Welcome to
Knowing What to Grow & Growing What You Know
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS SERIES, PLEASE READ THE PARTS BELOW BEFORE PROCEEDING
Grow What People Want to Eat!
- • Profitability & Space
- • Identifying Opportunity
- • Choosing What to Grow for Market
- • My Focus is Tomatoes - Why?
- • Some Profitable Ideas for You!
💸💰Let's talk Profit 💰💸
If you have acres of land or a fraction of one - you can make money growing something! Depending on where you live & applicable laws, you might be able to make an incredible amount of money in ways you might never have thought. Identifying what to grow is not all that difficult. What requires the least amount of work, fetches the highest profit margin, and is easily scalable? Figure that out. That's what you want to grow, but you should always 'grow what you know'. Grow what you are good at growing and have the most experience with. It is far easier to find success in an endeavor that is not totally new to you - it will pay to have experience and can cost you otherwise.
KEY:
| Symbol | Denotes |
|---|---|
| ☀️or 🏠 | Outdoor or Indoor |
| 💰 | High Profitability |
| ⌛️ | Long Return Time (ROI) |
| 🚀 | Fast Return Time (ROI) |
| Growing | Symbols (refer to key above) |
|---|---|
| Tomatoes | ☀️💰🚀 |
| Peppers | ☀️💰🚀 |
| Oyster & Shiitake Mushrooms | 🏠💰🚀 |
| Annual Flowers | ☀️or 🏠💰🚀 |
| Perennial Plants | ☀️💰⌛️ |
| Herbs | ☀️or 🏠💰🚀 |
| Trees | ☀️💰⌛️ |
| Cannabis | ☀️or 🏠💰🚀 |
| Fruits | ☀️💰⌛️ |
| Microgreens | ☀️or 🏠💰🚀 |
| Worm Farming | ☀️💰 |
Now, let's get into some more details about the ideas above. I will share some thoughts and ideas from myself and others in the industry, accompanied by some very helpful and inspiring links/resources. Growing for profit is within reach of many that simply need to realize the potential and do it for themselves. There are many factors that will depend on where you live, legal restrictions, and obviously many others - please take into account those variables. Otherwise, this would be a million pages of hypothetical scenarios.
Growing Tomatoes
First on the list because it's what I know and what I grow. I love to share information that helped me to get where I am. So, allow me to share something that greatly inspired me. According to ProfitablePlants.com:Most commercial growers allow about 6 square feet per plant. Productive heirloom tomato varieties will produce 20 pounds or more of salable tomatoes, worth about $80 at retail prices. That's a return of $13 per square foot of growing area."
I find this to be dependent on variety, but the varieties that I grow - grow much more than 20 lbs. per plant. I find that the market does support $4/lb for heirloom tomatoes, but this is not the case everywhere. You might find your area supports a price higher or lower - that's why planning is important.
Also, keep in mind that crop-loss and damage must be factored into your projected yields, but I will go much further in depth on that in the coming series. I want you to consider growing tomatoes if you have the space required - it is a lucrative venture! I will share many great resources that include many topics that I will go over in future articles of this series but feel free to read on - you'll find some great things to consider. Like this: How to Make $40,000 Growing Heirloom Tomatoes.
I sell tomato plants to people who prefer to grow their own and tomatoes to those who do not. It keeps things pretty simple and one venture pays for the other. I'll be sharing exactly what and how I do what I do - I grow tomato plants (like a Boss!!) - and I'll show you why I say that in the coming parts in this series. If you would like to know how you can turn $2 worth of seeds into $200 in 6 weeks - stick with 
I plan to share far more than what is covered in any single resource I've found yet - that doesn't cost you money to read. My goal is to share my experience and knowledge along with great tools and info that is already present. I will add value to the info already abundant, but not often found by the right people. I want more people to learn how they can make extra money & grow it right at home. Let's toss some more ideas around, shall we?
Growing vegetables; not all of them will be profitable to grow
When considering a lucrative money-making opportunity, think about specialty niche-based products. You want to grow something profitable and unless you can compete with large scale operations, then you might consider tackling a smaller market. Growing rare varieties of tomatoes, pepper, onions, and vining crops like cucumber can be lucrative in the right locations. Growing broccoli and asparagus won't be a quick return, so consider the growing season and time it takes to become profitable.
Consider Mushrooms whether you're a rural or urban gardener!
Growing Specialty Mushrooms, like Oyster & Shiitake can be quite lucrative for urban & rural gardeners alike. You might be shocked at the returns one can achieve in a small space. This can be easily done in a shed or basement or even garage. Micro-scale operations can be even smaller, like a closet or a 2 ft x 2 ft area. Take a look at what can be achieved with only 100 square feet (10'x10' area):
"Gourmet mushrooms. Mushrooms are an ideal specialty crop for urban farmers, as they are grown indoors and produce a very high return per square foot. The two most widely grown gourmet mushrooms are oyster and shiitake, which are available fresh or dried in many grocery stores. Oyster mushrooms are especially productive and can produce up to 25 pounds per square foot of growing area every year. At current prices of $7 a pound, that’s $17,500 worth of harvest from a 10 x 10 space. Although both oyster and shiitake can be dried, most are sold fresh – an advantage for local growers who supply grocery stores and individuals at farmer’s markets." Profitable Plants Digest
Annuals & Perennials - Shrubs & Trees
It's important to check your local laws and restrictions before starting this venture. In my area, I cannot sell anything considered to have a "woody-stem": most shrubs that are perennial, all trees. I would require licenses, inspections, and all sorts of legal hurdles to do that - so I don't bother. It is best to refer back to PART ONE. It is a very lucrative business, so it is worth looking into the laws and seeing if it might be a viable opportunity for you. I'd love to do it, but the government makes it not even worth the effort in my state.
