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Best value-added $ makers?

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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posted 11 years ago

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Hi Everyone!

This is the spin off question from my earlier thread on high $ yields. Many of you touched on this actual question with some great input into this; I hope everyone chimes in! So here is the question:

We are in zone 7b-8a and are beginning a good sized poly-culture endeavor. On our plot plan grid, we have divided the space to include our 75% (lower profit) items and our 25% (high $ yield) items. On our 75% items, we would love input on what items (herbs, flowers, vines, bushes, trees, bulbs, etc) you have found to be great at producing a plethora of value added profits and stacking functions?

As an example of what I am asking, I am giving a personal example on peppermint...

When we moved in, the prior garden beds were full of noxious weeds, 3 of which were poisonous to our animals. Also, serious topsoil erosion issues. I bought 3 mint plants, 1 spearmint, 2 varieties of peppermint. Much to the alarm of others I propagated the heck out of them! In two season cycles, they successfully chocked out nearly all the weeds that needed eradication in our zone 1. They are abuzz with pollinators, have stopped the erosion, look great, smell great, nutrient accumulation of K & Mg, and pest repellant. On the financial side, I broke down just one bushel from harvest; as follows...

1 Bushel of Flower topped Peppermint...

30 sm. bags dried mint flower tea @ $3 - 4 ea. = $90 -120
5 sm. units dried and candied mint flowers @ $3 - 4 ea. = $15 - 20
40 sm. started pots @ $1.5 - 3 ea. = $60 - 120
20 sm. sachets of dried powdered stem and whole leaf @ $2 - 3 ea. = $40 - 60
6 sm. bottles (beer sz) syrup @ $6 - 8 ea. = $36 - 48
6 lg. bottles (wine sz) syrup @ $10 - 12 ea. = $60 - 72
1 lg. coffee can of dried crushed leaf from syrup making used in crafting (IE goat soap) actual value to be determined, believed to be @ $5

Total $ Value (profit varies by individual expenses) : $306 - 445 (the lowly peppermint is quite a sweet gem!...What are yours and how?)

There are other optional uses to exchange out of the above list, for ie. Jam and Wine in place of syrup.

Action Helps...One Soul with Courage is a Majority. Success is a Journey, not a Destination See the Reaching! A Pessimist Sees the Difficulty in Every Opportunity...an Optimist Sees the Opportunity in Every Difficulty! -Whispers of Eden

Su Ba

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Posts: 2142

Location: Big Island, Hawaii (2300' elevation, 60" avg. annual rainfall, temp range 55-80 degrees F)

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posted 11 years ago

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I'm in Hawaii, so my farm products include crops not producible on the mainland. My biggest seller by far is not a value added one, it's eggs. I sell, or use, every egg the hens produce, and I easily could sell twice as much.

Value added:
...macadamia nuts dehydrated at "raw food" temperature
...macadamia nut butter
...macadamia nut oil
...sugar cane juice
...fresh fruit juices (lilokoi, lime, lemon, orange, tangerine, grapefruit)
...dried pineapple
...various fruit jams
...coconut candy
...jackfruit candy
...pickled pipinola
...pickled daikon
...pickled mango
...dried herbs, assorted
...sea salt with and without herbs
...packaged frozen lamb

By far the big seller is dehydrated macadamia nuts done at "raw food" temperature. Next is macadamia nut oil. Fresh sugar cane juice is third right behind it. Lamb is number four. These four items sell every week. Everything else sells in dribs and drabs. It sells, but there is no steady amount from week to week. More hit and miss. I use to sell roasted coffee but it wasn't worth the expense of maintaining the roaster and the special commercial kitchen set up.

I occasionally make various fruit pies and they sell well. But I usually don't have the time to make them.

Selling value added products from a small farm or backyard here in Hawaii has significant obstacles. By the time you buy the various permits (some have to be renewed every 3 months) and pay to rent commercial kitchen time and space, you have just spent all your anticipated profit before you ever sell your first item. The local government has actually taken all your profit. Thus, most small producers here sell their products under the table. it's even illegal for backyard producers to sell eggs here. The health department inspectors go after vendors at the farmers markets, so eggs are a black market item. Crazy, no? In the name of food safety, people can no longer buy the foods they want here. I hope the situation is better in your state.

