Daydream fund challenge part 4

I_have_spoken

On a smaller scale...;) My prepared hyacinth is now over but am wondering if any summer flowering bulbs could be grown just in water in the glass vase?

ferretkeeper

IHS I've got all sorts of bulbs growing in their bags cos I never got round to planting them last year so I reckon you with your amazing green fingers could well be successful!

A friend of mine is a florist and we considered doing something with cut flowers, either growing or buying wholesale, a local place selling fruit and veg etc asked us if we'd do it for them.

But TBH we didn't fefel there was any money in it. The supermarkets and even local market stalls undercut what we thought we could sell for, then there's wastage to take into account.

In theory it costs you 50p for a packet of seeds that could grow thousands of flowers so you should make a profit. However like so many things it's not that simple.

I've never lived somewhere so challenging to grow anything well, there's no good arable land around, esp here, hence my enormous raised beds, and I'd have to sell a lot before I made back the cost of putting those in.

Add in the challenging weather and shorter growing season and I've come to the conclusion I am going to be doing most of my growing in a polytunnel, another cost to recoup.

There's a reason why so many small cut flower growers went out of business and it's just a handful of big time boys down on the south coast now, but even they grow everything in glass houses with artificial light.

The local demographic is my biggest hurdle in anything I've tried to do here. I don't know if it's just my immediate area but people seem very wary of buying from the farm gate, it's taken ages to get the farm produce shifting.

I also don't think people here appreciate what it means to buy from the farm gate; quality, traceability, food miles etc are not factors in their buying habits. Nor do they like unusual or heritage varieties

I'm happy to grow what I like and offer the surplus for sale as and when, but I do think CTC the greater the variety you have for sale the more likely people are to stop and buy something. People might be coming to buy eggs but see some nice fresh flowers and it's an impulse buy, that's my angle anyway!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

FK, it all depends on what visions you have for your land..


anyone who thinks they can make a livable wage out of small acreage like ours is off their rockers, and really do need to wake up and smell the roses..


I am under no illusion that myself and hubby could pack our jobs in and make a living off the land.( I often wish we could and think out loud on here lol). BUT.. you can earn a small amount to supplement any other outside income coming in.


I never look at recouperating my initial out lay back, I think of them as set up costs, or working assets. like any other business, if that was the case, then you would have to factor in the actual smallholding/land cost too.


its the same prob with Davesnave's polytunnel its a working asset.


where you live is a deprived area, and has a high unemployment rate ( a few years ago it did) so maybe that's one of the reasons you cant sell produce at the gate? gossip by neighbours? no prices on your signs, so people are afraid to knock your door, just incase they think its too expensive to buy??.


when I pass your place I very rarely see anyone walking past, only driving.. maybe move your sign to a more prominant place, change it for more impact? so it might be worth seeing other places you could poss sell your stuff or maybe having a casual table spot in swanea market??


what are you planning on growing this year??




EDIT.... FK.. is it worth a group of producers/makers from your village organising a monthly market in the car park ( opp the corner shop, by the mini roundabout) obviously this will have to go through the local community council etc, and use this as a 'feeder' for customers to come to your house? use it as a promotional thing.. obviously never have it on a rugby international day lol.. maybe the first Saturday morning of the month? so people get used to it.. advertise it like stink.. get local newspapers magazine involved. and use key words, like community spirit, reviving the area, be proud of your local produce/producers etc...


I found out the weekly Friday market, ystrad has dwindled over the years, and there is now only one fruit and veg guy that turns up every week.. pity as it needs a new person to re generate it.. etc..

choille

I put some of those runa - flowers in, but they are a bit sparse,a bit small, but quite nice. I do grow some flowers, but mainly for the birds & bees & coz I can & I like the buzz of insects about. I do know a woman - I used to work for her in a previous life, who started up a dried flower business & made over a million, but that is when dried flowers were all the rage - she ended up supplying Tesco, but paid her workers piece rate - begger all!

White out here, blizzards & the sky looks filled with it - gun metal grey all about.

FLW on the Bay until Tues so that's where I'll be - a slave to the camera & 'puter.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

this is my experience, and what I think about, as I have a main business to concentrate on, this year I will be taking more time out to concentrate on a potential small income from the ranch..
I have 'dipped' my foot into a potential product last year, and have found out the good and the bad, and the routes it can take.. so this year I can go forward and spend more time promoting it, as I know it can be potentially viable, and with another small product by its side,




in the businesses I have had, you just cant stick a sign up and expect customers to come flocking to you.. yes you will get the odd couple of sales but nothing that is regular or adds up to any good amount, you have got to out and push your product, whether if that is to wholesalers, farmers markets, advertising in community magazines, leaflets etc.. and then don't expect your business to hit the ground running.. you might get a 'surge' when you have done some sort of active advertising or promoting, but then it will die right back..


