If you like gardening and want to start your own home business, then growing herbs might be an excellent way to make some extra income. All you need to figure out is how to grow your herbs and how to sell your herbs – and you’re well on your way to making money from doing something that you love.
Growing herbs in a garden bed will give you lots of space, so that you can not only grow many herbs, but lots of different types. However, be aware that not all herbs grow well together. Also, some herbs will take over the garden bed, stopping other herbs from thriving. For example, mint is usually best grown alone and it tends to run wild. You also need to consider the best growing conditions of each herb.
Some herbs prefer lots of sun (for example, basil, chives, parsley and coriander), where others are okay in shade (mint, comfrey and lemon balm). Generally, though, most herbs prefer sun to shade. So if you do only have the one garden bed, pick a nice sunny position to see your herbs thrive. You don’t need to have all your herbs in the one garden bed, though. You can have lots of separate garden beds, ensuring that you have the best growing conditions and best companions for each herb.
You can also grow your herbs in raised containers. While pots is the most common one, take a good look around the rubbish in your yard (or at the tip) and you may find some items that can be recycled into useful gardening containers for your herbs. Old baths, tyres or polystyrene containers work well. The other benefit to growing herbs in pots is that they can be taken indoors during the colder months.
Growing a few herbs in containers on the window ledge will work well even in winter, provided they get enough light and heat. So this means you don’t need to stop your gardening as soon as the cold months arrive. Just take your herb home business indoors. When growing herbs inside, do not pick herbs that grow too tall or too wide. Lavender, mint, parsley and thyme are good herbs to grow in indoor containers.
Now that you’ve worked out how to grow your herbs, you need to decide how to sell them. Farmers’ and cottage markets are a very good place to grow herbs. You can set up a stall for a small fee. And as they’re usually held outdoors, you will have enough room to set up all the herbs you want to sell. Furthermore, people often come to these kinds of markets hoping to find fresh vegetables or herbs. Buying locally is very trendy at the moment. And there are many people who would much prefer to buy herbs from a local grower than a big chain supermarket. You don’t need to produce herbs that look at good as the ones on supermarket shelves in order for people to prefer your product. Other places that you can try include food co-ops, school fetes and friends.
Don’t limit yourself to just selling fresh herbs either. Many people like to buy dried herbs. You can also contact herbalists and health food stores who may wish to use dried herbs in their beauty treatments or natural health products.
You may even like to think about trying to create your own products using fresh or dried herbs. Look up recipes for herbal massage oils and skin care lotions. This will add value and prestige to your home business – as well as improve your earning opportunities. The other benefit to these type of products is that you are no longer limited to places like school fetes or farmers’ markets. Products like these can be sold online and posted out all across the country. Ebay can be a very good place for selling herbal products.
If you create enough goodwill, you may find that many of your customers return again and again. If you do decide to sell online, it would be well worth your while in looking at getting some professional labels printed off. Nice, pretty bottles also create a good impression.
Growing herbs is a fulfilling and satisfying past-time. So why don’t use your gardening skills to earn your money through doing what you love. While selling herbs as a home business may seem daunting at first, all it takes is a bit of thought, creativity and imagination. And then you’re well on your way to earning a home business income.
Dave Warren is the founder of http://www.homebusinesses4u.com. You can also find a great reference book on this subject at his web site.
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