Please, please be careful with what you offer for sale. The FDA has regs about what you can sell to the public (including open-air markets and farmers markets) and they are really VERY tough on the little guys if caught. I abide by the regs because this is my hobby income and I would not want to be shut down permanently, let alone sicken anyone because of my ignorance. Just because you serve it to your family does not mean it is OK to offer it for sale. One of the biggies is that home-canned food prepared in a pressure canner can never be offered for sale in any State, Nationwide. Reason is they can't certify that the proper pounds of pressure and length of time was used when prepared in a home canning kitchen. There is also no way to water bath can low acid foods safely unless pickled (acidified) and PLEASE NO CANNED GREEN BEANS - they've killed enough people already. To offer ACID and ACIDIFIED (pickled) LOW ACID canned foods the FDA (Nationwide) requires you to complete a course and become an Operation Supervisor, or have one supervise your entire process for each batch. It is called "Acidified Foods Processing and Packaging, Better Process Control School" that is offered through County Extension offices in each State. This would include water bath canned foods like pickles, salsa, mustards, chutney, vinegars, and all tomato products. REFRIGERATED PICKLES cannot ever be offered for sale either (not shelf stable)! You must also register your "facility" with the FDA under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 if you want to sell acidified foods. It is free to register. The reason is that they want a chain of contamination if something nasty breaks out - remember the bags of spinach, canned mushrooms, peanut butter? And, if you sell acidified low acid foods, you must file a Process Control sheet for each product, also free. I would be very, very worried about offering the Sicilian Pickled Eggplant recipe posted here without it being tested by my States Food Science Lab, not having an Acidified Foods approval, and, that it is not shelf stable. OK for family, but really scary being offered for sale at a Farmers Market. Each State has regs, as do some Cities and Counties. It would be wise to research them for your location, and not go by what the neighboring vendor says, or sells. Here in NC I have to have a Dept of INSPECTED KITCHEN and have my well inspected against E. coli every year. They can come in at any time without announcement to verify that their regs are being followed - just like they do for inspecting restaurants - and have the power to shut you down if not up to par. Another item you want to consider is the risk of botulism, molds, and bacteriaÂs like listeria and salmonella when foods are sold that must be kept hot or kept cold  which are not "SHELF STABLE". I would not want to take a chance that your customer leaves it in the car all day, eats it the next week, and sues you when they get sick. It does happen. BTW, do you have Mil$ liability insurance on your offerings in case it does? I do, for $125 a year. And, with TAKE AWAY foods, you may need a City, County, and/or State Health Department permit, usually called a "Concession Stand" or "Catering" Permit. It is hard to abide by their regs because of the risk of airborne contaminations outside of your kitchen. The FDA also does not want you to sell fresh meats, dairy products, frozen treats, sandwiches, cream pies, baked goods with meat, juices and hot coffee, for example, without the correct permits added to the shelf stable regs. For any MEAT OR DAIRY product, the USDA gets a say with their regs. I would not want to mess with them either. These regs are nationwide, not just State regulated. Selling EGGS also has regs so just out of the back of your truck is not a good thing to offer. I would really, really worry about those postings suggesting meat stuffed peppers, curry, pizza, fresh sandwiches, grilled peppers, and even that peanut butter (oil based). Your Market Manager should also be up on the regs since he/she would be held liable even if ignorant of the regs, which is not an excuse. Consequences are severe. As for BAKED goods, there is little regulation except that you should not offer anything that is not shelf stable. This includes no-no's like meringues and cheesecakes, very juicy pies and creamy tarts that are unstable in the open air. Breads and cakes, cookies and candies are shelf stable and are good sellers. That is why the Amish have such a nice variety. Pies are iffy  it is the water activity that the FDA is most concerned about - higher than .91% invites microorganisms to grow. http://www.foodtechsource.com/rcenter/tech_data/td_water.htm It is very difficult to ascertain your products water activity without expensive equipment. Suffice it to say that if your pie is very juicy and needs refrigeration to be safe, it is not good to offer it for sale. As for DEHYDRATED foods - there is little water activity so they are not regulated. Go ahead with jerky, dried veggies, fruits, and herbs, even dried soup blends. They are very good sellers and safe. As for JAMS AND JELLY - there is little possibility for growth of botulism with their high sugar content and the natural acidity of most fruits. But be careful - bananas, figs, peaches, persimmons, pears, plums, mangoes, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, and tomatoes are low-acid and MUST have bottled lemon juice added to bring up the acidity levels when jellied or jammed. Molds are a problem if not canned properly (you must use a water bath canner for proper sealing and for long term safe storage). As for anything using OILS - don't go there. Especially low acid foods like garlic, peppers, onions, and herbs. There is a very high incidence of botulism contamination in the totally perfect environment oil packed foods contain. I personally would include nut butters in this group. A week in the refrigerator is not going to inhibit the growth of botulism. LABELING is very important. First of all you want your customer to come back to your booth, or call you with special orders. The FDA has labeling regs  it is just common sense to include them with your product. Fancy name of product, common name of product, ingredients in descending order, facility name, location and phone number, weight, preparation date or code. Be sure that you note on everything canned that it must be refrigerated after opening, and include an expiration date, and that should including fresh baked goods. That is for your own protection from lawsuits. If you are looking for more information about preparing home-prepared foods for sale or personal use - please visit the HARVEST FORUM here on GW. It mostly concerns home-canned and preserved foods and has a wealth of information in current and past posts, plus, lots of recipes and discussions about recipes found on the web. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/harvest/ Another resource is the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP). It is our go-to for any type of food preservation and even includes many great tasting and safety proven recipes. I also suggest you peruse the University of GeorgiaÂs book "So Easy To Preserve". FDA blessed. Recipes are not copyrighted, even yours, so it is totally OK to use the safe ones, just donÂt expect that GrandmaÂs recipe, or the one youÂve used for 50 years is OK to sell to the general public. Nancy the nancedar

