Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

All things horticultural, the very best gardens the District has to offer can be found here
Post Reply
User avatar
Lily left the valley
Inventor of Knob and Tube
Posts: 2170
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:07 pm
Location: Gardner, MA, USA
Contact:

Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by Lily left the valley »

I've noticed a few spots now where neighbors have set up tiny farm stand style structures or tables, and have various signs on them depending on what they are selling. It seems to be an honor system with a sign saying "knock on X door", so it's not like they seem to be setting regular hours to sit there and wait for a passer by. So far I've seen hostas and rhubarb. It reminded me of an older woman I bought some lilies from a long time ago in NJ that had a hand painted sign out front "lilies and others for sale". She lived down the street of a client I was doing editing work for at the time. She had a wonderful garden, and the soil was amazing. Watching her work it as she took out whatever plant you wanted straight from the bed, it looked effortless as the soil moved so easily.

I was thinking, since we seem gifted with enough iris I could probably carpet half the front lawn, that maybe I could do something similar. A little side funding I could put towards the house needs.

Has anyone done this before? Are there things I should consider aside from having change and maybe having handouts about the flower if folks want it with the plant?

Any advice or experiences folks care to share would be appreciated.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

User avatar
Corsetière
Knows where blueprints are hidden
Posts: 1056
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 1:44 pm
Location: Columbus, Ohio

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by Corsetière »

I have been considering! I too have a ton of iris and I start so many heirloom tomato seedlings for myself in the spring that it would not be hard to scale up my operation...definitely worth considering! Wouldn't it be nice if it helped fund your restoration?

1918ColonialRevival
Knows where blueprints are hidden
Posts: 907
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:58 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD
Contact:

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by 1918ColonialRevival »

It could be a good idea to help fund some projects, especially if there are a lot of people in the area who are in to gardening.

I will add one note of caution. Before doing anything like this, check your local regulations to make sure it's "kosher". The last thing you want is the local bureaucrats thinking you have a major nursery operation and try to hit you for running a business without a license or tax evasion. Probably not a big deal, but there are enough examples in the past that I would double check.

eclecticcottage
Forgotten more than most know
Posts: 446
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2016 1:48 pm

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by eclecticcottage »

I have. Mixed results, found I needed to bring them in at night or if not home due to theft. It did work though. Now I save them aside for a plant swap instead. You might also check houzz or with a local garden club to see if there is one in the area. The one I go to I found on gardenweb, which is now houzz.

User avatar
Willa
Revered expert in almost everything
Posts: 1369
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 9:46 pm

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by Willa »

I haven't done this personally, but I bought some fancy daylilies from a grower who grows his inventory on a modest lot in the backyard of a semi-detached house in Toronto, close to the older Italian area ("Corso Italia"). The front of the house was completely nondescript but the backyard was planted with many dozens of different types of daylilies, and every usable surface was used. It was fantastic to visit when they were in bloom. I had previously been to a daylily show and sale in the older suburbs, which had a similar set up but in a much bigger yard.

This grower was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about daylilies, belonged to the local and probably regional daylily club, and confessed to spending $ 50.00 or more on a single plant. As far as I could tell, he ran his business like a business, had a website with inventory and prices listed, and charged tax. It seemed that some of his inventory was mix and match with other local growers, as he had to get a couple of plants for my order from a different location.

This is different from granny selling whatever plants from her driveway, but also the same I guess ? I see many local listings on Kijiji for sellers who seem to have a hobby or hope to make some spare cash from what is thinned out from the garden.

A completely different approach is "Backyard Harvest" in Hamilton, ON. It is a group of farmers who grow their crops in urban backyards:

http://backyardharvest.ca/
http://backyardharvest.ca/offering-your-land/

From what I can tell, homeowners sign a 5 year contract with the group, allowing access to the yard for growing produce. The group amends the soil, and does all the planting, watering, etc. and the homeowner is entitled to a certain amount of produce from their inventory. I first discovered this group when there was a listing for a house that had a fantastic crop garden in the backyard, and the listing mentioned the group. Many people aren't skilled gardeners, and have a weedy, unused backyard they don't know what to do with. This certainly sounds like a win/win situation - as long as you eat lots of vegetables.

User avatar
Nicholas
Shakes a cane at new house owners
Posts: 578
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:23 am
Location: The Winter Strawberry Capitol of the World

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by Nicholas »

Strawberries. I have a nice wide open area to grow. Everybody in this town from the pet groomer to the used tire guy sells fresh picked winter strawberries in front of their shops, I have great soil here and am going to jump into that action, plus tomatoes and whatever else
1915 Frame Vernacular Bungalow

"If it ain't leanin' or a little crooked then it ain't got character"
- local resident

The BumbleBee House

User avatar
Lily left the valley
Inventor of Knob and Tube
Posts: 2170
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:07 pm
Location: Gardner, MA, USA
Contact:

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by Lily left the valley »

Thanks for all the replies. I think it's neat how each of us have something like this going on in our neighborhoods.

We also have tons of wild strawberries in the yard still. I've mostly let them be. Still trying to figure out how to handle those.

