SPIN farming for extra cash

[pekklemafia]

Has anyone heard of or dabbled in SPIN farming? It stands for small plot intensive farming - basically urban agriculture on a sub-acre plot. Here's a link... http://www.spinfarming.com/

Our new house has a beastly sized yard with an encroachment, and I'm already thinking of plans to put the land to good use. We have maybe 1000sq ft of useable garden space, give or take. I've been pitching an idea for next year to start a friends CSA, maybe 20$/week (cheaper than the others, of course, because friends), and then see where we go from there. Some of these models claim to be able to bring in an extra 10-20k a year... which would be great for extra savings, or to put towards the mortgage.

If anyone has any experience or stories, I'd love to hear from you! I kind of want to sell veg at the market too, eventually, even though I know it's not a huge moneymaker... But I really love gardening, so why not make some cash while I'm at it :)

[k-vette]

My father rents out half of his property for someone to get vegetables for local farmers markets.  We're in process of installing an aeroponic system that will run year round and hold 325 plants in about 2 square feet, plus some working area if course.  (Vertical)  the building will be 20x40 so it will be like 4-5 acres of production.  Should be interesting once up and running.

[ender]

I wouldn't plan on making $10k/year on 1000 square feet.

And all the SPIN models you list are a lot more than 1000 square feet.

[Fishindude]

Try it.   Gardening has to be something you love doing.
I'll bet you will discover the there is a heck of a lot of work, for not a lot of return. 

[Mola]

We are trying some intensive gardening in our backyard this coming season. Like most things that say "you can make a bunch of money" I doubt the bunch of money claim. But I bet I will get some veggies at the least and I will see if I like growing my own stuff.

Keep in mind though that SPIN farming is just a trademarked intensive gardening. Don't shell out for their classes/books. A very good book on intensive farming (though not on a micro-micro scale) is the "Market Gardner" by Jean-Martin Fortier. He also has a lot of great content on youtube for free. While his scale is bigger than yours a lot of the practical lessons can be scaled down.
http://www.themarketgardener.com/

[rhadams1988]

I planted a few square foot plots this year and produced a lot of greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots. It's been a ton of fun learning how to do it, and it's nice to be able to share fresh produce with friends and family. That being said, I bet it would be tough to turn a profit the first year. Definitely give it a shot, but don't over promise because some crops will do well, but some will completely fail. Good luck!

[kpd905]

My father rents out half of his property for someone to get vegetables for local farmers markets.  We're in process of installing an aeroponic system that will run year round and hold 325 plants in about 2 square feet, plus some working area if course.  (Vertical)  the building will be 20x40 so it will be like 4-5 acres of production.  Should be interesting once up and running.

Do you have pictures of this setup?  And what plants will you be growing?

[k-vette]

Sorry, just saw the question!  The building is under construction, but you can find some information at indoor farms of america.  Their website is a bit confusing, but you can PM me for details of what we're doing.  It will primarily be leafy greens like lettuce and maybe some small pepper varieties.

[LadyStache in Baja]

We are trying some intensive gardening in our backyard this coming season. Like most things that say "you can make a bunch of money" I doubt the bunch of money claim. But I bet I will get some veggies at the least and I will see if I like growing my own stuff.

A very good book on intensive farming (though not on a micro-micro scale) is the "Market Gardner" by Jean-Martin Fortier. He also has a lot of great content on youtube for free. While his scale is bigger than yours a lot of the practical lessons can be scaled down.
http://www.themarketgardener.com/

LOVED that book.  Helped a lot in getting our small (1.5 acre) farm better organized.  We've been farming for 10 years, and last year we made about 12000 USD, net.  That's also because we pay 3 full-time workers for the fields. 

So yeah when you start small, you'll be doing all the labor yourself.  It'll be really fun!  Just you and your SO.  So your profit margin will be higher.  And CSA's are a great model because they allow you to just throw whatever's working into the box, (because a lot of the time, something just isn't going to work out).

If you've been gardening for a while, I'd say go for it!  People love greens btw, and greens are pretty hard to mess up.  Spinach, chard, kale, and baby salad mix.  Baby salad mix represents over a third of our overall sales, plus what we put into our shares.  People love us because of our salad.  People come to our stand and by other stuff because of our salad.

Other big sellers are carrots and beets.  Restaurants love those in the "baby" version, too. 

Definitely check out the book above.  He actually has a chart in the back where he talks about what his most profitable things are.  That's important in a small space.

Also, don't be afraid to hire help once in a while.  Nothing worse than getting behind!  I'm getting excited for you! Can we see a picture of your plot?

In my blog, there's a whole section on farming, where I've written about starting up.  I started writing it back when we were on a plot of land 1/4 the current size...so about .375 acres.  Might be relevant.