Market or Truck Farming: Gardening to Sell Extras

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

I'm researching truck farming (aka microfarming and market gardening). I sell goat milk cheese shares and eggs, and suddenly our customers are asking if we will have produce next year for sale.

Sounds like a good idea. We want to do this because we'd like to make enough to pay off house in 15 years, and to pay for medical expenses for my special needs kid (autism and uncontrolled epilepsy).

I'm on the eastern plains of Colorado, Zone 5b, elevation 6250. We have very cold temps in the winter (could get to -35) and summers can be as hot as 103 degrees F. We're still in the throes of a major drought. On well water but other neighbors are on same underground "river", and its high in iron. We have about 2 acres, of which the goats and chickens, house and workshop take up about an acre. Our raised bed garden is 870 SF but last year, voles got much of it. Planning on adding another 300 SF. We have 7 blueberry plants (difficult to grow because our soil is sandy loam and very alkaline), about 3 raspberries (adding another 20-40 red, yellow and purple in the Spring), adding 10-20 blackberries in the Spring, and have some 1-year-old fruit trees.

We live about 35-45 min from Denver but some people are willing to drive this distance to get their goat cheese.

So ... does anybody on here grow to sell? What do you grow? What sells best and at the highest profit margin? Do you sell baked goods, herbs, crafts, jams.... anything besides produce?

Thanks!



ETA: Probably should mention that I have to be near my kid at all times because of his uncontrolled epilepsy, and he doesn't much like being outdoors. My Hubby doesn't help a lot with the gardening, except on weekends. We dont' have a lot of money. Basically: I need something easy, cheap and doesn't take a lot of time. We have a medium-sized living room; by the front door we've taken out furniture and are putting up shelves for a "mini store-front". Last year we successfully grew: cabbage, bell peppers, greens/lettuces/chard, string beans, mint, sage, parsley, tomatoes.

 

[lesa]

You face a lot of challenges... I would concentrate on things that you know you can grow successfully. No sense putting a lot of time and energy into some exotic item, that may not grow in your conditions. If you already have an audience I think the the jams and baked goods are a great idea. The jams have a long shelf life- so no worries if you don't sell them all fast. Can you visit a local farmers market and check out the going rate for fresh produce in your area. Unfortunately, I don't selling veggies is going to make anybody rich- but if you have the time, you could certainly make some money. Good luck! Let us know what you decide. (There are quite a few people on here, who do farmers markets, etc. I am sure they will chime in.)

 

[catjac1975]

Don't grow items that are very cheap in a store. Or things that spoil quickly. Potatoes and onions come to mind. People may mean well but they are not going to pay a lot more for things they can buy cheaply. Unless you have a wealthier client base.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Thanks, Lesa.

We went to local farmers markets last year and produce seemed to be priced about the same as health food stores. Wish I could sell at farmers markets but it kinda puts potential buyers off when my kid starts convulsing!

Thanks for pointing out that we can't "get rich" off of selling produce. Guess I need to give it more thought as to whether it would be worth the extra time and trouble to grow produce. However, raspberries can sell at a premium, and they wouldn't take much work after the first year. Since they are so delicate and don't ship well, once people find out we have fresh raspberries, I think we can attract more buyers.

Wonder if we just sold berries, goat milk cheese (shares only because of legalities), baked goods, jams, and crafts, with some tomatoes, peppers, beans and greens ... would people drive 35 min to do this weekly?


ETA: Cat: we did ok with potatoes last year but for some reason, me and onions don't get along (gardening wise). And yes, it would be mostly a middle to upper class client base so they'd pay a bit more for local and fresh.

 

[digitS']

MyKidLuvsGreenEgz, you certainly have enough room to expand your garden into a market garden. I'm not sure if you are telling us that you have the water and time for caring for it and what it might produce, or not.

If you have many chickens and goats, your feed costs may be fairly high. A neighbor was trying to give us a half acre once. I thought about suggesting chickens for his shed and growing grain for their feed. If he expected me to make a little money for him and for me, I couldn't see how it was going to happen, after adding up the value of a grain crop off a half an acre and looked at how much it might save in feed costs. Still, it could reduce your feed costs.

You could make quite a bit of money on a garden of half an acre but you need the market for it. Selling out of your home - I don't know. Think about the number of families you serve now. Take a good guess what their produce purchases might amount to each week. Would your efforts be worthwhile if you captured all of that?

Looking at what most families consume each week could give you an idea of what you could grow and sell. Let me give an example of how some folks go off course: A lady showed up at the farmers' market where we sell a few years ago. She had propagated a good deal of oregano. It was very special oregano, as I understood it and there she was with a table full along with some sweet onions. She sold several bunches of oregano and all of her sweet onions. The next week she brought oregano and more sweet onions. Once again, she sold a few bunches of oregano and all her onions. By now, she said she was out of onions and oregano sales couldn't possibly pay for her booth and the fuel it took to drive to the market . . .

