Asa, age 7, considers his mom to be his business partner, at least as far as the farmers market is concerned. They participated in the Cottage Food training online together and filled out all the forms together to get their permit as “Farm 53.” They walk their huge gardens each morning to “pick bugs” and monitor the progress of the raspberries and vegetables. Sasha Maninga has a food service background and Asa is an aspiring food truck entrepreneur. He even owns a chef’s hat. And all this is part of his home schooling at a small farm that Sasha’s parents started in the early 70’s. They still live there in a large multigenerational house that three related families share, so Asa has many teachers.
The day I visit is sunny and warm and the large fields of clover smell wonderful. They trade the product of the fields with a nearby farmer for beef. Towering white pines arch over us as we walk to the garden—one is home to an osprey, another learning opportunity for Asa. Sasha’s parents never “farmed” the land, so there are no barns or John Deere implements here. Just many trees, many fields of clover and a very large garden, fenced in to protect from the deer who love this place too. The garden holds a large raspberry patch that dates back many years, potatoes, beets, onions, tomatoes, savoy cabbage, horseradish and peppers. There’s also a “tree farm” where the family has started many white pines which are free for the taking to relatives.
They’ve had the soil tested regularly, using the University of Minnesota’s soil testing program (which you can also use, see http://soiltest.cfans.umn.edu/ for forms and instructions). The soil quality is good and they don’t have to use many amendments except pine needles to acidify the soil for the raspberries. I see compost bins and rain barrels all around. But this summer has been terribly dry, and they’ve had to water from their well. Asa and his mom make jams and jellies, some with hot peppers for additional flavor. And they bring snacks to the farmers market too—Asa’s favorite is the rocky road bars—I would have to agree with that choice!
According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Cottage Food Law “allows for individuals to make and sell certain non-potentially hazardous food and canned goods in Minnesota without a license.” The MDA does require registration and training, though. “All individuals who want to make and sell foods described in the Cottage Food Law need to register with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) before selling food….There are two types of training, one for each sales category: Tier 1 for less than $5,000 annual sales, and Tier 2 for annual sales $5,000 to $18,000. Each training is good for three (3) years, but you must take Tier 2 training prior to selling above $5,000 even if you took Tier 1 training within the past three years.”
So what is “non-potentially hazardous food”? That’s a question worth looking into. The Minnesota Farmers Market Association has a very helpful fact sheet listing what “counts” and what doesn’t, available for download at https://www.mfma.org/resources/Documents/MFMA%20Fact%20Sheet%20NPH%20Foods%20List%20%202019-02-26.pdf. Examples include fruits and vegetables such as home-canned applesauce and rhubarb and tomatoes. Pickled and fermented items such as sauerkraut, pickled asparagus and beets and, of course, pickled cucumbers. And condiments such as vinegar, ketchup, chutney, and salsa. Cottage Food permits also include baked items such as bars, breads, cookies and pies. Jams and jellies are permitted as long as the final produce has a Ph more than 4.6. That’s what Farm 53 specializes in. You can also make candies and frostings as well as dehydrated and roasted products such as seeds, nuts, coffee beans and granola. Foods that are never allowed under the Cottage Food permit are meat, eggs, dairy, fish, poultry, and seafood.
Folks who make these things in their home kitchens and sell them at farmers markets throughout the state are required to have a permit. And the farmers market should have a copy of the vendor’s permit on file. When a grower begins to add off-farm ingredients to a product, a whole different level of licensing is required. To begin navigating this, start here: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/food-feed/food-licenses All of the area farmers markets (Cook, Tower, Ely, Hibbing, Virginia and Aurora) are looking for more vendors. Maybe that’s you!