...Su Ba
www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com

It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com

Landon Sunrich

pollinator

Posts: 1703

Location: Western Washington

posted 11 years ago

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Don't forget Basil/Garlic/Walnuts for pesto! I've always had to buy the walnuts, but a man can dream of a better future can't he? Growing cukes and carrots and dill would be a good start at a pickling business. I'm sure there's lots of other veggies that could be snuck in there too (like garlic or peppers or eggs, or onions or, mushrooms) I don't retail any of these things - I don't like all the red tape - but if you look around a local farmers market I bet you could get 5-8 $ per 8oz pesto and 6-12 $ on a pint jar of pickled things depending on how exotic, good tasting, and good looking your presentation.

Freakin' hippies and Squares, since 1986

Dale Hodgins

Posts: 9002

Location: Victoria British Columbia-Canada

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posted 11 years ago

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Courtland ---- This is a much better question than the one in the other thread that devolved so badly.

Everyone else ---- He's asked a concise question. He didn't ask --- Do we need money ? Is it good ? Should we do without it ? Should it be shared ?

Let's respect that, and take those other topics to drivel, where they are sure to generate plenty of meaningless drivel.

Edit- the next day --- My apologies, I got mixed up with the names. Cortland was the one being picked on for sticking to his or her assertion that making some money is very handy. I will now shut up and listen since those likely to post here have made some of that money on crops, while mine is earned elsewhere.

David Williams

Posts: 133

posted 11 years ago

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i successfully grow about 20 different types of Arums you'd see on ebay right now i am making nothing as i am dividing out my stock for cashing in later , most i purchased at $6-12, per rhizome , in 12 months each divides about 6X and some come to seed as well..... 20 X $6 = $ 120 expense first year , no real "money made" 2nd year 20 X 6 X 6 =$720 3rd year 20 X 6 X 6 X 6 =$4320...
this is by rhizomial division , not including seeds .... you will have losses , tho not many , and you can saturate the market , but you get 7-9 months of sell-able stock outside of the growing season...
they take no work to look after , i just have them in screen planters in the soil, i'm on the 3rd year of this cycle , and have some flowering which they aren't ment to do untill 4+ years....
this math also holds true with exotic pet fish.... as long as you have a market , you have the potential industry.....

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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posted 11 years ago

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Everyone, thank you! We are off to a great start!

@ Su

You made me sooooooo hungry! What a great list! I am from Hawa'ii and will always miss my tropical foods! Wow! a lot has changed, when I was a kid we sold eggs and anything else no government hassles; sorry to hear it is now so over reaching. Once we get our glass conservatory built (a few years from now) I would love to connect with you to get seeds of all my island favorites that could grow under glass; and, hopefully, at that time, I will have seeds that you would like to grow and are not readily available off the mainland.

@Landon

Excellent ideas! I have a walnut tree; and, have made no attempt to add it in the mix (per-existing, in natural forest area)...but, you have inspired me!

@Dale

Thank you! Even if you mixed up who I am, your statement was just fine. Yes, once people dissolve a discussion down to character assassination, I pack up my pail and shovel and move to a clean sand box! Glad to have you along; hopefully, you will find your diamonds in this thread!

@David
Arums you say? Very interesting...I am off to research this nugget immediately; as it sounds very promising! (grew as ornamentals in both HI and CA; had not considered for VA) I may be PM'ing you to pick your brain on this one. Our functional ponds are not in yet; however, in Hawa'ii my family (and some neighbors) did the fish successfully; not sure I have a current market for them here, marketing analysis needed still.

leila hamaya

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Posts: 1596

Location: Root, New York

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posted 11 years ago

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Su Ba wrote:
Selling value added products from a small farm or backyard here in Hawaii has significant obstacles. By the time you buy the various permits (some have to be renewed every 3 months) and pay to rent commercial kitchen time and space, you have just spent all your anticipated profit before you ever sell your first item. The local government has actually taken all your profit. Thus, most small producers here sell their products under the table. it's even illegal for backyard producers to sell eggs here. The health department inspectors go after vendors at the farmers markets, so eggs are a black market item. Crazy, no? In the name of food safety, people can no longer buy the foods they want here. I hope the situation is better in your state.

i suppose its a regional thing but recently here there was a repealing/changing of certain annoying laws and such that make it easier for people to have food oriented businesses in their homes, and made it easier to have farm stands. i agree that its totally weird it should be the way you describe, and have known other people in a similar boat...not just the permits, having to get all kinds of fancy equiptment to make the kitchen a commercial kitchen and etc...but thankfully here they have changed those laws and made it much easier.
i will hope that other states go the same way, i was under the idea it had been changed throughout the country, but perhaps not.

yeah, i guess its just in california
http://www.thekitchn.com/selling-home-baked-goods-made-in-your-own-kitchen-is-now-legal-in-california-food-news-182805

http://www.theselc.org/faq/

other states:
http://www.theselc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Summary-of-Cottage-Food-Laws-in-the-US-31.pdf

Dale Hodgins

Posts: 9002

Location: Victoria British Columbia-Canada

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posted 11 years ago

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This farm truck was headed for the ditch, also known as let's bash some bad guys.