I haven't had the focus to do anything yet as to putting plants out. There's still so much to do just in the yard alone. So maybe I won't do anything this year. Time will tell. :confusion-waiting:
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

phil
Has many leather bound books
Posts: 4616
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:11 pm
Location: Near Vancouver BC

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by phil »

pot plants.. not that I grow them, but it's hard to ignore the fact that so many supplement their income here. its the highest cash crop. Supposed to be "legal" next year but we'll see how that works out. on one hand they say its going to be legal and on the other hand the government wants to make a cash grab and I dont' see how it can be both since it isn't harder to grow than other veggies.and most wont' pay 10 bucks a gram for that.. it'll be interesting to see how that plays. there are so many that depend on it as an income supplement. Maybe it will tip the scales for the major grow ops and related crime. Hope so..
saw a really interesting show about when it became illegal and it seems a lot was to do with not pot but hemp and the oil money and they wanted it off the market mostly because it was going to replace a lot of oil usage as they can use the hemp to make biofuel. It was interesting. you can't smoke hemp to get high so I see no other plausible reason they would stop farmers from producing it. the only other reason I could see was maybe to keep the kind of paper they use for money out of the public, but Im not sure if it has hemp in it, but most paper if you wash it , falls apart. Now we have loonies and toonies ;-) ive never seen anyone here grow hemp but I think it is farmed in Canada?

I have a friend growing garlic and he's selling it out of his car and doing really well. i bought 20 bucks worth and we really enjoyed it. Maybe that's a good "legitimate" one.

User avatar
Lily left the valley
Inventor of Knob and Tube
Posts: 2170
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:07 pm
Location: Gardner, MA, USA
Contact:

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by Lily left the valley »

phil wrote:pot plants.. not that I grow them, but it's hard to ignore the fact that so many supplement their income here. its the highest cash crop. Supposed to be "legal" next year but we'll see how that works out. on one hand they say its going to be legal and on the other hand the government wants to make a cash grab and I dont' see how it can be both since it isn't harder to grow than other veggies.and most wont' pay 10 bucks a gram for that.. it'll be interesting to see how that plays. there are so many that depend on it as an income supplement. Maybe it will tip the scales for the major grow ops and related crime. Hope so..
saw a really interesting show about when it became illegal and it seems a lot was to do with not pot but hemp and the oil money and they wanted it off the market mostly because it was going to replace a lot of oil usage as they can use the hemp to make biofuel. It was interesting. you can't smoke hemp to get high so I see no other plausible reason they would stop farmers from producing it. the only other reason I could see was maybe to keep the kind of paper they use for money out of the public, but Im not sure if it has hemp in it, but most paper if you wash it , falls apart. Now we have loonies and toonies ;-) ive never seen anyone here grow hemp but I think it is farmed in Canada?

I have a friend growing garlic and he's selling it out of his car and doing really well. i bought 20 bucks worth and we really enjoyed it. Maybe that's a good "legitimate" one.
Here in the States, I know once it gets legalized, there are a slew of regulations that follow, although each state has had their own ups and downs about scheduling with that. MA recently legalized recreational, and they still barely have the medical dispensaries set up properly. They didn't get all the paper wrangling set up before the vote.

We realized we have a lot of blackberry and black raspberry bushes on our land. The raspberry in particular has sent up a lot of runner babies. So one of the things I started looking into was those. I think next year I'll be in a better place with the house overall to do something with selling plants. I've also got a note for myself to look into the local Farmer's Market, as the guidelines about who can sell there seems pretty loose.

We also have a huge carpet of wild strawberries in the back yard in a few places, but so far as to the berries we've tasted, they seem to be one of the not so tasty varieties. We might also be picking them too soon. I just started looking into wild variations recently, so I'm not sure if that will be worth adding to the possibles for next year.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

phil
Has many leather bound books
Posts: 4616
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:11 pm
Location: Near Vancouver BC

Re: Does anyone sell plants or crops from their home?

Post by phil »

I planted a dozen or so blueberry bushes. they had about 10 years of little care and were starving. The last couple years my girlfriend have them nutrient rich oil and we are reaping the rewards now. I like them because they are easy to care for and you can freeze them if you don't use them right away. plus they kind of make a nice hedge. no prickles like raspberries or blackberries.
here we also have wild huckleberries and salmon berries. I'm not sure if they grow out east but if you walk in the bush you can munch on these. to grow them they wont' produce as much as blueberries but they have a nice flavor.

blackberries I wouldn't' grow unless I had acreage because of the prickles, they usually spread over any land left unused so there are lots of places to go pick those.

http://northernbushcraft.com/topic.php? ... le_berries

Pot is "legal" in Washington , across the border but the government there is confused , it is legal statewise and illegal federally which doesn't make any sense.
Medical pot is going through growing pains here too. they issued licenses to those who went to doctors with ailments and lots got licenses, hey it helps me sleep. For many it does. That makes sense but then they dispensaries either get harassed by police or charge way higher prices which doesn't really fly either. They are finding it increasingly useful medically though. My aunt has serious cancer and it is likely terminal and she is getting some relief from edible derivatives. a person in her situation should definitely have the right to choose.

As kids a lot of older people were subject to a lot of unfounded and made up information but now the studies are showing hey it doesn't give you cancer or eat your brain like afried egg like we were told. It takes generations for people to realize it wasn't true at all. Its older than alcohol, the laws just got way off track. For many of us growing up , it was naughty and cool and many didn't want to get into alcohol or be in with the drunk crowd, but now it is changing and the perception is different and kids are less drawn into the whole scene because it isn't "naughty" anymore. lots of kids see their parents smoking it at home and they dont' get beaten like the kid with the drunk dad. they dont; even care as it just is not a big deal to them like it once was with us. Loosing that stigma helps them take it more rationally when they get to the age to make their own decisions.
Phil

Post Reply