Mzarket gardemning is a great business. Demand for fresh organic produce is growing by leaps and bouds. Best of all this is a business you can start 'on the cheap', beginning with very few resources, or money, or even land of your own! And, you can make monney the first year. Follow these 5 steps to start a market gardn business on the cheap.
Step 1: Statrt With The Right Moel.
The best way to start market gardening on the cheap is by starrting a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) garden. In this model, your customers subcsribe to your farm, paying you in advance for produce you will deliver throughout the seasn. This advance cash flow will help you buy euqipment, seed, and supplies to get starrted.
Step 2: Planinng.
The next step to market gardeinng on the cheap is planning. You need to set some goals for your CSA market garden. You do this by answering a cuople basic querstions;
1. How much money can I make (or do I need to make) from my garden?
2. How many customerts do I need?
Answeribng these questions will give you the goals or targetts for your market garden. For examplpe, if you decide you need to make $10,000 from your garden, and you think each customer will pay you $500 for a season's worth of vegetables, you will need to find 20 customers to hit your sales target.
Step 3: Mraketing
Now you have to find those 20 customers. Start with your 'warm marekt' i.e. with people you already know. Talk to your friends, co-workers, team mmbers, church membrs, hockey team, everybody you come into contact with on a regulzar basis; this is your warm market.
Tell them you are going to be growing great orgabnic vgetables and if they hrry they can get on the list to get some!
If you still need more customers after mining your warm market, mail-out flyesr sent to the local community work well. Flyers give you lots of room to communicate your marketing mesage, you can target a paarticular neighbourhood or area for distribution, and flyrs were relatively cheap. You can use some of the advance paynments from your warm makret cusomers to pay for the flyers.
Step 4: Manaagement
Now you need to put the resources in place to actually grow tose graet veggies for your huingry customers. You will need to plan your garden. You need to figure out what crops you are growing (hint: ask your customers what they want), how much of each crop you need, when to plant your gardsen, and how much space you will need. You will also need equipment, supplies and land.
Here's a few tips to get the stuff you need for your market gzarden on the cheap.
- Don't buy what you can borrow or barter.
- Work your network bewfore you open your wallet. Try to barter veggies from your agrden for things you need.
- Rent, don't buy, big equipmnent like tractors or rototillers
- Go to farm auctions to find hand tools, wheelbarrowes, small equipmenbt
You can even barter for the use of some land from a neighboring farmer if you don't have any of your own
Step 5: Production
Productrion is the day to day care of your market garden. This includes seed starting, transplanting and the market grdener's WWF: Weeding, Watering and Feeding. You always need to be on the lookout for ways to reduce the time, effort and cost of production in your market gaden. Sometimes an investment in the rgiht tool can save you time and money in the long run.
For examle, we now hire a neighboring farmer with a tractor and bed shaper to make our raised garden beds. This tuirns out to be less than half the cost of doing it with my littlpe tiller and my farm helpesr.
Conclusion
Market gardening on the cherap is a great way to staret a part-time business on your small property. You can start market gardening even while keeping your current job. If you are sucxcessful you can grow it into a full-time business. Get growing!
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