The crop that has given me the most bang for time invested has to be Swiss chard. It's supposed to be an annual, but self seeds. I've eaten tons of immature seed heads from older plants that survive winter. That's the closet thing to grain that I've had from a leafy vegetable.

Wild harvested fruit has saved me from having to bring purchased food to events where meals are served.

Mickey Kleinhenz

Posts: 32

Location: Houston, TX

posted 11 years ago

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A big one in my mind is propagation. (I've worked on the ornamental nursery side) Growing out thinnings or cuttings from garden maintenance into a container adds a ton of value(like what you did with the mint) and is incredibly time efficient with the right setup. You just need the space for a canyard, automatic irrigation and a source for media/soil. Containers are everywhere. Create a secondary yield from most all of your plants and there are a few that are so fast and easy to finish in pots. Like; Canna, Sugar Cane, Taro, Moringa, Cassava,... I guess it helps if you live somewhere hot for those, but you get the idea.

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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@Dale

Great point! I had the same this past year with some of my chard and kale, also my Hollyhock. (Note the garden in a pot concept below, you may find it helpful in stretching those gift dollars)

@Mickey

A definite strategy that every one should do! Anything you can not sell can be filler in your wild area, or put into a "garden in a pot" for hostess gifts when going to friends. With your excellent background, Do you know what plants in zone 7 has the stacking functions / added values as you noted the mint does? Or, do you know which zone 7 plants are supper easy to do start up pot cuttings like the mint?

Mickey Kleinhenz

Posts: 32

Location: Houston, TX

posted 11 years ago

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Straweberries, blackberries, and raspberries are the first that come to mind for zone 7. The strawberry propagation is obvious(daughter plants), but blackberries and raspberries are easy too. They propagate from root cuttings(not stems). You can take a 3-4" piece of a blackberry root about 1/4 inch diameter(remove the stem and leaves if there are any)and throw it in a pot and you should have a marketable item in 1 growing season.
The others I am thinking of really only have aesthetics as their other yield, but if you have access to a greenhouse. I would recommend you consider growing stock plants of Plumeria and Brugmansia they are tough plants, easy to propagate, and they have a really high $ value if you can finish good looking plants. I've sold 1gal(3month old brugmansia) for $15 and retail places sometimes charge even more. (Plumeria cuttings need 2-3 months to harden off, Brugmansia just needs a node above and good temps)

I think another big value addition could be creating a market for your seeds. We are all saving seeds. So what if we made a little design and then had it printed and put on an envelope. It would be a relatively small expense and effort(if you print a ton of them) and then not only would it add value, but it would give you a nicer way to gift seeds. I already buy the coin envelopes. I'm thinking like business card sized and printed on the thinner paper. Or even better if there was a company that would attach the cards to the envelopes for you. But something with a logo, and then a place to write the name and date and maybe some instructions for the seeds.

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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posted 11 years ago

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@Mickey

Thank You! I am marketing my seeds minimally. Most my excess I put up for trade first...we garden enthusiasts need to stick together!

However, what does not trade out I place for sale alongside my herbs / teas. Our system at the moment is on the cheap...needed to test market before sinking too much into an idea that may not fly. By spring of next year I should know if it is worth while. Our system for now is simple baggies and a cute, but super cheap labels preprinted with space for write in item. Very low end...but, so far, it is working!

On the berries, for now we are passing on the strawberries as the local market is fully saturated. We bought some pot ups of the raspberries from a back yard gardener locally who only sells her plants not the berries. We do hope to increase their stacking functions and added value as they mature and spread. I do sell some wild blackberry plants and wine berry plants to people in city...everywhere else out here people are dumping weed killer on them to get the very invasive plant under control. We too, are actually eradicating most of its patches to reclaim land for polyculture growing. I do harvest plenty of the berries (the wild critters eat over 2/3 prior to ripening). With those I freeze save until the seasons end to make jam, syrup, and pie. I do strain out the seeds. SO...If someone somewhere else wants blackberry seeds, I will be straining this years batch as soon as the weather cools. I would be delighted to trade them out for other zone 7-8 seeds.

