SCG, maybe you don't have much snow cover where you are? If you do have good snow, cats shouldn't be an issue if you locate the feeder in an open area, hanging from a tree. Even the ground feeding birds will spot any cat long before it gets near and will fly up into the tree until the cat leaves. And in my experience cats don't like going out in the snow and cold anyway. Just remember to remove the feeder when the snow is gone and the weather warms.

Brook - very interesting, I had printed up some cards on my computer/printer and had them available at market (some people took them) and also at the Historical Society Tavern Night I had donated jams and jellies to twice. The small local newspaper came to 1 Tavern Night and interviewed me, they also took some pictures of my stall at market but I haven't gotten any phone calls from any of these. I am leery of printing up hats/T shirts/ totes due to the cost (though I'm considering a laminated road sign to put up at the corner of my road and the state highway). But maybe I can get some plain totes (or sew my own, I'm fairly handy) and stencil them at lower cost? Not sure how many to start out with. I also have gotten zero leads from LocalHarvest - I'll only stay listed as long as it's free. I am all about service - I love to talk to people about growing the stuff, what the differences between varieties are, the health benefits, and though I'm not a great cook (we don't eat fancy with a picky 9-yr old), I offer "ideas" (one of the winter projects I didn't get around to was scanning recipes I've been clipping from the newspaper featuring produce I grow). I am also a fanatic about safe canning practices and have referred people to the NCHFP website and to our county extension office. I am not sure about setting up an "honor system" stand because I do know farmers who have been shortchanged - or even had things basically "stolen" - I think some of them are on this forum. But this thread was about cutting costs - and here we are talking about incurring more. I just got my latest copy of HMI's In Practice - good article on the front about "The Business of Growing" and actually managing your business rather than letting it manage you. More good stuff inside, esp. surprised to see in "The Data Mine" that according to USDA Census (which may be skewed to large producers - I know they sent my dad a census form and he didn't fill it out, seems like a lot of small farms aren't), there are definite economies of scale in production - they say that "farms below $10,000 in gross revenue operate at an unsustainable loss." (graphic shows -98%! which I guess makes them hobby farms - and these are the ones that bothered to participate in the census!). On the same page there is a book review about "Farms with a Future: Creating and Growing a Sustainable Farm Business". I guess I have to get back to my HMI training - I never did understand how to write a business plan. Thanks for the ideas on how to grow the business (any ideas on how to do it on the cheap?). I don't usually have problems growing plants (though of course the past 2 years - the time I've been in business - the weather has been the worst I can remember). But I know nothing about managing a business. And I did possibly gain 1 -3 new customers today. I stopped at local pizza shop/convenience store for milk, and saw they had new egg supplier, asked about the old one (right in town) and was told he was unreliable. I mentioned my cousin's eggs, and that led to a discussion about Araucana chickens and farming with 2 customers, 1 of whom was interested to hear that while I didn't have chickens (yet, trying to figure if it would be profitable), I did grow "organic" veggies. I wrote down my name, address and number for him, he's interested in coming to the farm once we've got spring greens. I may go back to the store owner and ask if he wants to add some produce to his offerings of milk, OJ, local eggs and some shelves of dry goods (typical convenience store stuff). Maybe we can work out a consignment deal? Though I think he was more interested in hiring me or DH for part-time "financial services" work (selling financial products and insurance?). He was well-dressed, anyway. I told him I had 2 kids in Scouts and also did a lot of charity work in my "off-season" and that DH worked too many hours at his regular job to add a part-time job.

Wow Mossflower, if I could get $10 for a snack bag of sunflower shoots I'd grow them too! At my market I was selling them for $1.50 an ounce, and there was definitely some interest, but I don't think it's worth the hassle for me. My problem is that many of the shoots don't shed the seed hull and I was spending way too much time removing those by hand. And I had trouble getting the seeds to grow at the same rate. It helps to cover for the first few days to keep the seeds in the dark, but too long and the whole tray would go moldy. Uncover it and some of the shoots begin to get their first true leaves (and become tough) before others have sprouted at all. It worked best for me to leave the trays uncovered for air flow, but in a dark area. Another problem I had is that when I removed the seed hulls as I was processing the shoots, the leaves in these areas were yellow, because they hadn't been exposed to light yet. Some customers thought that these parts of the shoots were old or rotten. Maybe other sellers just leave the hulls on? I bought 5 pounds of organic seed from Sprout People, which is a bit cheaper than High Mowing, but with shipping I think the price is about the same, around $50. Pea shoots are much easier for me, growing them is like falling off a log, and the seed is a lot cheaper. I disappointed a few people when I stopped growing sunflower shoots, but I think I need to stick with pea shoots for now.

I know I'm not saving money in the short term. I've only had my community plot for three seasons, after a long break from gardening. My start up costs were "re-start" up costs. And still, I'm building soil, learning what plants work well in this microclimate, finding my way… I'm not taking the least expensive route. I have to say that the other benefits mentioned ARE a cost factor. We pay dearly here in CA for organic produce with the water shortage, and it's only going to get more expensive. But I know I am not gardening efficiently enough to maximize the space for production and savings. If I concentrated more on actively succession planting and intercropping, I would. I think over the long term, I will save money eventually. In the mean time I am content to save on therapy and anti-depressants.