Advice Needed on Value Added Products

[FarmerChick]

I hit 3 markets when open....and after 2 close I go to the Charlotte Regional Farmers market thru the winter (open all year)

I sell my sausage, pork chops, eggs, my goat milk soap, goat milk lotion, some wooden soap dishes that a man in Ohio hand makes, lip balms I make, and all of our produce come summer.

BUT---I am looking for more products and I don't know what to do without it being MORE HARD work.

I thought of fancy vinegars but they take too long to consume. I want turn over products that someone needs to buy again and again quite regular.

I don't have my kitchen inspected so prepared type foods are a no go at this time.

I thought of dried string peppers on a rope to sell.
I thought of mixed greens prepared in a bag as a salad set.

But nothing else comes to mind. So with the produce and stuff, can anyone think of another way to make a value added product that isn't too much work.....but I can do each week and make extra money and that customers want????

I am not asking much am I from you guys???---HA HA HA

Just wondering what pops into people's heads and see how I might be able to increase income but not work too hard doing it.......hmm...something we all want. But time is a huge factor and it has to fit in kinda easy in my schedule.

thanks in advance for any suggestions---I might not use them now but all advice is filed away in my mind and always trying to wiggle in more value products any way I can.

 

[Beekissed]

If you are talking about a summer market, planting a bed of cut flowers, both perennial and annual, can have you selling fresh cut flowers also. You could even arrange them in funky country-type containers you find along the way(yard sales, etc.) for instant bouquets. I like using fruit jars with a bit of raffia and a cute button, old metal containers, funky old glass bottles, etc. Give each one a singular touch and folks will like them. Once you've established your perennial beds, they don't take much work and the annuals can just be broadcast on a prepared bed of soil....zinnias grow well and make great cut flowers.

In the winter, you can order plain pine wreaths in bulk, decorate with a few accents and bows and sell them for quite a profit. I've seen folks buy them for $10 a piece, put a single bow on it and sell it for $30! Ask your local florist about sources for these plain wreaths.

Gift baskets of all your products can be sold at a higher price than individual items. Folks like premade gifts and quite a few lack the flair for placing things in a basket, adding some trim, and making it pretty. I have a buddy that gathers items he sells in his gift shop, places them in a basket, colander, egg basket, etc. and sells them for funeral gift baskets...yep, that is a growing trend instead of sending flowers. And the baskets always sell quite high but less than your average funeral bouquet.

You could try something gimmicky, like selling fresh country air in a mason jar...yes, it will sell! Take the time to design a "legend" on a brown craft label about how you harvest your country air in the early mornings when the dew is still on while the oxygen concentration is the highest, package it up for people to take home as a remembrance of their time spent in the most beautiful place on earth, blah, blah, blah....you would be surprised how many folks will pay $2 for a jar of "Fresh Country Air" to take home as a gag gift for their families and friends. You can even offer fall air, winter air, etc. I take some pine essential oil and swipe a bit on the rim of the jar for winter air, vanilla and pumpkin spice for fall air, lavender or other spring herbs mixed with citrus for spring air, etc. Tourist will buy most anything unusual and funny like this.

Just a few of the items I've sold that don't take extra hard work and sell very well.

 

[lupinfarm]

Think recycled, teatowels out of recycling ones, recycling fabric into simple handbags and coin purses, etc.

Coasters out of bits of wood. Every year we cut the quarter inch off our christmas tree, tung oil the piece of wood, and they make really cool coasters.

 

[Zenbirder]

I am in somewhat the same boat as Karen. We are planning to sell at farmer's market for the first time in several years. DH used to own a native plant nursery, and that was a real money maker, but a huge amount of work. We sold the nursery to a younger couple.
Now we need extra income (like most) and are planning to be farmers on a small scale. The bonus here is that we have good soil, where most people locally don't. The problem is that we can't expand the garden much without a big investment in deer and squirrel fencing. So this year is kind of a shake down trial. DH rebuilt the greenhouse last summer, so we are planning to have fresh vegies when market opens in May, well ahead of the competition.
I have spent many hours thinking about how to maximize profits without killing myself on labor. Our market has very strict regulations on what can be sold, only things that are grown by us. I can only do crafts from thing grown by us, like gourd art.
What do you grow that makes the most $ from the least time and garden space?