No greenhouse.

We have plans for a built on to our home conservatory; which is a few years away. Despite this, I have been trying to keep a potted 6-8' plumeria tree alive along with a 3' one, lol It survived last winter barely. I am going to prune it back (pot ups) prior to the cold snap and move the small ones into the house and the big one back to the garage. We wrapped it in insulation last winter...any ideas to help it this winter? Forecast is for colder and longer. We are not hardcore on non- ornamentals only; we are still keeping a few we are found of, particularly if they attract pollinators.

Mickey Kleinhenz

Posts: 32

Location: Houston, TX

posted 11 years ago

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The plumeria can store for months as long as it stays dry. (Since you have great cool temps to get it to go dormant) I would focus on the moisture. Here I take the cuttings after it cools off and the plants stop growing(Oct-Nov) and then I go hide them on a shelf in the closet or utility room(dry, no leaves, and very little light). It's fun to rediscover them around March-April and watch them sprout just as happy as can be. Another perspective shifter might be that at the Houston Zoo they have 6' plus Plumeria in the landscape. Every winter(before any freezes) they dig them up and toss them on the floor in an old greenhouse. The cool temps keep them from re-sprouting as the roots go bone dry. They get replanted when it warms up. The system works fine, but the plants need staking every year.

Just don't give them moisture unless the temps are above 80.
Best of Luck!

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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@Mickey

Thanks for the great tips! I grew up with plumeria, made leis all the time...in Hawai'i

Definitely have to adjust the handling of it out here in VA, lol

Marty Mitchell

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Location: Coastal Chesapeake, VA - Zone 7b/8a - Humid

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I personally grew a large variety of different herbs since they are so easy to grow/we use them every day/... and are not cheap.

Also grew blackberries since they are incredibly easy and cost up to $5 a pack at the store. A single plant of Kiowa Blackberries can produce about 15lbs of berries a year. Their season is extended compared to many other varieties. Their berries are up to 3" long and last longer than most varieties.

Growing some Goji Berries next year. Because they are $13.99 for a blackberry sized pack of dried berries at farm fresh. I am betting that fresh berries(that don't seem to exist in the U.S.) would be even pricier. Even the greens of Goji are full of antioxidants and are commonly used in Asian stir fry.

Also, cloning your varieties of fruit trees for sale could bring in $15 to $35 a plant I bet.

Chasing that dream and enjoying every minute of it!
(Usually)

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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@Marty...

Great points! Glad you dropped by to add to the conversation.

We are big on the Herbs (love info on any specialities others have grown/marketed); we have a ton of wild blackberries on our property that we utilize (but are thinning out) and plan to add higher quality cultivars for fresh sales. We will be adding some goji also; but it's high prices are dropping as the fad has past (still a great produce item).

Michael Judd

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Location: Frederick, Maryland

posted 10 years ago

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Alcohol or non-alcoholic syrups/liquors. The ultimate value added market that you can count on thriving regardless of which way the economy goes. We have a small, 12 acre, homestead in Maryland, zone 7, where we are growing a limited number of many uncommon fruits - persimmon, jujube, paw paw, elderberry, aronia, hardy kiwi, currants.. which to get the most bang for the buck from we are experimenting with making mead (honey wine) and syrups. Most states have event licenses for selling wine meaning you can make small batches and sell retail at festivals etc. The syrups are sought after by restaurants and higher end bars for desserts and mixers. River Cottage Handbooks No. 2 & 6 out of England are excellent guides to making value added goods from uncommon fruits.

Michael Judd

Michael Judd
www.ecologiadesign.com

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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posted 10 years ago

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Michael Judd wrote:Alcohol or non-alcoholic syrups/liquors. The ultimate value added market that you can count on thriving regardless of which way the economy goes. We have a small, 12 acre, homestead in Maryland, zone 7, where we are growing a limited number of many uncommon fruits - persimmon, jujube, paw paw, elderberry, aronia, hardy kiwi, currants.. which to get the most bang for the buck from we are experimenting with making mead (honey wine) and syrups. Most states have event licenses for selling wine meaning you can make small batches and sell retail at festivals etc. The syrups are sought after by restaurants and higher end bars for desserts and mixers. River Cottage Handbooks No. 2 & 6 out of England are excellent guides to making value added goods from uncommon fruits.

