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Earn Extra Cash Growing Herbs in Your Backyard
By Craig Wallin
Starting a backyard herb nursery can be a wonderful way for herbal beginners to turn
their love of plants and gardening into extra cash. It's also one of the best ways to
"bootstrap" a few hundred dollars into a steady part time or full time income. Growing
herbs is an ideal money making business for stay-at-home moms, retired folks who want to
supplement their retirement income and anyone who loves to garden.
Herbs have been used in cooking, medicines and cosmetics for thousands of years. Now
herbs are being rediscovered, as people around the globe seek a healthier and more natural
lifestyle. Herbs also provide a link to out past - a time when life was slower, simpler
and almost everyone had a backyard herb garden.
Herb use has grown dramatically in recent years. Today, you'll find cooks using more
fresh herbs. New medical research has shown many herbs can be used as healthy alternatives
to expensive drugs. Walk into almost any retail store, and you'll find herbs used in an
amazing variety of products - soaps, candles, teas, medicines and bath oils, just to name a few.
It's important for new herb growers to find a "niche" that fits both their experience
level and their local marketplace. Plus - it's easy for a newcomer to get overwhelmed by
all the choices. You can focus on growing herbs, making herbal products, growing herbs for
the fresh-cut market, grow and dry herbs - the list goes on.
One of the best niches for beginning herb growers is growing container grown herb
plants. Growing the most popular culinary and medicinal herbs insures that the demand will
be there for your herbs. Popular culinary herbs include basil, cilantro, oregano, rosemary
and tarragon. Popular medicinal herbs include calendula, echinacea, lavender, mullein and
St. John's wort.
To save time, space and water, herb growers can use containers that are ready to go,
such as 4 inch or 6 inch pots, when the herb plants reach salable size. Just a small
backyard growing area can produce a good income. One herb grower, using only 800 square
feet of growing space, was able to produce 3,000 herb plants, which she sold at the local
farmer's market for over $18,000.
In addition to growing potted herbs, many herb growers sell "value added" herb
products, like "theme" collections of herbs in larger pots, such as an Italian herb
garden, a tea time herb garden or a windowsill herb garden for the kitchen. Pet lovers
can't resist pet friendly herbs in pots, such as calendula, used to treat skin
irritations, or echinacea, a flea repellant and immune system booster, or the always
popular catnip.
During good times or bad, having your own herb business is one of the best ways to get
ahead. Even if you have a job, you should be developing a way to make an extra income.
Growing herbs for profit is a business that can provide extra income working just a few
hours a week at home.
Craig Wallin is the author of Growing Herbs For Profit, and the editor of the Extra
Income Bulletin, a resource about honest home based businesses that you can start on a
shoestring. To learn more about growing herbs, go to:
Extra Income Bulletin.
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