I've thought about selling my excess, but not sure who to sell my veggies to. A sign in the yard like your neighbor is an idea, but not something I care to do. Maybe if I were having a rummage sale, I would put up a produce stand.

The only other idea that comes to mind is putting an ad up on craigslist.com. I don't mean to sell my vegetables, but to trade them. There are a few veggies that I don't have in my garden that I would like. Due to space or just being too new to gardening, I haven't planted these veggies.
I figure I could trade some of my excess to get some veggies I want.

I doubt there is anything illegal about selling your extra veg. I do think putting a note up at the grocery or hardware, or even an ad in the super saver newspaper ads would be better than craigs list. A lot of people have found a lot of trouble answering ads and posting ads there.

Many times I've bought a few vegetables from a roadside table with an honor system coffee can for payment. I think it's a great thing to do.

Jim

Why not donate excess veggies to some sort of shelter? Or to a food bank? That's what I'm planning to do if I have any surplus.

I'm with Jimster. But first I'd get liability insurance coverage to protect my assets (in case of a law suit, i.e., someone claiming they tripped and fell, the greens made them ill, or whatever). Perhaps coverage gets done by expanding the existing homeowner's insurance policy, I don't know.

If you sell vegetables without notifying your insurer, your homeowner's insurance may get dropped without notice. It happened to someone putting a sign up & selling eggs at his home. It took him a long time to find insurance (he knew not why he had been dropped till years later).

It's too bad that liability is such an issue in this country.....

The insurance thing would give me pause.

But I would be more concerned about legality without first checking all, repeat all, local laws. We know of a case where there was a law that had never even once been enforced in the history of the city until the persons friend, not the person, her friend, supported the wrong candidate in a local primary election then all of a sudden charges were filed.

Call up your local grocery stores. My brother supposedly sells all his surplus to the local HEB. He can't stand to share information, so that's all I know.

Given the cost of insurance, you would probably spend more on premiums than you would ever get back. My vote is also to contact your local food pantries. As more and more people are depending on help, the pantries can't keep up with demand and would probably be extremely grateful for anything you can give them (and you might be able to take a tax deduction, too!)
Edie

There is also a site called veggietrader where you can trade your excess produce.

I take them to our church. We have an area in our kitchen that people leave their extras for anyone who want/needs it. Sometimes we come home with something different that someone else grew. Today I have been cutting up and freezing apricots that someone left at our Vacation Bible School yesterday.

I would like to raise enough on purpose to sell at a stand by the road. I haven't the land for it.

I'd probably need a town permit -- it would probably fall under the yard sale permit regulations -- and my location could cause legitimate traffic issues.

But if I lived a little further out and had viable roadside parking I'd do it.

There are a number of places around here where you can buy veggies on the honor system. And watermelons (and occasionally sweetpotatoes), are commonly sold from the back of pick-up trucks at gas stations or anywhere else an enterprising farmer can find to park.

I don't mean to step on anyone's toes with the whole liability/insurance thing, but... they're just veggies.

Kids set up lemonade stands, people have yard sales...

Sure, you might get the one off nutcase who claims the $0.25 pair of pants you sold him spontaneously combusted and burned his whole house down, but really... they're just veggies. The chances of someone getting sick and then being able to pinpoint it to the veggies, and then proving that they were the case are so infinitesimal, I really don't see the harm.

Maybe I'm just being too naive about it, but if I had someone who was selling fresh, homegrown veggies - either via a sign in the road or on Craigslist (which, ok... has gotten a bad rap lately, but on the whole, is a magnificent free resource that I use whenever I get the chance) - I would be alllll.over.that.

For the record, I also think setting up a trading situation via Craigslist, or donating are good ideas also, but boy, it'd sure be nice to make a buck or two, and also get your goodies into the mouths of people who'd appreciate them, wouldn't it?

-spaghetina

I share some with a few neighbors and freeze and can the rest. See the Harvest forum for ideas on canning, drying and freezing your excess veggies and fruit.

Farmers' market?

There seem to be new markets every season. Some established markets would be tough for anyone to get in but there's a good possibility that a new market would readily welcome someone with a supply of quality produce.

