Cash Crops?

[OliveOil]

Other than Opium or Dope - can you think of any other plant - ie. Edible Vegetable that is really expensive to buy in the shop as my OH thought that as my plot is so huge we could create a cash crop of some kind.  ???

[OliveOil]

[bunjies]

asparagus? though it wont exactly be a quick earner!

[Kepouros]

Human nature being what it is, however expensive the stuff is in shops you would be expected almost to give it away, because "after all, dear, it can`t have cost you much just to grow it on your allotment - just a few seeds and thingies".

[cambourne7]

you need to check your tennancy to check if you can sell stuff

But you should look to add value i.e make jams or chutney and sell localy

Other alternative would be to target christmas, holloween and easter and grow crops aimed at these markets and again advertise localy to sell.

[Mrs Ava]

For me, raspberries, globe artichokes and asparagus as these are the things I adore, but am alone in my longing, so would never buy them in the weekly shop.  Unusual veggies like celeriac and kohl rabi - maybe not unusual to us hardened grow your owners, but to those who don't, very cosmopolitan!  ;D

[glow777]

anything that's way out of season but not frozen eg autumn raspberries & spring veg.

[Hyacinth]

Who do you think will be your target market for fresh produce? Can you guarantee reliability to supply, or that your cash crop will always meet quality standards expected?

My thinking is that Cam's jams/chutneys/pickles/preserves will be the way to go, along with plantlets, gluts, flowers if you perceive a market. Oh, and sell via Farmer's Markets & car boot sales. Growing more of what you grow & selling on would be my way to go.

[djbrenton]

The biggest problem with cash crops is getting rid of them. When you consider the price of runner beans in a supermarket ( around £1/lb in mid-season ) it seems unbelievable that most people can't even give them away!
Possibly the best margin I've seen is on plants. I've seen small cardoon plants ( as easily grown as tomatoes ) for £3.50 at a garden centre. I did work out that I've room in my greenhouses to grow around 2,000 but would have no way of selling them.

[Truffle]

What about truffles ;D Although, once the trees are planted theres a 5 year wait for a decent harvest............ :o so you have to be in it for the long-term!

[Columbus]

Hi Olive, hi all,  :)

Although of course we aren`t supposed to sell allotment produce we could argue that wouldn`t be our main purpose and that we are just selling surpluses to cover our costs.

I have had discussions with a local start-up delicatessen business about supplying produce after they advertised in their window but their amaturish approach has put me off a bit. They seem to have problems setting a price, knowing what they wanted etc, I have done some research and put together a written proposal but work pressures have since taken my time so I`ve let it drift.

I just wandered around the local market writing down prices and figured that I would ask for the market price minus one third which would then be their mark-up. As an hourly rate they would be doing considerably better than me.
But no, I couldn`t supply them with forty ears of sweetcorn the day after my first delivery. They didn`t seem to understand that I had allotments not a smallholding.

My local council hold an allotment fayre at the end of september, if you have a stall you get your plot rent free which is quite a reward in itself (£66 in my case) and I heard that one plot holder made about £400 on jams and pickles which he spends all year making. I think I will do that next year although the timing of the event is really inconvenient for me.

The added value items seem to bring good rewards if you can get the presentation right. (matching jars, labels etc) The deli I wrote about earlier has a large kitchen which if I get use of it may bring some mutual benefits.

I grow a lot of fruit as I perceive it to be expensive and I eat more fruit now then I ever did before. The prices of small punnets of berry fruit are outrageous. I think money could be made from fruit. I also grow flowers and enjoy having cut flowers in the house, again money can be made from flowers should I wish to sell them. If I lived in a suitable spot I would put a table outside with an honesty box which is a common practice in norfolk. I pass a house where someone sells all sorts of plants and food from his doorstep whilst he`s out at work and people post money through his letter box.

The deli took a lot of interest in my huge, gnarly carrots as they look suitably organic and also took bags of spinach. we also talked about chillis and tomatillos (there is a mexican resturant nearby). Apparently people won`t buy squashes. You can charge a premium if your stuff is organic.

A friend of mine sells stuff at work and makes up salad boxes and such like but I just give stuff to work friends who take an interest in good food. Another friend likes to give his surplus to a night shelter. A problem for me is that I have no transport except my bike and I have to work hard to carry stuff home from the allotment to meet my own needs.

Best of luck, Col

[saddad]

If you could find a local "box scheme" they might take some surplus oddities offyour hands... but you'd never get rich!
::)

[OliveOil]

I've been thinking.. there is an organic farm shop near us, though she buys everything in i'm sure! In fact theres 2 organic farm shops come to think of it and its all bought in!  I might get a market there.

The problem with organic is that you cant claim it to be organic without Soil Association testing... but i think i can say its organically grown.

I may beable to set up a table out the house - or basket and ask people to post money though the post box... im pretty sure we live in an honest area.

I dont really want to make money but would be nice to pay for tools and seeds and bits and bobs that i want.

Plus we are benig charge g rent next year too.

thanks for your ideas!

[Hyacinth]

a gent. round here has produce & plants in cardboard boxes just inside his drive....10p for 5-6 sticks of rhubarb or a bundle of runner beans for 20p, etc. and a tin to put your money in & take your own change out of. It works well for him 8) Good luck!

