By Dr Jolly Kabirizi
- Vegetable production
You may want to pay to invest in a greenhouse so that you can grow herbs year-round. Herbs fit into many other ideas such as urban farming or using hydroponics to grow them. You can sell your herbs as-is, or market them in a number of different products including teas, candles, bath products and aromatherapy essences.
Basil, lavender, chives, cilantro, chamomile, oregano, parsley, catnip and St John’s wort are all profitable herbs to grow. If you’re growing other vegetables, herbs come with an extra benefit: There are many types of herbs that keep bugs away. You can interplant herbs around your other crops to repel unwanted insects while still attracting pollinators.
Start a plant nursery
A plant nursery helps with your own farm by giving you a head-start on the growing season. You can start your plants in a greenhouse weeks before the risk of frost has passed and weather is not yet warm enough to plant them outside. You can also grow extra seedlings to sell to other farmers. You can start small with almost zero capital and just some seeds, cuttings and soil that you already have. The main thing you’ll need for a plant nursery are good propagation skills. A plant nursery won’t produce much income if your beds are full of unsprouted seeds or dead cuttings. It is best to pick up these skills by volunteering or working for an existing nursery before starting your own.
Beekeeping
Keeping bees will produce extra products for you, as well as having other indirect benefits like making your existing crops better pollinated. Having bees around your vegetable plants will dramatically increase your yield. In fact, some farmers will even pay to rent beehives to help pollinate their crops! A beehive can fit just about anywhere. You can have just one or two hives as a hobby to start with. Setting up your beehive doesn’t cost very much. But bees offer a lot more than just honey.
- They also provide beeswax that you can make into candles, soap, lip balm and other products.
- Bee pollen, propolis and royal jelly are other bee products that are often considered superfoods and can fetch a high price.
- As your hives grow and reproduce, you can even sell bees to other beginner beekeepers who are just starting their hives, or as replacement stock to beekeepers who lost their colony to swarming or disease.
Looking after your bees is very much a part-time job when you’ve only got one or two hives as well. Expect to spend about half an hour per week looking after your beehive. Bees require more time in warm months when you’re harvesting honey.
