How to profit from your green fingers…
When you have grown up with a love of gardening and the outdoors, it was only a matter of time before you ended up with a property and a little bit of land. You have taken your outdoor space as far as you can when it comes to growing fruit and vegetables. However, what would it take to transform your land into a small holding, with a few animals and perhaps some more diverse and specialist crops?
In this blog we take a look at some simple steps you can take to turn your hobby garden into a space that provides you with a sustainable source of food and might just make you some money.
Apiaries
You hear a lot in the news about the decline of some of the bee species in the world, so what better way to encourage their growth than by setting up an apiary.
Bee on pink Zinnia
If you are building your own hives, you will find plenty of templates and instructions online and you will need certain types of wood, so talk to Edrich Lumber, Inc for an idea of cost. Then you will need to think about location.
Experts say that the best location to house bees is facing southeast. Have the hives partially covered and provide a windbreak to the rear of them to prevent the hives getting battered by the wind.
Many new hive owners buy their bees from a dealer, as it is rare that bees will find their way to your hive independently. If you do have, a colony nearby you might be able to transfer them, with some careful planning. Then all you need to do is wait for the honey and figure out how you’re going to market your homegrown products.
Crops
Garden produce
Even on a relatively small site, there is the chance to produce a small crop yield. You might want to up your existing vegetable output or diversify a little and introduce plants such as garlic and chilli into the equation. If you have the climate to grow olive trees then you will be in a great position to start pressing your olives and infusing the oil with your homegrown chilli or garlic products.
If you are looking to diversify again then growing mushrooms in a specially built growing shed is a relatively easy and profitable idea.
Livestock
Finally, you might consider livestock. The obvious ones being chickens and perhaps goats but you might also want to consider fish, both to sell as pond pets and for eating. A little more knowledge is needed to make this a success but it might just be the diversification you need to make a little money from your hobby.
Chicken
Image from Pexels: CC0 licence
When you’ve got green fingers and just seem to have that touch that makes things grow, it is a great idea to turn that skill into a money making venture. Turn your hobby into something that you will be able to draw an income from with bee hives, new livestock or by branching out with the types of crops that you can grow.
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Related posts:
The Golden Rules For Beginner Smallholding Owners
3 Rules for Starting Your Own Farm