Growing annual flowers and perennials takes a pretty limited amount of space and can fetch nice returns. Shrubs and trees can see 750% mark up and higher. Certain specialty trees and shrubs can net HUGE returns (likely why my state government has their hands in every operation). You can plant seed flats of 72 or more at a time and sell them once they have been potted to a larger container - selling at $1 per plant can return $72 and your investment under $15 for pots, soil, seeds and around 2-3 hours of your time. Keeping it simple when you are beginning is important. Simple and efficient. Figure out what grows well in your area and what sells. It is fairly simple to generate small amounts of extra income this way because you already grow plants anyhow!
Growing Herbs - Culinary & Medicinal
Another lucrative opportunity as the general consensus swings toward natural, homeopathic, and holistic healing practices. We've been tricked into thinking that only Big-Pharma medicine can heal us and keep us well. This is a blatant disregard for the truth. The truth is, it kills a lot of people and creates more sickness every year.
Not only can you grow medicinal herbs for healing and health benefits, but also for culinary purposes. Many chefs will gladly buy from local growers and are more than happy to pay for quality product. If you have limited space, consider this route.
You might want to read 
You can take a look at this list of 20+ Highly Profitable Cash Crop Plants To Grow
and see what others consider worthwhile ventures.
NOTE: These are simply ideas, please remember that doing your own due diligence is necessary.
Consider your location
Where you live greatly determines the market value of what you're growing. Grow something profitable. The reason I'm sharing the ideas in this article is to get you thinking about what is profitable near you. I'd like to have a discussion in the comments below - what do you grow and what is profitable (and legal) near you?
Consider Cannabis
We have covered checking the laws and have considered your location. Now, if you are in a state where cannabis is legal to grow - you might be able to achieve the greatest returns of all the plants I have mentioned here. I highly recommend researching the laws and doing your own due diligence first, obviously.
We have covered checking the laws and have considered your location. Now, if you are in a state where cannabis is legal to grow - you might be able to achieve the greatest returns of all the plants I have mentioned here. I highly recommend researching the laws and doing your own due diligence first, obviously.
Maybe some of you are saying no way man, but you need to realize what the potential is. We are talking about a crop that can produce returns like no other. We are talking about $1k per square foot and beyond.
Microgreens
Check out this PDF by a fellow-Marylander at Eco City Farms - Guidelines for Growing Microgreens
You will be surprised at the potential profits - I have found some growers pulling $1,000+ per month in extra income - from 25 hours of work or less per week. If you are a gardener with a green-thumb for starting plants from seed - you might want to consider this as a viable money-maker. Some people are terrible at starting plants from seed, so there are plenty of other ideas to consider.
In a small garage or basement area, a grower can utilize LED lights, conserve energy and maximize potential profits by selling directly to the consumer. However, many chefs and restaurants are always sourcing fresh ingredients from local growers. That is beneficial on a larger scale, but I recommend starting small. That's what micro greens are, they're small! Microgreens aren't micro profits!
Have you considered a worm farm?
source
I highly recommend checking out @Gungadin's recent article:
Worms:- Some basic info for you to start at home
If you have a little space and time - this is something that can make some money! I buy worm castings for building soil, I usually use 1 part worm castings to 3 parts soil. I use it for everything from seedlings to in the garden. I have worms in abundance all around my property, but I still bought over 75 lbs of worm castings this year. You'd be surprised how much this shit (literally) is worth.
I highly recommend reading 
Please take some of this information and run with it!
Think about how you can take advantage of one or more of the opportunities I've shared here. If you can, try to combine them to maximize your profit. Take some time to think about what I've shared here and prepare your mind for the next step: starting a business. I plan to share what and how I do what I do in the next part of the series, for those that are looking to profit from growing tomatoes.Here's what's coming up in the future parts of this
🌱to💰- Growing Money In Your Yard Series:
- • How I started, What I do, How I do it, What's the Money Like - covering this extensively!
- • Setting up your business, covering costs, how I improvise, establishing a market, sustainability-renewability
- • Strategy, strategic partnerships, offsetting costs, time efficiency, creating demand, fail-safes & why you need them, + more
- • Marketing: Pricing, advertising creatively, using media, social networks, selling your products - where to sell and how, +more
- • Commercial Growing, scaling your operation, how it's different and what you need to know as a hobby gardener before going commercial, maximizing yields, resources for commercial growing, risk/reward, benefits to community, + more
- • An Overview and reader questions - where I will support all that have followed along in beginning their own operation. I will be answering any questions and will help to network and provide resources that will aid in more people actually making money from reading this series. I am growing, grow with me!