Five Ways to Make Money From Your Garden

From the obvious to the unexpected

Put your green thumb to work and watch the green pile up in the bank with these ideas!

1. Grow Your Own Food

This one won’t make you a profit, but it will save you money! And as Ben Franklin wrote, a penny saved is a penny earned. Why spend $4 for a bag of lettuce when you can grow that bag multiple times over from a $2 pack of seeds?

Growing food yourself has many other benefits. You can try varieties of fruits and vegetables that you can’t find in stores. (I’m a fan of heirloom tomatoes and grow at least one new variety each year.)

2. Sell What You Grow

Perhaps the most obvious way to sell what you have in your garden is by selling produce at a farmer’s market. That can be a great option if you can grow enough and have the time to attend the markets. There is some up-front cost to this; you will need to pay a vendor fee and may need to make some purchases such as a table, tent, and signage. You may also need to spend more to expand your garden and will have to consider the containers you will use for harvest and transport and if you have the right kind of vehicle for the job. It can be a really fun way to make money if it appeals to you.

If your home is located on a street with enough traffic, you can channel that inner child who used to set up lemonade stands (you did that, too, right?) and set up a farm stand. Just put a table out at the end of your yard near the street, throw up a sign, and sell to whoever comes by. If you trust people around you, you can even set your stand up on the honor system and leave signs with pricing and a can for people to leave money in. Or go modern and include a way for them to pay digitally on the signage!

Another option is to use Facebook or other local networking groups to advertise your harvested bounty for sale.

Restaurants often look for local produce as well. Reach out to some of your local restaurants to see if they are interested in what you want to grow.

Get creative about what you sell using any combination of these methods. Vegetables are popular. You can stand out by providing interesting varieties. Fruits are another option. Plant a couple of fruit trees, start some strawberries in a bed or container, or plant grapes or other berries around your yard. Even more outside of the box — try selling flowers! You can sell edible flowers (there are so many to choose from!) or cut flower bouquets. If you go the bouquet route, consider selling to or partnering with a local florist.

3. Save Seeds

One of the surprisingly steep expenses for passionate gardeners is seeds. (I think I spend over $100 a year myself on this.) So, saving the seeds from the plants you like to grow can be a great way to cut down your expenses. Just make sure you do your research on the right way to do this; it varies by plant and variety. If you save enough seeds, you may even be able to swap or sell them with other gardeners!

4. Sell Products from Your Garden

A really easy product you can make from your garden is tea. Grow traditional fares like chamomile or mint, or get creative with a variety of herbs and create blends. Harvest and dry herbs and edible flowers then package and sell the tea.

Make lotions, face or body scrubs, bath bombs, or other self-care products using the plants you grew. (You can create really cool bundles of products this way!) You can sell these in many of the same places you could sell produce — at markets and fairs, through local buy/sell groups, or through your own online e-commerce store.

5. Sell Photos of Your Garden

This is an even more unique idea. Whatever you grow in your garden, you can take beautiful photos of the plants. You may also have photogenic visitors to the garden. Are there butterflies visiting some of your flowers? Or perhaps birds hanging out on the feeders nearby? Use your camera to capture whatever you think the world would like to see in your garden.

You can sell photos as stock images on Shutterstock (affiliate link — if you sign up to sell your photos using this link I will get a small commission at no cost to you!). You will earn 25 to 38 cents each time someone downloads your photos. The more you upload, the more you can make.

There are other options for selling photos. Gumroad is a platform that lets you sell just about anything with no upfront cost. You could create an Etsy store dedicated to your photos (and if you are crafty, could sell garden décor alongside your photos). Or you could even set up your own website to sell digital downloads or prints of your photos.

Have you made money from your gardening with any of these methods? Have another idea I didn’t list? I’d love to hear from you, comment and share your experience!

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