 

[FarmerChick]

thanks so much Bee
I knew the experts would come up with some great ideas!

country air....in a jar.....with a little craft paper legend on it. That is ingenius! I guess if someone can sell a pet rock right?? Hmmm...now I am thinking along crazy lines also.

Wreaths are a good idea but I can only sell them at one market that allows that.

cut flowers don't go over well with Tony. I did Sunflowers (all varities and they were nice!) but Tony does not like messing with water situations...LOL...he needs a dry situation.
Maybe dried sunflower seeds in a little bag for the birds! Good idea there too and make a bird millet mix or something. I grow wheat hay, Barb grows sudac and millet and all that and we have leftover corn laying in the fields.....a mix of seed junk for birds....moneymaker I believe!

you have me thinking down a different line now...thanks!

 

[FarmerChick]

Zen

native plants...that was a great market I am sure. everyone loves local plants that use less water and all that stuff.

But yes, tons of work. I tried growing some pots of stuff for sale and it was tough work!



BUT I think I have a new idea. SMALL herb pots. Yup, like maybe basil, dill, mint, thyme. Small pots for easy handling and so many herbs grow like weeds and are hardy and easy to transport to the market. With your greenhouse, small potted herbs would be a cinch. Hmm...I am still thinking how to improve on this idea for me!

My market is the big Regional farmers markets and their rules are more lax then the little local markets. At my little markets, I can only sell what I grow and make crafts out of my stuff also. With the Regional Market I can sell 51% my own stuff, 49% I can buy from other farmers etc. Which I do not do anyway. If it doesn't come from our farm I don't sell it.....well one item, my wooden soap dishes from a craftsman I buy. Just to accompany my soap.


Spring green onions honestly are my best seller in produce. We winter plant and deep and they come up super early and I sell thousands fast!! I make exceptional money on them. But I can't think how to make spring green onions into a more valuable priced product????

LOL---yup, more money with less work...I know I want that..LOL


Any produce that is super early at the market, or super late does well. Alot of "backyard" farmers only hit the main season....cukes, maters etc. If a farmer hits early early stuff, and late late produce then the market is theirs to grab the money.

 

[FarmerChick]

not a crafter here Lupin....purses and such won't be happening from me..LOL

coasters are a good idea. so simple actually..thanks! and not alot of work!

Maybe a circle of wood plus varish on a native leaf on the front or something and sell a set of 4....different leaf from each season or something like that. would be pretty.....OK thinking here..LOL

 

[Wildsky]

Melt and pour soaps.


How about making those little mixes that folks give out at christmas, a little bottle or bag with a mix to make soup or something like that.

 

[PamsPride]

What about candies, goat milk fudge (probably don't have any extra goats milk though), hard tack...to sell by the pound.

I seen at a craft show little bird houses made out of milk cartons covered in peanut butter then covered in bird seed. They sold very quickly. I will have to post a pic to my blog of it because my 6 yo made me and MIL one for Christmas. Then people hang them outside on a tree.

We should work out some kind of deal that I could make the crafty stuff and you could sell it after I have the baby!! Like washcloth scrubbies, makeup scrubbies, Pillowcase dresses with a matching doll dress, hair pretties, homemade wipes, boutique wipe cases, kids jewelry, etc! I just do not have any farmers markets near me.

 

[FarmerChick]

wildsky

I would have to check about food. Here we need kitchens inspected for any food stuffs. Like jams, cakes, candies etc. I am not inspected and don't want to go to that trouble. BUT----hmm....how about 3 bean soups with just a little baggie of homemade seasonings to add? I bet since no cooking is involved I could do that. Those cello wrapped dried beans with a seasoning package. Those would store well and would be easy to construct and easy to handle. Thanks....will think hard about that one!

growing beans is nothing ya know. drying beans is nothing....seems super simple to me.