I can help you with the canopy issue. If you can afford buy the EZ up, commercial canopy with straight legs. You don't want the cheaper ones that have slanted legs. The slanted legs give you less cover than the straight legs. I buy mine at Sams. They are the only place I have found, other people tell me that you can get good, straight-leg types at Costco also.

Milk, eggs, baked goods, and cheese, at our market require permits and certifications. I don't do them, yet. We will be doing eggs, but they are the easiest of these items. Must keep eggs between 39 and 41 degrees (a cooler with ice in it works for other vendors, I will probably bring a small frig for ours).

Our market has a percent rule regarding growing your own vs other peoples produce that you bring in to sell. It's percent is 51, after 9 years I still don't know if its volume, sales or what.

Also, I recommend tables made by Lifetime. They are lighter and have held up very well. We put approximately 200 lbs on a 6' table and it hasn't buckled yet. The only problem I have had with them is that occassionally a screw comes out of the metal, just screw it back in, and I don't always get the legs all the way out. But over-all, I will buy them again. This is after using some of my tables for 8 years now. I have 5 6' and 6 4' tables. I also don't use the adjustable height tables, they don't hold the weight as well.

Hope this helps you.

Is the 80-20 rule applied to each vendor? or the market overall? Where I live, in order to be classified as a "Farmers Market" the market must have 60 % vegetable producers and 40% everything else. It doesn't mean that I, as a vendor, need to have produce, crafts, baking etc.

And hanselmanfarms is right about the permits and certifications. You need to check with the local authorities before you can sell eggs or milk products.

I use "Caravan" brand canopies that I bought at Costco. It requires a helper to make it set up fast though, but usually a neighbour vendor will be willing to hold one side. Make sure to get weights to hold it down if you go the canopy route. I have had them flip over in the wind! Same with an umbrella actually.

I got my tables at coscto too. They are plastic topped with metal legs. Set up fast and are light to carry.

Good luck!

For shelter I found that buying on-line from an EZ-Up dealer is the best. Yes, the good/professional shelters start at $250 (about $100 more than the Wal-Mart/Costco version) but they are much better designed. Look for a model that has canopy support going across the unit and not around the sides. they are much sturdier and should last you about 10 to 12 years (though you might have to replace the cloth canopy) I have an Express which is the cheapest of the professional models and have used it hard for 8 or 9 years. When it gets replaced I will upgrade to an eclipse. I have a friend who has an eclipse model that is at least 14 years old and going strong.

As others have said, don't go with the slant leg "Dome shelter". they will collapse the first heavy rain you have at market. They also do not hold up to winds over 25 mph well. There are also issues with set up-legs and support poles tend to bend/break pretty easily especially if there is a jam and you try to force anything. Most people who go cheap at the farmers markets I go to end up replacing the cheap shelters about 1/2 way through the season and the shelters tend to break either at the beginning of market or sometime during the market causing you to lose sales (because you are now dealing with the $#¢¶§@@**& shelter and not your customers).

And remember this is a tax deduction

You need a lot of licensing to do milk items. And to get that licensing you need a commercial kitchen with commercial appliances which even bought used gets expensive quickly. Eggs are easier but more and more states are requiring the eggs to be stored in a fridge at market and not coolers with cold packs. Your state dept of Ag regulates some of this and your county health department regulates other things. Both will have confusing and poorly written rules and agents whom will contradict one another

Thanks for all the responses so far! I figured as much about the canopies, though secretly hoping to get by with something cheap. (I actually think the big umbrellas are really cute, but I don't know exactly how you would arrange tables, etc., under them.) The market site has a building, but indoor space is reserved for full-season regulars, which I won't be at first.

As far as the 80-20 rule, it was directed at each vendor, meaning that each person should have AT LEAST 80 percent produce, not that you must have some of everything. (Don't know how it's figured, though.) I totally respect that, since I know they are trying to make it a really authentic FM. But I hope they let me in with just baked goods and eggs until my flowers and herbs materialize.

I'm pretty sure I will be OK on eggs, though I will check with the market managers about any special rules and use a cooler if necessary. On the milk or goat cheese, I will definitely check with them. That's more of a someday-maybe thing anyway. My family raises Nubian goats, but we don't have a milk goat as such right now. I'm pretty sure my location will have as minimal regulations on this stuff as is possible in the U.S.

A small refrigerator can/and will run off of an inverter attached to a car battery. I would NOT recommend using your car battery that is connected to your car. (I tried that one day, and my car battery was DEAD by the end of martket). An inverter of 300 watts is sufficient to run the small cube size frigs. I have used one as a emergency frig for years.

In Indiana, the "egg permit" is a state-wide permit.

for weights, I found that 2-3 gal buckets with metal bails filled with sand and attached to the 4 corners of canopy is usually sufficient and people don't trip over them too much.

I buy by EZ UPs at Sams because they are cheaper than online.

I do agree that the canopies that have the internal truses hold up better than the catherdal ones. Unfortunately atot of the really good EZup's of olden times are no longer available.

Regarding those market umbrellas-- A fellow vendor had the wind pick his up and drop it onto a customer. Luckily nobody was hurt, but it could have happened. He had it on his table with one of those weights for the bottom, but not tied down.