[JackE]

" Some of the root crops like potatoes and onions are a hard sell because even in big stores they are relatively cheap to buy so you might not make as much selling those as you could another crop."

That's been our experience. I would add carrots, cabbage and brocolli - all of which are usually very nice looking, of reasonble quality, and relatively cheap at Wally World. We no longer grow watermelons - couldn't compete with WM on those.

We can compete with them on stuff that doesn't store very well - like winter greens, squash, green beans, okra and corn, which are usually half-spoiled and/or of low quality at WM. Their tomatoes, cukes and bells look pretty good, but the cukes are waxed and the bells are sky high in price. And their toms are also expensive and have NO taste - ours might not compare to heirlooms, but they're a LOT better than theirs!

And, of course, peas are always a winner in the South! The big stores don't even sell fresh peas. There's huge bucks in peas if you've got the land and pickers. People fight over them at our stand. We never have enough peas. Okra is a fast seller too. The BIG FOUR for us is peas, corn, okra and tomatoes. The peas bring more money if shelled and kept on ice, but there's liability and food safety problems with that (we've had big argumens over that in our church).

Of course, this all depends on where you are. There are ethnic/cultural diferences. I'm sure Tracy's swiss chard is gorgeous, but we couldn't give it away here - and, I would guess, our purple hull peas wouldn't sell at her stand either. Sweet corn and tomatoes are winners everywhere.

Jack

PS - Tracy, my back got well, but the doctor said one of these days I'm gonna be a cripple if I'm not more careful handling heavy equipment. I'm stepping down as projet manager at the end of the season. Our corn grower will be boss next year. And someone else will grow the tomatoes. I'll be the okra man next season (easier on the back - little stooping, etc). JME