Oregano sells for quite a bit. Garlic sells for quite a bit. But. Very few people buy more than a few dollars of these products each year. She would have needed access to a population in the thousands and thousands. Then she may have found the necessary number of folks who would buy her product.

Onions don't have a tremendous amount of value but many folks make salads a few times each week. If you have lettuce, spinach, a few other greens and herbs - there's quite a bit of money to be made per square foot of garden if you have several customers buying from you each week. Prepping these veggies for sale takes a good deal of time but it can be done indoors. If they don't sell, they have no shelf-life. There is a reason they are relatively expensive. With your climate, you may benefit from a shade house for growing tender greens.

Here is some information from Purdue University that includes some ideas on production per foot of garden space: Intensive Gardening (link). I am sorry that it doesn't give you information on berries, just annual vegetables.

Steve

 

[Jared77]

What about a hybrid set up of u pick and a market? Id offer u pick berries be it raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, maybe some fresh herbs, cut flowers, and then offered fresh eggs, cheese, soaps etc from a stand on site. That way your minimizing your time/effort spent away from your son or taking him somewhere like the farmers market where if he had an issue you wouldn't be able to address it like you can at home. Many people like the u pick option so they feel more connected and know they are getting something as fresh as they possibly can. What about maybe setting up a hive or 2 for honey and increased pollination? Just trying to give you some ideas.

You could even do a some feed the goats/chickens kind of thing too. Cut the ration they get and offer for sale cups the rest of their meal divided up. A quarter for a dixie cup of food for kids to feed the critters with. One more way to get some $ out of your set up. Its food they'd normally get anyway so its not like your feeding them that much more. Your just redistributing the feeding schedule. There are a number of books and articles on how to get as much out of your set up as possible.

Just bouncing around some ideas here.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Cannot believe this! I take my son and his service dog to the vet and come home to find an e-mail. See, yesterday I had posted on Craigslist asking if anyone was interested in a CSA or farmer's market in this area. The e-mail I just got was from someone who makes deliveries into Denver from what they produce at their farm plus other farms, and will even pick up from us! Even wanted to know if I have anything right now.

You better believe I'm gonna call her! Wow ! That would solve SO many problems. Wonder what they charge.

I'll update info when I can.

 

[catjac1975]

A farmer nearby sells "shares" of her organic produce. You pick it up 2 X a week. There is a trading bin where you place things you don't want and can trade for things left by others. MY friend had a quarter share that she bought for I think $250 for the season. (This was 10 years ago so you would need to adjust for inflation.) The woman had trainees to learn organic farming-I don't know the details of that. I remember that she told me she put in a well and a grant from the state reimbursed her for most of the cost.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

You mentioned that you have 2 acres but you did not tell us if it's a busy subdivision or somewhat rural. If you have the right location a small front yard produce stand may work well for you. Or, like you have already done, a converted living room.

My wife and kids had a stand out near the road for many years. All through the '80s and early '90s. Until the state built a new road in the neighboring county and diverted the traffic away from our little road. Now we're lucky to see 10 cars a day go by. But that's a good thing.

I built the stand in 1978 and they had a good business going by 1980. They sold everything they could grow. Lettuce, cabbage, sprouts, potatoes, corn, radishes, cukes, beans, peas, squash, apples, peaches, pears, blackberries, bread, pies, cakes, cookies, and probably a dozen other things. My oldest son and oldest daughter paid their way 100% through Purdue University with the proceeds from the PlayStation Market. My wife purchased 2 new cars during the time we had the stand and every penny came from the little veggie stand. So, my point is, they can be very profitable if they are run right.

One thing that you want to think about is liabilities and family interruptions. As you know any time you do ANYTHING for a profit there are potential legal problems. Also the public can be so rude and inconsiderate that they can make your life miserable. Our drive way was 1600 ft. from the road to the house. Our produce shed was only 75 ft. from the road and we closed it down at around 6:00 PM every day. At least once a week someone would drive all the way to the house at 6:30 or 7:00 and knock on the door. We were usually in the middle of supper and they always wanted us to stop eating and go out to get them 2 or 3 ears of corn or 2 pounds of beans. Now it would have been an entirely different mater if they wanted 100 bushels of beans or 30 dozen ears of corn. I can remember my kids and my wife standing at the front door trying to explain that we were finished for the day but some of the customers would get mad anyway. They would spin their tires turning around and mess up the gravel driveway. Customers just loved to disturb family cook-outs and birthday parties. I ended up installing a big gate out near the road.

During the mid '90s the vandalism and the theft got too bad and we shut things down. I used a hay wagon and big wooden skids to drag the market stand back behind one of the barns. It's a tool shed now.

 

[lesa]

Now that sounds like an exciting possibility! Do keep us posted! We have upick raspberry places near us, that charge 5 bucks for a pound of berries....