Topic: best cash crops

[philistine]

I am member of an allotment project that caters for adults with special needs, we have just lost our
lottery funding, however in order become a little more self financing we have just took on
another plot which we wish to grow produce to sell, we are thinking of growing 2 crops
per year perhaps runner beans June to sep/oct and then maybe another one which we could over winter any ideas

[OllieC]

If you can find an outlet, cut flowers would work for mark-up. You could be selling Sweet Williams now... For food, PSB would be good if you have the space & can keep the flying rats away - with say Rudolph & Red Arrow you could have quite a long season... Or Kale.

[manicscousers]

Hiya, philistine, whereabouts are you?
specialist crops come to mind, asparagus if you have a couple of years, fruit such as blueberries, goji berries, things people spend lots on in the supermarkets.

[Digeroo]

Rhubarb seems to be popular.   

Bunches of carrots.  Bags of greenery

[chriscross1966]

Saladings in strips as growing salad? A big pack of Misticanza from Franchi Seeds makes a lot of strips of mixed baby leaf salad..... fast turnaround too...the expensive stuff in supermarkets isn't usually too expensive wen the English season is here but things like Celeriac are surprisingly expensive in the winter, ditto brussel sprouts.... that siad to grow stuff of a quality to sell then you'll either need a lot of chemicals or a lot of fleece/barrier mesh.... none of those sound like fun things to do with special needs groups.....

[taurus]

Small pumpkins with a recipe. ( I'm on about the individual ones)You could train them up a frame and get more per metre. grow inbetween other crops.

[Unwashed]

For the maximum profit from a small space it's what Ollie said: cut flowers.

[Columbus]

Hi Philistine , Hi all  :)

You might try growing bush fruit and in the long term apples to make jam for sale, or pumpkins and onions for a chutney.
We made lots in a min-enterprise a few years ago.
Jams and chutneys have added value over the basic crops. As others have said fruit and flowers have a good cash value.
I think people grow a glut of runner beans so they won`t earn a good return.
Plant sales can earn a very high return, grown from seed and cuttings right through the year.

Good luck, keep us posted about your project, Col :)

[manicscousers]

Just a thought, we sold loads of herb plants, strawberry plants and shrub plants this year, something for nothing, only need cuttings  :)

[Bugloss2009]

if you're site is secure why not grow plants in pots for sale, like a nursery........

[Jeannine]

Minature veggies, I am thinking of the tennis ball size caulis, cabbages and the lime green romanesco. You can pack a lot into a little space and they command a very high price.

I used to find broad beans pricey is shops too.

If growing green beans try the filet ones, always more expenisve than any others and you can get yellow ones now  and I think purple ones too,and they are quite readily available as tall growing ones, they used to be only bush types.

XX Jeannine

[davyw1]

Hi Phil

Manics is about right your costs have to be low and returns high.

My question is how many allotments are there at your site and does it have an allotment shop is there any other allotments in the area and do they have a shop if not that's some thing you should think about as you may get a grant.

Do you have an association if not form one you then have a business address so you can buy at trade prices.

Do you have green houses and polytunels where you can set your plants away in and grow them on.

If you intend to sell just veg where is your outlet, are you situated where you are going to get people to come and buy it.

There are so many things to consider and there is plenty of good advice to be given from people on here but it would help if they new what facilities you have and your location you never know some might just say well i have ??? and i am just down the road from you.

All this aside if your gardens are near or in a housing estate then flowers and pot plants are your best route and your veg second. If people know that you are giving them a good  deal they will come and buy the hard part is getting them there.

Sorry for the down side but i have been there now i garden for free

[RSJK]

Beetroot, spring onions and leeks are good crops to make a good profit with but, as Dave says you have to have the outlet for them

[Trevor_D]

There are quite a few practical considerations, as the others have said.

Where would you sell? Do you have a licence to trade? How would you advertise? A stall in a Farmers' Market costs money, and you have to be there every time - it might be worth it in July or August, but how much would you have to sell in March or April? If you sold produce from the site, you'd probably have to run it every week at the same time, so that customers knew when to come.

You would need Public Liability insurance, whether you were going out, or the customers coming in. For jams, etc, the makers would need to go on a course and have a certificate.

I think that one-offs, like plant sales, are the best way, at least for starters. You still need the insurance and the publicity, but I bet there are plenty of things being organised you could join in with. We had a plant sale last month at our local Chamber of Commerce's Fun Day. It was only a few yards up the road: we took a gazebo and decorated it, got plot-holders to donate spare plants and made a profit of £100. At the end of this month, we're going back to the local Primary School's Summer Fair, with the same sort of set-up; last year we raised £60 from that.

If we can do that without any real organisation, I'm sure you could do much better if you worked at it. And then try the odd bit of produce, just to see how it goes. People might actually ask for things. But don't go out on a limb with one idea until you've tried it low-key.