Herb Farming: Tips for Profitable Herb Sales
A Hensley's Seed Co. guide, drawing on advice from Lynn Byczynski, founder of Growing for Market
Herbs are known as the useful plants for good reason. They go into culinary, cosmetic, medicinal and decorative products, opening up lots of sales opportunities. You can sell them as live plants all season, as fresh-cut herbs for kitchens and craft cocktails, in flower bouquets, or dried for crafts and wellness products.
For a good return, plan how you'll sell before you sow seed or take cuttings, because what you grow in the greenhouse should match how you'll present it.
Here we look at the most popular markets for herb growers.
Live Herb Plants
Plan how you'll move and display your herb plants.
Live plants sell well at farmers' markets and roadside stands.
Container Selection
Start by deciding how you'll haul and display your plants. That dictates the size and style of containers, which in turn sets your prices. Once that's settled, you can time your sowings to have the right-size plants for each price point.
Press-fit trays, which grip each pot firmly, work well for plants that travel to and from market repeatedly, and pots don't tip over when a customer pulls one out. Trays and matching pots come in several sizes, in square or round styles.
Is organic a big draw in your market? Consider offering organically grown herbs in biodegradable fiber pots suitable for organic production. They come as round, square or strip pots in many sizes.
Potting Up
Biodegradable or plastic, pot sizes can grow as the season goes on.
Pot sizes can step up as the season goes on: small pots in early spring for seasoned gardeners, then 4" pots about a month later, when newer gardeners start shopping for herbs. A larger plant gives them a better shot at success, making them more likely to come back next year. Still, garden centers often sell big herb pots at high prices, so shoppers may appreciate smaller, cheaper, locally grown options.
Don't try to sell badly rootbound herbs in small pots. Move them up to gallon pots or plant them into mixed containers in larger decorative pots instead. Keep plants looking healthy and herb sales can continue from season to season.
Mixed Planters
Try a mix of culinary herbs in a six-pack. It's an easy way to introduce home gardeners to the many fascinating kinds of basil, sage, or thyme. Or combine other herbs that pair well, such as flat-leaf parsley and basil; chives and garlic chives; rosemary and thyme.
For home cooks, plant big patio containers of mixed herbs with a few edible flowers like viola (pansy) and calendula for color. Picture the mature planting: put something tall and spiky in the middle, surrounded by mounding and trailing plants of different colors and textures. Group plants with similar sun and water needs, such as rosemary, oregano, and thyme, which prefer dry conditions, or basils, parsley, and salad burnet, which want more moisture.
In fall, offer herbs in attractive pots that can come indoors before frost. Feature the herbs everyone wants for holiday cooking: rosemary, sage, and thyme.
Market Display
Don't set flats on the ground where shoppers might miss them. Raise them to waist or eye level so people can see, touch and smell them; fragrance sells herbs.
Planting & Culinary Info for Buyers
Give customers variety details and growing tips on purchased or homemade plant tags, and offer fuller planting instructions printed on cardstock or paper with each sale.
Add recipes for culinary herbs or highlight key traits on price signs. A flat of Genovese basil might have a sign reading Great in pesto! and the oregano sign might say True Greek oregano: richly aromatic, flavorful leaves. Tell customers what makes your herbs special.
Pricing Live Herb Plants
Keep prices logical and easy to follow, and group live plants by price. Slow, hard-to-propagate herbs like rosemary, lavender, and lemon verbena should cost more than easy annuals like basil, but customers may not know why, so use different pots or a separate display area for the pricier herbs. If you sell one herb in two sizes, make sure the more expensive plants are clearly bigger.
Fresh-Cut Culinary Herbs
Retail Herbs at Market
Some growers set out herbs in jars of water, like bouquets.
Fresh herbs sell steadily at farmers' markets alongside vegetables. Pair them with complementary produce, like bunches of basil next to heirloom tomatoes. How you display herbs depends on market conditions. If your table sits in the sun, put out only a few delicate herbs like basil at a time and restock as they sell. In cool weather wilting is less of a worry, so you can pile them high. Some growers stand herbs in jars of water like bouquets; others prepackage them before market.
Variety Selection for Market
Fresh-cut basil at market. Photo © Lynn Byczynski
Plant the most of your best sellers, usually annuals such as basil, dill and parsley. Succession-plant them like vegetables for a steady supply. Perennials like rosemary, oregano, and thyme sell well too, so plant enough to harvest all season.
Wholesale Herbs
Restaurants are an excellent outlet for fresh culinary herbs, for both the kitchen and the bar's craft cocktails. What to grow depends entirely on what chefs and bar managers want, so get to know them and try to set up a standing order. Once you know how they use your herbs, offer related products such as edible flowers.
Less Common Specialty Items
Some chefs like to buy less common herbs in pots to keep in the kitchen until needed. If you sell cut herbs to chefs, offer herbs like lemon basil and French tarragon in 4" pots. Chefs get the freshest possible herbs, and maybe some regrowth if the pots get light and water between cuttings.
Pricing Fresh Culinary Herbs
As with any farm product, base prices on both your production costs and local market rates. For every crop, do the homework to be sure it can turn a profit: check supermarket prices, other farmers' markets and fellow vendors at your own market. Also consider whether the crop grows easily on your farm or needs lots of coddling. Sometimes the smart move is to skip a crop.
Medicinal Herbs
Demand for medicinal herbs is growing. Much of the medicinal herb supply used in the US is imported, leaving room for new domestic growers. Rules for medicinal herbs and herbal products involve federal requirements and vary by state, so research the regulations where you'll grow and sell. Options include selling potted or fresh-cut medicinal herbs directly to consumers, making your own product line, or supplying businesses that make herbal remedies. Each is a separate business, so investigate carefully before choosing what to grow.
