Eggs and Bread and Motherhood

I try my best to include my kids in all the things that I do around the house. I have had chickens for a few years now, and my boys really enjoy helping me tend to them and gathering the eggs. We have nine hens and two roosters now. Because of this, I decided to get my egg candling license in order to sell my eggs at the farmers market. However, it was the end of the market season by the time I did this last year. In the off season, I convinced my husband to make a self serve farm stand to put at the end of our driveway, and so far, I have had the best response to it. I sat out by my stand and painted the sides for advertising, which intrigued many people to stop and ask about my stand.

Since it's only February, my hens aren't laying eggs every single day. For those who don't know, hens go through what is called a molt every year. Some of their feathers fall out, and their egg production lowers in the winter. So for now, I'm getting maybe six eggs per day, which still isn't bad, but I can hardly keep any eggs in the stand. People buy them almost immediately. If I don't sell the eggs at the stand by the end of the week, there are plenty of people that want them when I bring them for an in person sale.

I've had people question me on how I collect money. For now, it's just the honor system. I have a little locked cash box for those who wish to use cash. I also have my Venmo handle on display for those who would rather pay digitally. If I begin to have an issue with someone stealing from the stand, my only solution is to have a camera and/or a combination lock for prepaid items. I really hope that I can continue this simple set up though. I've heard from others on social media that say they have no issues with their customers and their self serve stands.

Other plans for the self serve farm stand are to eventually add produce in the spring and summer. When it's time to get plants in the garden, it's difficult to keep the boys out of the garden and the dirt. I'm also working on getting my cottage foods license so that I can sell my homemade artisan bread, preserves and more all from the stand. All three of my boys enjoy helping me make bread, but don't worry, I never let them help make the bread for anyone else. They only have hands on our family's bread, I promise! I had planned on signing up for the farmers markets again this year, but if the stand does well enough, I may just keep it up and put all of my focus on it. I'm excited to see where this goes and to watch the boys help out with setting up all of the items for purchase. I can see some really fun summer days ahead of us!