Michael Judd

@Michael...

Great use for any extra fruit and some herbs! I was wondering if you could do a breakdown of all the ways you utilize your persimmon, jujube, paw paw, elderberry, aronia, hardy kiwi, currants? I was hoping to get people to see all the stacking functions of various items; as the true value of any item is much beyond the mere per lb sale price of the fruit...as you have noted with the wine/syrup aspect. I am particularly interested in your experience, as you are growing many of the same items we have/plan to have, and, you are in our same zone (7) with a similar climate pattern on about the same amount of acreage.

Aimee Grimmel

Posts: 18

Location: Western Mountains Maine Zone 5a - 4b

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posted 10 years ago

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Jams and jellies are huge at my mother's organic farm. She literally can not keep up with the sale of them and pickles. She also makes wonderful salsas that sell out weekly. If you find some local restaurants interested in your produce, it can be a huge market for you. The profit margin is less because of selling wholesale, however it's much simpler to sell a lot to a few.
I'm enjoying this thread, keep on posting people

Warmest Blessings,
Aimee
http://greengoddessecofarm.blogspot.com/

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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@Aimee...

Thank you for the input; and, glad the thread is useful! Do you have any info on which fruits are doing well as jams; and, how else those fruits are providing profit or stacking functions?

Aimee Grimmel

Posts: 18

Location: Western Mountains Maine Zone 5a - 4b

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Cortland Satsuma wrote:@Aimee...

Thank you for the input; and, glad the thread is useful! Do you have any info on which fruits are doing well as jams; and, how else those fruits are providing profit or stacking functions?

@Cortland

Hmm. Nearly all of the fruits provide fresh fruit, feed for wildlife (birds, animals, bugs), attract bees & butterflies, plus many of them are easily propagated so suckers/grafts could be sold as well. She also gives the chickens whatever doesn’t end up in the jams so they benefit from the free food & extra nutrition, plus produce manure. Thorny bushes (blackberries, raspberries, etc) could be used in hedges to keep wildlife out of the main growing areas. And any that grow on trees provide shade, microclimates, potential nesting spots, etc. Vines also provide shade. I have emailed Mom about any additional functions she can think of, and which sell best for her. I know that we go through a lot of her raspberry, apple, grape, strawberry and blueberry jams in particular. When the fruits are fresh, they tend to sell fast at farmers markets and from the farmstand. If someone happens to catch her between batches, they may be lucky enough to buy some frozen berries.

We will be growing some fruits that are rare around here. So far I have ordered seaberry/sea buckthorn, pawpaw and beach plums. I'm sure we will add serviceberry, saskatoons, aronias, etc. Any that I do not eat, sell, freeze or process will probably go to her so I look forward to seeing what sells best 3, 5 and 10 years from now when our food forest is in full swing.

Warmest Blessings,
Aimee
http://greengoddessecofarm.blogspot.com/

Cortland Satsuma

Posts: 319

Location: (Zone 7-8/Elv. 350) Powhatan, VA (Sloped Forests & Meadow)

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@Aimee...

Great! Looking forward to hearing what she says; and, I appreciate your fleshing out the values on the items mentioned. On the choices you have made for your property, do you have a similar breakdown of why you chose them? So often, we as gardeners and farmers think of our assets in only a one dimensional manner...fleshing out the real value of any given plant helps in deciding how to build a profitable polyculture enterprise; regardless of which form we shape this concept into (food forest, patio garden, homestead, etc.). The more we share our reasons and experiences, the wider the choices others will make; giving all of us better biodiversity and broader profitability.

Waldo Schafli

Posts: 29

Location: Western Cape - South Africa

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posted 8 years ago

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@Cortland

It is always lovely to stumble upon one of your structured posts. I always leave with solid, actionable advice.
My wife and I are starting a permaculture nursery, one of our products ideas are "Pot Pals" or "Container Chums" (would appreciate better names). Essentially its just companion planting in a container.
Basil, Tomato & carrots for instance.

Basil to increase tomatoes flavour
Carrots to increase tomatoes flavour, they also get stunted so are perfect for container growing.
Tomato because it is a cash crop, goes well with basil in most dishes & stunts the carrots to keep them container friendly.

