MAKING $ FROM CHICKENS, GOATS AND GARDEN

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Hubby has a full time job. I have a full time special needs kid. We have a LOT of medical expenses and more improvements we want to do on our little farmette. And we need to make money. We have 2 little acres, of which about
1/6th is buildings and the driveway
1/6th is the goat pens and goat/chicken housing
1/6th will be fruit/nut trees and brambles
1/6th is a raised bed garden
Last 2/6 is fields for alfalfa, sunflowers, millet, amaranth, corn and "lawn".

Eggs:
Hubby finally has some steady egg customers from work. Sells anywhere from 2 dozen to 4 dozen a week, and its increasing. We sell at $2.75 for a mixed size/color dozen tried higher prices but we sold less.

Chickens:
Tried selling chicks but not making enough to put any effort in it. Raising chicks to replace our laying stock and put in the freezer.

Goat Milk:
Some of Hubby's egg customers are asking for my farmers cheese (made with vinegar instead of rennet). The favorite seems to be honey/vanilla but they also like garlic/chive and onion/dill. Now that I have a larger doe and another one who should kid in July/August, Im going to have a lot more milk for cheese. NO clue what I should charge per oz AND I dont want to get my kitchen certified so selling to friends and coworkers is just fine. PLUS: Want to find a good 3-4 more flavors that are unusual but will be popular.

Veggies:
Some of Hubby's egg customers want our "extra" produce too! Already have lettuce and spinach to sell, and in another few weeks will have radishes, then European mesclun salad, scallions and nasturtium flowers. Should have lots of cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers too. Thought Id price the greens with nasturtium flowers at $2.00 per sandwich baggie, $4.00 for quart sized baggie and $7.00 for a gallon sized baggie. Will probably price the veggies under whatever wally world sells them for.

Fruits:
Berries are starting to flower but since this is their first year here, might not have enough to sell until next year. Fruit trees, just bought and will put in ground this week, are flowering and already producing. Three apricots on one trees, four pears on another, lots of cherries, and lots of apple blossoms. That's just now ... should have lots more soon! Will price according to grocery or should I charge more? Will sell per baggie (???).

Nuts:
None for a while.

So my question: any of you selling any of these? What kinds of veggies do you find sell best? Most profitable?

Since we live way out in the boonies, about an hour SE of Denver, do you think people would be willing to drive the hour weekly to pick up a couple dozen eggs, a few ounces of a few different cheeses, and some fresh fruits and veggies (whatever is ready that week)?

OR

Should I try to find somewhere in town where Hubby could drive to every Saturday for pre-arranged pickups? (Dont want to do farmers markets or flea markets). But that would cost us more in gas. We need as much profit as possible.

 

[Bettacreek]

Hmm, just in my opinion, I wouldn't drive an hour for produce, but maybe people who're more local would be interested? Does your hubby work in Denver? Maybe he could take them to work, then meet people afterwards (or even before work) to help save on gas.

As for eggs/chickens, I've found that hatching eggs sell for more than eating eggs. Purebreds sell for more than barnyard. Even layer chicks don't seem to go for very much.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

We thought about Hubby selling once a week after work, but then he'd have to take a cooler to work and keep them cold then lug it back to his car after work. We don't want him to get in trouble with his job.

I have crosses with my flocks ... not too many are purebred. I'd have to invest more for chicken housing to start separating and such. Not sure I can handle more work. My special needs kid (autistic and epiepsy) is getting worse, and I already have so much on my plate.

Hubby has mentioned before that people are constantly looking to see what I cooked for his lunch. That got me thinking.

I have to cook for us anyway.

Kinda worked up something like a price list, and thinking we can start selling our produce, goat cheese (in 2.5 oz tublets) and prepared meals using as much of our ingredients as possible. Only have to buy the take-out containers and the small 2.5 oz tublets that I found online. Garden is coming along nicely but I think I need to add more cucumbers, scallions, radishes and greens. (I think 20 roma tomatoes and 20 various other tomatoes is sufficient, don't you?!?!)

 

[Bettacreek]

It might be worth it for him to lug the cooler though. I'd ask him to talk to his employer for permission, so that he doesn't get into any trouble.

