The Homegrown Vendor Blog

Baked goods, jams, honey, candies, and dry mixes are allowed in most states. Dairy, meat, and TCS foods usually aren't. Full breakdown.

Learn how to manage orders for a small food business — track pre-orders, communicate with customers, prepare for market day pickups, and avoid common order mistakes.

Sell homemade jam for $6-$12 per jar at 60-75% margins. Cottage food legal, no commercial kitchen needed. Pricing, labeling, and where to sell.

Turn your food hobby into a side business with this practical guide — covers cottage food laws, pricing for profit, where to start selling, and how to manage production alongside your regular life.

Salsa must hit pH 4.6 or below for cottage food. Fruit salsas are safer bets. Pricing at $6-$10/jar and testing requirements.

Build a customer email list for your food business with a signup sheet, free tools like Mailchimp or Kit, and a short weekly email before each market day.

More farmers market customers comes down to three things: getting noticed, converting browsers, and retaining regulars. This guide covers booth setup, sampling, signage, social media, and pre-orders.

A food handler's permit takes 2-3 hours and costs $15-$30. Here's exactly how to get one: find an approved course, complete training, pass the exam, and get your card.

Your hot sauce is better than anything at the store. Here's what's actually required to sell it — pH testing, labeling, production options, and where to find your first customers.