Seed Starting: It’s exciting. It’s liberating. It’s the best late winter tradition.
When all else is cold, dead, or dormant, while the sun hangs behind the gloomy winter clouds, starting our seeds indoors or in the greenhouse gets us homesteaders pumped for the incoming growing season.
But… What if I told you that sowing a few extra herb seeds during the late winter months could bring you a nice added income for all of those homesteading projects you’d like to complete?
Work on the homestead is never finished; whether you’re building a new grape bed or repairing an old coop, growing and selling herbs can help to raise that capital.
Check out the most profitable herbs that you can grow below in order to put a few extra dollars in your pocket.
And, if you find some of these plants too difficult to start with as a new gardener, you could always peek over at our picks for easy to grow veggies that will even thrive with neglect!
Lavender: The Most Profitable Floral Herb
Lavender tends to be one of the hardest herbs to grow from seed. However, it is used by many homesteaders and crunchy-style families for a wide variety of applications. Lavender is one of the most popular aromatic flowering herbs in the world. Thousands of household products, perfumes, lotions, and even pet products contain lavender for both its scent and healing properties. Lavender is also used to produce essential oil, which is useful for its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Mosquitoes tend to hate the odor as well, helping to fight off these parasitic insects during the summer. English Lavender is known to produce the highest quality essential oil, making it the most popular lavender subspecies grown on most homestead properties.
Since Lavender is so hard to grow from seed, and since it costs quite a bit to purchase from garden centers, the skilled seed-starting homesteader stands to make a pretty little penny from them. Over a hundred seeds could be bought for as little as one or two dollars, and a single plant could be sold for $3 or more. Since it is so difficult to start, this is one herb that will stand out in the community when you attempt to sell it. Growing both organic and non-GMO lavender is also the best way to go about growing lavender from seed; a lot of garden centers may not have organic lavender, reducing your competition in the local market.
If you already have established lavender plants, you could simply take cuttings from the plants. Take cuttings from a healthy, established plant that are 4 inches long. Ensure that the scissors that you use to cut the cuttings with are sterilized. Remove all flower heads and make sure that only the top four to six leaves remain- the lower part of the stem, which will be rooted, should have no leaves. Keep the lavender cuttings in a rich, moist potting mix and keep them covered out of direct sunlight. It is important that the cuttings stay in moist soil in order to encourage roots to develop. You could also dip the cutting in honey immediately before placing the cut side into the soil to assist the lavender in rooting.
If you don’t want to sell lavender seedlings or lavender cuttings, grow far more plants and simply harvest the flowers for drying and selling. Sometimes, consumers don’t want a living plant. Instead they want dehydrated flowers for their medicinal or fragment properties, or they want fresh flowers for use in cooking or producing oil. As a matter of fact, the flowers will bring far more than the plants will, as the customer does not have to wait for the plant to mature and flower, nor do they have to purchase enough plants to produce enough flowers for the application that they intend to use the flowers for.
Peppermint: Invasive, Yet Earns Its Keep!
Peppermint is an incredibly fast growing plant that requires very little care. To be perfectly honest, it is one of the more invasive herbs. You should always keep your peppermint growing in containers, rather than freely in a bed. It will quickly propagate itself as much as it desires, leaving you with an herb bed that is full of nothing but peppermint. However, you can use this fast-growing, quick propagating trait to your advantage: you can sell all of the mint that you don’t need.
If you currently do not own any mint plants, there’s nothing to worry about. Peppermint can be grown easily from seed. I recommend planting some starter plants, and allowing them to grow throughout the season. Use these mature plants to take cuttings from, root the cuttings, then sell them to local homesteaders, gardeners, and home chefs in your local area.
Since it grows so well, you will find yourself overwhelmed with more than you could ever use. If you don’t want to sell grown plants, try cutting fresh peppermint sprigs and leaves and selling them to customers by the bag full. A ziploc bag full of fresh peppermint could bring several dollars, and it’s immediately ready for use by the buyer. Organic peppermint will sell best, as it will make the best tea, desserts, essential oils, and cleaning ingredient.
If the market has slowed and the peppermint plants have went into overtime on leaf production, save some of the foliage and dehydrate it in an outdoor mesh solar dehydrating rack; you can then store it in mason jars for use in teas and desserts.
Sage: Savory & Difficult Herb Brings Sales in Quickly
Sage is one of the most delicious, comfort food herbs that you can grow in your homestead garden. It is most commonly associated with roasted chicken, or the iconic cornbread dressing on Thanksgiving. Few people grow the Broadleaf Sage because it can be a rather picky plant to tend to… but it is a somewhat expensive herb in grocery stores.
