Farm Stand Bakery Ideas: What to Bake and How to Set It Up

On this page

1. Ideas for what to bake
2. Put the stand where people already stop
3. Make the table easy to read from a car
4. Price it so a stranger can pay without asking
5. Take orders while people are standing there
6. Set up your stand in five steps
7. Get paid and keep the orders coming

A farm stand is the lowest cost way a home baker can sell in person. There is no rent and no build out, and the people walking up already stopped. What you put on that table matters more than how the table looks.

Ideas for what to bake

Sort your list into two piles.

Grab now. Cookies, brownies, muffin singles, cinnamon rolls, hand pies, bars, slices of loaf cake, scones. Anything a person can eat in the car.

Take home. Whole loaves of quick bread, a full pan of cinnamon rolls, a pie, a box of a dozen cookies, a birthday cake.

Then add one thing that is yours. A family recipe, a seasonal flavor, a shape people remember. That is the item that makes someone pull over a second time.

Keep anything with frosting or cream in a cooler and out of the sun, and label every item with the name and the price. Before your first sale, check what your state allows home bakers to sell, starting with our cottage food approved list.

Put the stand where people already stop

You do not need a busy road. You need the road you already have. The end of your driveway. A corner of a farm stand that already has cars. A spot at a flea market or a Saturday market.

If you would rather borrow someone else’s traffic than build your own, read farm stand bakery cart for how a cart fits next to a stand that is already open.

Make the table easy to read from a car

• One big name sign people can read while driving past
• Price cards the size of your hand, written dark and large
• Height, so the food sits at waist level and not at knee level
• Shade for you and for the food
• One clear place to pay, so nobody has to ask

For more table layouts that work on a Saturday morning, see farmers market bakery stand ideas.

Price it so a stranger can pay without asking

Use whole numbers. $4, $6, $12. Keep a cash jar with change, and make paying by card just as easy as cash.

With Brevl you take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. It is one flat $20 a month and Brevl takes no cut of your sales.

Take orders while people are standing there

A clipboard works, but a link works better. Put a QR code on the sign and hand out a card with your shop address. Then people can order next week without you standing at the table. Our guide to bakery order form text shows what to ask so the order comes out right the first time.

Set up your stand in five steps

1. 1

   Pick your spot

   Choose a place where cars already slow down, like the end of your driveway, a corner of a farm stand, or a market stall.

2. 2

   Choose your menu

   Pick a short list of items that travel well and can be eaten with one hand, plus one item nobody else nearby makes.

3. 3

   Set the table

   One big name sign, hand sized price cards, waist level height, shade, and one clear place to pay.

4. 4

   Price in whole numbers

   Simple prices, a bundle price for two, and your cost per item worked out before you decide the number.

5. 5

   Give people a way to order ahead

   A QR code or a card with your shop address on the table, so next week’s order comes to you.

Get paid and keep the orders coming

The stand is a one day thing. The orders are what pay you on the days you are not standing outside.

Brevl gives you a shop that is yours to customize, with your photos, your colors, and your own web address. Orders come in, and you get paid through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. There is a 14 day free trial. Brevl works on a computer and on a phone, and a real person answers, usually within minutes.

Start with the stand you can set up this weekend. Then let the people who stopped at it become the customers who order from you all winter.

This guide is not legal advice. Rules for selling home baked goods vary by state and county, so check your own state rules before your first sale.