The best way to think of a business is a bucket with a hole in it... you got to really concentrate on filling that bucket up with new customers, as you also got loads of customers fall through that hole .. for some reason ( not everyone can afford to buy farmgate or locally produced products all the time, so might have it as treat now and again etc) .. it is hard bloody hard, some can make a small wage out of it, some can make a big business out of it, but a lot fail, whether this is down to experience, location, product.. no head for business, or just down to not having the luck.. or that lucky break who knows..

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I love those alstroemerias.. why have you got your shades on Davesnave.. is there something I should know about them before I do more than google the picture lol

EDIT... just seen your other post..Davesnave.. yep this year was going to be seeing what flowers would like our place, go around a few dif farmers markets in the summer and see who is selling what plant/flower wise, and what type of prices they are charging...

Alstroemerias need to be real named varieties, not inferior seed-raised ones, like the ubiquitous 'Ligtu Hybrids.'

If they like your garden, they'll increase like mad, and my limited time with them suggests plenty of repeat flowering. They're a brilliant cut flower. Not keen on the gaudier ones, but commercially, you'd need to grow them all.

I got mine from a Hooray Henry type at an open garden, who only charged me £6 for each huge pot and then apologised! Henrietta, his wife, sold me a huge white geranium phaeum half an hour later at £2. I immediately made 5 of them with it! :rotfl:

My polytunnel is just an indulgence, but if we were to sell, it's an asset flexible enough to be used for stock with only minor changes.

Having a large population where we were before made our business much more viable. Incomes there were also higher than here, and far higher than in Wales.

To get into the more lucrative venues, we had to spend out on equipment and sales stuff costing £thousands, so we looked the part.:D Whether it was all worth it is debatable, because we then fell between two stools by not having enough stock to do the really big 2 and 3 day shows.

Nevertheless, I still remember us visiting Lampeter Market one day, just to see what it was like. We were disappointed. I turned to DW and said, "Bl**dy hell, our stall on a weekday is bigger than half of this entire market!"

I think it was then that we knew a life in Wales would be difficult as a nursery. Now, I wouldn't care, and nor would DW, but we still like to dabble.

choille

That's what I like about ebay - you don't need premises, nor a busy location - ideal for me in the middle of no where.

I_have_spoken

Only nursery in Wales I can name is Crûg Farm Plants...

Anyhow, today was the first day of 2015 when the sun stays above the roof-line of the houses opposite The downside is the sunlight streaming into the kitchen showed some cleaning 'opportunities', so I've had the pinny on all day

COOLTRIKERCHICK

choille wrote: »

That's what I like about ebay - you don't need premises, nor a busy location - ideal for me in the middle of no where.

Totally agree with that, and this is one of the things I will hopefully go back to, instead of doing it in work...


Yep Davesnave, a lot of people buy places in wales, because the properties are much cheaper, but yet everything is proportionate with wages, prices etc..


I am born and bred here, so I am gobsmacked at how expensive things are over the bridge lol or even in 'posh' parts of wales lol..


where do you recommend I get a plant or two of those alstro's ?? as I really do like them.. what type of soil do they like etc

azzabazza

Alstroemeria seem to do well here. My neighbour has a few planted which come back year on year. I would say you got a bargain Dave - the ones I have seen in the garden centres are around £15 a pot!

Just spent a very productive 3 hours in the garden (with short breaks to warm up). Not only is my garden bin full, but I have filled my neighbour's too. Mind you his is full of mainly shared leaves from our adjoining borders - we are not allowed fences in our front gardens and we are the mid-terrace. Noticed I did not prune the roses very well last year but they did flower magnificently. There is one I do not like and I must remember to replace it in the spring.

My hat off to those of you with your big projects. I don't have any, just maintaining and enjoying my garden, but I do enjoy reading all about your endeavours.

I have been a regular visitor to Guernsey over the last 30+ years and one of the things I love down there are the gate side stalls which sell all sorts of produce from tomatoes, to flowers, to fire kindling to name but a few. My friend sells her surplus eggs on hers.