Sage grows easily from seed, but it does take a long time to reach a size that is worth harvesting. Sage is not harvested for the whole plant, like cilantro would be. Instead, it is harvested in much the same way that Rosemary is; leaves are taken as needed for cooking, freezing, or dehydrating.
Another problem with sage is that in many climates, sage needs to be kept in a container. It does not enjoy wet soil; it actually prefers to be kept rather dry. Therefore, it it doesn’t tend to do quite as well in heavy wet clay soil. Very cold winters could kill it, presenting another issue for gardeners who are growing it. The harvest will be very small if this herb is just treated as an annual.
Sage in garden centers tend to be smaller seedlings or cuttings. Instead, you could grow larger sage starts that will produce a wonderful harvest before the cold days of the year. Pot sage plants in larger pots so that the customers can take the plant indoors during the winter and care for it in a sunny window.
Again, you could also grow the sage and sell fresh sprigs or dried whole leaves for cooking purposes, earning a little extra pocket money for budget friendly projects. Fresh organic sage is one of the most beautiful, aromatic herbs to use in classic, homemade comfort food.
Garlic: Tricky to Grow, but the Profit Margin is VERY High!
Garlic can be a bit finicky to grow, but you can grow a lot of garlic in very little space. Bulbs can be very cheap to source, especially if you buy them in bulk. You could even grow bulbs from the grocery store as long as they are non-GMO and organic. You need to ensure that the garlic is kept very well fed as it is a heavy feeder, and that it is also watered thoroughly and never dries out. Garlic will quickly go yellow if it feels the soil is too dry.
Since garlic can be a very needy herb to grow, many beginning gardeners tend to pass this one up; especially after they have their first crop of it fail. With the concern over how garlic is currently being mass-produced in China under questionable growing practices, more and more people are trying to find locally grown garlic. This leaves a very large market for clean, wholesome garlic; one of the most widely used herbs or spices in the world.
When splitting garlic for planting, a single bulb could produce between 8 and 20 cloves. You could easily sell a single bulb for two or three dollars, while paying a very similar amount for your seed bulbs. If one garlic bulb produced 12 cloves that successfully produced edible, decently sized bulbs, you could earn $24 to $36 after only paying between $2 and $3 for that original bulb. That is a profit of up to $34; however, this is a hypothetical situation and earnings could be lower or higher.
You could also produce and sell seed bulbs to home gardeners as well. Garlic bulbs can be easy to source online, but they can be very expensive to ship. Therefore, local sources of seed garlic bulbs can be an incredibly important resource for local gardeners.
Rosemary: Sampling the Mediterranean Market
Rosemary is a very important Mediterranean spice. It has a very pungent odor and flavor, meaning a little bit goes a long way. Therefore, you don’t have to grow very large plants to sell to customers. Rosemary goes incredibly well with lamb, and is considered quite the refined herb. It is a must-have in the kitchen during many important holiday meals for people across many cultures.
This perennial shrub can grow very large, growing more quickly the larger it gets. It’s slow to start from seed, but very easy to start from seed as well. Rosemary is somewhat drought tolerant, making it easier to care for it during the summer heat. If you are within growing zones 8, 9, or 10, you can grow rosemary outdoors as a perennial. However, if you are in any colder of an area, your rosemary may not survive the winter.
Since Rosemary easily roots from cuttings, you can simply clone your mother plant over and over again. As her daughter plants grow larger, you can clone them as well to increase production. Using this method, you can produce Rosemary shrubs to sell to local homesteaders and gardeners for just the price of dirt and plastic pots.
Basil: The Fast Selling & Prolific Hallmark Ingredient of Italian Cuisine
If you love anything within the realm of Italian cuisine, you know that basil is one of the most important herbs used within Italian cooking. Basil is a key ingredient in many red pasta sauces from spaghetti and meatballs to chicken parmesan, even ravioli. Basil is also a key ingredient in pesto. This herb offers a delicious kick to nearly any dish, which means it goes very quickly in kitchens across the world.
Basil is another one of those herbs that is easy to grow from seed, cuttings, or from nursery starts. Basil may start off slightly slow, but within a month or two you will have quite large plants on your hands. If you plant several hundred seedlings, you will have large nursery-sized plants within 60 days. You could easily sell these plants for $3 each, or even more if you keep it organic. Again, you could also dry basil in your dehydrator (or hang it in a warm dry room of your home) and sell it as a bulk spice.
