Sometimes you gotta give a little to get a little.

Front Step Farms in Niagara-on-the-Lake took that adage to heart last Friday, while testing its business acumen at the same time, by offering free food to residents in exchange for a pitch on the farm’s products and practices.

“FREE LETTUCE ALERT!” exclaimed a morning Facebook post.

“Come visit Front Step Farms today, Friday, June 7, from noon to 4 p.m. Learn more about what we do on our farm and take home some fresh delicious lettuce.”

An intermittent downpour did put a damper on the door-crasher offer, but farm owner Mike Watson said there still were many who risked the rain.

“Lots of people came in,” he said, noting that the same deal was offered a few weeks ago for a selection of the farm’s strawberries. 

“It was great because they were people we had never seen before and didn’t know who we were.”

And that was Watson and crew’s basic intention for offering the deal.

“Traffic on this road (Line 1 in Virgil) is not all that huge and having more people know us is the goal,” he said, wrapping up his reasoning with a terrific piece of advice for any business person.

“There are two most important things on Earth: time and attention,” he said.

“If you don’t get someone’s attention you’re not necessarily going to get their time. And if you get their time and you waste it, you’re not getting their attention.”

Front Step Farms grows fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices and even offers expertise on preserving and canning goods.