What Is a Market Garden?

You enjoy gardening and are wondering if you could turn your backyard into a source of income. Determine whether market gardening is right for you.

What Exactly Is a Market Garden?

A market garden is a small-scale farming business that grows fruit and vegetables on a small scale and sells them directly to consumers through on-farm stands, local farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture subscriptions (CSAs), wholesale markets, and, on occasion, independent grocery stores and restaurants. Market gardening, also known as market farming, is a type of vegetable production that typically takes place in a small area.

5 Advantages of Market Gardening

Aside from providing a fun and profitable outdoor adventure, the benefits of growing for market include the following:

1. Low entry barrier: Despite the fact that market gardening requires an initial investment, the small-scale nature of the business allows anyone with a plot of land and a work ethic to try their hand at growing fresh produce. "You know, it's really simple," says Ron Finley, the self-described gangster gardener. "You got some rays. You have some soil. You have water. You also received a seed. "Where do you want your beauty to come from now?"

2. Encourages experimentation: Because large-scale industrial farms have tight business plans, farmers produce the same crops over and over with little variety. As a small-scale market gardener, you can grow exciting heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables and test them post-harvest with little risk.

3. Environmentally friendly: Small-scale market gardens enable you to grow food and flowers in a sustainable manner by utilizing permaculture techniques such as crop rotation, cover crops, and seed-saving. It also allows consumers to eat local food, reducing the environmental impact of transportation.

4. Lower labor costs: Due to the DIY nature and small size of market gardens, you won't need to hire many full-time employees to harvest crops.

5. Higher profit margins: Because small-scale market gardens require less equipment, labor, and large plots of land, profit margins are higher. When you sell to wholesale markets, you only get ten to twenty percent of the retail price, whereas when you sell directly to the consumer, you get to keep everything you earn.

4 Disadvantages of Market Gardening

Though market gardening is a fun and profitable way to use your land, keep the following potential drawbacks in mind before you begin:

1. Difficulties with certification: Even if you use pesticide-free, organic market gardening techniques, your small farm may not be certified as organic. Organic farming certification often necessitates a significant amount of time, meticulous record keeping, and money that most market gardeners do not have. Instead of certification, inform your customers about your sustainable agriculture practices and invite them to your farm.

2. Fast turnover is required for profitability: Because market gardens are typically small, you'll need to find a way to produce crops on a regular basis if you want to make a significant profit. If your region has a short growing season, you may want to select crops that grow quickly and can be harvested frequently.

3. Fun becomes business: Over time, the pressures of market gardening may transform a fun hobby or passion for growing produce into work.

4. Lack of space: The quantity of fruits, vegetables, or flowers you grow is determined by the size of your market garden. Because of their small garden size, most market gardeners must limit the amount they can grow.

7 Tips for Starting Market Gardening

Starting a market garden can be intimidating, but the following advice will help you along the way:

1. Invest time in market research. Visit farmers' markets and look at popular items before deciding what to plant. Perhaps the market will be flooded with salad mix but devoid of radishes. Find a happy medium between what sells well and what fills a market niche.

2. Pick something you enjoy. Starting your own market garden takes a lot of effort, so grow things that interest you. Maybe you want to grow a rare heirloom tomato variety or you enjoy cutting flowers. After conducting your research, choose for both pleasure and practicality.

3. Begin slowly. You might want to begin with crops that grow quickly. Lavender, wild ginseng, and microgreens are all inexpensive and simple to grow. You might want to start with raised beds where you can easily control the soil environment.

4. Make a crop plan. Plan your crops once you've decided what you want to grow. Include production goals, row spacing planning, and developing a harvesting and replanting schedule based on the plant's growth cycles. You could use succession planting to ensure a consistent ripe crop every week.

5. Never stop learning and improving. The longer you keep a market garden, the more you will discover. Consider using row cover to protect your crops from cold weather, insects, and birds, or mulch to keep your soil fertile and weed-free. Learn everything you can and make changes as needed.

6. Make new friends among the locals. Obtaining customers through in-person, direct marketing allows you to locate sales outlets. Apply to sell at local farmers' markets, set up your own on-farm stand, and visit local restaurants and grocery stores.

7. Think about improving your storage. A walk-in cooler extends the life of your produce and flowers and may prove to be a profitable long-term investment.