Tips for Selling Your Extra Garden Produce to Friends and Neighbors

It never fails: Every year I plant a garden, and every year I grow more food than my family can eat. So what’s a hip housewife in suburbia to do? Haul a table to the end of my driveway and set up a vegetable stand of course.

Tips for Selling Produce

• Check-in with your Homeowners Association. If you live in a neighborhood with a HOA, check to make sure it’s OK to set up shop. My theory is if the HOA with allow you to have a garage sale, they probably won’t mind if you sell a few veggies once or twice a year at the end of your driveway.
• Be realistic about your prices. Sure, your loot may be homegrown and pesticide free, but that doesn’t mean you can charge the same price as “Whole Paycheck.” Shoot for regular grocery store prices, or maybe even a little less.
• Cash box. Put a quart-sized canning jar on your table with a little “seed money” in there so people will know where to deposit their cash.
• Keep a spray bottle handy. Every once in a while, give your fruits and veggies a quick spritz of water to keep it looking fresh, just like the grocery stores do.

• Eye candy. Make your produce look appealing by arranging things in bundles, using a tablecloth and arranging produce in a few baskets or bins. People don’t want to buy stuff that look like it’s just been tossed on a table haphazardly.
• Forget the scale. Sell goods by quantity, not weight. For instance zucchini 3 for $1.00 instead of $1.00 a pound. Chances are you’ll make more money that way.
• Bags. Unless you expect people to be stuffing potatoes and peppers in their pockets, it’s probably a good idea to provide a few bags.
• Be realistic. You probably won’t sell everything on the table, so don’t make dinner plans. I typically make a giant stir fry or hearty stew with my produce stand leftovers.

Gardening rocks! Even when you get carried away and plant too much.