Another wonderful way to boost homestead income from your basil plants is to include them in a bulk package deal. Try selling green onions, basil, oregano, parsley, and garlic all in one lot. This could be marketed as an “Italian Tomato Sauce” living herb package, and would stand to be very popular among local home cooks and restaurants. The garlic will be harvested and dried, of course, but the rest of the plants could be sold as living herb plants. Just be sure that there is a sufficient amount of foliage on each plant in every package.
Cilantro/Coriander: Doubling Income with a 2-In-1 Herb
Cilantro is extensively used in Mexican cooking, with one of its most famous dishes being salsa. “Cilantro” is actually a Spanish term, and translates into “Coriander”.
This brings me to explain that cilantro is actually a 2-in-1 herb. Coriander is not as widely used for its seeds as it is for its leaves. It’s all the same plant, but coriander refers to the plant as a whole and its seeds. Cilantro is the common name for its leaves, especially in America.
The seeds are commonly used in Indian cuisine, and they are also used in pickling recipes in other regions of the world. In order to harvest the seeds, the coriander plant must be grown to maturity and flower. Once the flowers die back and the fruits are dry, they are ready for harvesting.
This dual-purpose herb appeals to many different cultures as a staple in the spice cabinet. However, many people absolutely love to have fresh cilantro on hand in order to make homemade salsa and a variety of other Mexican inspired dishes. Since this herb is an annual, you could have repeat customers every single year, multiplying your income from cilantro or coriander.
Parsley: The Master of All Garnishes Is In High Demand Year-Round
You might be familiar with parsley as a garnish for many different types of dishes. Both flat leaf parsley and curled parsley are used in the culinary world. Flat leaf parsley, or Italian, tends to be preferred over all others by many home gardeners. This parsley is believed to be easier to care for, especially whenever it comes to rain and heat. This also makes Italian parsley the perfect place to start when growing profitable herbs.
Parsley can take between one and two months before it begins to germinate from seed. This makes it particularly difficult to successfully raise seedlings, as you must keep the soil medium moist throughout the entire germination period. However, if you are attentive to your seeds, you should be very successful in growing Italian Parsley from seed. Simply plant the seeds in a moist seed starting mix, plant the seeds approximately 1/4 inch deep, cover the seeds with soil ensuring good soil contact, place a clear cover over the tray, and keep them warm and moist in a bright location until seedlings emerge.
Once the plants reach 6 inches in height, you should begin marketing them to other local growers. Parsley can be used in fresh summer salads, hearty winter soups, and for garnishing everything in between. Fresh parsley is an integral part of a chef’s arsenal, completing their culinary displays before they head for the customer’s table.
Oregano: Timing Your Plants Right Yields Top Dollar
Oregano is another one of the spices that are very important in Italian cuisine. It is commonly paired with garlic and basil to produce the finest of red tomato sauces. This shrubby perennial will produce lots of delicate leaves with a very pungent, intoxicating aroma. It is actually a member of the mint family and it will put on a gorgeous display of flowers during the spring. However, these flowers should always be pruned back in order to keep the plant in high production. If oregano is allowed to go to seed, it will dedicate all of its energy to flowering and setting seed.
If you grow oregano from seed, you will be delighted to find that many of your seeds come up quite quickly and successfully. However, waiting for oregano to reach a large harvest-able size can be quite the painful waiting game. This is why many people who love to cook using fresh ingredients buy fresh oregano from the supermarket, rather than growing their own. Sometimes, it just does not seem like growing fresh oregano from seed is worth the effort; for the homesteader who raises seedlings, this opens up a very broad market.
Try starting seedlings roughly 6 months before the tomato season begins. When tomatoes are ripe, oregano is in high demand! It seems almost insulting to add dried, commercial oregano to fresh, organic, homegrown tomatoes when making homemade tomato sauce; therefore, large, live oregano plants can fetch top dollar at this time of the season.
Fenugreek: A Breastfeeding Supplement In Very High Demand
With the breastfeeding movement moving full steam ahead, Fenugreek is in high demand by both new and experienced mothers. Since Fenugreek is strongly believed to significantly boost breast milk production, many mothers swear by it when their production drops off for many different reasons, including: going back to work, falling ill, or becoming dehydrated.
