5 Very Clever Ways To Make Money With Your Garden or Balcony

Green Tradr
4 min readAug 17, 2015

You live in an apartment building in the city, but you love gardening. You grow plants on your balcony. Your space is limited but somehow you manage to sustain this hobby because it fulfils you and it gives you pleasure. Through the years you’ve learned a lot and became quite good at it. Even at the micro space of your balcony you managed to produce a surplus of plants. So why don’t you try to make some money out of it? Selling your plants and expertise can produce profit, even though your production is limited and you cannot enlarge it due to obvious reasons. So quality and your knowhow will be the main factor in your upcoming success story.

1. Selling herbs and spices

Almost every city apartment has pots planted with herbs on their balcony, even if the owners don’t have any other plants. It is always convenient to have fresh parsley or mint at your disposal so you can pick it just before you start cooking. This from-pot-to-plate-in-a-minute philosophy has always been popular among food and cooking enthusiasts. You have pots and containers filled with basil, mint, oregano, dill, parsley, rosemary and the yield is bigger every year. Why don’t you try and sell some of your harvest? There is always a big demand for quality herbs. You can dry them or sell them fresh. Just pack them in paper bags or any other wrapping. Design interesting bags and share few complimentary small garden ideas on them. Growing exotic herbs is also an option for your balcony, if the climate in your area is suitable. Producing lemon grass, lavenders or chilies can be more demanding, but the potential profits are higher.

2. Selling flowers and house plants

For years your friends were admiring the roses, tulips, daffodils, irises, and lilies you grew on your balcony. You have learned how to make beautiful bouquets and arrangements, which you gave as gifts. So why don’t you use your flowers and decorating skills and earn from them. Make most of the seasons when they blossom and sell the flowers online or to the florists in your neighborhood. Your balcony can also be a great place to produce home plants such as aloe, spider plant, daisy, cactuses, and ficus. Firstly, grow some seedlings and then replant them in bigger clay pots. You won’t have any problems to find customers. Online services such as Green Tradr will help you sell your plants. This way, you can find your buyers very easy in your vicinity and will help you save a lot of time. Green Tradr is a useful platform even if you don’t produce but just want to sell your few house plants because you are moving to another apartment and you can’t keep them anymore.

3. Sell vegetables from your balcony

You don’t have to own a farm in order to grow vegetables. There are a lot of veggies you can grow in the small confines of your balcony. Tomatoes, peppers, green onions, beans, radishes and lettuces, you can grow them all. They only need is enough sunlight and water and good soil. You can even grow potatoes in big garbage bags. Doesn’t matter if your crops are limited in amount, just make sure that you grow organic food and there will always be a demand for your products. You’ve always had some fresh veggies for own use. It is time to go a step further and sell your delicious plants to a range of customers who will know to cherish some tasty and quality, balcony grown vegetables for their salads.

4. Make money by teaching others to grow on their balconies

There are thousands of people living in urban areas that would like turning their balconies into small gardens. Being a gardener is becoming a growing trend among young urban dwellers. So why don’t you sell your expertise? Pass your knowledge around. Become an educator. Write a book on the subject and share your small garden ideas. Start a blog or a video channel and spread your expertise. You can make money by publishing sponsored posts or ads by suitable companies.

5. Become a consultant or balcony garden designer

Creating a balcony garden can be a challenging thing due to the lack of space. Use your experience and help other to achieve their dreams of having a small green paradise in the apartments they live in. You’ve already been through all this and you’ve done a great job. You’ve learned from your mistakes and now you can earn by creating and designing for others. Be creative, a small space doesn’t have to be a setback but a challenge for imaginative people. Use your knowhow and employ some of your old cheap gardening ideas. Some people just don’t have time for their plants so you can offer a regular maintenance in your portfolio. Make a name in your area and don’t forget to advertise yourself online.

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Green Tradr

The first peer to peer, geo-localized marketplace dedicated to grown plants and associated garden products