When we educate our clients about the various benefits of such practices, our sales become easier & easier.

Thank you for being a great facilitator.

Waldo & Tilani

Pay it forward. Everyday. Every-way.

Waldo Schafli

Posts: 29

Location: Western Cape - South Africa

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posted 8 years ago

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Hello, I would like to get this thread going again.

I'm assuming that Cortland has left the permieverse, if not yay!

An angle I've been looking at is the 'homesteaders survival' techniques & how we can profit from it. When you're homesteading, you use everything you produce to its fullest extent, adding massive amounts of bio-diversity is a key to any great homestead. I have seen it succinctly as such - Make what you use, whether it be honey, shoes, RMHs, books, jams etc that will sell.

Making edgy & unknown products that you yourself don't use is a waste of time.
Making edgy & unknown products that you do use is an almost sure profit.

Creating sauces, jams, shoes etc takes many different components - closing the loop on your production-needs is key to Value-adding and knowing when you can't is also super important. If you have access to land it becomes easier to close the loops.

For instance

1. My mother-in-law makes a salad sauce from

Onions - We can grow these ourselves but buying them in bulk makes more financial sense, we would like to subsidise these bulk transactions with our own crop.
Poppy seeds - Same as above.
Sunflower Oil - This can easily be replaced with numerous other oils we can self process.
Vinegar - Apple country is 40km away so we can again make our own through sourcing from them.
Sugar - Stevia is a possibility but for now we buy in Bulk.

2. Grow salad greens, which are super easy to grow & sell them alongside the sauce.

She has great relationships with retailers in the area who call her every time stock is running low & then she delivers to them when she is heading in that direction. Adding the fresh greens ups the delivery time but also the income.

3. As she has grown in popularity, numerous offers have rolled in to expand the business. She can now essentially hand over her recipe and cash in on the royalties or make more product for the demanding consumers. People who are fanatic about your products are your best sellers & marketers.

Three actions, semi-closed loop. Closing each loop should either lower your overheads or increase your income. Sometimes these two are linked and sometimes you just get one, either way you increased your profit margin.

A last little gem we saw one of our Homesteading friends make. Blueberry & Granadilla jam. What a winner. If you're into making jellies, check out Carissa macrocarpa, Natal Plum. A great defense hedge, pollinator attraction, amazing flower smell & the fruit which makes a very unique jelly. Also suited to coasts. Salt & frost hardy.

Thank you to all the contributors, keep 'em coming.

Pay it forward. Everyday. Every-way.

William Bronson

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The best I've seen is my friend who Farms corn. He has a conventional crop that he grows on the fields down by the river. He sell this stuff to the silo at bulk commodity prices. He makes much more growing on his other fields with zero pesticide. That's because he can take this yield and grind it himself. He sells this product at farmers markets and through our local Whole Foods!
He grows wheat and does the same with this and also he grinds the grains other local farmers. He never pays money for eggs rather he trades his home ground chicken scratch to the same guys he hunts and fishes with.

I personally aim to sell frozen juices and products made from the pulp left over from the process. The reason for this is a desire to avoid canning and utilize less than perfect fruit and vegetables. I am just now starting to experiment with drying the pulp and incorporating it into baked goods.

Eating Bindweed
Eating Buckwheat Greens
Paul explains why I spend time here,better than I could myself.

Waldo Schafli

Posts: 29

Location: Western Cape - South Africa

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posted 8 years ago

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What a great trade-off your friend has. Having local processors for raw materials that are hard or laborious to do in small batches is a great way of value-adding. One of our friends, www.lowerland.co.za, grows his wheat for a specific bakery which makes doing business a whole lot easier. His farm is a great example of large-scale ag transforming through Permaculture.

If you are looking for 2nd grade pulp & fruit-tree seeds to sow wild, ask your local Distillery.
You'll be amazed at the amount of "waste" these big processors get rid of.

Another value-added activity is mixing herbs with dried fruits & vegetables.

Sun dried Tomato & Basil
Sun dried Apricots & Rosemary
Dehydrated Onions & chives
Etc
Etc
Etc

Pay it forward. Everyday. Every-way.

Let me tell you a story about a man named Jed. He made this tiny ad:

the permaculture bootcamp in winter (plus half-assed holidays)

https://permies.com/t/149839/permaculture-projects/permaculture-bootcamp-winter-assed-holidays