Farmers Market

[amazonv]

So I might be selling tea at the local farmers market

If i do i need suggestions / help for the following

get scale weights for checking my scale calibration
get scale that can be calibrated for packaging
get scale tiny for farmers market

Tent (maybe have sides for rain / cold?)
Boil water (no electricity) - camp stove use std 20lb propane for ease
disposable cups, lids, hand protectors
stirrers
condiments (sugar, honey, agave what else?)
teabags
cash box
take credit cards-square
folding table
spoon to measure tea into teabag
timer
storage of potable water (filters, storage)
insulated spigot container for iced tea concentrate
cooler for ice for iced tea
"sink" setup (required) (tubs acceptable, as long as i have potable hot water to wash, rise, sanitize)
sanitizer
ph strips
thermometer to check water temp
sealing containers to keep all the things in
cooler with spout to keep warm water for rinse/wash/hands
folding chair for sitting on

what else?

Comments

[logomancer]

• Shelter: If you can afford it, get one of these. It's pretty easy to set up yourself, if need be, and it has attachable walls for closing it off from the elements.


• Credit Card: I'd get a Square account. They have a card reader dongle you put in the headset port of your smartphone to take payment. If you do this, you may have to get a smartphone stylus for people to sign the authorization.


• Condiments: Milk? Not sure how much call you get for that, and it would require being chilled.


• Table: I'd go for a plastic fold-up table like this. Light, (relatively) compact, and easy to clean. Not sure how much space you have, though.


• Cash Box: A small cash box you can get at Staples or something should suffice.


• Timer: I'd just use your smartphone. If you use Android, OI Countdown is a good timer app that will let you set multiple timers.


• I'd get the cups/protectors/lids/etc. online. A quick DDG search found a bunch of restaurant suppliers.


• Depending on your definition of "sealing" I'd get something like GladWare at the grocery store for the loose tea leaves.
For potable water I'd get something like this. 7 gallons, and it's filtered.

More thoughts as I have them.

[amazonv]

From joe: I worked several summers at various farmers markets with my (at the time) step-father's farm when I was in middle school. I also did a lot of camping growing up, so that helps some too.

- If you're outside, yes, you will absolutely want a tent. If inside, don't worry about it. The cheap ones, with the top-only, work quite well. If the weather turns super-crappy most people pack up and leave anyway.
- You will need to bring every single item you might need, possibly including water, depending on the market. You can get potable water containers at most farm supply stores.
- You may or may not have power available to you... check ahead of time. if you need power, get a small generator.
- We didn't use these, but you can get cell-phone based credit card swiping machines. Though many companies offer cell-phone based items today, so you might want to look into that.
- If you need to boil water without electricity, get a camping propane stove. For small quantities, you can get away with small camping stoves and the little Coleman cylinders. For large quantities, get a camping stove that takes a standard propane connection, and get a 5gallon canister at Walmart.

If you want to go all-out, there are many companies that sell "vending trailers". They would easily meet most, if not all, of your requirements.