Each Saturday during harvest season, Jennifer Johnson sets up her urban farm stand beneath a tall pear tree in front of her house at 841 Adams Street in the Congress Park neighborhood. She sells fresh vegetables, specializing in a tantalizing assortment of heirloom tomatoes she’s cultivated in her yard.
“We used to have a lawn,” said Johnson, indicating her raised beds and cold frame chock full of vegetables and herbs. Johnson grew organic vegetables commercially until losing access to land she rented in Boulder County. She plans to add a small greenhouse to her property.
Her pop-up market also deals in honey from her backyard hives, as well as her “Oh My Dang” hot sauce. From leftover produce, Johnson makes pickles, relishes, preserves and even ketchup: all for sale at her sidewalk stand on residentially zoned land.
Johnson is part of a growing trend of cottage food purveyors allowed by a Denver ordinance: “The Colorado Cottage Foods Act, passed in 2012, allows small-scale residential preparation and sales of food products without food licensing.” Denver reported 44 permits for cottage food sales.
A spokesman for the city of Denver, Andrea Burns said, “At-home sales of fresh produce and cottage foods can help gardeners earn a little extra cash while expanding healthy, local food options for families in our neighborhoods. In small ways, it can support both economic health and personal health.”
To safeguard public health, the city allows citizens to sell only certain foods from a home. Produce must be grown by the vendor. Labeling is mandatory. And the pop-up stands require a permit.
“Technically speaking it’s a zoning permit, not a business license,” Burns said.
Would-be cottage foods merchants can find the rules in Section 11.9.2 of the Denver Zoning Code at denvergov.org/zoning and the Home Occupation Application at denvergov.org/homebusiness. Applications also are taken at the Webb Municipal Building.
To obtain her permit, Johnson completed the online application. “It was super easy to get the permit, and it only cost $20,” said Johnson.
Polly Dicker obtained paperwork for her stand selling an assortment of home-baked goods on Sunday mornings at the corner of 7th Avenue and Bellaire. Dicker took an online food safety course for $10 and earned the passing score required in Denver.
“I went to the city building downtown, waited in line for 90 minutes, and gave the necessary information to the processor. After another 20 minutes or so, I had a permit,” Dicker said. “This is a lifetime permit. I never have to renew it.”
Dicker investigated a home baking business about 10 years ago, while living in Racine, Wis.
“The rules there would have required me to build an additional commercial kitchen or do my baking at a pre-approved commercial kitchen outside of my home,” she said. “For me, it defeated the purpose.”
Each weekend, Dicker — a self-taught baker — whips up baguettes and quick breads, cookies and brownies, muffins and scones, croissants or morning buns for her mini mercantile. Dicker’s husband prepares the ingredient and disclaimer labels required by the permit.
Joanne and Ron Katz are another husband and wife team taking advantage of the residential food sales ordinance.
“I went from running a $5 million food service to a lemonade stand,” said Joanne Katz, who retired in 2014 after 38 years in the Denver catering and restaurant business.
She serves on the Sustainable Food Policy Council, a citizen policy advisory council for the city of Denver. And she salutes the Residential Sales Ordinance: “This ordinance is great for Denver,” she said. “It would be so awesome if more folks knew about this opportunity and more permits were requested.”
At her pop-up market, Katz sells produce from an enviable organic garden lovingly tended by her husband. He grows beans and squash, greens, carrots and beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants and more. She specializes in granola, herbal teas, herbed sea salts and exotically concocted jams: pear-star anise, apricot-rosemary and raspberry-basil.
Johnson, Dicker and Katz use social media to market their pop-up food stands. They blast e-mails and post on Facebook to generate interest. Neighborly word of mouth works, and the charm of their home markets draws attention from passersby. Dicker and Katz enjoy vending their wares with cotton tablecloths, abundantly filled baskets and vases of fresh flowers from their cutting gardens.
On a recent Sunday, Dicker wore a T-shirt that read “Yes, I have a retirement plan. I plan to bake.” She said, “It’s fun to have a wad of cash that I’ve earned after our Sunday morning venture.”
Financial gain isn’t the only reason most people are rooted in their cottage food stands. Katz said, “I am doing it for the community aspect, and it does build community. I love being on the corner meeting and greeting the neighbors and friends for a few hours on Sunday morning.”
The Katzes plan to give away their coveted heirloom seeds to customers at their kiosk. And Joanne Katz hopes the ordinance will make fresh foods more accessible.
“Walking in Westwood recently, I saw people get off the bus with grocery bags. Some people live in food deserts, and they don’t have cars,” she said. “This ordinance means some people can augment their income a little bit with a stand and other people can get more healthful foods.”
For Johnson, the joy lies not only in the selling, but also the growing and, naturally, the eating.
“There is a distinct difference in taste when you grow your own food. In Colorado, it’s difficult to grow vegetables, but I learned how much I love to grow, how much happier it makes me. I don’t make a lot of money at this, but that happiness alone is worth it,” she said.
“And in Colorado, the harvest is just now starting.”
