Growing for Market with The Market Gardener (Can You Make Money on a Micro Farm?)

Have you ever wondered how to make money with a market garden? Is it possible to make a living with a small-scale micro farm? We tried our hand at growing for market a few years ago and learned a lot! You’ll also find our review of The Market Gardener book in this article!

At this point in my life, I’ve grown vegetables to sell for just one season, so definitely am far from an expert! But in this article I would like to share some of what I did learn. I’ll also be talking about someone who does make a full-time living with a large garden, and how they do it!

My First Year Growing For Market

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The year my first child was born, I decided that growing vegetables for the farmer’s market was the best way to make a side income while toting around my little one.

At the time we were renting a home that only had space for a few raised beds, so I had to borrow garden space from someone else. Actually I borrowed garden spots from two different people.

Both of my garden spots needed a lot of soil improvement, so I spent much of my time working on the soil instead of growing vegetables. It was really a challenge, driving around every day with a new baby, trying to build the soil, set up fences, plant, weed and harvest vegetables, and keep everything watered.

That year I also had horses I was trying to train and worked one day a week at a local cafe. Fridays were spent getting ready for the market, and Saturdays setting up and sitting at the local farmer’s market. I worked six days a week that summer. It was fun, but exhausting and not very productive!

The next year, I had another baby on the way, and was also moving, so didn’t even attempt the farmer’s market. But I filed away the things I had learned for some time in the future!

The Market Gardener

Recently I learned about someone who not only makes money with a garden, but makes a full-time living to support his family year round.

Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener, does all this organically on just 1 1/2 acres. In an era where many farmers struggle to make ends meet on hundreds, or even thousands of acres, this accomplishment is truly inspiring!

Making a Profit on a Small Amount of Land

Fortier and his wife manage to make over $100,000 a year on such a small amount of land!

They do so by relying on effective hand tools and small power tools that cost far less than a tractor and other expensive equipment. Using hand tools not only saves on startup expenses, but allows a farmer to grow crops much closer together in permanent beds, maximizing the harvest.

Using bio-intensive techniques, Fortier rarely tills, but instead focuses on building the soil in beds several feet wide with high quality compost. This nutrient dense soil is able to support larger numbers of plants, and also yields more nutrient-dense produce.

The planting is carefully planned so that every square inch of space is in use. Short season crops are immediately followed by another sowing or a different crop grown in the same bed. Season extenders such as hoop houses and row covers help to grow more produce in Canada’s short growing seasons.

Besides their growing techniques, Fortier and his wife place a large emphasis on direct selling their vegetables to the customer. By cutting out the middle man, they are able to keep a far greater percentage of the profit.

They sell most of their produce via CSA shares (where a customer pays an agreed upon amount to receive regular shares of the produce each week for the season), farmer’s markets and directly to local restaurants.

They cite this as one of the biggest keys to their success as small-scale organic farmers.

Their most profitable crops include greenhouse tomatoes, lettuce and salad mixes, cucumbers and garlic.

The Market Gardener

I was very impressed reading through Fortier’s book. It doesn’t just contain tips on market gardening, but explains every detail of his business, teaching you exactly how to make money with a market garden.

Among other things, The Market Gardener covers:

Selecting a farm site
Setting everything up
Best tools for maximum efficiency
The most profitable crops to grow, with actual numbers and how much money he typically makes per bed with different crops
How to add value to vegetables, in order to maximize your profits
How to protect against pests, including wildlife, insects and disease
Starting seeds indoors on a large-scale
Managing weeds without chemicals
Extending your growing season for maximum harvests
Efficient harvesting
Storing produce, and how long different vegetables will keep fresh

Although I probably won’t attempt another market garden this season (with three small children in tow!), I learned a lot from The Market Gardener and hope to put some of these techniques into practice growing vegetables for my own family. Maybe another year I will get back to growing vegetables for a profit!

If you are interesting in making money gardening, or just want to make your family garden more efficient, I would highly, highly recommend this book!

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Happy Gardening!