The math nobody does
A single Roma tomato plant in a good year produces 20 pounds of fruit. Six plants gives you 120 pounds. Even if your family eats a pound every single day for the entire summer, you still have 30 pounds left. Multiply that by every crop and you are looking at hundreds of dollars of produce you either give away, compost, or watch rot on the vine.
Selling the extras is not about becoming a farmer. It is about not wasting what you already grew. This guide covers the four practical places to sell, what stays legal, and how to price without underselling yourself.
The four channels that actually work
1. The neighborhood text thread or WhatsApp group. Zero setup. You take a picture, you write "6 lbs of cucumbers, $2/lb, DM me," and you get five replies in an hour. This is the highest-conversion, lowest-effort channel on this list. Start here.
2. MyGrowCommunity listings. Free tier gets you a limited number of active listings per month; paid tiers unlock more, plus map placement so nearby growers find you. The advantage over a random Facebook post is that everyone who sees your listing is already there to buy homegrown food. No convincing required.
3. Roadside honor stand. A small table, a cash box (or Venmo QR code taped to the front), and a chalkboard sign. Works best in walkable neighborhoods and near commuter routes. Local ordinances vary — most municipalities allow farm-stand sales of raw produce grown on your property, but check yours before you build anything permanent.
4. Farmer's markets. Highest revenue per hour, highest overhead. Application fees, weekly booth fees, a canopy, a table, insurance, sales tax registration. Only worth it if you have real volume and can commit to showing up every week. Not the place to start.
What "cottage food laws" mean for you
Most US states have a cottage food law that lets home cooks sell certain low-risk foods without a commercial kitchen license. The specifics vary wildly by state — the general shape is:
- Allowed almost everywhere: raw whole produce, honey, jams and jellies with high sugar content, baked goods that do not need refrigeration, dry mixes, dried herbs.
- Restricted almost everywhere: anything with meat or seafood, dairy products, custards, canned low-acid vegetables (green beans, corn), pickles that do not hit a proven pH threshold.
- Depends on your state: eggs from your chickens, fermented foods, canned salsas, raw milk.
Do not guess. Search "your-state cottage food law" and read the actual PDF. It is usually 3 pages and answers every question. Follow the labeling rules — most states require your name, address, ingredients, and a "made in a home kitchen not inspected by health authorities" line on every jar.
MyGrowCommunity itself is a marketplace platform, not a legal advisor. If you are selling anything beyond raw produce, look up your state law before you list it.
The pricing rule that stops you from underselling
New growers charge too little because they feel weird charging anything at all for something they enjoy growing. Then they burn out because they are essentially doing free labor.
Charge 75% of what the same item costs at your closest grocery store. That is the rule. Look at the sticker on their organic basil, take three-quarters of it, and that is your price. You are cheaper, fresher, and local, so you win on value without giving it away.
For anything unusual — heirloom varieties, specialty herbs, edible flowers — check your local farmer's market. Match their prices, do not undercut them. Farmer's market sellers are your friends, not your competitors, and the day you need them (a bulk order, a swap, advice on a pest) you will be glad you did not spend the summer stealing their customers with 50-cent tomatoes.
The three most-profitable "extras"
Fresh herbs in bunches. Basil, cilantro, dill, mint. Grow them in flats, cut when tall, bundle with a rubber band, sell in a mason-jar bouquet. A $2 bunch takes 30 seconds to harvest and costs almost nothing to grow.
Backyard eggs (where legal). People will drive across town for real yolks. A dozen at $6-$8 is normal in most metros; higher in cities.
Small-batch jams and quick pickles (again, check your state). A jar of blackberry jam that cost you $2 in sugar and lids sells for $8. Preserves your excess and turns 20 pounds of fruit into 20 jars that can sit on a shelf for a year.
Payment: keep it simple
Cash, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, or PayPal Friends & Family. Print a QR code for each and tape them to your booth or stand. Do not run credit cards for these volumes — the fees eat your margin.
Do NOT take checks from strangers. Do NOT ship perishables to people you do not know. Do NOT accept payment "later." You are running a stand, not extending credit.
Common mistakes that cost you money
- Underpricing to feel humble. You are giving your work away.
- Selling out of your car in a parking lot without checking local rules. It is often technically illegal and someone will call it in.
- Overproducing before you have buyers. Grow to your existing buyers first, then expand.
- Not tracking anything. Even a paper notebook with "6 lbs cukes, $12" per row tells you what to plant more of next year.
Start this weekend
Pick one thing you have too much of. Snap a picture. Post it in the one channel that has the lowest activation cost — usually your neighborhood text thread — with a price and a pickup window. See what happens. If it sells in an hour, you know the demand is there and you can go bigger next week.
That is the whole plan. The rest is repetition.
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