[LynneA]

I sold a few batches of JA tubers for planting on eBay last year, then sent a further boxload to a smallholder (with some fennel seen and horseradish thongs) as forward swap for a few batches of sausages and a pork belly or two.

[bennettsleg]

OK, I messed up the quoty thing. Apologies.

Local start-up deli, eh? Who'd be mad enough to do one of those? ;) ;D ;D

Remember that people expect to pay a little more in a deli because it is a deli. They also go mad for the "Local" bit; our customers are very protective of their own locale.

The added value items seem to bring good rewards if you can get the presentation right. (matching jars, labels etc)
[/qoute]

The "good rewards" being that it will more likely to find its way on to an outlet's shelves. Remember that people are used to buying stuff from the supermarkets where marketing is one of the biggest costs a large scale food business has. First, write down what you are about - if only for your own reference - then follow that through with all your labels, advertising, literature, trade/list prices etc.  Work on creating simple labelling, clear text (no fancy cury-wurly font that most can't read), eye-catching, correctly spelt (including your location if you're selling Local-ly). 

Lots of Local Suppliers we speak to haven't got the most basic business, marketing or pricing knowledge and we end up not being able to use them. We will also turn away labels that are torn, stained or mis-printed: people will not buy the produce and we can't afford the outlay just so we can support local suppliers produce to slowly go out of date unsold.

We went to the Speciality and Fine Food Fair this year and here are my top tips for cash crops.  Ready?

Grow blueberries. Loads of them. Make stuff with them. try them as a chutney as no-one is doing that right now.  All you can find is jam.  How about Blueberry jelly? Blueberry wine?

Also: food flavoured with lavender (yuk!); pomegranates; beetroot & horseradish chutney/relish (the market is only just catching onto this, off you go!), fruit wines, flavoured vodka (we sampled a horseradish vodka and my WORD was it amazing!). Sloes.

Chillies: they have a cult following and are appearing in everything at the  moment. Can't find anyone to supply ristras (sewn together strings of dried chillies) at a reasonable rate that can also be used for cooking. Dried different varieties of chilli. Chilli plants will also sell.

Christmas time: fruit in alcohol in jars suitable to your brand.

I've lost count of the number of new businesses that are launching themselves into the jams, jellies, chutnies market. My advice is BE DIFFERENT! If you're going to do strawberry jam, do strawberry and balsamic vinegar jam (haven't seen that for sale yet either) and use a very good aged vinegar, preferably one that someone famous has already raved about.  It will affect your pricing matrix, but it'll increase chances of selling in a deli.

If you are looking to supply an outlet with cooked food (including jams etc) please contact the council for the right forms to get an "approved kitchen". I'm not sure what the rules are and tried to find out.  Our Enviro Health Officer told us that as we were supplying direct we didn't need one, but if we were to make produce to sell to others to sell on, then we would need one. It's complex, but worth the phone call and any outlet you approach that is worth it's salt will ask if you have one.

Apparently people won`t buy squashes.

Who says? How long have the deli been selling your squashes, how old is the deli, how are the squashes being advertised/positioned?  Obtaining a reputation takes time and people need to get used to the fact that items are availabe.  We got through loads of samosas that we didn't sell when we started stocking them.  Now we sell out before the week is over.  Great turn around, but I can't remember the last time I had one! <sob!>

[Marymary]

At the right time of year plants sell well.  I was talking to a chap who runs a garden centre locally and he said he'd started selling veg plants a couple of years ago & each year since he'd doubled the number & still sold out & was planning even more for next year.

[Tilia]

Some great ideas there...

Lavendar shortbread is really nice (use the flowers - normal shortbread recipe)

chilli vodka :o

blueberry gin?

If you can't be bothered going down the added value avenue why not try growing seed crops?
Fennel, coriander, sunflower, pumpkin... just a few off the top of my head... I'll have a think...

[bennettsleg]

Actually, that's a great idea: seedlings. Particularly if you've got a greenhouse and can get fruit/veg started off.  Some pople (me ::)) have trouble keeping seedlings alive and it's alot easier to go and buy healthy specimens and plonk them in the ground (hopefully the right way up...!)

[OliveOil]

LMAO - me and seedlings are not friends... they either blow over (plastic greenhouse!), or the chickens eat them... or i forget to water them... bloke at market makes a fortune out of me. I spent a tenner last weekend with him! LOL 

I'm ok getting them started off... its just they are never quite ready to plant when they get eaten or killed off!

[Columbus]

Hi all,  :)

I agree with Bennetsleg about blueberries (I self-edited parts on that topic out of my earlier (good essay doesn`t answer the question) post)

I have three blueberry bushes that made a small crop this year I`m sure they will sell at the stupid prices supermarkets charge although I don`t know who`s buying them (my wife  ::) )

I think the problem with the squashes is that the deli is almost only accessed on foot and their office worker clientele don`t want to carry them.
It all depends where you are.

Added value produce? I`m lucky enough to have a food-hygiene certificate.
And the deli has a proper restaurant kitchen I`d rather use than my tiny kitchen at home.

I would brand stuff as "locally produced, organically grown, hand picked" etc etc. And print green and earthy labels.

Col