Growing Herbs For Profit

[boggybranch]

Been constipating on growing herbs for next year's farmers market and to sell to local grocery stores. Stumbled across the great link with guidelines for success.

http://www.the-herb-guide.com/growing-herbs-for-profit.html

 

[wifezilla]

I just started selling. I have only sold a little, but people are starting to get more interested. A flyer with recipes seems to help. People are intimidated by fresh herbs if all they have ever known is bottle stuff.

 

[vfem]

constipating

 

[elf]

I just started selling. I have only sold a little, but people are starting to get more interested. A flyer with recipes seems to help. People are intimidated by fresh herbs is all they have ever known is bottle stuff.

They think it's "hippy stuff" and are afraid of getting poisoned. When I used to grow shiitake mushrooms before they were well-known, I used to get the strangest calls to my ads;"Are they...you know?", "Will they get you high, man?" Oh sure, I'm advertising those in the newspaper! Evidently, I could have been rich if I'd grown what they were looking for.

 

[wifezilla]

I don't know if it is the hippy thing (though that could be it ) or that so few people cook anymore. At least if people are at a farmer's market, there is a better chance of them knowing what an herb is and how to use it.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

when i've sold some live plants at our flea market i usually bring one of my preferred herb books so people can see the varieties of different herbs, their culinary uses and any other good facts about their use! it really opens up peoples minds to good uses for them not just for in food!

i keep a lot of different herbs and plants around for stuff like sore throats, cough and insect bites, bruises, and cuts!

 

[elf]

I don't know if it is the hippy thing (though that could be it ) or that so few people cook anymore. At least if people are at a farmer's market, there is a better chance of them knowing what an herb is and how to use it.

Good points - hadn't thought about the lack of cooking going on. When I had my little bootleg wkend. plant nursery, I started with herb plants, but soon found that flowers sold much better-anything with a bloom. When herbs were flowering, some(mostly middle age or older) ladies liked them for flowers until I mentioned that they were herbs or had herbal uses. Then they shunned and turned to another plant. Odd indeed. One exception was basil the first year that pesto became really popular. I sold out of my surplus, so grew extra the next year. Surprise-few buyers-pesto craze was waning. Mint was always fairly popular, for adding to tea and juleps mainly.Names influence buying as well; bouncing bet sold better than soapwort (same plant); when I found my kerria was actually Japanese kerria people purchased it more. Also take note of what's featured in the gardening sections of current magazines; that influences buying a good bit.

 

[vfem]

I finally convinced a friend of mine to plant a little herb pot on her deck. She is not a fan of herbs she says... why I ask her... she says, "It is too much work to dry and have to store them to use."

I say that's silly you use herbs fresh when you can, dried is so tasteless compared to what they really are.

She thinks raw herbs are not the same thing, and its taken me 2 years to convince her otherwise.


:/