Make money with by enlarging your garden?

[msta999]

I have been reading in the local paper, that more and more people are buying seeds to plant their own garden. Many are hiring someone to grow the feggies for them. Maybe people can make some extra money just by doubling their garden and selling the extra. I know this is not knew, but there seems to be a larger demand now with the higher fuel prices. And since some of the companies, out here, are doing this and having to enlarge thier crops and add more employees to meet this demand, there seems to be a higher demand for this. I would think a person could charge more now, than in the past.


http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080525/BIZ/392586222&SearchID=73319577205200

[JakeLeg]

i plan to hit the farmer's market next summer.

this will be the 3rd summer that we've done the garden (the first summer after moving to our current place was just too busy) and i've enlarged it over the last few years to it's current size of 50'x50'. also, it took a few years after starting w/ virgin soil to build up the humus with compost, horse manure, green manure, amendments, etc to the point where this year should be a pretty banner crop.

we're currently growing about 25 varieties, plus about 10 types of herbs in a separate area. so, despite the fact that i'm still experimenting & documenting different types of layouts (wide row, single row, raised bed, wide row broadcast) i should have a good idea if it'll be worthwhile heading to the farmer's market next year. the weekly saturday farmer's market is held in the Walmart parking lot on saturday mornings. it's about a gallon of gas away. so, if i think i can justify 2 gallons of gas plus a little mileage, i'll do it.

alternatively, i have 2 neighbors very close with sizable gardens, and i'm sure that if I set up a roadside stand, we could sell stuff as it comes in season. the downside with that is (a) lower traffic due to the fact that my house is not a walmart parking lot, thank jeebus, and (b) the upstart cost of building the display stands.

i'm about to acquire a small tractor (old antique Economy Brand) from a friend, so it's not out of the picture that i'll quadruple the size of the garden over the next couple of years to 100'x100'. that'd be way too much for just the wife and I, but if next year's farmer's market experiment works out, it'll be a 'go'.

[msta999]

Jakeleg,
sounds like your really getting things going. What some of the farmers are doing here, is selling shares, which entitle those who purchase the shares to so much veggies during the growing season. You save a lot on time and gas if you can get them to come to you for their share.

[JakeLeg]

i'm not quite sure i get the "shares" concept. it seems like you're saying that the consumer/shopper purchases a "share" (say a hundred bucks) in the farmer's market. then the consumer/shopper can divvy up their hundred bucks by picking randomly from a different mix of vendor/farmers. the market (who collected the original hundred bucks) then reimburses the vendor/farmers based on whatever the shopper picks out. is that right?

i'm not sure the market i described above goes that far. it's rather small (only about 10 vendors at the most) and seems kinda loose in organization. although, it does seems to have a steady traffic, so i'll talk to the current vendors to see if it's worthwhile my attending.

your point about bringing the customers to me is well taken. it would not be out of the question for me to post a sign showing approximate harvests, as well as some pamphlets with a map and some hours of operation. realistically, the farmer's market runs Saturdays from about 7am until noon. the rest of saturday and all of sunday i'm home (and probably puttering in or near the garden) so i could receive a few people pick stuff up... although i'm not totally ecstatic about people milling about the house and barn.

the one thing i have noticed is that the walmart farmer's market seems to be just people selling produce. it's kinda flea-markety in that you park your truck, set up your own folding tables and put your goods out. relatively informal. well, my wife is a pretty good crafter, and I bake and make candy. so, why should i just limit to vegetables? why not crafts, muffins, breads, fudge, peanut brittle, cookies, etc?

the gears are always turnin'

[msta999]

jakeleg,

this is what I was talking about. It explains it better than I can.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080430/LIVING01/13808625&SearchID=73319766764181

This is not the article I first read, but it is similar.

[Deberosa]

A CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. The deal is the consumer pays up front a set amount for a regular package of the produce from the farm that is in season that week.

They can be abused because the consumer pays up front - taking on the risk of the farmer. If the crop fails you lose. I've heard quite a few people unhappy with their "shares", missing crops, farmers that actually go buy produce to put in the share rather than growing it, etc.

I wouldn't do it until I knew I could be successful in the crops I promised, but some are quite successful at it and you get money up front to buy seeds and supplies.

What I have been toying with is creating an e-mail list of customers and sending out an email weekly of what is available and taking orders. Then either providing a central distribution point, delivering (maybe for a fee?) or having people come to the farm. But for me most of the extra is going to livestock this year.

Debbie

[JakeLeg]

yeah, that whole deal is beginning to sound a bit complicated. if i were selling produce full time i'd see if there was a structured compensation.

but, i really enjoy my day job and make well enough to live the way I want with weekends in the garden with my wife, or relaxing with friends.

realistically, i'm looking at maybe a few hundred bucks over the course of a couple of months in the summer. my garden's my hobby and if I can manage to make a few bucks to pay for seeds, fertilizer, and gas & maintenance for the tractor and tiller, i'd be happy.

but, who knows? i mean, i'm always looking at ways to use the land more efficiently - the whole spin farming thing as well as alternative planting methods. it's totally not out of the question at all that I increase from a 2500sqft garden to 10000sqft in the next year or 2. i'm a go-getter, one who like to bite off ALMOST more than i can chew.

with that in mind, who's to say that I might not start up my OWN farmer's market/ co-op in the next couple of years?

[msta999]

One thing you have to remember about the share crops, is the people who buy these shares are people who will pay more for fresh, organically grown, local veggies. This is not something you do for people who want to save money. It is pretty big around here. If I have the land, I would be doing it myself. They give you money to help grow the crop and then they pay for the crop when they pick it up.