One of the first steps in creating a profitable garden is deciding on what and where you are going to plant. It is very important to have a diverse crop, so your customers can purchase multiple foods from you. On the other hand, it is also important for most of your crops to be highly profitable. It is up to you to find your balance. After all, the name of the game is to balance of profit and customer satisfaction. This takes loads of experience, but here's a good rule: have at least 50% of your product produce over $9.00 per square foot. Here is a list of plants that meet that criteria:
- Cilantro: $21
- Arugula: $20
- Salad Mix: $17
- Chives: $16
- Dill: $16
- Lettuce: $16
- Cherry Tomatos: $15
- Turnips: $10
- Large Tomatos: $9
It is important to note that a garden cannot consist of purely cilantro. The demand is not high enough, meaning you would only be able to sell part of your crop (unless you are selling in a large urban center, or limited on growing space). Previously, I mentioned the importance of having a portion of less profitable foods in your garden. Here are some ideas:
- Cucumbers: $8
- Basil: $7
- Red Radishes: $6
- Pumpkins: $6
- Celery: $6
- Summer Squash: $6
- Snow Peas: $4
- Jalapeno Peppers: $4
- Zucchini: $4
- Bell Peppers: $3
- Brussels Sprouts: $3
- Carrots: $3
- Rhubarb: $3
Personally, I prefer to stay on the higher end of the spectrum ($5-8 crops), but I do like to include carrots (who doesn't). Next, let's plan out how much of each crop we want to plant. The trick here is to maximize both your profit and variety. For my example, I will include a small portion of cilantro, a large amount of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, and carrots (I recommend you create your own, but you can copy mine if you'd like). Below, I will add percentages of each.
- Cilantro: 5%
- Lettuce: 30%
- Cherry Tomatoes: 15%
- Cucumbers: 10%
- Celery: 20%
- Carrots: 20%
Another thing to consider when you are selecting your plants is "seed to harvest time" (the time from first planting to harvest). You could either coordinate plants so they are ready to harvest all at once, or for longer seed to harvest times, you could plan to harvest at different intervals. I'll leave this up to you. Now that I've completed planning my garden mix, let's calculate profits. First, determine the size of your garden (in square feet). For simplicity, my garden size will be 100 square feet. Now, for each plant, perform the calculations I will demonstrate below.
- Cilantro: 0.05 (percentage of cilantro in garden) X 100 (garden size in square feet) = 5 square feet. 5 (square feet) X $21 (profit per square foot) = $105
- Lettuce: 0.30 (percentage of lettuce in garden) X 100 (garden size in square feet) = 30 square feet. 30 (square feet) X $16 (profit per square foot) = $480
- Cherry Tomatoes: 0.15 (percentage of cherry tomatoes in garden) X 100 (garden size in square feet) = 15 square feet. 15 (square feet) X $15 (profit per square foot) = $225
- Cucumbers: 0.10 (percentage of cucumbers in garden) X 100 (garden size in square feet) = 10 square feet. 10 (square feet) X $8 (profit per square foot) = $80
- Celery: 0.20 (percentage of celery in garden) X 100 (garden size in square feet) = 20 square feet. 20 (square feet) X $6 (profit per square foot) = $120
- Carrots: 0.20 (percentage of carrots in garden) X 100 (garden size in square feet) = 20 square feet. 20 (square feet) X $3 (profit per square foot) = $60
- $105 + $480 + $225 + $80 + $120 + $60 = $1070
My example equates to about 10 dollars a square foot. In other words, over a thousand dollars profit in just a 10' x 10' plot! The best part is, that's just one harvest. The final step is to map out your garden. Draw your plot on a piece of graphing paper (1 box is 1 square foot). Using the numbers for square footage you just calculated, plan and label your entire garden.
Next on "The Art of Planting," I'll take you through the proccess of buying seeds. Happy Planning!
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