[amandaandherveg]

My jam and chutney making has got out of hand and I have decided that I want to fund next years gardening through selling some of the excess.

Planning on putting a little table outside our house with an honesty box this weekend.  We live on the main road of the village so hopefully it will stay dry and we will have some passing trade.

1lb hexagonal jars, pretty printed labels and different coloured cotton gingham tops tied with string.  Question is, I really don't know what to charge.  I will be selling:

Bramble Jam
Plum & Apple Jam
Spiced Plum Chutney
Orange, Lemon and Lime Chutney
Orange and Pink Grapefruit Marmalade
Orange & Whisky Marmalade
Raspberry Jam
Spiced Indian Cauliflower Chutney
Mango Chutney
Tomato & Courgette Chutney
Plum & Rgubarb Jam
Red Onion Marmalade
Plum & Orange Conserve
Corn Relish
Blackcurrant Jam
Gooseberry Chutney
Rowan & Apple Jelly

I need to make a decision as to how much to charge.  Is £1.50 too cheap is £2.00 too much.  What do you think?

[Riala]

I paid 89p for some unbranded jam a few days ago, but I would happily pay £2 for some homemade jam... if this helps?

[Moosey]

How about £2 each or 3 for £5?  

Good luck with the sale.  How I would love to live somewhere you can have an honesty box

[amandaandherveg]

Thanks you two.  I was thinking £2 but wondered if that was too greedy.  3 for a fiver sounds like a good idea - encourage those sales, lol.

What does everyone else think?

As for the Honesty Box, the table will be right in front of my lounge window.  The dogs will be keeping an eye on the takings!  :roll:

[GrannieAnnie]

My friend Theresa up the road has started to sell her jam.  She began to charge £1.40 a jar, then a man knocked on the door and said My Dad sells his locally at £2.40 odd.  I think that's what she said anyway!!!  :?   So she put them up and now sells them for £2.30 to £2.40 and does okay.  She even sold a jar to a man who came for directions who doesn't even like jam!!!

BUT!  Another man knocked the other week and said I work in the environmental health department, and do you know you are supposed to be registered with the EHD to make and sell these items?  Yes, she said, Your Head of Deparment has already been round here and okayed my set up and I'm booked on the September Health & Hygiene course!

So just be careul in case you have any nosy people round your way too! or get registered.  Better to be safe than sorry!  She advertises cakes made to order too, and he said to her.  I see you make cakes to sell.  And I notice you have chickens in your garden.  Do you use your own eggs?  Feeling very proud she said yes I only use fresh free range eggs from my garden.  Well you shouldn't he said.  they could have Salmonella in them.  You should buy eggs from a proper commercial farm where the eggs are tested.

However, he didn't say anything about her selling her eggs raw!!!!!  Stupid man!!!!!

[amandaandherveg]

Oh bless the Environmental Health.  I used to deal with them when I had a hotel a few years ago.  Fortunately they left me well alone but they closed the kitchen in the hotel across the road.

I have a Food Hygiene Certificate from years ago, no idea where it is now though.  As it's on a weekend and a one off, I think I'll take the chance.  I'll try not to kill anyone and I should avoid jail.  :shock:

[chrissie B]

 they all sound really nice , i just love homemade stuff , any chance of  your recipe for the orange and whiskey marmalade,  :bounce: pretty please
Chrissie b

[GrannieAnnie]

Oh Chrissie, it had to be the orange and whiskey didn't it?  

Sounds lovely though!!!!!

[chrissie B]

yes i know , Ive been making chutney all summer long and really want some marmalade as here its just bland and my marmalade isn't up to much so a new friend is going to vacuum seal some of his and send it off to us .
Chrissie b

[Skip]

G'Day Amanda!

Just one other point worth considering.  You might print a sign telling folks how much sugar you use in your jams and how much (and what sort) of vinegar you use in your chutneys and relishes. There are still folks to this day who stick to an old recipe of pound-for-pound, i.e. one pound of sugar to every pound of fruit.  If you have used ripe fruit in your jam making this much sugar will make it far too sweet, to the point of being sickly.  Hence, discerning folks will want to know how sweet your jams are, especially if they haven't tried them before.

[Poolfield2]

Amanda, how did you get on with your sales idea?

[amandaandherveg]

Hi there

Thanks for asking.  Well we put the sales table out last weekend and we raised £110.

My neighbour is a retired surgeon who is currently volunteering in a childrens hospital in Malawi so after the sale I gave the money to his wife who's a midwife and asked her to put it in the fundraising pot for equipment for the hospital.  They didn't even have rubber gloves of surgical scissors until she sent some over.

I'm going to do another in a few weeks, I'm determined that the garden is going to pay for itself next year.  Lots of people bought things on the Saturday, tried them then came back to buy more on the Sunday.  Best sellers were the Marmalades, Indian Spiced Cauliflower Chutney and Rowan and Apple Jelly.

[Novice but totally hooked]

Congratulations on raising such brilliant amount.  

Did you say what you were raising money for?  People can be so generous when they know it's for a good cause.  A friend and I had a cake, jams and chutney stall at a Macmillan Cancer Care Coffee morning the other week and raised £510.

I'm now starting to collect jars again for the marmalade making after Christmas LOL!

[GrannieAnnie]

Oh Amanda that's brilliant!  And yes, I think you should tell people what the money is for, then you may sell even more!!!!

Well done you!!!!

[amandaandherveg]

Yes, I put a sign on the table beside the Honesty Box.  The church did a soup and traybake lunch on Saturday and rasied £400, that's the second one they did, the last was about £330.  

The next sale I do will be for Amanda's Garden 2009 Fund, I don't suppose a sign for that would help any.  :shock:   A lot of people asked if I was doing it again as they wanted to buy them for Christmas Gifts.