Our gardens can be our haven, where we escape and enjoy peace. It can also be the space we go to enjoy a much-loved hobby. Our garden hobby could then evolve into a means of making money. But how? Here we look at the different ways you can turn something you love into a boost to your bank account.
Selling herbs and flowers
Our garden is a place for growing things, and if we are skilled at cultivating herbs and flowers, others will buy our product. If you have a wealth of herbs, you can package these as ingredients for signature dishes or for garnishes. While you have too many for your kitchen, your friends, family, and neighbours may be happy to buy them from you.
Equally, cultivating edible flowers is another crop you can cultivate. Programmes such as Masterchef have made edible flowers a trend for the home cook. You could also sell these with advice on how to use these in a menu. Alternatively, you might want to keep it simple and sell your flowers as decoration or gifts.
Cultivate a vegetable plot
When growing vegetables, you will naturally end up with a glut of crops. Home growers often end up with freezers full of frozen produce to use out of season.
Instead of seeing your veg plot as a means of self-sustaining your home, plan to sell your seasonal veg as a way of making money. When people are becoming more and more conscious of food miles, you could deliver to your street and make the journey only a few metres.
Also, consider harvesting and selling any fruits in your garden. There are markets set up for those who sell organic products such as yours to earn you a healthy stash of cash.
Keep Livestock
If you have a fair bit of land and feel ambitious, you can always keep animals. The easiest place to start would be chickens, which can be kept in a smaller space. You will get a constant supply of eggs that you can see as a small business from your back garden. Ducks are equally interesting to keep and lay eggs that can be sold on.
If you have more room and more ambition, you could try some sheep. Not only will you never have to mow your lawn again, but you will get ample wool that you can sell on and potentially the meat products too.
Beekeeping
With the current state of the environment, becoming a beekeeper will become an essential job in the future of food production. It also happens to be an excellent hobby, and the product is honey, which can become a means of making money.
Bees are relatively self-sufficient, and managing them is easy enough, though you may want to do some background reading before taking the leap. You might also want to talk to your immediate neighbours if they have allergy concerns.
Sell seeds and seedlings
If you are a talented gardener, you have an opportunity to help others to cultivate their space. You can propagate seedlings and seeds that you can sell at car boot sales and the like. It is possible to make a healthy income from selling plants in this way, peaking from February to October. You can quickly build a business if you use part of your garden for greenhouses and polytunnels.
Hire out your garden
There are many ways you can use your open space for hire. If your garden is larger than you could ever need, you could set aside some of it for others to camp on. All you need is to divide the land into pitches and advertise the space on local camping sites.
Equally, you might have enough room to set aside some land for events. People often need an open space for garden parties or wedding receptions. You could hire out your land and maybe even set up a gazebo for private gatherings.
Another option is to let other gardeners use your land to cultivate produce or flowers. Chunking your garden into allotments and charging a small rental fee could be a regular money maker for you. You could also be the hub of the local allotment committee and make a difference to your community too.
A house with land costs so much more to buy because the land is an asset. Your garden could become more than a place for sitting and relaxing; it could become a place where you make yourself money.
Published by HOLR Magazine