibos teas, freshly squeezed fruit n veggie juices, smoothies, fresh fruit cordials and arts n crafts which are local to the Cape to attract a broad spectrum of locals and tourists. We would like to trade throughout the year. LOOK AND FEEL Representing a Farmer’s Market in the heart of the city bowl, we want it to be inviting to all the surrounding communities which use this neighbourhood park which is of cultural and heritage significance to many. It is to be a place where neighbours and friends can meet whilst buying their fresh produce. I want to create a relaxed, farm style vibe which is rustic and selling beautiful fresh organic produce and artisan products. People are to feel comfortable and we want to gain a reputation that we offer great products at an affordable price and hence entice people to come down for their weekly shopping. In saying that we do not want to be standing out like a sore thumb, we want to gracefully blend into the Company’s Garden surroundings. It is to be tranquil and effortlessly integrated within the style and design of the park. No cheap and nasty here, we want an upmarket, beautifully presented Farmer’s Market which is very tastefully done and literally a sight to behold! I want you to feel overwhelmed and very excited with our offerings. We are using trestle tables covered in red n white checked tablecloths, white or green gazebos and then very lush displays of the fresh produce and products. I will personally be monitoring this as I have an excellent eye for attention to detail. PRODUCTS AND QUALITY Once again, we have extremely high standards and expect nothing less than the best. The quality is of extreme importance and whilst sourcing the vendors, that would be our most important criteria. I also want vendors who are passionate about their products and take pride in producing their artisan products or cooking of their food. Let me break the products down into categories... Fresh Produce which is fresh from the farm like your fruit and vegetables Farm Products like bread, eggs, honey, cheese, mushrooms, nuts, dried fruit Bottled products like preserves, relishes, olives and olive oil, pates and dips Garden plants, flowers, herbs, seedlings Local South African Food which is a tribute to Cape Malay Food- bredies, bobotie, briyanis, samoosas, pickled fish, variety of spices Traditional South African food- biltong, hoenderpastei, gourmet boerie rolls, koeksisters, malva pudding, milktart and pancakes Other Food Stalls offering burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads and vegetarian options Picnic Hampers offering ploughman’s platters with cold meats, cheese, bread, salads and dips Refreshment stalls offering coffee, tea, freshly squeezed fruit n veggie juices, homemade cordials and smoothies Craft stalls displaying local Cape talent Books for sale Art in the park? Maybe head n shoulder massages in the park? Children Entertainment- face painting, sand art, old school games, pony rides Our main focus is to offer an abundance of the best local fresh produce which is within our area. The fruit and vegetables are of utmost importance and we want to source these from farmers in the Philipi area as these would be heirloom veggies and certainly not be genetically modified! This not only ensures us of a very good organic product but also empowers people in the trade. Other fresh produce like eggs, breads, honey, olives, olive oils, nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, rock salt, jams, chutneys, pates n dips will be sourced from local producers who enjoy what they do. Our unique selling point is to focus on local Cape food and we would be selling products and cooked foods like biltong, droewors,hoenderpastei, venison pies, smoked snoek, pickled fish, samoosas, rotis, mielie bread, vetkoek and pumpkin fritters. Cooked foods would include frikkadels, sosaties, skilpadjies, bredies like tamatie or waterblommetjie, boboties, briyanis and Cape Malay curries. For the sweet tooth we will offer traditional desserts like koeksisters, melktert and malva pudding. Lastly, we will also offer a few different cooked foods like burgers, wraps, open sandwiches, salads and vegetarian fare. For refreshments, we want to offer artisan coffee, iced rooibos tea, smoothies and freshly pressed fruit n veggie juice. POSITION This Farmer’s Market has been developed to make the public aware of the significance of this prime heritage site in the Company’s Garden. Saying that, we would like to set up the fruit and vegetable stall in the centre of the circle to emphasise their importance as this is the main focus of the market which is to celebrate the Company’s Garden and what it means to us as South Africans.

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