sorry I didn't mean to make you mad or be a jerk or rain on your parade.... I don't want anyone not to try. But please don't think it's going to be easy.Twelve years ago, I thought I wanted to have my own greenhouse business because I like to grow plants. I thought i wanted to be a market gardener so I'd have work all year long...well it's been a learning curve anyway! so if you like to learn a lot every year, it's a great job for you...and if you think you have it figured out, think again, something will happen for sure...and every time someone comes in the greenhouse or market and says "you have my dream job!" I just groan on the inside. One lady told me she wanted to do this when she retires in a couple of years because it would be easier than her job where she has to stand on her feet for 8 hours. I thought to myself "only 8 hours, where do you work?and "you get to retire? they're actually going to give you money when you do?" She has it made... I never work less than 12 hours all summer from February to November.Broiling in the sun and freezing in the rain because you have to get things picked for market. and the rest of the year I'm cleaning the greenhouses and beds and ordering supplies and going into debt for next year. or cleaning my house that didn't get cleaned all summer or fall or spring especially. And worrying that the wind will take down all your work, or grasshoppers, or thrips, or aphids.I've had the opportunity to learn about bugs and diseases I didn't even know existed when I was just home gardening. A lot of times when you don't see something at the market, it's because it doesn't sell enough to be worth the effort. That's been my experience.I've grown several things I didn't see at the market, it turns out it's because people don't really want it, at least enough to put their cash into action. Purple basil has always been a hard sell for me. I sell plants in the spring, well actually all year long. Purple basil is beautiful, tasty, and you have to beg people to buy it pretty much! heirloom tomatoes is another thing I've had a hard time with. Yes, they taste better and they are probably better in every way. But most customers around here would rather eat a pretty tomato with worse taste than a very tasty one that has a crack or doesn't look quite so appealing.And it's a lot harder to get them to market in good shape. to sell plants in most states, you need to have either a dealers license to resell or a growers license to grow and in our state if you want to grow and sell you need both. I have both. that's extra money and they come and inspect in the spring when you're just so busy you really don't need another hassle! LOL If you don't need to make money at this, then just have fun with it. but please, don't be the person at the market practically giving things away to get people to try it, or if you do have the same things as someone else, don't undercut them much just because you don't have to make a lot of money. value your time and effort. I am just also currently in a bad mood over people who want to do this part time because there are some people who are pretty much ruining our market by having lots and lots of stuff really cheap because they "planted too much" and "we have other jobs anyway". they are selling things so cheap that I wouldn't even haul them to market for that price. It's hard to make money marketing anyway, but especially when you're against that kind of thing!

Ladies... Cats certainly do have a place around the garden, preferably not IN IT! I have 2 cats, who make my garden into a race track. They love to hang out there, and when it's cool, (ha ha, comparatively speaking) in the evening, they chase each other all through the garden while I'm holding my breath as they race through the baby tomato plants I've just set out, sometimes breaking a stem, or knocking over a pepper plant. The plus side is that mice, rats, small snakes, or moles don't stand a chance. Fortunately for me, I'm not allergic to them, but some people are, or for other reasons can't have cats. Anyways, gamebird, are you sure it's mice and not rabbits? Until I got my fence put up, they were eating me out of house and home. Don't know about mice ever eating anything. Some folks say that squirrels like garden veggies. But I was wondering if perhaps you could have a 'special place' somewhere in the corner of your garden where you could toss out an amount of bean seeds, or whatever it is you think the culprits like to eat and let them have at it. I saw a turtle in my garden yesterday and I've been rather concerned about him eating the tomatos, or cucumbers. I may have to find him a different home if I start seeing damage. I know it can be very discouraging to work so hard trying to have garden and then seeing it destroyed no sooner than it breaks ground. I agree with Dawn that cayenne pepper may not work. Hopefully, you'll find out for sure what's doing the damage and find a solution. Good luck! Barbara

I am truly THRILLED with my package selection! Thanks so very much for hosting and taking such care choosing varieties for everyone. You did a fantastic job! :) (I need to move near Gary tho... wow, I would love to see that sort of harvest going on! ) :)) ~Wendy