Fenugreek is also an excellent component of a diet composed of sprouts or micro-greens, and it is also eaten in the form of leafy salads. Fenugreek has been cultivated for thousands of years for consumption by both humans and domesticated animals, making it one of the most flexible herbs grown on the homestead. Growing Fenugreek from seed is relatively easy as well, adding to its popularity as an edible sprout.
When marketing Fenugreek for sale, it’s a great idea to connect with local breastfeeding groups first, then spreading the word by mouth. Allow mothers to hand out contact information to their friends and family members who may be expecting, or who have recently had, a new baby. Let customers know that you are growing Fenugreek from seed, and be sure that you are caring for it in an organic manner. Organic Fenugreek is very important for breastfeeding mothers.
Catnip: Profitable Pet Market
Cat lovers everywhere know how much that their feline children love to get their teeth on catnip. This European native is a part of the mint family, and produces a compound called nepetalactone; this chemical is the reason cats are so attracted to it. Catnip provides cats with a very mild euphoric effect, which significantly alters the cat’s personality temporarily. Cats will become very possessive over the catnip, they may become overly affectionate, and they may roll in and lick the catnip obsessively. This display of sheer euphoria encourages cat owners to keep a supply of catnip on hand. People can use catnip for an herbal tea, as well.
Cat owners are a very unique market, as they are quick to spoil their animals. They may also lack the patience to grow their own catnip from seed; many tend to prefer to buy a larger plant. Plus, another issue when starting catnip from seed is that the cats may kill the seedlings before they reach a decent size. A more mature plant will have no problem holding up to a cat’s rambunctious love, but a seedling doesn’t stand a chance.
Catnip is rather fast growing after the first month, so you don’t have to worry about housing these plants for months on end. They also germinate very easily, and can be rooted easily. I recommend planting catnip in cute containers that are decorated for cats. These decorated containers of catnip could sell for up to $10, and sometimes more in the right local area.
Stevia: One of Nature’s Priceless Sweeteners
Stevia is one of the more unique herbs that a homesteader could grow for sale. Stevia is actually popular as an artificial sweetener; however, unlike many of the artificial sweeteners that are on the market today, Stevia is all natural. It has been used for over 1500 years in South America to sweeten tea and medicine. Even though Stevia is one of the few plants that can be used for its sweet flavor in beverages and desserts, it is still not a very common sight in many home gardens.
Stevia can be a bit difficult to germinate from seed. If you are growing stevia from seed, you will need to have plenty of seeds on hand to compensate for a low germination rate. This is one of the many plant species that requires light in order to germinate, so try surface sowing for greater success. Stevia tends to grow and thrive when cuttings are rooted. Stevia may not enjoy excessive summertime heat in hot areas, so ensure that young cuttings and seedlings do not become stressed in the midsummer heat.
Dill: Another Popular, Dual Purpose Herb
If you enjoy tartar sauce or pickles, like millions of other people across the world, then you likely enjoy dill. Dill is grown for both its leaves and its seeds. The leaves of the dill plant are commonly used to produce tartar sauce and to season seafood. The flavor of the leaves is far more mild than the seeds. The seeds are commonly used for producing pickles; they are far more potent in flavor, and are the key to producing the traditional dill pickle.
Dill grows relatively easily from seed, and once it gets going it generally takes off. These plants can become very large, so you must be prepared to sell them quickly or repot them if necessary. Be sure that flowers are consistently removed from the plants while they are in your care; otherwise, they will not supply as much foliage for the buyer.
If you are marketing live Dill plants for fresh use, you could benefit by reaching out to those who eat a lot of seafood. Dill is an excellent plant to grow for sale in a coastal area. Otherwise, you could market larger, more mature plants to gardeners during the early summer for pickling fresh cucumbers.
Bonus Idea: Strawberries!
Strawberries aren’t necessarily an herb; however, the leaves are used for tea by some homesteaders. If you’re going to be transplanting strawberries in the fall as your runners take over, why not sell them?
I know one plant can produce dozens of runners, even over 100 in a single season! Even if you only sell the young first-year crowns for $0.50 each, you could turn an incredible profit if you have hundreds (or thousands) of plants sitting around.
Another option is to grow the berry plants from seed. The first step in learning how to grow strawberries from seeds is learning about stratification and its importance in seed development. Without stratification, the seeds will never know that winter has come and gone; without this crucial signal, the seeds will not sprout. Well, some will; but those are the confused seedlings that would normally succumb to winter before growing a strong root system. This is an important survival mechanism among many different types of plants.
You can either root your runners, sell dried plants, or sell seedlings; in most cases, runners will outperform the rest.
Another great article. Thanks.