Interview with Youth Entrepreneur, Trishelle Koerschgen
With wildfires, COVID and many other challenges, the summer of 2020 was eventful for many people in South Wasco. But that didn’t stop Trishelle Koerschgen, age 12, and Gabe Ford, age 10, from trying something new. As part of a pilot project with the South Wasco Specialty Farmers (SWSF), Trishelle and Gabe participated in all aspects of producing, packaging, retailing, and selling locally grown food at the farmers market in The Dalles. Trishelle shares her story here.
Interviewer: What did you think The Dalles Farmers Market would be like?
Trishelle: I thought it would be fun. I thought it would be inside and just us, not a lot of other people.
Interviewer: Had you been to the farmers market before?
Trishelle: No, I thought it would be a little like Evans Fruit Stand.
Interviewer: What did you like about it at first and then later?
Trishelle: I started on the second week of the farmers market and went with my Dad, my grandma, and grandpa. I was telling people about the microgreen kits. My Dad told me I wasn’t speaking loud enough, so then I spoke up and got more comfortable.
Interviewer: As the market went on, were there any highlights? Any challenges?
Trishelle: The most challenging thing was the pricing and keeping the sales records. When someone left the booth to walk around and check out the rest of the market, then we were, like, “what price?!?” We didn’t want to do anything wrong. A highlight was showing off my grandpa’s big beet because it was fun showing people what we do. We were proud of it.
Interviewer: Were there any big learnings? Any surprises?
Trishelle: Yes, probably when we brought the scale [to weigh produce] and found out we couldn’t use it because of COVID. We were, like, “ooops!”
Interviewer: Would you like to work at the market again next year?
Trishelle: Yes, I hope my friend Riley goes. I think she’d think it’d be fun, she’d learn a lot, and I could have a friend who could go with me. I think it’d be cool to plant more corn and sell it next year. Corn is kind of cool. In the last markets in the fall, we could bring corn stalks and maybe some baked goods, like muffins or blueberry tarts. Salsa too. Grandma makes really good salsa.
Interviewer: If you were making all the decisions and running the booth at the farmers market, what would you like to keep doing that was successful and what would you change?
Trishelle: I’d have the kids in front of the booth selling the produce, putting it in bags for customers, with other kids inviting people over. I hope we can keep that spot we moved to [in the middle of the season]. I learned that location matters. In the old spot, people had already bought things by the time they arrived at our booth [so they might not buy from us]. Maybe next year we can buy smaller bags and package smaller sized vegetables to give to little kids (kid-sized, like little tomatoes).
More about SWSF South Wasco Specialty Farmers formed as a result of a community organizing event (“F.E.A.S.T” – Food, Education, Agriculture, Solutions, Together*) facilitated by the Columbia Gorge Food Bank on March 7th.SWSF sells vegetables, including heirloom tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, herbs, melons, berries, eggs, edible flowers, and some value-add or semi-processed items, such as chopped Swiss Chard ready for stir fry, baked goods, or braided garlic.If you are a small-scale or garden grower, or otherwise interested in learning more about preparing for local specialty farmer opportunities in 2021,please contact the South Wasco Alliance at: info@southwascoalliance.org.
