Made in Monmouth Sale Attracts Small Manufacturers

Patch is a big fan of home-grown products. One of our favorites is Jersey Girl Honey produced by beekeeper Jill Pegosh of Oceanport. Pegosh's sweet wildflower honey is one of this little borough's best kept secrets. Production is small and unadvertised, so when we're lucky, we snap up a jar through our .

Our sticky supply has run low, so we were delighted when we saw Jersey Girl Honey listed among the vendors of the upcoming Made in Monmouth event coming to later this month. The county-sponsored event will bring vendors of all kinds together to display their wares, free of charge, for residents to try and buy. At last count, there were 57 vendors signed up for the March 31 event.

But Jersey Girl Honey wasn't the only vendor on the list to get us excited. There were some of our favorites from our  holiday gift guide, including , and .

Also on the county's list are a whole host of new vendors we're hoping to try, like homemade sauce and raviolis from .

Here's a few more that sounded intriguing:

• Hangover Pretzel Company of
• Tracey Knits, hand knit golf club covers (pictured here) by Tracey Rediker of
• Hot Rox Jewelry from Andrea Rosenfeld of Malboro
• Greenlight Surf Supply from Brian Gagliano of , 
• Tickle Toes, baby clothes by Nicole Fiorino of Matawan
• Eileen Kornbluh Pottery of Colts Neck
• Remembering Quilts, photo collage quilts by Helen Philips of
• honey and beeswax candles from Ed and Mary Kosenski of E&M Gold Beekeepers in  
• Iron Sculptures from Gary Parent of Oceanport
• High Strung, recycled guitar string jewelry from Jenny Woods of 
• Design in Waves, portraits and jewelry from Jackie Rizzo of Matawan
• Jewelry fom Amy Caro Designs of

According to the county, the event is being held to draw attention to businesses that manufacture products right here at home and to give people the opportunity to shop local.

Made in Monmouth is organized by the Grow Monmouth team within the county’s Department of Economic Development. According to the department's Web site, Grow Monmouth officials have met with hundreds of business, civic and government leaders in recent months to provide state-of-the-art information services. The goal of the public-private project is to create and preserve jobs in Monmouth County.

There's still room for your business: All interested producers and manufacturers are encouraged to register online at Visit Monmouth or contact the department at 732-431-7470 and ask for John Ciufo or Amy Fitzgerald for more information.

The list of participating vendors will be published on the county Web site. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.