To those of you that sell your farm goods. How much ($) have you made in a years time (guessing)? And how much land did you have planted to grow this produce (please include flowers in with the produce)? How many animals did you sell? Anyone sell plants from their greenhouses?

What I'm mainly trying to figure out is how much money can so much land make. I know that different areas, types of soil, weather conditions, etc... all figure in. But I'm interested in what you made, on how much ground, & on what you sold. Please include the state & zone you are in? This will in turn help me decide how much to plant & what (besides tomatoes) to grow for my first road side stand.

Thanks

animalfarms

-- animalfarms (jawjlewis@netzero.net), July 05, 2001

Answers

Your profit potential can range from nothing to thousands depeding on where you are located and other factors such as climate, demand, crop, popularity of the local farmers market, and your sales skills. I sold over $1000 worth of honey over ten weekends at the farmers market last fall. Bee hives can be kept on a city size lot, as long as there is adequate forage within a two mile radius. We have a small herd of purebred registered Nubians. We sell the offspring, but they don't earn their own keep. We run a small boarding kennel that earns money to support the goat herd. You can see our operation at www.sundaycreek.com

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), July 05, 2001.

I make a profit every year off of my stock, though it is a job, not a hobby. The biggest thing I can tell you with anykind of on the farm type sales, is to make it accessible to people. Folks down the road have a upick blueberry, nectarines etc. place, but with just a small sign, it doesn't make me feel comfortable to go down there with no times, dates or any other information. I know also when I go to flea markets, neat and tidy displays get my attention. And selling produce at a fleamarket/farmers market gets lots more customers until folks know where you are. We have only one family who sells at a very large fleamarket near us! You have to remember that lots of folks talk about doing what you are wanting to do, rarely anybody does it, or keeps doing it. By the time I find somebody locally who grows honey, or some fruit I am looking for, even my soap lady, they are out of business the next year. Find your niche and stay with it, building a good customer base. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 06, 2001.

Get in touch with your local ag agent. Likely they can put you in touch with someone from the state ag college system who can answer many of your questions.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), July 06, 2001.

I think that one of the important things to remember is to have some diversity in what you sell. That way you are not relying totally on one thing in case some thing happens to it and you lose your crop. We are currently growing dried flowers to sell as bunches and arrangements but we have not actually gotten to the selling point yet although it is probably only a month away. We did sell dried flowers in arrangements and craft shows back in the early 90s and they did well but I don't have figures now. One of the things we like about dried flowers is that if they don't sell one week they keep just fine to bring back and sell the next week unlike produce. However, we do plan to sell some produce as well such as tomatoes, apples, peaches, raspberries so we are developing our orchards now. Also, we plan to sell the dried flowers over the internet. I like the idea of the honey as that too is an item you can bring back each week if it didn't sell the week before. It is also an item that few people will try to produce themselves. Taking some cut flowers each week can also be a way to diversify although those will perish if not sold that week so you may want to only bring a few each time so that you will sell out. Gladiolas are always a good seller. Flowers also make an attractive booth to sell as well. Good luck and share with us the results you receive as I think we all could learn from this thread.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), July 06, 2001.

I sell my bakery goods along with a women who does about 6 farmer's markets a week. She has 14 acres and her in-laws have about 200. They have an orchard and berries, plus all the other veg. She sells jams and jellies and in the fall consigns painted cans and such. She is probably pulling in at least $1000+ per market, probably closer to $1500. Some that are in upscale areas she is doing more. She has signs that she puts along the road telling what is available that day. We are in zone 5.

She also sells hydroponic tomatoes so that she has tomatoes in early June. These I would not buy because if I am buyng from a farmer, I want my veg. grown in soil.

When we were in WI I sold at a co-op. We were certified organic. We had 20 acres and I had about 1 planted for ourselves and 1 to sell. Did it more as a hobby.

When we move next year to our place in the country, we will grow again for sale. We will do farmer's markets because we are about 5 miles off the main hwy on a gravel road.

I have a book called Selling What You Sow that gives lots of great advise for this type of thing. Including marketing your stuff and resources. I got a lot of good ideas from that. If you are interested, e-mail me and I can give you the authors name.

-- Cordy (ckaylegian@aol.com), July 06, 2001.

Howdy from the southwest. This probably won't answer your question, but just a comment. I went to the Santa Fe Farmer's Market this past weekend.. what fun! Gardens not in full swing yet here at the higher elevations, but folks there selling free range eggs, beets, beans & peas, bedding plants, cut flowers, dried flowers & gourds, honey, homemade soap, goat cheese... and something I hadn't thought of: fresh cut salad greens! Lots of samples to taste, demonstrations, lots of music and crafts. It just gets better, too, as the summer wanes into fall (the fall season here is wonderful!). There will also be a tour of several certified organic farms this month; something to think about in your area for other markets to promote the local farms. My dream is to organize a grower's market in my area after I move and would like to try my hand at selling some of the above. I think you'd have to be a pretty intensive gardener to really make some money at it, and knowing what grows well and what people want. But anything helps, and it sure looks like fun. Good luck to you! dh in nm

-- debra in nm (dhaden@nmtr.unm.edu), July 06, 2001.