- Guide to growing your own
- Find a green energy supplier
By Jasmine Birtles, financial expert from Moneymagpie.com
Working the garden is great for your glutes, your tan and now this summer - your wallet. Here are some ideas to help you make the most of your plot of land this season.
1. Propagating seedlings
If you have a decent greenhouse and green fingers you can make money by propagating seedlings then selling the grown plants at local car boot sales and garages.
Many don't have the skills to nurture seeds into life and choose to skip this stage and buy already established seedlings. You can profit from this by doing the hard work for them.
As well as the greenhouse you will need: good quality seed compost, seeds, trays, watering can and other basic garden equipment.
All seedlings will need warmth, light and water but there should be other instructions on your seed packet or on websites such as the Royal Horticultural Society (http://www.rhs.org.uk/index.asp).
A friend of mine makes as much as £600 a week by propagating seedlings; he sells the seedlings at car boot sales. However, the work is somewhat seasonal - mostly between February and October. The amount you make also depends on how much space you have to grow the plants. The more space you have, the more you can grow and the more money you can make.
2. Rent out your garden as allotments
Many people are starting to grow their own fruit and veg and if they haven't got the space, they are looking for land on which to grow them. Enter you and your garden. Waiting lists for council lots are huge and if you've got the extra space you can make extra cash by renting it out to others.
First of all you need the space. You need to have enough to feel comfortable giving a proportion of it away.
Access is also a big issue. It is much more practical for people to be able to have access directly to your garden, rather than traipsing through your house all the time. If you do not have a side gate, think about whether you will be comfortable with your tenants accessing their plots through your home or if you can provide any alternative access.
Let it be known all around your area that there are plots up for rent. You can do this through word-of-mouth or by putting up an advert in your local newsagent, library and don't forget to post one online.
Once you've found someone who wants to use your garden, make sure you draw up a basic contract for all the tenants to sign - nothing complex just some straightforward rules stating exactly when the garden can be used, and for what purposes.
For loads more help and advice on exactly how to do this, get in touch with the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (http://www.nsalg.org.uk/).
3. Growing money plants: edible flowers
Lots of restaurants, health food stores and gourmet food shops sell and use edible flowers for cooking. A rise in health-conscious home cooking means a sizeable market exists for selling edible yummies directly to consumers in their homes.
There are around one hundred different flower varieties deemed edible. Roses, violets, pansies and nasturtiums are all popular and saleable edible plants you could grow. To get started, you'll just need:
• Some varieties of popular edible flowers.
• Organic pesticides and fungicides.
• Designated plot in your garden.
You can buy edible plant seeds in packs of 50-100 seeds for about £1.50 to £2.50, depending on the type of flower. It's very easy to get them sent directly to you through the post.
Most retailers of edible flowers sell them as a punnet for around £12-£15 each. A standard punnet is about 130mm x 170mm and can hold a few dozen small flowers and about a dozen larger ones.
4. Medicinal plant nursery
Just like growing edible plants in your garden, keeping a medicinal plant nursery as an income-generator requires very little comparable effort and maintenance.
Stick to perennials that don't require annual planting or germination. Medicinal herbs and plants are great because they can flourish in the shade or harsh sun, and require little water or attention.
The market for selling medicinal herbs is more likely to be a domestic one. Your knowledge of their use is just as important in selling the plants as the plants themselves. It's therefore important to research well beforehand into all of the medicinal plants and herbs you're interested in growing for sale and distribution.
Remember: even though these plants are generally considered safe to use as a natural homeopathic medicine, you should always evaluate their risks and benefits to certain people and their illnesses, especially when used in conjunction with other prescribed medicines.
You can buy medicinal herb and plant seeds in packs of 50-500 seeds for an average price of £1 to £2. Price varies greatly for some of the rarer seeds, so expect to pay at least an extra £1 for these.
A small fresh single plant from your garden can be sold with a 9cm pot for about £2-£3 depending on the seed variety you're using. A small 50g bag of cut and dried dandelion root will sell for about £1.80.
5. Starting an organic market garden
Feel like moving a stage further up the garden path? Establish your own garden as a market garden.
Staple and seasonal vegetables are a good entry point. There is an ever growing demand for locally grown, organic food. Remember to stick to the basics first before you start attempting to grow more exotic foods.
Selecting produce that is in season and can easily be grown in your local conditions will be easier and require far fewer resources to grow. Advertise locally, with flyers and business cards that you may put up in other local shops and eateries. It's a good idea to hold weekly or monthly markets.
You're probably looking at a minimum spend of £50 a month to grow enough food to be able to sell at a decent profit.
And you don't have to go it alone - join forces with other local productive gardens in the area and turn a profit together. Talk with neighbours and see if they are willing to grow some produce in their gardens. If they are you could hold a monthly street market.
Running a market can require a lot of time investment (as will gardening all the produce). Be mindful of how large a market you can actually handle and how much time and money you have to invest.
Also consider the size of the project. A small garden farm will likely cost you several hundred pounds to initially set-up while a much larger one could run you thousands.
For an idea about evaluating assets and setting targets for the market, read the advice of market farmer and expert Scott Kelland (http://articles.glenns-garden.com/Art/1747/93/How-To-Start-Your-Own-Community-Supported-Agriculture-Market-Garden.html).
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