The Homegrown Vendor Blog

Community events are one of the most accessible ways to start selling food locally. This guide covers permits, product selection, pricing, booth setup, and how to use community events to build your local customer base.

Craft fairs and festivals bring higher foot traffic but require different preparation than a weekly market. This guide covers permits, product selection, booth setup, and how to turn one-time event buyers into long-term customers.

Repeat customers are more valuable than new ones — they cost nothing to bring back and send others your way. This guide covers the practical steps that turn a first-time buyer into a loyal regular.

Instagram is one of the most natural platforms for food vendors — your products are visual, your customers are local. This guide covers what to post, how to set up your bio, and how to use Instagram to drive more Saturday sales.

An email list lets you reach your regulars directly — no algorithm, no guesswork. This guide covers how to collect signups at your booth, which free tools to use, and what to actually send each week.

Pre-orders reduce waste and add predictability to food business revenue. This guide covers the two models (pre-pay vs. pay at pickup), how to set up listings, which tools to use, and how to handle market pickup.

The seven signs every farmers market booth needs, how big to make the letters and QR code, what banners and table signs cost in October 2026, and California's farm sign rule.

Getting more customers at a farmers market is about three things: visibility, conversion, and retention. This guide covers the tactics that work on market day and between markets — from sampling to pre-orders.

Most farmers market vendors need to accept cash, cards, and digital wallets. This guide covers which card reader to use, how to handle cash, and how to stay set up when connectivity is unreliable.