 

[donrae]

Have your honey comp his boss a bit of cheese or a dozen eggs a week. That should keep him from getting in trouble!

 

[so lucky]

Couldn't he just sell the stuff from his parking place after work one day a week? If everyone knows what day, they could just meet him there. I agree that I wouldn't want to drive for an hour to pick up fresh produce.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Hubby works for a huge corporation that just bought his old huge corporation. His job isn't assured for another year so we don't want to rock the boat selling more than just kinda on the sly from his desk (eggs so far).

MIL lives kinda in town, in a suburb of Denver and has agreed to sell one day a week by pre-arrangement. So when we have more than greens, I'll place an ad on CL and start making appointments for the 1 day. She'll get free produce, eggs and cheese as payment. Hubby will drop off in a.m. on way to work, then the appointments will start about an hour before he gets off from work, so she will only be there by herself for about an hour and a half, then Hubby will join her for another 2-3 hours ... as long as appointments go and for how much we have to sell.

I'll kinda screen people so MIL will feel safe. Produce will be in marked brown paper bags, with names. Orders will need to be in 48 hours in advance so I can harvest, wash, bag, and mark for Hubby to take.

This should work. Hope hope.

Right now we're getting half gallon a day from our new goat. Already have way beyond what we drink. Gonna make cheese and ice cream this weekend. By the time our next one kids and we start milking 3 weeks after, we'll have more than enough to sell the simple farmer's cheese.

Thanks for all of the input.

 

[bucknercrestfarm]

Try making goat milk soap and can jellies and salsa I have a better time selling canned goods then fresh also I make kefir with my goats milk I sell it 5 bucks a quart its like yogurt very healthy people love it you can get the kefir grains from kefirlady.com she mails them to you supper cheap plus if you have extra kefir you can feed it to your chickens realy good for the egg production

 

[Barefootmomma]

We have a large amish population here so they do a big portion of the veggies in the summer.. i'm trying my hand at the self sustaining ideal . my daughter is also special needs, so if all goes well maybe by august i will have 3 or 4 laying hens a laying, and my garden will really take off , i have a couple of Nubiean does but there still on the bottle( 1 is ) I wish you the best of luck!

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Thank you, BFM. Good luck to you too.

Can't sell milk products. Even with new rules, milk products are banned still. Would have to have my kitchen inspected and so forth. Not worth it to me. And I tried making soap but just not good at it. Besides, we get about half gallon a day right now. That's 2 quarts, of which my growing special needs teen drinks half! Need the other quart to make cheese for my Hubby!

It's a slow process. Hubby started talking about our garden to the people at work, especially those who buy eggs from him. Some have started asking about buying produce so yesterday I created a little "sales slip" with what we have and prices. Even places for customer name, phone number, e-mail (to send updates on what's avaialble). And since it's illegal to sell homemade cheese in CO I included a spot that says free cheese if 4 orders placed in a month (we'll just give them an ounce or two). He took the slips to work today.

Another person asked about buying a chicken from us (from freezer camp) but that too is illegal. Plus we really don't have that kind of inventory.

Concentrating on garden, specifically these:
-greens (variety of leaf lettuces, all mixed together)
-gourmet blend (variety of leaf lettuces PLUS swiss chard, spinach, edible flowers, and other things as avail..radishes, etc)
-radishes
-tomatoes (various .. from yellow pear to pink brandywine to roma to early girl slicers and others)
-squash (yellow straightneck and zucchini)
-cucumbers (small for pickling and medium for slicing)
-bell peppers (red and yellow)
-winter squash like spaghetti and pumpkin ... for Fall harvesting

We have about 800 feet of raised bed garden space. Some is only for us, so there's not a LOT of wiggle room. Based on the requests so far, I think we have a good variety. Will add green beans to our selling llist next year.

MIL agreed to open her home (in town) for people to pick up orders Fri evenings (after Hubby gets of work, he'll head on over). PLUS we'll have a Tue pickup out here in the boonies. And people he works with can pick up from him at his desk anytime as long as they pre-order.

We're getting there.