Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi - this is the first time Ive used this new forum, although everyone was really helpful when I visited the old one a few time.

I do have a few veggarden queries - but will try to search the archive first for info.

My Query then is, do any of you divulge in growing masses of summer bedding plants, in order to sell them to passing trade? If anyone has links to helpful sites, or has done this before I would welcome your advice on how much space I would need to make a profit and whether it is worth the trouble -indeed if I would get into trouble for doing this!

Many thanks

Hi. I have been doing this for four years in a little village in South Oxfordshire - it is very profitable and loads of fun (has become a bit of an obsession actually). The hardest part is balancing where to put the plants once they're out of the greenhouse, because they still need protection and heat and you need the greenhouse for propagating other plants. I have an unusually shaped raised bed, approx 11x18 feet overall using 4' bed widths, with an Access Cold Frame over 6' (lots of shelves inside -extremely handy). The rest I cover with a temporary polythene tunnel and hoops from a salvage yard and heat on very cold nights with a fan heater.

I grow lots of bedding varieties, and find that petunias, lobelia, ageratum sell well (6-pack for 1.50) and geraniums (sold individually for £1 or less) and to a lesser extent marigolds, stocks, salvia, verbena, sunflowers, sweet peas, etc etc. I also grow lots of tomato plants (400), plus courgettes, pumpkins, squash, peas, beans, peppers, brassica, lettuce - you name it I grow it. I also grow perennials from seed, and they sell well too. My GH is only 8x10 but it's absolutely packed with staging and shelving.

I grow about 300-500 petunias, and 400 geraniums to give you an idea of my scale. For 6-pack trays I buy them from a company, but also welcome used pots from neighbours, and use them for geraniums and tomatoes, for instance. I just had my pallet of 42 70-litre multipurpose compost delivered on Wednesday - it pretty much lasts until late June when I might have to buy more (depending on number of perennials).

My biggest problem now is thefts. I used to leave my stand out all day and night 7 days a week with a locked 'honesty box'. But last year, from March to May I lost £240 of plants - nobody takes the money, but take plants without paying, £50 at a time (very painful). So when I put out the bedding (we had frosts until 7 June!) I left the stand out only weekends - but overnight - and the thefts dropped substantially. I think someone was taking them to sell on to a car boot sale.

I only advertise locally in my village newsletter (for which I am also editor!) and on village notice boards and website. Everyone I meet is very complementary and word travels, so business is doing well. They don't seem to mind the stands in front of the house (or up to six cars on a hot June day). I give the remainders (early July) to a local respite home where they come and pick them up and plant them in their gardens. Then it's time to plant the allotment! (was so busy last year that the chitted potatoes stayed in the greenhouse until being discarded in October! but the pumpkins and squash did really well)

Anyway, as you can see I now have lots of experience. I'd be happy to reply with more details, but I don't want to bore the other readers! Let me know what else you may need to know and I am glad to help. Best of luck. You're not in Oxfordshire are you?

Dear Frecklestone,
if you want commercial quantities of seeds then try Moles seeds www.molesseeds.co.uk . If you want baby plants there are several places you can try, but mostly they want big orders if you have them delivered although some do a cash and carry service.
Regards Sally Wright.

hi ive just been reading your question and would like to know if you do this in your own garden or your allotment?the reason i am asking this is on our allotment i think there is a rule that bans you from selling your produce.is this the same for anyone else?

Hi,
I grow solely in my own garden. I too have a ban at my allotment not to grow for sale.

Conversely, I see lots of my veg seedlings - and plant labels - at the allotment on my customers' plots! I provide a valuable service to those who only have small plots and don't grow from seed; many would otherwise buy from a local garden centre at a higher price.

It takes a huge amount of planning and multi-tasking. It's especially hard to know when the last frosts are possible. And I have a 'day job'. But growing for sale is hugely rewarding in many ways.

LakeView

thank you all for your tips - especially lakeview who has provided some really detailed and invaluable advice from experience. I do not have an allotment so is all from garden - hopefully then I am safe to carry on. Actually after some careful research, I have had to re-adjust my expectations and am drastically reducing the amount I was going to start with. I will probably get a feel for my realistic output over the years to come.
thanks again for your replies

Lakeview; I meant to post sooner. What a wonderful thing you do. I am in awe....And you inspire me. Farmers' markets are just starting to be set up in nearby towns. Maybe if I can get seed cheaply I can do some of this in a small way this year there. we need the funds to help feed the very poor and every little helps us. I used to sell seedlings to neighbours in past places. Thank you and bless you.

Hi to everyone,
To those of you who have allotments which bans the sale of any produce from your plots, all that does is it stops you using your allotment as a business, which to my mind is right and proper way of doing things,
BUT Having said all that, once you are outside the alloment gate these rules do not apply The produce is your property and is up to you as to how you use it. so if you wish to sell bedding plants just make sure that you take them home first.


Kevin

kev,thanks for your answer about the selling of produce from an allotment,but i still cant see how we can sell stuff if the rules ban us.does this apply to only bedding plants or can we sell fruit and veg.if so what would happen if say i sold veg and someone was poisend by me,would i be liable?
sorry if this sounds like a stupid question

Allotment holders have always been banned from selling produce from their plots. The object of the exercise was to provide land for locals to produce home grown fruit/veg, and to stop market gardeners from acquiring land cheaply to fund their businesses.

Personally I do not think this is unreasonable.

How would your allotment society react, if all of a sudden the plots were run by market garden businesses, as opposed to enthusiastic amateurs. I think that is the reason for the banning of the sale of produce.

Anyway a good allotment holder is only too pleased to share his bounty with friends and neighbours. A true allotmenteer does it for love, not for gain!

Or am I living on another planet?

I hope not.

valmarg

i think your right on this one,i share my produce with people in work and my street,and i must say i really enjoy the bottles of wine and the seeds they buy me,hic!!!!!

Oh grock in the frock, you really are the limit.

Barter is what you are indulging in, as opposed to selling!

Either way it is an easy way of trading surplus stock, whatever the returns.

Hope you sober up soon!!!

valmarg

It'll be for the first time if she does

Hi there Freckleton

In answer to your question, why don't you try the car boot sales?

You could produce very cheaply little instruction leaflets to go with your plants. You could use a work photocopier and then give them out when you sell the plants. Try sowing a few extras bedding plants this year and see how they go. I know that people do this on ebay each year.

It's something i've been thinking about doing myself but haven't quite got around to it yet. I'd be interested to know how you got on.

Dear All,
my B-I-L sells lots of pumpkins in the Autumn as well. Don't go for the biggies though as folks find it difficult to deal with them. He has grown turks turbans and butternut squash, which sold though the more unusual ones did not sell. Ornamental gourds such as claws and the small mixed ones did well at say 10 for a £1.
Always take them in at night and don't put out too many at once. They are very tempting for those inclined to mischief. If you like you can put out a recipie leaflet with them to encourage sales.
regards Sally Wright.