Jump to content

Welcome to Field to Farm Community
Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!
Photo

Growing Plants for Sale


  • Please log in to reply
12 replies to this topic

#1
Ema&Steve

Ema&Steve

    Chick

  • Book Owners
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • LocationCheshire

Hi, I wanted to start a new topic specifically to find out whether anyone else out there grows and sells plants for sale to the public?? if so how have you gone about it, do you go out to stalls, have an on site nursery for people to visit etc, or have you tried it and stopped? Does anyone grow anything other than fruit and veg to eat from your own plot?

 

We'd love to know and find out if anyone else is doing this. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

 

Ema


  • 0

#2
adrian007

adrian007

    Farmer Giles

  • Book Owners
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 422 posts

I plan on doing so, on the basis of:

 

I plant some stuff for me. I'll plant too much, it'll be plants and crops to provide content and turnover from the farm gate 'barrow'.

 

Not sure about having it as a main enterprise, the plants I see at farmers markets are too cheap to my mind, so I assume have arrived on the same basis as above.

 

Unless, you have specialist knowledge of some kind, I guess... I see there is a Rosemary farm on the internet, and the Isle of Wight garlic Farm, and there are dozens of chilli farms so there is a business.

 

End product also seems to be involved with all of those, I am sure plant sales on their own wouldn't be so profitable.


  • 0

#3
adrian007

adrian007

    Farmer Giles

  • Book Owners
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 422 posts

I've been doing a bit of research today, as I had a few ideas.

 

My instinct is that plants probably fall into the same category as eggs - they will attract customers to your business, where you can sell them other stuff and they'll pay for themselves as a product, but they aren't so likely to be a core part of your business.

 

Unless, you have speciality knowledge as shown above.

 

By the way - there is a seller down the way from us, he/she usually has a box out the front, with some potted plants in, with a bit of board saying 'Plants'.

 

I don't know if this is the case for everyone, but to me that is not enough to make me stop.


  • 1

#4
Ema&Steve

Ema&Steve

    Chick

  • Book Owners
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • LocationCheshire

Interesting, my husband Steve is really into his Chillies.... so a specialist market we are getting into, at the moment on a small scale. He loves growing them and the options for chilli products are very high. Our aim is to have a nursery, but whilst we have been figuring out what we wanted to do we've found a deep passion for the animal side of it, hence finding this site, plus I recognise that the animals in respect of farming will allow us to actually do everything else (whenever we find land thats suitable).

 

Oh and I love getting feedback from people who buy our eggs... they love them. What a difference real free range means to the taste!


  • 0

#5
adrian007

adrian007

    Farmer Giles

  • Book Owners
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 422 posts

Weird, I thought I'd replied.

 

Chillies are a great place to start, you can make stuff with them to sell, sell actual chillies and sell plants.

 

If you are making stuff, you can grow the other ingredients, make stuff with them, sell them and sell the plants.

 

Yes, then the plants can add proper value to your agricultural business.

 

Cooking skills, marketing skills and imagination can go a long way :-)


  • 0

#6
adrian007

adrian007

    Farmer Giles

  • Book Owners
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 422 posts

Oh, I can add to this as well.

 

When you buy your land, start planting perennial crops immediately - (check for rabbits) so they start cropping as soon as possible. Some, like rosemary and lavender you'll be able to take many cuttings from as the bushes grow, giving you free extra plants to sell.


  • 0

#7
Ema&Steve

Ema&Steve

    Chick

  • Book Owners
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • LocationCheshire

Oh my kitchen garden is already planned out in my head.... I have plants that I'm keeping just for planting on site when we buy. We've already started taking cuttings for hedging material also. I'm hoping to use a lot of hedging which will be cheaper in the long run over fencing for certain areas. We've also got huge stock beds which will need transferring and they give me cuttings and divisions.... It'll be like one massive garden - except where the animals are...  :D


  • 0

#8
adrian007

adrian007

    Farmer Giles

  • Book Owners
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 422 posts

Hedging plants that are near crops: Include Autumn Olive - it's a fruit crop and it's nitrogen fixing, so will improve the soil.

 

Orchards etc (and hedges I guess) - include the odd Italian Alder - no crop, but also nitrogen fixing.

 

Alos, see if you can graft a load of apple/fruit trees this winter - they'll stand you in good stead as fruit and pig food!


  • 0

#9
Ema&Steve

Ema&Steve

    Chick

  • Book Owners
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • LocationCheshire

Thats a good idea... Might have a look around at the farmers market in Chelmsford. I'll aim for a mixed hedge then around the kitchen garden. I hadn't planned to get pigs but in the last two weeks seems like they are invaluable for clearing land, followed by the meat as a bonus. i'l probably get attached but still think a few pigs will be necessary.


  • 0

#10
adrian007

adrian007

    Farmer Giles

  • Book Owners
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 422 posts

Mixed Hedge - depends how high you want, and if it is on the south side of the veg patch so needs to stay low, the west or north for a windbreak etc, and also how big you want.

 

I would also include Hawthorn - variety 'Big Golden Star' - jams

Rose - guider rose has big 'hips' - jams

Hops running through it - beer flavouring

Hazel and cob nuts, for the nuts and also for coppicing for sticks for your runner beans etc

Willow - all sorts of reasons, the thin sticks for weaving or making charcoal pencils or selling as whips for propagating, wood for burning etc 

If there is space, I'd stick in a few sweet chestnuts - sweet chestnut flour has no gluten, one day you may be glad of a crop of these, either for commercial or personal reasons!

 

I reckon, with these and a few others, you should be able to make a pretty good hedge that is also a fully functional for crop production.

 

Good luck


  • 0

#11
davo

davo

    Chick

  • Book Owners
  • Pip
  • 11 posts

Hi all i've got stock of around 2,000 plants some planted in the ground and lots in pots a veg patch' and trees planted i've had the council to my land four times now and they have said because it's neat and tidy there's not a problem

 

i do have a big caravan on site and they only seem intrested if im living on site which i am not 

 

i would say plants are slow to grow so theres no instance proffit

 

im about to errect a greenhouse but with no fixment to the ground so it can me moved easy

 

does anyone have any case law on greenhouses please

 

manythanks


  • 0

#12
davo

davo

    Chick

  • Book Owners
  • Pip
  • 11 posts

i was thinking about putting it on a trailer i have in the yard

at a council meeting i had at a friends yard, the council stated that any chattels are ok

 

and the use is agriculture  this would be permitted development........

 

or

i would keep away from concreate and just use plastic pallets filled with shingle, water in drums for thermomass and weight 

all movable

 

or/and

 

do it and if challenged file a clued application .............

 

any thoughts please ............


  • 0

#13
davo

davo

    Chick

  • Book Owners
  • Pip
  • 11 posts

hiya thanks for the advice

 

i woulds suggest to grow plants for trade sales

a trade's person should take a larger amount of plants at one time

 

i run a gardening buniness, when i get planting jobs i used to spend 500 pounds upwards in one hit at my local trade nursery

which is why i started growing my own plants...

 

the thing 2 do is find contractors who are planting new housing estates and the like that will fill there van every day !!

 

regards

Davo


  • 0