Many neighborhoods have street fairs. Craft people make good use of these venues but there's usually an eclectic group of vendors selling all sorts of things. And there are customers interested in supporting local folks.

A flea market or outside a 2nd hand store may not work so well but then again . . .

Steve

How about: excess veggies are for friends and relatives and neighbors? Free of course. They (the excess veggies) are part of the social tissue.

Hey, I'm glad you posted this. A couple of years ago I started way too many tomato plants in the spring, and put them out by the curb with an honor-system can. My kids earned $10 from them. Last year when I thinned the strawberries, the kids sold the extras again, and made $20. Now, even with 10 tomato plants, we can usually keep up with the toms, but this year we have 6 zuccini plants between my parents' house and ours. And I did plant 6 pumpkin plants (not Godiva, but another pumpkin grown for seed, not flesh). We may have to set up a lemonaide and squash stand pretty soon.

Catherine

Most of my neighbors have gardens also, and the few who don't get all they want from the rest of us. I have worked at the local food pantry and have taken produce there, but having worked there, I know that if there is any prep involved, most of the people don't want it. Tomatoes yes, black-eyed peas will rot in the fridge.

If the fruit is of high quality, you can check with the high end restaurants in your area. The fresher the better.

Not likely going to be a common claim, but working in the insurance industry I've heard of a lot of silly claims getting paid out. We are in a sue happy country for sure & that is why our insurance is high. With the economy the way it is & hearing what people are doing to collect money is pretty scary. On the other hand, it takes a certain class of person to be able to sue at will & just about every gardening person I've run across is good to heart. The people you sell to would most likely be the wholesome type & appreciate your efforts, but you never know. The donation box idea seems to be the safest. People are opting to take the fruit or not & also opting to leave money if they want as a donation. Still can be sued if something should go wrong, but it will be more difficult. I guess you could look at it like trick or treating for Halloween. If a freak puts poison into a piece of candy & although the child/parents went to the door to collect free candy, that freak would still be held responsible.

On a side note, I've worked in restaurants for 12+ yrs & not once have they ever been sued for food poisoning. One did get a letter stating she got sick but never went anywhere.

All in all, if it were me, I'd keep people off my property & see if you can sell at a farmer's market or do a donation box with permission on public property. If you have a nice home & look like you are well to do, you can only invite trouble if you ask me.

I plan on selling (hopefully) a bunch of toms this summer at a Farmer's Market. And I am currently selling a restaurant a pound of basil a week and he will also buy maters once they get ripe.

Mike

I won't say I've never sold vegetables... just that I've never planned to. My children (all adults) have sent a few of their co-workers my way, and I've sold a few boxes full of produce to them. But in general, I consider gardening to be a labor of love, and selling it doesn't feel right. A good harvest is Providence, and is meant to be shared.

As an active member of the Seed Savers Exchange, the majority of my garden is for seed production; but it is a large garden, and still provides more than enough to share with family, friends, and neighbors. I freeze enough to last through the winter, and can nearly all of my own tomato products (haven't mastered ketchup yet).

There's a program called "Plant A Row For The Hungry", which I highly recommend. Several times during the summer, I take a load of fresh veggies to the local food pantry. I don't know about the no-prep thing, Marti; when I took half a trash can full of butterbean limas one year, they really snapped them up quickly.

Had one odd experience, though. I grow an heirloom summer squash, "Tromboncino", that looks like a zucchini 12-18" long. I took a large box full to the food pantry - only to look in my rear view mirror, and see them throw it away. Turning back, I asked them why they would do that??? They said that because of the size, they thought it was "old" zucchini! It was fresh-picked gourmet squash!!! I was a little upset about it then, but can laugh about it now. Many people are too used to store-bought veggies, and don't recognize unusual heirlooms as food. ;-)

When I retire, I might try my hand at selling veggies in the farmers market, just to introduce some of my favorite heirlooms to local gardeners. I'll be the one giving free taste tests... and selling seeds & plants in the Spring.

We have a local famer's market here with a consignment stand for backyard gardeners. You get 80% of the sale price. They do come check out your garden initially however. Pretty cool.